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Microplasmas can be used for a wide range of technological applications and to improve the understanding of fundamental physics. Scanning electron microscopy, on the other hand, provides insights into the sample morphology and chemistry of materials from the mm‐ down to the nm‐scale. Combining both would provide direct insight into plasma‐sample interactions in real‐time and at high spatial resolution. Up till now, very few attempts in this direction have been made, and significant challenges remain. This work presents a stable direct current glow discharge microplasma setup built inside a scanning electron microscope. The experimental setup is capable of real‐time in situ imaging of the sample evolution during plasma operation and it demonstrates localized sputtering and sample oxidation. Further, the experimental parameters such as varying gas mixtures, electrode polarity, and field strength are explored and experimental V–I curves under various conditions are provided. These results demonstrate the capabilities of this setup in potential investigations of plasma physics, plasma‐surface interactions, and materials science and its practical applications. The presented setup shows the potential to have several technological applications, for example, to locally modify the sample surface (e.g., local oxidation and ion implantation for nanotechnology applications) on the µm‐scale. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Formation of the domain structure by ion beam irradiation was studied in thermally depolarized Ce-doped strontium barium niobate single crystals covered by a dielectric layer. Three types of irradiation regimes were used: dot exposure, stripe exposure, and line exposure. The dependences of the domain size and depth on the irradiated dose were measured. The circular shape of the isolated domains with partially switched broad domain boundary was obtained. Isotropic domain growth was attributed to the step generation at the wall by merging with the residual nanodomains that appeared after thermal depolarization. The obtained linear dose dependence of the switched area was attributed to the screening of the depolarization field by the injected charge. The shape distortion of the domains growing in the neighborhood with already created ones was attributed to the electrostatic interaction of the approaching charged domain walls. The obtained results can be applied for the creation of precise domain patterns with arbitrary orientation and shape to produce nonlinear optical devices with improved characteristics, including electrically tunable diffractive optical elements. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The formation of the domain structure by electron beam irradiation in thermally depolarized Ce-doped strontium barium niobate single crystals with free surface and surface covered by a dielectric layer has been studied. The dependences of the domain sizes and domain depth on the irradiated dose have been measured. The circular shape of the isolated domains was obtained. The isotropic domain growth was attributed to step generation at the wall as a result of merging with the residual nanodomains which existed after thermal depolarization. The linear dose dependence of the switched area was attributed to the screening of the depolarization field by the injected charge. The electrostatic interaction of the approaching charged domain walls was revealed. The better quality of the domain patterns was achieved in the samples with electron localization in the dielectric layer. The obtained results can be applied for the creation of precise domain patterns with arbitrary orientation and shape to produce nonlinear optical devices with improved characteristics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ferroelectric domain structure has been formed under the action of electron beam scanning in congruent lithium niobate single crystal covered by surface dielectric layer. The obtained types of the domain patterns have been considered as subsequent stages of domain structure evolution. The dependence on irradiated charge density of domain density, length, and period of domain rays and stripe domain width was used for characterization of the domain structure evolution. The threshold irradiated charge density necessary for the formation of solid stripe domain has been revealed. All obtained results have been discussed in terms of kinetic approach based on the analogy between domain structure evolution and first-order phase transition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Self-assembly of supramolecular biomaterials such as proteins or peptides has revealed great potential for their use in various applications ranging from scaffolds for cell culture to light-emitting diodes and piezoelectric transducers. Many of these applications require controlled growth of individual objects in the configuration allowing simple transfer to the desired device. In this work, we grew millimeter-long diphenylalanine (FF) self-assembled microtubes with high aspect ratio via evaporation-driven crystallization of nonsaturated FF solutions, making use of the Marangoni flow in the drying droplets. The growth mechanism was investigated by measuring the microtube length as a function of time. Jerky (steplike) growth behavior was observed and explained by a self-activated process in which additional activation energy is provided through condensation. The calculated growth rate due to the diffusion-controlled process is in agreement with the experimentally measured values. The grown microtubes were successfully transferred to metallized patterned substrates, and their specific conductivity and piezoelectric properties were evaluated as a function of the applied voltage and frequency. A number of piezoelectric resonances were observed and attributed to different vibrational modes excited by the piezoelectric effect inherent to the FF structure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The increase of the domain shape dimensionality from one-dimensional (1D) to two-dimensional (2D) representing creation of the magnetic bubbles by application of the uniform magnetic field to the stripe domain structure is a well-known effect used for the magnetic memory. The analogy between ferromagnetic and ferroelectric domains stimulates a search of a similar effect in ferroelectrics. Here, we present the discovered 1D to 2D transformation of the domain shape under the action of pyroelectric field appeared in lithium niobate crystal as a result of irradiation by IR laser pulses. The imaging at the surface reveals the transformation of the stripe domains appeared after the first pulse into the regular arrays of isolated circular domains after the second pulse, whereas the imaging in the bulk reveals the transformation of the comb-like domain to array of isolated conical domains. The process was considered in terms of the kinetic approach. The mechanism of the comb-like domain formation by continuous tooth generation during domain elongation is proposed. The 1D to 2D transformation is attributed to the domain splitting due to the backward motion of the charged domain wall. The proposed mechanisms are confirmed by computer simulation of the temporal dependence of the pyroelectric field excess over the threshold value. [Display omitted] [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This work describes a novel approach to produce high quality release paper at lower cost than traditional methods. The anti-adhesive properties of release paper require the use of expensive machine glazed kraft or "Glassine" paper as the paper base. A series of polymer coatings including polyvinyl alcohol, carboxymethyl cellulose, polyethylene vinyl acetate, and polystyrene were chemically synthesized and coated onto a low cost pulp paper base. Surface roughness (Sa) and smoothness coefficients (k) were determined by atomic force microscopy (AFM), and the interactions between the polymer coating and base paper were investigated by Raman spectroscopy. Studies show the use of polyethylene vinyl acetate (PEVA) as a pre-coating layer on low cost pulp paper exhibits similar anti-adhesive properties as higher cost paper bases. In low margin markets such as the production of release paper, decreases in cost are critical to industry survival. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]