Physics 898: Communication Skills for Physicists

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Physics 898 Communication Skills for Physicists

• Introductions and Methods

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Abstract A cold-cathode penning ion gauge (PIG)
source built with permanent magnet for the
production of intense O ion beam has been
developed for the simultaneous acceleration of O
and O ion beams in a 1MV RFQ accelerator. O- ion
beam of intensity of 1.5mA has been produced with
this small PIG ion source. The effects of the
source magnetic field, cathode material and
extraction aperture on the production of the
intense O- ion beam have been investigated and
will be presented in this article.
What is the title of the paper?
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an intense O- ion beam
Either would improve the title
of intense O- ion beams
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Research Article Introductions

• 4 basic moves identified

Swales (1984)
Move 1 Establish topic and significance
Move 2 Summarize previous knowledge and work
Move 3 Prepare for present research by indicating
gap in previous research or raising question
about previous research
Move 4 Introduce the present research by stating
the purpose and/or outlining the research
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Review paper of Yu et al

• What are the moves in the introduction?
• Suggest improvements to the language as
  appropriate
• Line-by-line critique is a useful skill to
  practice

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Move 1 set the scene

• An ion source capable of producing
  milliamperes of O- ion beam is needed to provide
  an intense O- ion beam for the study of
  simultaneous accelerating O- and O ions in a
  1MeV RFQ accelerator 1,2.

An ion source capable of producing milliamperes
of ion current is needed to provide an intense O-
ion beam for the study of simultaneously
accelerating O- and O ions in a 1MeV RFQ
accelerator 1,2.
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Move 2 current knowledge
It is well known that ion source with hot cathode
is not suitable for the production of intense O-
or O ion beam, due to the rapid cathode
oxidation in an intense oxygen plasma that
results in a very short cathode lifetime
Needs a reference
It is well known that an ion source with a hot
cathode is not suitable for the production of
intense O- or O ion beams ref the rapid
cathode oxidation in an intense oxygen plasma
results in a very short cathode lifetime ref
possibly
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Move 2/Move 3

• The cathode-less microwave ion source can
  produce intense O ion beams, but there is no
  report on the production of intense O- ion beams
  with this type of ion source.

This part is move 3 a drawback to the current
state of the art
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Move 2- Move 3
Cesium sputtering negative ion source (SNICS) is
typically capable of producing about 100200 µA
of O- ion beams, while a factor of 10 more beam
intensity is needed for the simultaneous
acceleration of O- and O ions.
A Cesium sputtering negative ion source (SNICS)
is typically capable of producing an ion current
of 100200 µA in an O- beams, but an order of
magnitude more beam intensity is needed for the
simultaneous acceleration of O- and O ions.
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Move 4 the present work
Based and as a continuation of our previous RD,
we have developed a cold-cathode penning ion
gauge (PIG) ion source built with permanent
magnet to produce the needed O- ion beams 3.
We have developed a cold-cathode penning ion
gauge (PIG) source with a permanent magnet to
produce O- ion beams with the required beam
current 3.
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Move 4
So far up to 1.5mA of O- have been produced with
this cold-cathode PIG ion source, and the
fraction of O- ions has reached more than 80 of
the total extracted negative oxygen ion beams.
Up to 1.5mA of O- have been produced with this
cold-cathode PIG ion source, and the fraction of
O- ions has exceeded 80 of the total extracted
negative oxygen ion beams.
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To optimize the production of the O- ion beam
intensity, the effects of source magnetic field,
cathode material and beam extraction aperture
have been studied systematically.
Effect is correct here
Affect is a verb roughly meaning act on.
Effect is a noun roughly meaning consequence or
outcome (plural effects)
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Move 4 this work
According to the experimental results, with
further source optimizations, more than 2mA of
negative oxygen ion beam can be produced.
Our results indicate that with further source
optimizations, more than 2mA of a negative oxygen
ion beam can be produced.
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Writing Methods Sections

• May be referred to as Methods and Materials
• Usually positioned immediately after the
  introduction
• Emphasis on How we solved the problem
• Some journals have it as a separate section at
  the end of the article
• Some journals have methods in smaller type

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What it should contain

• Description should be detailed enough so that
  knowledgeable colleagues to repeat the
  experiments
• Does not have to specify every action
• Assumes a specialised audience

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What it should do

• Present an argument that the experiment was
  designed and conducted in a sensible, methodical
  manner

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• Description requires less detail in a mature
  subject area

The experiments were performed at MAX II at the
Swedish National Synchrotron Facility Maxlab
using the Uppsala built surface science
endstation at the undulator beamline I511 18.
The endstation is equipped with an analysis
chamber housing a Scienta SES-200 electron
spectrometer19, a partial yield XAS detector
and a grazing incidence spherical grating X-ray
spectrometer20, in addition to the preparation
chamber housing a multi-channel plate gas dosing
system and standard surface science
characterization tools such as LEED optics and
mass spectrometer.
H. Östrom et al Surface Science 565 (2004) 206-222
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The Cu crystals were cleaned by repeated Argon
ion sputtering, followed by annealing to 850 K,
until a sharp LEED pattern was obtained and no
contaminants were visible with XPS.
Cleaning copper crystals is a well established
procedure. A knowledgeable surface scientist
would know this.
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New procedures or instruments

• Important to emphasize any new methods or
  modifications to existing ones
• Aim to justify a design or method choice

We utilize fluorescent beads combined with
fluorescence imaging optics to overcome the
shadow artifact.
Qian et al, Rev. Sci. Inst. 75, 2937 (2004)
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Where method section is very important

• Journals such as Review of Scientific Instruments
• Construction and design of the apparatus is a
  focus of the journal

• Instrument Design
• Experimental Procedure

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Active or Passive?

• Most methods are in the passive

The experiments were performed

• American Institute of Physics style guide

Passive construction gives prominence to the
essential facts
Air was admitted through the valve
Doesnt matter who did it!
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Avoid the passive if..

• It makes the sentence awkward

The values of have been calculated
Better to use
I / We have calculated
Shorter and neater
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Present tense

• Rev Sci Inst paper
• Uses the present tense in the method
• Gives impression of an instrument being used now

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Exercise

• Please do an analysis of the language used in the
  introduction and method of one of your chosen
  research papers
• Indicate the moves in the introduction
• Look at the tenses and active/passive language
  used in the method
• Comment on the level of expert knowledge required
  to understand the method

• Bring this analysis to class on Tuesday
• Bring the research papers