News for International X-ray Analysis Community

			As of September 26, 2007

for international journal X-Ray Spectrometry (John Wiley & Sons Ltd.)
Sciences
X-ray spectroscopy at high pressure and temperature helps in locating mantle's spin transition zone (September 21, 2007)
Generally, the structure, composition, and dynamics of the Earth's lower mantle are influenced by the electronic state of iron within minerals at high pressure and temperature. For instance, if this electronic state leads to a change in the density of minerals, it would alter the travelling velocity of sound waves. Dr. Jung-Fu Lin (Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, California, USA) and his colleagues recently determined the spin state of iron in ferropericlase [(Mg_0.75,Fe_0.25)O] at lower-mantle pressures and temperatures using an X-ray emission spectrometer with in-situ synchrotron X-ray diffraction in a laser-heated diamond cell. They found that the transition between high and low spin happens at temperatures ranging from 1,900 to 2,300 K and pressures of up to 95 GPa: conditions found between 1,000 and 2,200 km below the surface. Through integrated absolutedifference (IAD) analysis of FeKb spectra, they obtained the ratio of the high-spin to low-spin states in the sample. An energy shift of 1.6 eV in the main emission peak was interpreted as evidence of the spin transition. X-ray spectroscopists might find further significant spectral changes, e.g., Kb' satellite, in their data. For more information, see the paper, "Spin Transition Zone in Earth's Lower Mantle", Jung-Fu Lin et al., Science, 317, 1740-1743 (2007).
A further pump-probe experiment: infra-red observation of N₂ molecules ionized by ultra-short soft X-ray pulses (September 7, 2007)
X-rays have been used as a tool for probing atomic-scale structures. Used in combination with pump by laser (usually from the infra red to visible light region), time-resolved X-ray (or soft X-ray) analysis is pushing back the frontiers in the world of materials. Recently, a further way of performing pump-probe experiments, i.e., an X-ray pump and infra-red probe, has been successfully applied to clarify the dynamics of N₂ molecules. A research team led by Professors H. Kapteyn and M. Murnane (University of Colorado, Boulder, USA) employed 43 eV soft X-rays with ca. 5 fs pulse width, which are laser-generated high-order harmonics, and an intense IR laser pulse (1.5 eV, 30 fs, 10¹³ W/cm²). The team found that substantial fragmentation occurs through an electron-shakeup process, in which a second electron is simultaneously excited during the soft X-ray photoionization process. During fragmentation, the molecular potential seen by the electron changes rapidly from nearly spherically symmetric to a two-center molecular potential. For more information, see the paper, " Soft X-ray-Driven Femtosecond Molecular Dynamics", E. Gagnon et al., Science, 317, 1374-1378 (2007).
Ultra fast holography with 32.5nm soft X-rays from FLASH, Hamburg (August 9, 2007)
Dr. H. Chapman (Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, USA) and his colleagues recently published their new imaging technique, which is a new type of X-ray holography, and some successful data obtained at the free electron laser source, FLASH, Hamburg, Germany. Their technique employs soft X-ray laser pulses which pass through a small hole in a detector mirror, and then encounter a thin, translucent membrane that has been covered with a sample material (140 nm-diameter polystyrene balls) lying just in front of a backing mirror. In the present case, the X-ray pulse is shorter than the time spent traveling through the sample to the backing mirror and then returning. The sample is exploded by extremely strong X-ray photons and its size changes in the brief interval that the pulse takes to reflect back. The time it takes the pulse to return is encoded in the fringe pattern of the X-ray hologram, and this can be read out from the hologram to an accuracy of about one femtosecond. The spatial resolution is 50 nm in this experiment, but this will be further improved by shorter wavelength laser pulses. Their newly developed method opens up new opportunities for structure sciences based on holography, interferometry or coherent diffraction, as well as for studies that investigate the femtosecond dynamics of matter in new ways. It is interesting that the scientists were inspired by Isaac Newton, who noticed in the 18th century that sunlight produced “strange and surprising” light and dark bands on a screen after he had bounced it off a mirror speckled with dust particles. For more information, see the paper, "Femtosecond time-delay X-ray holography ", H. N. Chapman et al., Nature,. 448, 676-679 (2007).

Professional
The 2nd Asada Award (September 18, 2007)
The recipient of the 2nd Asada Award, which is presented in memory of the late Professor Ei-ichi Asada (1924-2005) to promising young scientists in X-ray analysis fields in Japan, is: Dr. Hiromi Eba (Musashi Tech. Institute, "Site occupancy determination and magnetic evaluation of MnZn-ferrites using MnKb X-ray fluorescence spectra"). The ceremony was held in Kyoto, during the international conference on X-ray optics and microscopy (ICXOM 2007) and the 43rd Annual Conference on X-Ray Chemical Analysis, Japan.
APEC nanoscale measurement technology forum (September 7, 2007)
Since 2005, the APEC “Technological Cooperative Framework of Nano Scale Measurement and Analytical Methods” has been aiming to share the most recent advances in nanometer analytical and measurement methods from representatives of government, the private sector, R&D organizations and academia. To this end, the 2007 APEC nanoscale measurement forum was organized by Industrial Technology Research Institute (ITRI), Taiwan, and was held at Taipei, on September 5-7, 2007. The invited speakers were as follows; Peter Hatto (IonBond Ltd., Chairman of ISO/TC 229), Chanchana Thanachayanont (National Metal and Materials Technology Center, Thailand), Wen-Li Wu (NIST, USA), Michael Garner (Intel, USA), Chih-Ming Ke (Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company), Aleksandar Stefanovic (PANalytical, Singapore), Sang-Hee Suh (Center for Nanostructured Materials Technology, Korea), Kenji Sakurai (NIMS, Japan), Laura E. Depero (University of Brescia, Italy), Chun Zhang (Nano and Advanced Materials Institute, Hong Kong), Keiji Takahata (AIST, Japan), and Keh-Chyang Leou (National Tsing Hua University, Taiwan). For further information, contact Wei-En Fu, Center for Measurement Standards, ITRI, Taiwan, Phone +886-3-573 2220, WeienFu@itri.org.tw, http://www.nml.org.tw/en/APECNanoForum/
Denver X-Ray Conference Awards (August 3, 2007)
The following awards were presented during the plenary session of the 56th Annual Denver X-Ray Conference: 1. The 2007 Barrett Award was presented to Sunil K. Sinha, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, CA 2. The 2007 Jenkins Award was presented to Ting C. Huang, Emeritus, IBM Almaden Research Center, San Jose, CA 3. The 2007 Distinguished Fellow Award was presented to Ting C. Huang, Emeritus, IBM Almaden Research Center, San Jose, CA 4. The 2007 Hanawalt Award was presented to Tamás Ungár, Eötvös University Budapest, Budapest, Hungary 5. There was no recipient for the 2007 Jerome B. Cohen Student Award.
Workshop on 'buried' interface science with X-rays and neutrons (July 24, 2007)
The 2007 workshop on 'buried' interface science with X-rays and neutrons was held at the Institute of Materials Research, Tohoku University, in Sendai, Japan, on July 22-24, 2007. The workshop was the latest in a series held since 2001; Tsukuba (December 2001), Niigata (September 2002), Nagoya (July 2003), Tsukuba (July 2004), Saitama (March 2005), Yokohama (July 2006), Kusatsu (August 2006) and Tokyo (December 2006). There are increasing demands for sophisticated metrology in order to observe multilayered materials with nano-structures (dots, wires, etc), which are finding applications in electronic, magnetic, optical and other devices. Unlike many other surface-sensitive methods, X-ray and neutron analysis is known for its ability to see even 'buried' function interfaces as well as the surface. It is highly reliable in practice, because the information, which ranges from the atomic to mesoscopic scale, is quantitative and reproducible. However, the method should be upgraded further to cope with more realistic problems in nano sciences and technologies. Current X-ray methods can give atomic-scale information for quite a large area on a scale of mm²-cm². These methods can deliver good statistics for an average, but sometimes it is necessary to analyze a specific part in nano-scale rather than an average structure. In addition, there is a need to see unstable changing structures and related phenomena in order to understand more about the mechanism of the functioning of nano materials. Quick measurements are therefore important. Furthermore, in order to apply the method to a more realistic and complex system, we need some visual understanding to discuss the relationship among the different structures that are present in the same viewing. Therefore, 2D/3D real-space imaging is important. Interpretation of roughness is another significant subject, while combination with grazing-incidence small angle scattering (GISAS) will become much more widespread than before. The use of coherent beams and several other new approaches are also significant. Leading senior academics in this field were invited as commentators, Professors J. Harada (Nagoya University & Rigaku Corporation), S. Kikuta (The University of Tokyo & JASRI) and J. Mizuki (JAEA). The invited speakers from Tohoku University in Sendai, workshop site, Professors K. Takanashi, M. Kawasaki and M. Yanagihara, talked about the hot topic of spintronics, and/or control of 'buried' magnetic interfaces. It was stressed that the use of techniques sensitive to specific interfaces is crucial in analyzing many unsolved problems in this field. The workshop proceedings will be published electronically in Journal of Physics: Conference Series, http://www.iop.org/EJ/journal/1742-6596
Obituary - Albert Baez (March 20, 2007)
Albert V. Baez, the co-inventor of X-ray focusing optics, has died at the age of 94 in San Mateo County, Calif. Born in Puebla, Mexico, and raised in Brooklyn, Dr. Baez earned a bachelor’s degree in mathematics from Drew University, a master’s in math from Syracuse University and a Ph.D in physics from Stanford University. Dr. Baez was a physics professor at several universities, including the University of Redlands, Stanford, MIT, University of California, Berkeley, and Harvard. In 1948, while he was still a graduate student at Stanford, Baez and his supervisor, physics professor Paul Kirkpatrick, developed a grazing-incidence X-ray mirror for focusing optics, which has since been used in X-ray microscopes and X-ray telescopes all over the world. Recent technological advancements have taken their innovation to the state-of-the-art level, and X-ray microscopes with Kirkpatrick-Baez-type mirrors can now achieve a spatial resolution of less than 50 nm. Professor Baez switched from experimental physics during the cold war to a career in physics education. In 1951, he worked for the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, moving with his family to Iraq, where he directed the UNESCO mission there and worked as a professor of physics at Baghdad University. Dr. Baez was the father of folk singers Joan Baez and Mimi Farina. The Los Angeles Times (March 23, 2007) carries an obituary written by Valerie J. Nelson. For details of the Kirkpatrick-Baez-type mirror, see the paper, P. Kirkpatrick and A. Baez, J. Opt. Soc. Am. 38, 766 (1948).


New Products
HORIBA Jobin Yvon's latest X-ray microscope with 10 µm resolution (August 30, 2007)
HORIBA Jobin Yvon has introduced the XGT-7000, the latest system in the XGT series of energy dispersive X-ray fluorescence (EDXRF) microscopes. A choice of two different X-ray beam sizes is available on the system, ranging from 1.2 mm through to 10 μm. For further information, Phone: +1 -732-494-8660, info@jobinyvon.net, http://www.jobinyvon.com
Rigaku introduces two advanced CCD X-ray detectors for crystallography applications (August 22, 2007)
Rigaku Americas Corporation has announced the introduction of two new high-performance CCD-based area X-ray detectors, the Saturn 944+ (94 mm x 94 mm image area) and Saturn 724+ (72 mm x 72 mm image area), which deliver high readout speeds without any significant increase in read noise, compared to the previous series. The new detectors employ the advanced KodakR KAF-4320E CCD sensor, incorporating transparent indium tin oxide (ITO) technology for superior sensitivity. They are also equipped with a high-speed 18-bit analog-to-digital converter and 4-port parallel readout to deliver low noise, a true 17,500:1 dynamic range and ultrafast readout times simultaneously. For further information, contact: Joseph D. Ferrara, Phone: +1-281-362-2300, joseph.ferrara@rigaku.com, http://www.rigaku.com/index_en.html
SII's new XRF coating thickness gauge (August 1, 2007)
SII NanoTechnology Inc. has released the SFT9550, a fluorescent X-ray coating thickness gauge for measuring the thickness of metallic films deposited on large printed circuit boards, electronic parts etc, of up to 400(X) x 300(Y) x 45(Z) mm in size. The power of the X-ray tube is 50 kV-1 mA and a liquid nitrogen-free type semiconductor detector is employed. The price of the standard product is 14,900,000 JPY. For further information, Phone: +81-6-6280-0066, http://www.siint.com/en/contact/index.html
Thermo Fisher Scientific releases integrated XRF/XRD analyzer for the cement industry (July 30, 2007)
Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc., has introduced its new ARL 9900 Series X-ray WorkStation, designed for cement process and quality control. For the first time, full X-ray Diffraction (XRD) and X-ray Fluorescence (XRF) are combined in a single instrument, bringing increased productivity and reduced cost of ownership. For further information, Phone: +1 800-532-4752, analyze@thermofisher.com, http://www.thermo.com/elemental
Bruker introduces new X-ray source-detector combination (July 30, 2007)
Bruker AXS Inc., has introduced a new Super Speed X-ray source-detector combination - Incoatec’s Microfocus Source, the IμS, which is connected to a "Quazar" Montel multilayer optic for 2D beam shaping, and Bruker’s VANTEC-2000 detector. For further information: contact Michael Willett, Investor Relations and Public Relations Officer, Phone: +1 (978) 663-3660, ext. 1411, Michael.Willett@bruker.com, http://www.bruker-axs.com/
PANalytical’s new version software for X-ray reflectometry (July 20, 2007)
PANalytical has released a new version of its software tool for the analysis of X-ray reflectometry data, X'Pert Reflectivity 1.2, which enables the automatic fitting of simulated to experimental specular X-ray reflectivity curves. The new version increases the level of automation possible. Using a choice of three automatic fitting procedures, the software performs multiple simulations to refine selected sample and instrument parameters, ensuring the best fit with the measured data. For further information, Phone: +31-546-534444, Fax: +31-546-534592, info@panalytical.com, http://www.panalytical.com/
Corporate


Siemens and Xintek form joint venture to develop field emission type multi-pixel X-ray tubes (September 18, 2007)
Siemens Medical Solutions and Xintek Inc. have announced that they have signed an agreement to establish a joint venture company, named XinRay Systems, in Research Triangle Park, North Carolina, USA. The mission of the new company is to develop a new multi-pixel X-ray source technology for a broad range of diagnostic imaging applications. For the past two years, Siemens and Xintek have cooperated in developing nanotechnology-based field emission X-ray source technology. For further information, ccpublicrelationsusa.med@siemens.com (Siemens Medical Solutions), http://w1.siemens.com/en/entry.html, or Phone: +1-919-313-9638, info@xintek.com (Xintek), http://www.xintek.com/
Oxford Instruments plc acquires VeriCold Technologies GmbH (August 20, 2007)
Oxford Instruments plc has announced the acquisition of VeriCold Technologies GmbH, which manufactures and markets a range of cryogen-free products based on its pulse tube cooler technology. For further information, contact Lynn Shepherd, Corporate Communications Manager, lynn.shepherd@oxinst.co.uk, http://www.oxinst.com/
SpectroscopyNow.com
For additional news about X-ray analysis and other spectroscopy sciences, browse the Wiley website. http://www.SpectroscopyNow.com

Kenji Sakurai Director, X-Ray Physics Group, National Institute for Materials Science (NIMS) and Professor, Doctoral Program in Materials Science and Engineering, Graduate School of Pure and Applied Sciences, University of Tsukuba 1-2-1, Sengen, Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305-0047 Japan Phone : +81-29-859-2821, Fax : +81-29-859-2801 sakurai@yuhgiri.nims.go.jp http://www.nims.go.jp/xray/lab/


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