NEWS
Instrumental Analysis Enhancement Program The 1989-90 academic year is the seventh year that the So ciety for Analytical Chemists of Pittsburgh (SACP) has sponsored a program to provide copies of ANALYTICAL CHEMISTRY to undergraduate students enrolled in instru mental analysis courses in U.S. colleges and universities. This year 1133 subscriptions will go to 359 academic insti tutions participating in the Enhancement Program for Stu dents in Instrumental Analysis Courses. The subscriptions are intended to enrich course content and to encourage students to continue studying analytical chemistry at the graduate level. Professors participating in the program ensure that the issues are available to students in the laboratory, and some of them assign student projects based on the material in the JOURNAL. A guide is also pro vided that contains suggestions for the JOURNAL'S use as a supplemental teaching tool. The program begins this month and will continue through February. Originating at the Allerton Conference in 1981, the program was funded in its first year (1982) by the ACS Corporation Associates. Since 1983 the program has been partially supported by a $5000 grant from SACP.
Pulsing for Power By concentrating the output of a relatively low-energy chemical laser into a fast, tightly focused, repeating pulse of light, researchers at Los Alamos National Laboratory have been able to generate enough power to strip away eight of neon's 10 electrons. Eventually, this type of pulsed laser could become the basis for an even more powerful lab oratory X-ray laser. Two lasers capable of these fast pulses, named Bright Source I and II, are now in operation at Los Alamos. Bright Source I, which began operation about three years ago, is a KrF laser producing 248-nm light with an energy output of only 20 m j . However, says Bright Source project director Gottfried Schappert, that output is squeezed into a 0.5-ps pulse focused onto just 5-10 μτα2. This intensely
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bright pulse of light corresponds to an irradiance of over 1017 W/cm 2 . Furthermore, pulses can be repeated at a rate of up to 5 Hz. Recently, a second Bright Source laser began operation (see photo). Costing $2.5 million, this XeCl laser emits light at 308 nm and produces an energy output of about 300 mJ. Jamming that energy into a fast pulse increases the irradiance tenfold over Bright Source I. Eventually, says Schappert, Bright Source II could reach an output of 1 J, producing an irradiance of ~10 2 0 W/cm 2 . These high-power pulses can force an atom to absorb several hundred photons. To remove the eight Ne electrons, says Schappert, required ~ 1 kV of energy corresponding to 250 photons. In addition, Bright Source lasers can heat a target to temperatures high enough that the atoms produce X-rays. Although these X-rays are incoherent, they could, like a flashlamp in a ruby laser, pump an X-ray laser. Says Schappert, "Scientists, for a long time, have sought a laboratory X-ray laser that could unlock the mysteries of atomic structure similar to the way X-rays are now used in the medical field."
For Your Information The Ronald Belcher Memorial Award provides a $1000 travel grant to a promising analytical researcher 30 years of age or younger and who has no more than one year of postdoctoral experience. Applications are due December 31. More information is available from R. Chalmers, Department of Chemistry, University of Aberdeen, Old Aberdeen, Scotland, or James Winefordner, Department of Chemistry, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL 32611. The National Science Foundation (NSF) is again requesting nominations of outstanding American researchers 35 or younger, or not more than 5 years beyond receipt of their Ph.D.s, for the Alan T. Waterman Award. Nominations, which must be received by December 31, should be sent to the Waterman Award Committee, NSF, 1800 G St., N.W., Room 545, Washington, DC 20550. The 1988 American Type Culture Collection (ATCQ Fungi/Yeast Update lists 1150 new strains representing 600 species that have been added to ATCC's collection. For more information, contact ATCC/MKTING NR24,12301 Parklawn Dr., Rockville, MD 20852. Nippon Sanso K.K. has become the sole owner of Matheson Gas Products, the first commercial producer and supplier of specialty gases. The Japanese firm, which owned 50% of the company, acquired the remaining portion of Matheson from AmeriGas. The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) developed two new standards for the detection of sulfur emission by pulp and paper industries. Hydrogen sulfide in 5- and 20-ppm concentrations is available from Standard Reference Materials, NIST, B311 Chemistry Bldg., Gaithersburg, MD 20899 (301-975-6776).
ANALYTICAL CHEMISTRY, VOL. 61, NO. 18, SEPTEMBER 15, 1989 · 1021 A
