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The definition of the basic physical mechanisms of the dielectric breakdown (BD) phenomenon is still an open area of research. In particular, in advanced complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS) circuits, the BD of gate dielectrics occurs in the regime of relatively low voltage and very high electric field; this is of enormous technological importance, and thus widely investigated but still not well understood. Such BD is characterized by a gradual, progressive growth of the gate leakage through a localized BD spot. In this paper, we report for the first time experimental data and a model which provide understanding of the main physical mechanism responsible for the progressive BD growth. We demonstrate the ability to control the breakdown growth rate of a number of gate dielectrics and provide a physical model of the observed behavior, allowing to considerably improve the reliability margins of CMOS circuits by choosing a correct combination of voltage, thickness, and thermal conductivity of the gate dielectric. Fil: Palumbo, Félix Roberto Mario. Technion - Israel Institute of Technology; Israel Fil: Lombardo, Salvatore. Istituto per la Microelettronica e Microsistemi. Catania; Italia Fil: Eizenberg, Moshe. Technion - Israel Institute of Technology; Israel

Additive production techniques have the advantage of manufacturing parts without needing a forming tool. One of the most used additive manufacturing processes is "Fused Deposition Modeling" (FDM) which allows the production of prototypes and end-use parts. Due to the manufacture layer by layer, also complex part geometries can be created in one working step. Furthermore, lightweight parts with specific inner core structures can be manufactured in order to achieve good weightrelated strength properties. In this paper the mechanical behavior of lightweight parts manufactured with the 3D production system Fortus 400mc from Stratasys and the material Polyetherimide (PEI) with the trade name Ultem*9085 is analyzed. The test specimens were built up with different inner structures and building directions. Therefore, test specimens with known lightweight core geometries (e.g. corrugated and honeycomb cores) were designed. A four-point bending test was conducted to analyze the strength properties as well as the weight-related strength properties. Additionally the influence of the structure width, the structure wall thickness and the top layer thickness was analyzed using a honeycomb structure.

In this paper the relationship between different composite morphologies and their mechanical properties is to be investigated. By manufacturing two different tape-based polypropylene composites in a compression moulding process, four varying degrees of compaction will be generated. The morphological structure is analyzed using confocal laser light microscopy and wet chemically etched specimen cross-sections. The etching process removes the amorphous phase in the polymer, making the macromolecular orientations and superstructures visible in the reinforcement tapes. The findings of the morphological analysis will be transferred to the results of mechanical investigations.

Distributive mixing plays an important role in polymer processing, especially for shear-sensitive materials. Many materials with very high filler contents or partly crosslinked materials show a rheological yield point, which makes mixing of such materials very difficult. Due to this fact it is very important to predict the mixing behavior before expensive mixing devices are manufactured or production stops due to insufficient product quality. Besides the mixing quality, both pressure drop and dissipative heating are important quality criteria for mixer geometries. The CARPOW equation presented in this paper is capable to describe the flow behavior of materials with a rheological yield point depending on the shear rate and temperature due to a combination of a Carreau equation and a power law. The implementation of this fluid model in the open source CFD toolbox Open-FOAM® and the combination with a particle tracking approach allow predicting the mixing behavior of such materials in distributive mixing dev...

Numerous researches have been done in the field of improving PP by adding nanofillers. Consistently good scientific results and positive industrial feedback were reached; however, the industrial interest is still low due to the high technological and financial risks and too less benefit. Our experiments, using the worldwide unique Polymer NanoComposite Injection Molding Compounder (PNC-IMC) which combines the two processing steps of compounding and injection molding, showed an impressive increase of both mechanical and thermal properties, but more or less in the same range than in other publications. Thus we tried to improve the materials by using elongational flow generating devices for better intercalation and exfoliation of nanofillers in the polymer melt. This paper will give an overview on our first investigations, carried out on both a high pressure capillary rheometer (HPCR) and the injection molding machine (IMM) focusing on the mechanical properties. The PNCs were produced at the PNC-IMC with the 3in1 process. After the treatment in the HPCR the material was crushed, plates were prepared using a hydraulic vacuum press and tensile bars were milled, respectively tensile bars were produced with the IMM. The Young's modulus was successfully slightly improved. Thus future research will focus on both, the mechanism of improvement and the implementation of several of these devices into the PNC-IMC.

This paper analyses the use of impedance spectroscopy as a characterization tool applied to thermoelectric materials. The impedance function of the thermoelectric system under adiabatic conditions and Peltier mode operation is calculated by solving the heat equation in the frequency domain. The analysis, focused on the complex plane, provides the required equivalent circuit elements to interpret the impedance measurements. Using this approach, all the relevant thermoelectric parameters and thermal properties can be potentially extracted at a given temperature from the impedance spectra, i.e., the Seebeck coefficient, electrical resistivity, thermal conductivity, figure of merit (zT), specific heat, and thermal diffusivity. This can be done without the need of measuring temperature differences. To validate the models described, impedance measurements have been carried out in single thermoelectric elements and modules, showing an excellent agreement with the theory. The simple nature of the measurements in conjunction with the advantage of obtaining all the important thermoelectric parameters opens up the possibility of establishing impedance spectroscopy as a very useful characterization method for the thermoelectric field.

The paper reports on revealing the effect of a strong change in the microwave losses in an high-temperature superconductor (HTS)-based coplanar waveguide (CPW) at certain values of the input power Pin and direct current I dc . CPW on the basis of 150 nm thick YBa2 Cu 3O7−δ epitaxial film on a single crystal MgO substrate was studied experimentally. A sharp and reversible transition of the CPW into a strongly dissipative state at the certain values of Pin and I dc depending on temperature were observed. Apparently, the effect can be explained by self-heating of HTS structure caused by magnetic flux flow under the joint influence of microwave field and direct current.

The aim of this paper is the production of fiber reinforced LLDPE components by rotational molding. To this purpose, a process upgrade was developed, for the incorporation of pultruded tapes in the rotational molding cycle. Pultruded tapes, made of 50% by weight of glass fibers dispersed in a high density polyethylene(HDPE) matrix, were glued on the internal surface of a cubic mold, and rotational molding process was run using the same processing conditions used for conventional LLDPE processing. During processing, melting of LLDPE powders and of HDPE allowed to incorporate the tapes inside rotational molded LLDPE. The glass fiber reinforced prototypes were characterized in terms of mechanical properties. Plate bending tests were performed on the square faces extracted from the rotational molded product. The rotational molding products were also subjected to internal hydrostatic pressure tests up to 10 bar. In any case, no failure of the cubic samples was observed. In both cases, it was found that addition of a single pultruded strips, which corresponds to addition of about 0.6% by weight of glass fibers, involved an increase of the stiffness of the faces by about 25%.

One possibility of directly influencing the temperature profile in an extruder is by tempering the screw. This method is currently used in double-screw extrusion and in certain specialized applications in the field of single-screw extrusion. Significant possibilities of influencing the temperature have been shown, for example, while processing PVC on counterrotating double-screw extruders [1]. However, until now, it has not been possible to theoretically model this effect. This paper will thus introduce a mathematical model which describes the effect of internal screw tempering on the temperature gradient of the material in the extruder, allowing processes using tempered screws to be better designed and dimensioned.

In this paper, the physical properties of half-doped manganite La0.5Ca0.5MnO3with crystallite sizes ranging from 15 to 40 nm are investigated. As expected, ferromagnetic order strengthens at expense of antiferromagnetic one as crystallite size is reduced to 15 nm. However, contrary to previously reported works, an enhancement of saturation magnetization is observed as crystallite size increases from 15 to 22 nm. This unexpected behavior is accompanied by an unusual cell volume variation that seems to induce ferromagnetic-like behavior at expense of antiferromagnetic one. Besides, field cooled hysteresis loops show exchange bias field and coercivity enhancement for increasing cooling fields, which suggest a kind of core-shell structure with AFM-FM coupling for crystallite sizes as small as 15 nm. It is expected that inner core orders antiferromagnetically, whereas uncompensated surface spins behave as spin glass with ferromagnetic-like ordering., This work was supported by grants from the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation (Nos. MAT2009-14741-C02-00 and MAT2011-23068) and the Madrid regional government CM (No. S009/MAT-1726).

An established method to produce thin walled bottles is Stretch Blow Molding (SBM). Polyethylene terephthalate (PET)-preforms are first heated above their glass transition temperature and subsequently transferred into a closed cavity. In a second step the hot preforms are axially elongated by a stretch rod and simultaneously inflated by pressurized air until a contact with the cavity wall is reached (blowing stage). After a cooling phase, the resulting bottle is ejected and further transferred to a filling station, where the desired liquid content is poured in (filling stage). Alternatively to this sequential procedure, a new process combines the blowing and filling phases. This is done by using the desired liquid content as a pressure medium to inflate the hot preforms. Hence, no separated filling station is required. Moreover the filling time is drastically reduced and the cooling is increased through the heat transfer between hot preform and cold liquid. In the following this process is denoted as liquid-bi-orientation (LBO). Despite of its obvious advantages, LBO is not yet used for industrial series production because SBM is well controlled and established. In this paper the LBO process is investigated by experiments and FE-simulations to obtain a deeper insight and to increase process knowledge. The experiments are conducted at a prototype machine. Hereby, a high speed camera in combination with a transparent cavity enables a recording of the preform deformation. Furthermore, FE-simulations with coupled fluid-structure interactions are conducted to predict the process. In comparison to the high speed video the capabilities of the process model are evaluated.

The influence of the pellet shape on the external coefficient of friction of polypropylene and on the mass flow rate of a single screw extruder is presented in this conference paper. The external coefficient of friction describes the friction between the polymeric bulk material and the screw or the barrel surface. In general, the external coefficient of friction should be rather low at the screw surface and high at the barrel surface in order to achieve a high mass flow rate and sufficient pressure build-up in the conveying zone of a single screw extruder. The measurements of the external coefficient of friction of polypropylene pellets, which are dependent on the shape and the dimensions of the pellets at processing conditions (pressure and velocity), are carried out using a previously developed tribometer. The tests were performed at room temperature on a polished hardened shaft made of screw steel. The effect of the shape of the polypropylene pellets on the mass flow rate is studied using a single screw extruder (Measuring extruder type Dr. Collin E20M). Two different temperature profiles were used for the extrusion experiments. When using the long cylindrical polypropylene pellets a higher extruder output can be achieved compared to the virgin material.

This paper investigates strategies to alter the nano-and-microstructures of carbon-based filler-reinforced polymer matrix composites (PMCs). The matrix materials being studied in this work include polyphenylene sulfide (PPS) and liquid crystal polymer (LCP). A set of experiments were performed to investigate various strategies (i) to fabricate a morphological structure within the polymer matrix; (ii) to develop a thermally and electrically conductive network of nano-scaled fillers; and (iii) to produce a thermally conductive but electrically insulative network of hybrid fillers of nano-and-micro scales. The PMCs' structure-to-property relationships, including electrical and thermal properties, were revealed. In particular, the composites' effective thermal conductivities could be increased by as much as 10-folded over the neat polymers. By structuring the embedded electrically conductive pathways in the PMCs, their electrical conductivities could be tailored to levels that ranged from those of electrical insulators to those of semi-conductors. These multifunctional carbon-based filler-reinforced PMCs are envisioned to be potential solutions of various engineering problems. For example, light-weight thermally conductive PMCs with tailored electrical conductivities can serve as a new family of materials for electronic packaging or heat management applications.

Appropriate modeling of heat transfer from the polymer material to the injection mold is essential to achieve accurate simulation results. The heat transfer is commonly modeled using convective heat transfer and applying heat transfer coefficients (HTC) to the polymer-mold-interface. The set HTC has an influence on the results for filling pressure, cooling performance and shrinkage, among others. The current paper, presents a new strategy to measure HTC in injection molding experiments using Newtons law of cooling. The heat flux is calculated out of demolding heat (measured by means of calorimetry), injection heat (measured by means of an IR-sensor), cooling time and part mass. Cavity surface area, average mold surface temperature and average part surface temperature lead to the HTC.

Glass and carbon fiber reinforcements in injection molded parts have been used for many decades in combination with thermoplastics. Where short- or long-fiber pellets are used, all areas of the part are nearly equally reinforced by fibers. With local continuous-fiber reinforcements it is possible to reduce fiber usage to the most highly loaded areas of the components along the lines of flux. This method, which draws on principles applied in nature, strengthens the parts with only a slight weight increase compared to non-reinforced parts. The combination of injection molding as a process for large-scale production with the high mechanical properties of continuous-fiber-reinforcements enables the production of high-strength components at reasonable costs. The paper presents the investigation of a process development with injection molded components in combination with wound fiber structures. Fundamental experiments with tensile loaded wound fiber structures regarding to their design influences are presented. On this basis a reinforcement structure for a demonstrator was developed and examined.

The thermal conductivity of various thermally conductive thermoplastics commercially available was determined experimentally and is compared with datasheet values. It was found that in most cases the thermal conductivities in-plane and through-plane deviate substantially from the manufacturers' values. The reasons as different measurement methods, part geometry and specimen preparation are discussed and investigated in detail in this paper. It was found that the through-plane thermal conductivity is strongly dependent on sample preparation, e.g. machining of the sample. In order to provide developers with reliable directional thermal conductivity data, the use of standardized methods is recommended.

Rice which is one of the largest agriculture crops produces around 22% of rice rusk during its milling process. This material is mainly used as fuel for energy generation, which results in an ash, which disposal represents an environmental issue. The rice husk ash (RHA) contains over than 70% of silica in an amorphous form and a lot of applications is being developed for it all over the world. The use of silica as a filler in the tire industry is growing since it contributes significantly to the reduction of fuel consumption of the automobiles, allowing at the same time better traction (safety). This paper presents an evaluation of the use of RHA as filler in rubber tread compounds prepared in lab scale and compares its performance with compounds prepared with commercial silica and carbon black, the fillers normally used in tire industry. Mechanical and rheological properties are evaluated, with emphasis for tan delta as an indicator of tread performance related with rolling resistance (fuel consumption) and wet grip/traction (safety).

This paper investigates the synthesis of Ag NCs in Si(100) substrate by implanting multiple energies and fluences of Ag ions and subsequent thermal annealing.

This paper is aimed to study the suitability of bio-polymers, including poly-lactic acid (PLLA) and Mater-Bi, for the production of hollow components by rotational molding. In order to reduce the brittleness of PLLA, the material was mixed with two different plasticizers, bis-ethyl-hexyl-phthalate (DEHP) and poly-ethylene-glycol (PEG). The materials were characterized in terms of sinterability. To this purpose, thermomechanical (TMA) analysis was performed at different heating rates, in order to identify the endset temperatures of densification and the onset temperatures of degradation. Results obtained indicated that the materials are characterized by a very fast sintering process, occurring just above the melting temperature, and an adequately high onset of degradation. The difference between the onset of degradation and the endset of sintering, defined as the processing window of the polymer, is sufficiently wide, indicating that the polymers can be efficiently processed by rotational molding. Therefore, a laboratory scale apparatus was used for the production of PLLA and Mater-Bi prototypes. The materials were processed using very similar conditions to those used for LLDPE. The production of void-free samples of uniform wall thickness was considered as an indication of the potentiality of the process for the production of biodegradable containers.

Surfaces of technical parts are getting more and more attention in terms of functionalization. By modification, additional functionality is given to the part, e.g. self-cleaning effect or antireflection behavior. Nowadays mainly flat surfaces are structured which is a consequence of the available production methods. However, the demand of micro structured free form surfaces is increasing, enabling novel products. A major problem in the mass production (e.g. injection molding) of structured freeform surfaces is to demold these structures without ripping or deforming them due to occurring undercuts. Recently a novel concept was developed which overcomes this limitation. A nickel substrate containing a structure composed of lines orientated in two different directions, one orientated in melt flow direction, the other one perpendicular to that, but both with a cross-section of approximately 45 μm × 55 μm (w × h) was used as a premaster to cast a flexible master. This master made of poly(dimethylsiloxane) (PDMS) was mounted on a bending edge in an injection mold cavity. Within this paper the influence of process parameters on the replication grade of the structure lines depending on the structure orientation was evaluated, varying the holding pressure, melt and mold temperature using statistical design of experiment methods. The replication grade was evaluated by characterizing the shape of the structure lines along the entire process chain, using an infinite focus system. The results show, that the melt temperature has the biggest influence on the dimensions of the structures, the mold temperature only a slight one.

This paper discusses the effects of eddy currents induced in an electrically conducting plate which is placed in the airgap of a linear synchronous actuator with moving permanent magnets. The eddy currents induced in this plate, which is part of a controlled atmosphere chamber, cause not only damping but also deteriorate the actuator performance by disturbing the position measurement with Hall sensors. Furthermore, feed-forward controllers are less effective due to the suppression of high frequent armature fields. These effects are analyzed with an analytical model and verified with finite element simulations and measurements.

Theoretical expressions for the ultrasonically induced birefringence of liquids are obtained in the frame work of de Gennes’ phenomenological theory. The intensity and frequency dependence of ultrasonically induced birefringence in the isotropic phase of p-n-pentyl p′-cyanobiphenyl (5CB) was measured in order to examine the usefulness of birefringence measurements for investigating dynamical properties liquids. The observed birefringence was proportional to the square root of ultrasonic intensity. The birefringence divided by the square root of ultrasonic intensity increases with increasing frequency and appears to saturate when the ultrasonic frequency approaches the relaxation frequency of molecular reorientation. The observed values of birefringence were reproduced satisfactorily by the expression derived in this paper.

In this paper, firstly, an in-situ EXAFS study of amorphous Se (a-Se) before, under, and after light illumination is presented, where the first experimental evidence for a change of the coordination number of Se atoms under illumination is given. Secondly, our recent results of pulsed ESR measurements on hydrogenated amorphous silicon (a-Si:H) containing various isotopes are presented, through which spatial relationship between a photo-created dangling bond and near-by H atoms and other impurity atoms is described. Finally, photo-induced metastability is discussed with an emphasis towards the structural randomness, the network connectivity and the electronic structure.

Fluid flow through particulate media is pivotal in many industrial processes, e.g. in fluidized beds, granular storage, industrial filtration and medical aerosols. Flow in these types of media is inherently complex and challenging to simulate, especially when the particulate phase is mobile. The goals of this paper are twofold: (i) the derivation of accurate correlations for the drag force, taking into account the effect of microstructure, to improve the higher scale macro-models and (ii) incorporating such closures into a “compatible” monolithic multi-phase/scale model that uses a (particle-based) Delaunay triangulation (DT) of space as basis – in future, possibly, involving also multiple fields.

Thermoelectric generators (TEGs) are solid state heat engines that generate electricity from a temperature gradient. Optimizing these devices for maximum power production can be difficult due to the many heat transport mechanisms occurring simultaneously within the TEG. In this paper, we develop a model for heat transport in thermoelectric materials in which an “effective thermal conductivity” (κ_eff) encompasses both the one dimensional steady-state Fourier conduction and the heat generation/consumption due to secondary thermoelectric effects. This model is especially powerful in that the value of κeff does not depend upon the operating conditions of the TEG but rather on the transport properties of the TE materials themselves. We analyze a variety of thermoelectric materials and generator designs using this concept and demonstrate that κ_(eff) predicts the heat fluxes within these devices to 5% of the exact value.

Titanium nitride (TiN), which is widely used for hard coatings, reportedly undergoes a pressure-induced structural phase transformation, from a NaCl to a CsCl structure, at similar to 7 GPa. In this paper, we use first-principles calculations based on density functional theory with a generalized gradient approximation of the exchange correlation energy to determine the structural stability of this transformation. Our results show that the stress required for this structural transformation is substantially lower (by more than an order of magnitude) when it is deviatoric in nature vis-a-vis that under hydrostatic pressure. Local stability of the structure is assessed with phonon dispersion determined at different pressures, and we find that CsCl structure of TiN is expected to distort after the transformation. From the electronic structure calculations, we estimate the electrical conductivity of TiN in the CsCl structure to be about 5 times of that in NaCl structure, which should be observable experimentally. (C) 2013 American Institute of Physics. http://dx.doi.org/10.1063/1.4798591]

Based on the differential laser triangulation principle, an optical system configuration for measuring the oil film thickness on water is designed and developed. A semiconductor laser of 650 nm wavelength with the maximum power of 5 mW is used as a light source, the magnification of the imaging system is 1.4; the range of the measurement is 0.1 mm–10 mm; the resolution is 2.3 μm and the measurement accuracy is 10 μm theoretically. Experiments are conducted with block gauges and feeler gauges, and the experimental results, with absolute error less than ±25 μm and the maximal measurable thickness 12 mm, indicate that this system presented in this paper can fulfill high accuracy.

Magneto-rheological elastomer (MRE) is a new kind of smart material. Its rheological properties can be altered and controlled in a real time manner when it is applied an external magnetic field. For calculating magnetic properties of MRE material, usually Maxwell-Garnet equation is used to acquire an approximately effective permeability. This equation treats the magnetic property of particles as linear. However, when the applied magnetic field is alternating or rotating, the nonlinearity of magnetic property and magnetic hysteresis cannot be neglected. Hence, the measurement and modelling of the magnetic properties under alternating and rotating magnetic fields are essential to explore new applications of the material. This paper presents the investigation on the magnetic hysteresis properties of MRE material under one-dimensional (1-D) alternating and two-dimensional (2-D) rotating magnetic field excitations. A kind of MRE material, consisting of 70 carbonyl iron particles, 10 silicone oil, and 20 silicone rubber, was used to investigate the magnetic properties. The diameter of carbonyl iron particles is 3-5 μm. The measurement results, such as the relations between magnetic field intensity (H) and magnetic flux density (B) under different magnetic field excitations on the MRE sample, have been obtained and analyzed. These data would be useful for design and analysis of MRE smart structures like MR dampers. © 2013 American Institute of Physics.

In the present paper, we report a systematic study of the magnetoelastic resonance of amorphous magnetic microwires of composition Fe73Si11B13Nb3. The study was performed for samples annealed at different temperatures. It was observed that such microwires present the key feature of performing magnetoelastic resonance in the absence of applied field. This fact, in addition to their small size, gives the microwires unique advantages over the widespreaded ribbons, currently in use as magnetoelastic sensors. Beyond the study of the resonance, magnetic properties of the samples were studied by means of Vibrating Sample Magnetometer (VSM) measurement in order to find an explanation to their bias-free resonance property. Finally, we show two possible applications of microwire based magnetoelastic sensors, a fluid density sensor and a mass-loading sensor.

This paper reports thermal modelling that aims to establish if the measurement method - either by a radiation thermometer or by a thermocouple - significantly influences the measured temperature of the high temperature fixed points Co-C, Pd-C and Ru-C. It is clear that both measurement techniques have specific physical characteristics which may affect the temperature measured during the melting plateau. With the radiation thermometer, the radiation heat transfer is directly influenced by the environment because the back-wall is effectively viewing the cold outside environment. In the case of a thermocouple direct viewing of the outside world is blocked so radiation transport is significantly reduced; however, in the case of the thermocouple there is a different component of heat transfer, namely conduction from the thermowell walls in contact with the thermocouple along the thermocouple stem itself.

In this paper, we present a microfluidic chip that is capable of measuring electrical conductance through gap junction channels in a 2-dimensional cell sheet. The chip utilizes a tri-stream laminar flow to create a non-conductive sucrose gap between the two conducting solutions so that electrical current can pass across the sucrose gap only through the cells. Using the chip, we tested the effect of a gap junction inhibitor, 2-APB, on the electrical coupling of connexin 43 (Cx43) gap junction channels in NRK-49F cells. We found that 2-APB reversibly blocks the conductivity in a dose-dependent manner. The tri-stream chip further allows us to simultaneously follow the conductance changes and dye diffusion in real time. We show that 2-APB affects both conductance and diffusion, supporting the interpretation that both sets of data reflect the same gap junction activity. The chip provides a generic platform to investigate gap junction properties and to screen drugs that may inhibit or potentiate gap junction transmission.

This paper proposes a theory to describe the polarization and switching behavior of ferroelectrics that are also wide-gap semiconductors. The salient feature of our theory is that it does not make any a priori assumption about either the space charge distribution or the polarization profile. The theory is used to study a metal-ferroelectric-metal capacitor configuration, where the ferroelectric is n-type doped. The main result of our work is a phase diagram as a function of doping level and thickness that shows different phases, namely, films with polarization profiles that resemble that of undoped classical ferroelectrics, paraelectric, and a new head-to-tail domain structure. We have identified a critical doping level, which depends on the energy barrier in the Landau energy and the built-in potential, which is decided by the electronic structures of both the film and the electrodes. When the doping level is below this critical value, the behavior of the films is almost classical. We see a depleted region, which extends through the film when the film thickness is very small, but is confined to two boundary layers near the electrodes for large film thickness. When the doping level is higher than the critical value, the behavior is classical for only very thin films. Thicker films at this doping level are forced into a tail-to-tail configuration with three depletion layers, lose their ferroelectricity, and may thus be described as nonlinear dielectric or paraelectric. For films which are doped below the critical level, we show that the field required for switching starts out at the classical coercive field for very thin films, but gradually decreases.

This paper describes the construction of a loading machine for performing in vivo, dynamic mechanical loading of the rodent forearm. The loading machine utilizes a unique type of electromagnetic actuator with no mechanically resistive components (servotube), allowing highly accurate loads to be created. A regression analysis of the force created by the actuator with respect to the input voltage demonstrates high linear correlation (R(2) = 1). When the linear correlation is used to create dynamic loading waveforms in the frequency (0.5-10 Hz) and load (1-50 N) range used for in vivo loading, less than 1% normalized root mean square error (NRMSE) is computed. Larger NRMSE is found at increased frequencies, with 5%-8% occurring at 40 Hz, and reasons are discussed. Amplifiers (strain gauge, linear voltage displacement transducer (LVDT), and load cell) are constructed, calibrated, and integrated, to allow well-resolved dynamic measurements to be recorded at each program cycle. Each of the amplifiers uses an active filter with cutoff frequency at the maximum in vivo loading frequencies (50 Hz) so that electronic noise generated by the servo drive and actuator are reduced. The LVDT and load cell amplifiers allow evaluation of stress-strain relationships to determine if in vivo bone damage is occurring. The strain gauge amplifier allows dynamic force to strain calibrations to occur for animals of different sex, age, and strain. Unique features are integrated into the loading system, including a weightless mode, which allows the limbs of anesthetized animals to be quickly positioned and removed. Although the device is constructed for in vivo axial bone loading, it can be used within constraints, as a general measurement instrument in a laboratory setting.

Paper presented at Twenty-Second International Conference Application of Accelerators in Research and Industry in Ft. Worth (TX, USA) during 5-10th August 2012., In spite of the efforts devoted for the last 20 years to elucidating ion-beam sputtering (IBS) as an instance of surface self-organization, the classic view on the main mechanism inducing the morphological instability has been recently challenged. We report on the verification of a recent theoretical description of this nanopattern formation process for semiconducting targets, as driven by stress-induced, viscous flow of a thin amorphous layer that develops at the surface [M. Cuerno and R. Cuerno, Appl. Surf. Sci. 258, 4171 (2012)]. Through experiments on silicon as a representative case, we study the dependence of the ripple wavelength with the average ion energy, finding a linear dependence in the 0.3-1 keV range. This is explained within the viscous flow framework, taking into account the energy dependence of the number of displaced atoms generated by collision cascades in the amorphous layer, as predicted by previous models of ion-generated stress. For our analysis, we provide a systematic criterion to guarantee actual linear dynamics behavior, not affected by the onset of nonlinear effects that may influence the value of the ripple wavelength., Partial support has been provided by the Spanish MICINN Grants, Nos. FIS2009-12964-C05-01, -03, and -04, and MEC Grants, Nos. FIS2012-38866-C05-01 and -05, and FIS2012-32349.

In this paper we describe a novel magnetizing device based on eight rotatable permanent magnets arranged in a quadrupolar configuration, which is termed the TetraMag. TetraMag creates stable and homogeneous magnetic fields at the sample position with a resolution of 0.02 mT tunable between -570 mT and +570 mT. The field direction is continuously rotatable between 0° and 360° within the sample plane, while the field strength is maintained. A simplified mathematical description of TetraMag is developed leading to magnetic field calculations which are in good agreement with the experimental results. This versatile device avoids electrical energy dissipation, cooling mechanisms, and hysteresis effects known from classical electromagnets. It is ultrahigh vacuum compatible and it offers a completely free optical path over 180° for magneto-optical experiments. It is suitable for scattering experiments with synchrotron radiation and neutrons and may be employed in a large class of magnetization experiments.

International audience; Picosecond thermoreflectance is an unprecedented powerful technique for nanoscale heat transfer analysis and metrology, but different sources of artifacts were reported in the literature making this technique difficult to use for long delay (several ns) thermal analysis. We present in this paper a new heterodyne picosecond thermoreflectance (HPTR) technique. As it uses two slightly frequency shifted lasers instead of a mechanical translation stage, it is possible to avoid all artifacts leading to erroneous thermal parameter identifications. The principle and set-up are described as well as the model. The signal delivered by the HPTR experiment is calculated for each excitation configurations, modulating or not the pump beam. We demonstrate the accuracy of the technique in the identification of the thermal conductivity of a 50 nm thick SiO(2) layer. Then, we discuss the role of the modulation frequency for nanoscale heat transfer analysis. (C) 2011 American Institute of Physics. [doi:10.1063/1.3665129]

In this paper we present a new fabrication method that combines for the first time popular SU-8 technology and PerMX dry-photoresist lamination for the manufacturing of high aspect ratio three-dimensional multi-level microfluidic networks. The potential of this approach, which further benefits from wafer-level manufacturing and accurate alignment of fluidic levels, is demonstrated by a highly integrated three-level microfluidic chip. The hereby achieved network complexity, including 24 fluidic vias and 16 crossing points of three individual microchannels on less than 13 mm(2) chip area, is unique for SU-8 based fluidic networks. We further report on excellent process compatibility between SU-8 and PerMX dry-photoresist which results in high interlayer adhesion strength. The tight pressure sealing of a fluidic channel (0.5 MPa for 1 h) is demonstrated for 150 μm narrow SU-8/PerMX bonding interfaces.

This paper describes a light-addressable electrolytic system used to perform an electrodeposition of calcium alginate hydrogels using a digital micromirror device (DMD). In this system, a patterned light illumination is projected onto a photoconductive substrate serving as a photo-anode to electrolytically produce protons, which can lead to a decreased pH gradient. The low pH generated at the anode can locally release calcium ions from insoluble calcium carbonate (CaCO(3)) to cause gelation of calcium alginate through sol-gel transition. By controlling the illumination pattern on the DMD, a light-addressable electrodeposition of calcium alginate hydrogels with different shapes and sizes, as well as multiplexed micropatterning was performed. The effects of the concentration of the alginate and CaCO(3) solutions on the dimensional resolution of alginate hydrogel formation were experimentally examined. A 3 × 3 array of cell-encapsulated alginate hydrogels was also successfully demonstrated through light-addressable electrodeposition. Our proposed method provides a programmable method for the spatiotemporally controllable assembly of cell populations into cellular microarrays and could have a wide range of biological applications in cell-based biosensing, toxicology, and drug discovery.

In this paper, we describe an analytical model to define the temperature-time-transformation (TTT) diagram of sol-gel deposited Pb(Zr,Ti)O-3 thin films on platinized silicon substrates. Texture evolution in film occurred as the pyrolysis and thermal annealing conditions were varied. We demonstrate that the developed model can quantitatively predict the outcome of thermal treatment conditions in terms of texture evolution. Multinomial and multivariate regression techniques were utilized to create the predictor models for TTT data. Further, it was found that multinomial regression can provide better fit as compared to standard regression and multivariate regression. We have generalized this approach so that it can be applied to other thin film deposition techniques and bulk ceramics. (C) 2011 American Institute of Physics. [doi:10.1063/1.3606433] United States. Air Force. Office of Scientific Research Virginia Tech. Institute for Critical Technology and Applied Science

The two-way insertion loss of a 1 m length of waveguide was reduced by nearly 5 dB over a 4% bandwidth at W-band (94 GHz) for an electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) spectrometer relative to WR10 waveguide. The waveguide has an oversize section of commercially available rectangular WR28 and a novel pair of tapers that vary in cross section with axial position according to a hyperbolic-cosine (HC) function. The tapers connect conventional rectangular WR10 waveguide to the WR28. For minimum loss, the main mode electric field is parallel to the long side of the WR28. Using mode coupling theory, the position of maximum flare (inflection point) in the taper was optimized with respect to the coupling to higher order modes and the reflection of the main mode. The optimum inflection point position is about one-tenth of the taper length from the small end of the taper. Reflection and coupling were reduced by about 20 dB relative to a pyramidal (linear) taper of the same length. Comb-like dips in the transmission coefficient produced by resonances of the higher order modes in the oversize section were about 0.03 dB. Specially designed high-precision, adjustable WR28 flanges with alignment to about 5 μm were required to keep higher order mode amplitudes arising from the flanges comparable to those from the HC tapers. Minimum return loss was about 30 dB. This paper provides a foundation for further optimization, if needed. Methods are not specific to EPR or the microwave frequency band.

Extracellular matrix (ECM) proteins are required for cell culture. In this paper, we report the use of O(2) plasma bonding to fabricate a perfusion culture microchamber array chip with identical-size ECM spots in the isolated microchambers. The chip was fabricated by assembly of two poly(dimethylsiloxane) (PDMS) layers, a microfluidic network layer, and an ECM array layer, which were aligned and then bonded by O(2) plasma oxidation with protection of the ECM microarray with a physical mask made from PDMS. We successfully cultivated Chinese hamster ovary K1 cells in the microchambers with fibronectin. In the fibronectin microchambers, the cells adhered and extended after 12 h of static culture and then grew over the course of 1 d of perfusion culture.

In this paper, the material flow around the pin during friction stir welding (FSW) is simulated using a 2D plane strain model. A pin rotates without translation in a disc with elasto-viscoplastic material properties and the outer boundary of the disc is clamped. Two numerical methods are used to solve this problem and an analytical solution is derived. The analytical model is complementary to validate the two numerical methods, i.e. the arbitrary Lagrangian-Eulerian (ALE) method and the adaptive smoothed finite elements method (ASFEM).

This paper reviews our work on the application of ultrafast pulsed laser micro/nanoprocessing for the three-dimensional (3D) biomimetic modification of materials surfaces. It is shown that the artificial surfaces obtained by femtosecond-laser processing of Si in reactive gas atmosphere exhibit roughness at both micro- and nanoscales that mimics the hierarchical morphology of natural surfaces. Along with the spatial control of the topology, defining surface chemistry provides materials exhibiting notable wetting characteristics which are potentially useful for open microfluidic applications. Depending on the functional coating deposited on the laser patterned 3D structures, we can achieve artificial surfaces that are (a) of extremely low surface energy, thus water-repellent and self-cleaned, and (b) responsive, i.e., showing the ability to change their surface energy in response to different external stimuli such as light, electric field, and pH. Moreover, the behavior of different kinds of cells cultured on laser engineered substrates of various wettabilities was investigated. Experiments showed that it is possible to preferentially tune cell adhesion and growth through choosing proper combinations of surface topography and chemistry. It is concluded that the laser textured 3D micro/nano-Si surfaces with controllability of roughness ratio and surface chemistry can advantageously serve as a novel means to elucidate the 3D cell-scaffold interactions for tissue engineering applications.

In a previous paper [T. S. K. Ng and G. H. McKinley, J. Rheol.52(2), 417–449 (2008)], we demonstrated that gluten gels can best be understood as a polymericnetwork with a power-law frequency response that reflects the fractal structure of the gluten network. Large deformation tests in both transient shear and extension show that in the absence of rigid starch fillers these networks are also time-strain factorizable up to very large strain amplitudes (γ∗>5). In the present work, we further explore the nonlinear rheological behavior of these critical gels by considering the material response obtained in large amplitude oscillatory shear over a wide range of strains and frequencies. We use a Lissajous representation to compare the measured material response with the predictions of a network theory that is consistent with the proposed molecular structure of gluten gels. In the linear viscoelastic regime, the Lissajous figures are elliptical as expected and can be quantitatively described by the same power-law relaxation parameters determined independently from earlier experiments. In the nonlinear regime, the Lissajous curves show two prominent additional features. First is a gradual softening of the network indicated by the rotation of the major axis of the stress ellipse. This feature is accounted for in the model by the inclusion of a simple nonlinear network destruction term that reflects the reduction in network connectivity as the polymer chains are increasingly stretched. Second, a distinct upturn in the viscoelastic stress is discernable at large strains. We show that this phenomenon can be modeled by considering the effects of finitely extensible segments in the elasticnetwork. We use this model to quantitatively predict the material response in other large amplitude transient flows such as the start-up of steady shear and transient uniaxial extension up until the onset of strongly nonlinear unsteady phenomena such as edge fracture in shear and sample rupture during extension., Kraft Foods Company

We have modified scanning transmission x‐ray microscopes (STXM) at the Canadian Light Source and the Advanced Light Source with total electron yield (TEY) detection (TEY‐STXM). This provides improved surface‐sensitive detection, simultaneous with existing bulk‐sensitive transmission detection in the STXM microscopes. We have explored sample‐current and channeltron‐based electron yield detection. Both approaches provide improved surface sensitive imaging and spectroscopy, although channeltron‐based detection is superior. TEY‐STXM provides surface sensitive imaging of ultrathin films such as phase‐separated Langmuir‐Blodgett monolayer films, as well as differentiation of surface and bulk oxides of patterned metallic thin films. This paper will outline the experimental challenges of this method and the opportunities for correlative surface and bulk measurements of complex samples.

In our recent work on concentrated suspensions of uniformly porous colloidal spheres with excluded volume interactions, a variety of short-time dynamic properties were calculated, except for the rotational self-diffusion coefficient. This missing quantity is included in the present paper. Using a precise hydrodynamic force multipole simulation method, the rotational self-diffusion coefficient is evaluated for concentrated suspensions of permeable particles. Results are presented for particle volume fractions up to 45%, and for a wide range of permeability values. From the simulation results and earlier results for the first-order virial coefficient, we find that the rotational self-diffusion coefficient of permeable spheres can be scaled to the corresponding coefficient of impermeable particles of the same size. We also show that a similar scaling applies to the translational self-diffusion coefficient considered earlier. From the scaling relations, accurate analytic approximations for the rotational and translational self-diffusion coefficients in concentrated systems are obtained, useful to the experimental analysis of permeable-particle diffusion. The simulation results for rotational diffusion of permeable particles are used to show that a generalized Stokes-Einstein-Debye relation between rotational self-diffusion coefficient and high-frequency viscosity is not satisfied., 4 figures

During operation of the ASDEX Upgrade (AUG) ion cyclotron radio frequency (ICRF) system, Tungsten (W)-coated poloidal limiters and structures connected along magnetic field lines to the antenna can be sources of W, which is attributed to sputtering by ions accelerated in radio frequency (RF) sheaths. In order to analyze and optimize the ICRF antenna performance, accurate and efficient simulation tools are necessary. TOPICA code was developed for analysis of ICRF antenna systems with plasma loading conditions modeled with 1D FELICE code. This paper presents an initial comparative analysis of two AUG ICRF antennas for a set of model plasma density profiles (with varying density gradient and antenna cut-off distance). The antennas are presently installed in AUG and differ in that one was partially optimized using HFSS code to reduce E-// near fields. Power transferred to plasma and sheath driving RF potentials are computed.

One of the factors that limit the spatial resolution in atomic force microscopy (AFM) is the physical size of the probe. This limitation is particularly severe when the imaged structures are comparable in size to the tip’s apex. The resolution in the AFM is usually enhanced by using sharp tips with high aspect ratios. In the present paper we propose an approach to modify AFM tips that consists of depositing nanoclusters on standard silicon tips. We show that the use of those tips leads to atomic force microscopy images of higher aspect ratios and spatial resolution. The present approach has two major properties. It provides higher aspect-ratio images of nanoscale objects and, at the same time, enables to functionalize the AFM tips by depositing nanoparticles with well-controlled chemical composition., The authors acknowledge the Spanish Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación and Comisión Interministerial para la Ciencia Y la Tecnología—CICYT under Contract Nos. MAT2008-06765-C02-02, MAT2009-08650, and CSD2007 00041 (Nanoselect) and through the FPI and “Juan de La Cierva” programs for financial support.

This paper reports a tunable visual color filter based on a microfluidic transmission grating. The grating lines are formed by the microflows in an array of evenly spaced straight microchannels. In experimental study, the transmission of white light measures a shift of visual color from red to blue in the zeroth order diffraction in response to a change of the refractive index from 1.3290 to 1.3782 in the microflows. The merit of large tunability of transmission peak =408 nm makes this grating potential for various applications in biological and chemical measurements, such as space- and time-resolving micropattern spectrophotometers and separation of the fluorescence from the excitation. © 2010 American Institute of Physics. doi:10.1063/1.3491469

In this paper, we report the dielectric and ferroelectric response of compositionally graded bilayer and trilayer composites consisting of BaTiO3 (BT) and 0.975BaTiO(3)-0.025Ba(Cu1/3Nb2/3)O-3 (BTBCN). Two types of graded bilayer samples were synthesized, one with same thickness of BT and BTBCN while other with different layer thicknesses. The graded trilayer sample consisted of BT layer sandwiched between two BTBCN layers of equal thickness. Scanning electron microscopy and transmission electron microscopy images showed a sharp interface with needle-shape domains across the interface. The domain size on BT side was found to be larger than that on BTBCN side. The temperature dependence of dielectric response for all composite systems was found to exhibit shifting in characteristic Curie peak compared to constituent material which was associated to coupling between layers. Moreover, the differences in grain size, tetragonality, domain mobility of each layer was found to perturb the electrical response of composite. The polarization mismatch between uncoupled BT and BTBCN established internal electric field in composite specimen and defined new polarization states in each layer by perturbing free energy functional of the composite specimen. Dynamic hysteresis behaviors and power-law scaling relations of all specimens were determined from polarization-electric field hysteresis loop measurements as a function of frequency. All systems were found to exhibit similar dynamic scaling relationships. Hysteresis area < A >, P-r, and E-C decreased with increasing frequency due to delayed response but increased with increasing applied electric field due to enhancement of driving force. Trilayer system was found to exhibit strong internal-bias field and double hysteresis behavior. The coupling effect resulting due to polarization mismatch between layers had substantial influence on the dynamic hysteresis behavior and power-law scaling relations. (C) 2010 American Institute of Physics. [doi:10.1063/1.3514125] National Science Foundation (U.S.). Division of Materials Research. Materials World Network United States. Department of Energy. Office of Basic Energy Sciences - Contract No. DE-FG02–07ER46480