Spatial Distribution Of Ions Research Articles

Numerical modelling of ion transport in flames

This paper presents a modelling framework to compute the diffusivity and mobility of ions in flames. The (n, 6, 4) interaction potential is adopted to model collisions between neutral and charged species. All required parameters in the potential are related to the polarizability of the species pair via semi-empirical formulas, which are derived using the most recently published data or best estimates. The resulting framework permits computation of the transport coefficients of any ion found in a hydrocarbon flame. The accuracy of the proposed method is evaluated by comparing its predictions with experimental data on the mobility of selected ions in single-component neutral gases. Based on this analysis, the value of a model constant available in the literature is modified in order to improve the model's predictions. The newly determined ion transport coefficients are used as part of a previously developed numerical approach to compute the distribution of charged species in a freely propagating premixed lean CH4/O2 flame. Since a significant scatter of polarizability data exists in the literature, the effects of changes in polarizability on ion transport properties and the spatial distribution of ions in flames are explored. Our analysis shows that changes in polarizability propagate with decreasing effect from binary transport coefficients to species number densities. We conclude that the chosen polarizability value has a limited effect on the ion distribution in freely propagating flames. We expect that the modelling framework proposed here will benefit future efforts in modelling the effect of external voltages on flames. Supplemental data for this article can be accessed at http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/13647830.2015.1090018.

Asymmetric size of ions and orientational ordering of water dipoles in electric double layer model - an analytical mean-field approach

Electric double layer is theoretically described within the mean-field approach by taking into account the orientational ordering of water dipoles and asymmetric size of cations and anions. Analytical expressions for the spatial distribution of ions and water dipoles are derived. The effect of asymmetric ionic size on accumulation of counterions and partial depletion of water molecules near the charged surface, on spatial dependence of relative permittivity and on differential capacitance of electric double layer are presented.

Comparative pick-up ion distributions at Mars and Venus: Consequences for atmospheric deposition and escape

Without the shielding of a substantial intrinsic dipole magnetic field, the atmospheres of Mars and Venus are particularly susceptible to similar atmospheric ion energization and scavenging processes. However, each planet has different attributes and external conditions controlling its high altitude planetary ion spatial and energy distributions. This paper describes analogous test particle simulations in background MHD fields that allow us to compare the properties and fates, precipitation or escape, of the mainly O+ atmospheric pick-up ions at Mars and Venus. The goal is to illustrate how atmospheric and planetary scales affect the upper atmospheres and space environments of our terrestrial planet neighbors. The results show the expected convection electric field-related hemispheric asymmetries in both precipitation and escape, where the degree of asymmetry at each planet is determined by the planetary scale and local interplanetary field strength. At Venus, the kinetic treatment of O+ reveals a strong nightside source of precipitation while Mars' crustal fields complicate the simple asymmetry in ion precipitation and drive a dayside source of precipitation. The pickup O+ escape pattern at both Venus and Mars exhibits low energy tailward escape, but Mars exhibits a prominent, high energy ‘polar plume’ feature in the hemisphere of the upward convection electric field while the Venus ion wake shows only a modest poleward concentration. The overall escape is larger at Venus than Mars (2.1×1025 and 4.3×1024 at solar maximum, respectively), but the efficiency (likelihood) of O+ escaping is 2–3 times higher at Mars. The consequences of these comparisons for pickup ion related atmospheric energy deposition, loss rates, and detection on spacecraft including PVO, VEX, MEX and MAVEN are considered. In particular, both O+ precipitation and escape show electric field controlled asymmetries that grow with energy, while the O+ fluxes and energy spectra at selected spatial locations show characteristic signatures of the pickup related acceleration and precipitation.

Non-invasive biopsy of doped-ions inside optical substrate by modified two-photon microscopy.

Doped-ion based optical elements play key roles in optical signal processes, including amplification, absorption, wavelength-filtering, lighting, and polarizing plate. Non-invasively mapping the spatial distribution of the ion concentrations in these optical elements is highly desirable either during the fabrication process or to determine their optical qualities. In this work, we applied modified two-photon fluorescence (m-TPF) microscopy to trace the ion-distributions deep inside the optical elements. For demonstration purposes, polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) polymer films inside polarizing plates are taken as an example, where the spatial distributions of Iodine-dyed ions were measured by the m-TPF microscope in a fast and non-invasive way. The durability of the polarizer films can be distinguished from the axial distribution of the Iodine-dyed ions, without the need to perform a biopsy. This proposed method and demonstrated results show great potential for monitoring the spatial distributions of doped-ions in the optical elements quickly and non-destructively, which would be of great benefit in both scientific research and industrial applications.

Equilibrium modeling of ion adsorption based on Poisson–Boltzmann equation

Abstract A phenomenological model representing ion adsorption equilibrium is proposed. It is an extension of the model used to represent surface adsorption, and it is intended to interpret bulk adsorption data. The fundamental equations of the model were established for fluid and solid phases mass balance and for the spatial distribution of ions across the sample. The electric field distribution in the system, modeled on Poisson's equation, and the chemical potential behavior were determined as a function of fluid phase equilibrium concentration. The concentration of ions as a function of electric potential is given by Boltzmann distribution. The proposed model was successfully tested to represent equilibrium adsorption of metallic ions in zeolite, showing results similar to conventional isotherms.

Unbalance magnetron plasma source for ion mass-separator

The report presents the results of the preliminary studies characteristics of an unbalanced magnetron plasma source supplied with the transport system based on a curved magnetic field. The aim of these studies was to recognize if the system is suitable, in principle, for mass-separation of a multi-component plasma flow. The magnetron source has 50 mm diameter cathode manufactured of an alloy composed of Cu (64%), Pb (22.5%) and admixtures, about of 14% (Al, Zn, C). By means of an immersion time-of-flight spectrometer, a spatial distribution of ions of the cathode material was measured through the system output cross-section. Distribution of atom of these elements was measured here by the X-ray fluorescence spectrometry as well. Both methods showed that the ions of the lighter element (Cu) were concentrated in the inner part of the plasma flow deflected by the magnetic field while the distribution of the heavy element (Pb) was shifted toward the outer area of the flow. The similar effect was observed for each couple of the elements. Such a system is promising for use in plasma technology of reprocessing spent nuclear fuel, namely for separation heavy radioactive fission product from nuclear waste.

Experimental investigation of the 2D ion beam profile generated by an ESI octopole-QMS system.

In this paper, we have employed an ion imaging approach to investigate the behavior of ions exiting from a quadrupole mass spectrometer (QMS) system that employs a radio frequency octopole ion guide before the QMS. An in-vacuum active pixel detector (Timepix) is employed at the exit of the QMS to image the ion patterns. The detector assembly simultaneously records the ion impact position and number of ions per pixel in every measurement frame. The transmission characteristics of the ion beam exiting the QMS are studied using this imaging detector under different operating conditions. Experimental results confirm that the ion spatial distribution exiting the QMS is heavily influenced by ion injection conditions. Furthermore, ion images from Timepix measurements of protein standards demonstrate the capability to enhance the quality of the mass spectral information and provide a detailed insight in the spatial distribution of different charge states (and hence different m/z) ions exiting the QMS.

ASAXS quantifies counterion distributions around DNA and RNA

Because both RNA and DNA carry large negative charge, interaction with oppositely charged partners is required for folding to functional structures. For example, counterions fold RNA and condense DNA. Despite these important roles, ion detection remains elusive. I describe the application of anomalous SAXS methods that highlight the contribution to the scattering signal arising from counterions [1]. In addition to measuring ion distribution, we also count the number of excess ions surrounding a nucleic acid structure [2,3]. Taken together, measurements of ion number and spatial distribution provide an understanding of the relationship between counterions and nucleic acid structure. Present ASAXS work in the Pollack lab is supported by the NIH through grants R01 GM085062 and R01 GM099450.

Revealing quantum path details in high-field physics

The tunnelling of an electron through a suppressed atomic potential followed by its motion in the continuum, is the fundamental mechanism underlying strong-field laser-atom/molecule interactions. Due to its quantum nature, the interaction is governed by the phase of the released electron wave-packets. Thus, detailed mapping of the electron wave-packet interferences provides essential insight into the physics underlying the interaction. A process which is providing access to the intricacies of the interaction is the generation of high order harmonics of the laser frequency. The phase-amplitude distribution of the emitted extreme-ultraviolet (EUV), carries the complete information about the harmonic generation process and vice-versa. Thus, the visualization of the EUV-spatial-amplitude-distribution, as it results from interfering electron wave-packet contributions, is of crucial importance. Restrictions to this accomplishment are due to the spatially integrating measurement approaches applied so far, that average out the phase effects in the generation process. In this work, we demonstrate a method which overcomes this obstacle. An EUV-spatial-amplitude-distribution-image is induced from the imprint on the measured spatial distribution of ions, produced through EUV-photon ionization of atoms. Interference extremes in the image carry phase information about the interfering electron wave-packets. The present approach provides detailed insight on the strong-field laser-atom interaction mechanism, while establishing the era of phase selective interaction studies. Furthermore, it paves the way for substantial enhancement of the spectral and temporal precision of measurements by in-situ controlling the phase distribution of the emitted radiation and/or spatially selecting the EUV-radiation-atom interaction products.

Tuning heat transport in trapped-ion chains across a structural phase transition

We explore heat transport across an ion Coulomb crystal beyond the harmonic regime by tuning it across the structural phase transition between the linear and zigzag configurations. This demonstrates that the control of the spatial ion distribution by varying the trapping frequencies renders ion Coulomb crystals an ideal test-bed to study heat transport properties in finite open system of tunable non-linearities.

The effect of space charge in ion mobility spectrometry

We present the study of expansion of an ion cloud in the process of its drift in the ion mobility spectrometer taking into account the influence of diffusion and electric field of the space charge of the ion cloud. Nonlinear integro-differential equation describing these effects was obtained and solved numerically in the one-dimensional case. We found a threshold value of the ion density, above which the nonlinear effects associated with the space-charge field become significant, which agrees well with the experimental data and the criterion of Spangler. These nonlinear effects lead to the fact that the spatial ion distribution ceases to be Gaussian, and with good accuracy are approximated by the distribution of Kohlrausch–Williams–Watts.

Investigation of severe water problem in urban areas of a developing country: the case of Dhaka, Bangladesh.

The present study evaluated water supply geochemistry in Dhaka City, Bangladesh, to provide detailed trace level (subppb) water quality data that include major ions, low dissolved oxygen (DO) and toxic trace metals for sustainable development. Dhaka Groundwater, which almost uniformly meets the World Health Organization guideline, has become the preferred source. Due to groundwater depletion and an ever-increasing need to meet water demands by city residents, Dhaka water supply and sewerage authority has initiated the treatment of river water, despite the fact that very little is known about the geochemical structure, and trace metal content in the Dhaka water supply. Major ion composition of water samples was determined, and the results used to generate Stiff diagrams. The diagrams served to visually compare water from different sources based on units of mass/volume. Hydrochemical facies analysis showed supply ground and surface waters are comprised predominately of Ca-Na-Mg-HCO3 and Ca-Na-Mg-HCO3-Cl types. Spatial distribution of ions, and Na/Cl and Na/SiO2 molar ratio indicated that silicate weathering is the dominant geochemical process. Chemical data revealed that toxic Cr metal mobilization is associated with chemical hazards from the leather industry. The vulnerability of deep wells to contamination by As is governed by the geometry of induced groundwater flow paths and the geochemical conditions encountered between the shallow and deep regions of the aquifer. Quantifying total arsenic (As) and As from interlocking geochemical cycles (Fe, Mn) may assist in interpreting As dynamics in Dhaka well water. The surface source water was hypoxic to anoxic low DO associated with very high concentrations of biological oxygen demands, and electrical conductivity compared to industrial and non-industrial urban processes and standard activity guidelines. The results of this study should be applied to future research focused on the potential to improve water quality in urban and surrounding areas.

Self‐organizing maps: A versatile tool for the automatic analysis of untargeted imaging datasets

MS-based imaging approaches allow for location-specific identification of chemical components in biological samples, opening up possibilities of much more detailed understanding of biological processes and mechanisms. Data analysis, however, is challenging, mainly because of the sheer size of such datasets. This article presents a novel approach based on self-organizing maps, extending previous work in order to be able to handle the large number of variables present in high-resolution mass spectra. The key idea is to generate prototype images, representing spatial distributions of ions, rather than prototypical mass spectra. This allows for a two-stage approach, first generating typical spatial distributions and associated m/z bins, and later analyzing the interesting bins in more detail using accurate masses. The possibilities and advantages of the new approach are illustrated on an in-house dataset of apple slices.

Electric winds driven by time oscillating corona discharges

We investigate the formation of steady gas flows—so-called electric winds—created by point-plane corona discharges driven by time oscillating (ac) electric fields. By varying the magnitude and frequency of the applied field, we identify two distinct scaling regimes: (i) a low frequency (dc) regime and (ii) a high frequency (ac) regime. These experimental observations are reproduced and explained by a theoretical model describing the transport and recombination of ions surrounding the discharge and their contribution to the measured wind velocity. The two regimes differ in the spatial distribution of ions and in the process by which ions are consumed. Interestingly, we find that ac corona discharges generate strong electric forces localized near the tip of the point electrode, while dc corona discharges generate weaker forces distributed throughout the interelectrode region. Consequently, the velocity of the electric winds (>1 m/s) generated by ac discharges is largely independent of the position of the counter electrode. The unified theoretical description of dc and ac electric winds presented here reconciles previous observations of winds driven by dc corona and ac dielectric barrier discharges; insights from the model should also prove useful in the design of other plasma actuators.

Constant-Momentum Acceleration Time-of-Flight Mass Spectrometry with Energy Focusing

Fundamental aspects of constant-momentum acceleration time-of-flight mass spectrometry (CMA-TOFMS) are explored as a means to improve mass resolution. By accelerating all ions to the same momentum rather than to the same energy, the effects of the initial ion spatial and energy distributions upon the total ion flight time are decoupled. This decoupling permits the initial spatial distribution of ions in the acceleration region to be optimized independently, and energy focus, including ion turn-around-time error, to be accomplished with a linear-field reflectron. Constant-momentum acceleration also linearly disperses ions across time according to mass-to-charge (m/z) ratio, instead of the quadratic relationship between flight time and m/z found in conventional TOFMS. Here, CMA-TOFMS is shown to achieve simultaneous spatial and energy focusing over a selected portion of the mass spectrum. An orthogonal-acceleration time-of-flight system outfitted with a reduced-pressure DC glow discharge (GD) ionization source is used to demonstrate CMA-TOFMS with atomic ions. The influence of experimental parameters such as the amplitude and width of the time-dependent CMA pulse on mass resolution is investigated, and a useful CMA-TOFMS focusing window of 2 to 18Da is found for GD-CMA-TOFMS.

Cold atomic beam ion source for focused ion beam applications

We report measurements and modeling of an ion source that is based on ionization of a laser-cooled atomic beam. We show a high brightness and a low energy spread, suitable for use in next-generation, high-resolution focused ion beam systems. Our measurements of total ion current as a function of ionization conditions support an analytical model that also predicts the cross-sectional current density and spatial distribution of ions created in the source. The model predicts a peak brightness of 2 × 107 A m−2 sr−1 eV−1 and an energy spread less than 0.34 eV. The model is also combined with Monte-Carlo simulations of the inter-ion Coulomb forces to show that the source can be operated at several picoamperes with a brightness above 1 × 107 A m−2 sr−1 eV−1. We estimate that when combined with a conventional ion focusing column, an ion source with these properties could focus a 1 pA beam into a spot smaller than 1 nm. A total current greater than 5 nA was measured in a lower-brightness configuration of the ion source, demonstrating the possibility of a high current mode of operation.

Numerical simulation of a plasma actuator based on ion transport

Two-dimensional numerical simulation of ion transport and flow around a single dielectric barrier discharge plasma actuator (PA) is performed. Spatial distributions of ions and electrons as well as their time evolution are obtained by solving the transport equations of monovalent positive ions, monovalent negative ions, and electrons. Voltage and frequency of the driving alternating-current signal are assumed to be 8 kV and 5 kHz, respectively. Special focus is laid upon the effect of voltage gradient dV/dt on the magnitude of the body force. The validity of steady force models often used in flow simulation is also examined. The simulation results show that the magnitude of the body force induced by the PA increases as the voltage gradient dV/dt increases and its increase rate becomes milder at higher voltage. The mechanism of body force generation is explained from the time evolution of number density fields of ions and electrons. A comparison between flow simulations using a time-resolved body force and its time-averaged counterpart demonstrates that the time-averaged model gives sufficiently accurate results when the time scale of the flow is more than 30 times greater than that of the PA.

Density effects in plasmas: Detailed atomic calculations and analytical expressions

In warm dense plasmas, the free-electron and ion spatial distribution may strongly affect atomic structure. To account for such effects we have implemented a potential correction based on the uniform electron gas model in the Flexible Atomic Code (FAC). This code has been applied to obtain energies, wave-functions and radiative rates modified by the plasma environment. In hydrogen-like ions, these numerical results have been successfully compared to an analytical calculation based on first-order perturbation theory. In the case of multi-electron ions, we observe level crossings in agreement with another recent model calculation.

SPATIAL DISTRIBUTION AND ACCUMULATION OF CALCIUM IN DIFFERENT TISSUES, DEVELOPING SPIKES AND SEEDS OF FINGER MILLET GENOTYPES

□ Total calcium (Ca) content in different tissues, developing spikes (S1, S2, S3 and S4 stages), and distribution sites in seeds of five finger millet genotypes, which were differed in total calcium content, were analyzed. Atomic absorption spectroscopy (AAS) revealed stage-dependent quantitative changes in calcium accumulation from low to high during different stages of developing spikes and also in different tissues and grains. Results of scanning electron microscopic (SEM) energy dispersive X-ray (EDX) analysis showed differential distributions of the calcium in seed components viz. seed coat, aleurone layer and endosperm. Highest calcium content was observed in aleurone layer followed by seed coat while lowest calcium was found in endosperm of all genotypes. Major differences were found amongst genotypes with regard to the calcium distribution in seed components. The differential regulation of transport machinery might be responsible for differential calcium ion delivery and spatial distribution in the seed. A clear understanding of differential accumulation, spatial distribution and the variation of calcium within finger millet genotypes/seeds could be exploited for breeding for their bio-fortification and development of calcium rich functional foods.

Spatial distribution of ions in a linear octopole radio-frequency ion trap in the space-charge limit

We have explored the spatial distribution of an ion cloud trapped in a linear octopole radio-frequency (rf) ion trap. The two-dimensional distribution of the column density of stored silver dimer cations was measured via photofragment-ion yields as a function of the position of the incident laser beam over the transverse cross section of the trap. The profile of the ion distribution was found to be dependent on the number of loaded ions. Under high ion-loading conditions with a significant space-charge effect, ions form a ring profile with a maximum at the outer region of the trap, whereas they are localized near the center axis region at low loading of the ions. These results are explained quantitatively by a model calculation based on equilibrium between the space-charge-induced potential and the effective potential of the multipole rf field. The maximum adiabaticity parameter \eta_max is estimated to be about 0.13 for the high ion-density condition in the present octopole ion trap, which is lower than typical values reported for low ion densities; this is probably due to additional instability caused by the space charge.