Nuclear spectroscopy

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Nuclear spectroscopy is a superordinate concept of methods that uses properties of a nucleus to probe material properties. [1] [2] By emission or absorption of radiation from the nucleus information of the local structure is obtained, as an interaction of an atom with its closest neighbours. Or a radiation spectrum of the nucleus is detected. Most methods base on hyperfine interactions, which are the interaction of the nucleus with its interaction of its atom's electrons and their interaction with the nearest neighbor atoms as well as external fields. Nuclear spectroscopy is mainly applied to solids and liquids, rarely in gases. Its methods are important tools in condensed matter physics, [3] [4] solid state chemistry. [5] , and analysis of chemical composition (analytical chemistry).

Methods

In nuclear physics these methods are used to study properties of the nucleus itself.

Methods for studies of the nucleus:

Methods for condensed matter studies:

Methods for trace element analysis:

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Condensed matter physics</span> Branch of physics

Condensed matter physics is the field of physics that deals with the macroscopic and microscopic physical properties of matter, especially the solid and liquid phases that arise from electromagnetic forces between atoms and electrons. More generally, the subject deals with condensed phases of matter: systems of many constituents with strong interactions among them. More exotic condensed phases include the superconducting phase exhibited by certain materials at extremely low cryogenic temperatures, the ferromagnetic and antiferromagnetic phases of spins on crystal lattices of atoms, the Bose–Einstein condensates found in ultracold atomic systems, and liquid crystals. Condensed matter physicists seek to understand the behavior of these phases by experiments to measure various material properties, and by applying the physical laws of quantum mechanics, electromagnetism, statistical mechanics, and other physics theories to develop mathematical models and predict the properties of extremely large groups of atoms.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Spectroscopy</span> Study involving matter and electromagnetic radiation

Spectroscopy is the field of study that measures and interprets electromagnetic spectra. In narrower contexts, spectroscopy is the precise study of color as generalized from visible light to all bands of the electromagnetic spectrum.

The Mössbauer effect, or recoilless nuclear resonance fluorescence, is a physical phenomenon discovered by Rudolf Mössbauer in 1958. It involves the resonant and recoil-free emission and absorption of gamma radiation by atomic nuclei bound in a solid. Its main application is in Mössbauer spectroscopy.

The nuclear Overhauser effect (NOE) is the transfer of nuclear spin polarization from one population of spin-active nuclei to another via cross-relaxation. A phenomenological definition of the NOE in nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy (NMR) is the change in the integrated intensity of one NMR resonance that occurs when another is saturated by irradiation with an RF field. The change in resonance intensity of a nucleus is a consequence of the nucleus being close in space to those directly affected by the RF perturbation.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hyperfine structure</span> Small shifts and splittings in the energy levels of atoms, molecules and ions

In atomic physics, hyperfine structure is defined by small shifts in otherwise degenerate energy levels and the resulting splittings in those energy levels of atoms, molecules, and ions, due to electromagnetic multipole interaction between the nucleus and electron clouds.

In quantum mechanics, angular momentum coupling is the procedure of constructing eigenstates of total angular momentum out of eigenstates of separate angular momenta. For instance, the orbit and spin of a single particle can interact through spin–orbit interaction, in which case the complete physical picture must include spin–orbit coupling. Or two charged particles, each with a well-defined angular momentum, may interact by Coulomb forces, in which case coupling of the two one-particle angular momenta to a total angular momentum is a useful step in the solution of the two-particle Schrödinger equation. In both cases the separate angular momenta are no longer constants of motion, but the sum of the two angular momenta usually still is. Angular momentum coupling in atoms is of importance in atomic spectroscopy. Angular momentum coupling of electron spins is of importance in quantum chemistry. Also in the nuclear shell model angular momentum coupling is ubiquitous.

The nuclear magnetic moment is the magnetic moment of an atomic nucleus and arises from the spin of the protons and neutrons. It is mainly a magnetic dipole moment; the quadrupole moment does cause some small shifts in the hyperfine structure as well. All nuclei that have nonzero spin also possess a nonzero magnetic moment and vice versa, although the connection between the two quantities is not straightforward or easy to calculate.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy</span> Laboratory technique

Nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy, most commonly known as NMR spectroscopy or magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS), is a spectroscopic technique based on re-orientation of atomic nuclei with non-zero nuclear spins in an external magnetic field. This re-orientation occurs with absorption of electromagnetic radiation in the radio frequency region from roughly 4 to 900 MHz, which depends on the isotopic nature of the nucleus and increased proportionally to the strength of the external magnetic field. Notably, the resonance frequency of each NMR-active nucleus depends on its chemical environment. As a result, NMR spectra provide information about individual functional groups present in the sample, as well as about connections between nearby nuclei in the same molecule. As the NMR spectra are unique or highly characteristic to individual compounds and functional groups, NMR spectroscopy is one of the most important methods to identify molecular structures, particularly of organic compounds.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">ISOLDE</span> Physics facility at CERN

The ISOLDE Radioactive Ion Beam Facility, is an on-line isotope separator facility located at the centre of the CERN accelerator complex on the Franco-Swiss border. Created in 1964, the ISOLDE facility started delivering radioactive ion beams (RIBs) to users in 1967. Originally located at the Synchro-Cyclotron (SC) accelerator, the facility has been upgraded several times most notably in 1992 when the whole facility was moved to be connected to CERN's ProtonSynchroton Booster (PSB). ISOLDE is currently the longest-running facility in operation at CERN, with continuous developments of the facility and its experiments keeping ISOLDE at the forefront of science with RIBs. ISOLDE benefits a wide range of physics communities with applications covering nuclear, atomic, molecular and solid-state physics, but also biophysics and astrophysics, as well as high-precision experiments looking for physics beyond the Standard Model. The facility is operated by the ISOLDE Collaboration, comprising CERN and sixteen (mostly) European countries. As of 2019, close to 1,000 experimentalists around the world are coming to ISOLDE to perform typically 50 different experiments per year.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Characterization (materials science)</span> Study of material structure and properties

Characterization, when used in materials science, refers to the broad and general process by which a material's structure and properties are probed and measured. It is a fundamental process in the field of materials science, without which no scientific understanding of engineering materials could be ascertained. The scope of the term often differs; some definitions limit the term's use to techniques which study the microscopic structure and properties of materials, while others use the term to refer to any materials analysis process including macroscopic techniques such as mechanical testing, thermal analysis and density calculation. The scale of the structures observed in materials characterization ranges from angstroms, such as in the imaging of individual atoms and chemical bonds, up to centimeters, such as in the imaging of coarse grain structures in metals.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mössbauer spectroscopy</span> Spectroscopic technique

Mössbauer spectroscopy is a spectroscopic technique based on the Mössbauer effect. This effect, discovered by Rudolf Mössbauer in 1958, consists of the nearly recoil-free emission and absorption of nuclear gamma rays in solids. The consequent nuclear spectroscopy method is exquisitely sensitive to small changes in the chemical environment of certain nuclei.

In nuclear chemistry and nuclear physics, J-couplings are mediated through chemical bonds connecting two spins. It is an indirect interaction between two nuclear spins that arises from hyperfine interactions between the nuclei and local electrons. In NMR spectroscopy, J-coupling contains information about relative bond distances and angles. Most importantly, J-coupling provides information on the connectivity of chemical bonds. It is responsible for the often complex splitting of resonance lines in the NMR spectra of fairly simple molecules.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fermi contact interaction</span> Magnetic interaction between an electron and a nucleus

The Fermi contact interaction is the magnetic interaction between an electron and an atomic nucleus. Its major manifestation is in electron paramagnetic resonance and nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopies, where it is responsible for the appearance of isotropic hyperfine coupling.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nuclear magnetic resonance</span> Spectroscopic technique based on change of nuclear spin state

Nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) is a physical phenomenon in which nuclei in a strong constant magnetic field are perturbed by a weak oscillating magnetic field and respond by producing an electromagnetic signal with a frequency characteristic of the magnetic field at the nucleus. This process occurs near resonance, when the oscillation frequency matches the intrinsic frequency of the nuclei, which depends on the strength of the static magnetic field, the chemical environment, and the magnetic properties of the isotope involved; in practical applications with static magnetic fields up to ca. 20 tesla, the frequency is similar to VHF and UHF television broadcasts (60–1000 MHz). NMR results from specific magnetic properties of certain atomic nuclei. Nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy is widely used to determine the structure of organic molecules in solution and study molecular physics and crystals as well as non-crystalline materials. NMR is also routinely used in advanced medical imaging techniques, such as in magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). The original application of NMR to condensed matter physics is nowadays mostly devoted to strongly correlated electron systems. It reveals large manybody couplings by fast broadband detection and it should not to be confused with solid state NMR, which aims at removing the effect of the same couplings by Magic Angle Spinning techniques.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Instrumental chemistry</span> Study of analytes using scientific instruments

Instrumental analysis is a field of analytical chemistry that investigates analytes using scientific instruments.

Nuclear orientation, in nuclear physics, is the directional ordering of an assembly of nuclear spins with respect to some axis in space. It is one of the nuclear spectroscopy methods.

Nuclear resonance vibrational spectroscopy is a synchrotron-based technique that probes vibrational energy levels. The technique, often called NRVS, is specific for samples that contain nuclei that respond to Mössbauer spectroscopy, most commonly iron. The method exploits the high resolution offered by synchrotron light sources, which enables the resolution of vibrational fine structure, especially those vibrations that are coupled to the position of the Fe centre(s). The method is popularly applied to problems in bioinorganic chemistry, materials science, and geophysics. A novel aspect of the method is the ability to determine the 3D-trajectory of iron atoms within vibrational modes, providing a unique appraisal of DFT-prediction accuracy. Other names for this method include nuclear inelastic scattering (NIS), nuclear inelastic absorption (NIA), nuclear resonant inelastic x-ray scattering (NRIXS), and phonon assisted Mössbauer effect.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Paramagnetic nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy</span> Spectroscopy of paramagnetic compounds via NMR

Paramagnetic nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy refers to nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy of paramagnetic compounds. Although most NMR measurements are conducted on diamagnetic compounds, paramagnetic samples are also amenable to analysis and give rise to special effects indicated by a wide chemical shift range and broadened signals. Paramagnetism diminishes the resolution of an NMR spectrum to the extent that coupling is rarely resolved. Nonetheless spectra of paramagnetic compounds provide insight into the bonding and structure of the sample. For example, the broadening of signals is compensated in part by the wide chemical shift range (often 200 ppm in 1H NMR). Since paramagnetism leads to shorter relaxation times (T1), the rate of spectral acquisition can be high.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Perturbed angular correlation</span>

The perturbed γ-γ angular correlation, PAC for short or PAC-Spectroscopy, is a method of nuclear solid-state physics with which magnetic and electric fields in crystal structures can be measured. In doing so, electrical field gradients and the Larmor frequency in magnetic fields as well as dynamic effects are determined. With this very sensitive method, which requires only about 10–1000 billion atoms of a radioactive isotope per measurement, material properties in the local structure, phase transitions, magnetism and diffusion can be investigated. The PAC method is related to nuclear magnetic resonance and the Mössbauer effect, but shows no signal attenuation at very high temperatures. Today only the time-differential perturbed angular correlation (TDPAC) is used.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Local structure</span> Close surroundings of an atom

The local structure is a term in nuclear spectroscopy that refers to the structure of the nearest neighbours around an atom in crystals and molecules. E.g. in crystals the atoms order in a regular fashion on wide ranges to form even gigantic highly ordered crystals. However, in reality, crystals are never perfect and have impurities or defects, which means that a foreign atom resides on a lattice site or in between lattice sites (interstitials). These small defects and impurities cannot be seen by methods such as X-ray diffraction or neutron diffraction, because these methods average in their nature of measurement over a large number of atoms and thus are insensitive to effects in local structure. Methods in nuclear spectroscopy use specific nuclei as probe. The nucleus of an atom is about 10,000 to 150,000 times smaller than the atom itself. It experiences the electric fields created by the atom's electrons that surround the nucleus. In addition, the electric fields created by neighbouring atoms also influence the fields that the nucleus experiences. The interactions between the nucleus and these fields are called hyperfine interactions that influence the nucleus' properties. The nucleus therefore becomes very sensitive to small changes in its hyperfine structure, which can be measured by methods of nuclear spectroscopy, such as e.g. nuclear magnetic resonance, Mössbauer spectroscopy, and perturbed angular correlation.

References

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