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Hard Ti1-xAlxN thin films are of importance for metal-cutting applications. The hardness, thermal stability, and oxidation resistance of these coatings can be further enhanced by alloying with TaN. We use a hybrid high-power pulsed and dc magnetron co-sputtering (HIPIMS/DCMS) technique to grow dense and hard Ti0.41Al0.51Ta0.08N alloys without external heating (T-s amp;lt; 150 degrees C). Separate Ti and Al targets operating in the DCMS mode maintain a deposition rate of similar to 50 nm/min, while irradiation of the growing film by heavy Ta+/Ta2+ ions from the HIPIMS-powered Ta target, using dc bias synchronized to the metal-ion-rich part of each HIPIMS pulse, provides effective near-surface atomic mixing resulting in densification. The substrate is maintained at floating potential between the short bias pulses to minimize Ar+ bombardment, which typically leads to high compressive stress. Transmission and scanning electron microscopy analyses reveal dramatic differences in the microstructure of the co-sputtered HIPIMS/DCMS films (Ta-HIPIMS) compared to films with the same composition grown at floating potential with all targets in the DCMS mode (Ta-DCMS). The Ta-DCMS alloy films are only similar to 70% dense due to both inter-and intra-columnar porosity. In contrast, the Ta-HIPIMS layers exhibit no inter-columnar porosity and are essentially fully dense. The mechanical properties of Ta-HIPIMS films are significantly improved with hardness and elastic modulus values of 28.0 and 328 GPa compared to 15.3 and 289 GPa for reference Ta-DCMS films. Published by AIP Publishing., Funding Agencies|Swedish Research Council VR Grant [2013-4018, 2014-5790]; VINN Excellence Center Functional Nanoscale Materials (FunMat); Aforsk Foundation Grant [16-359]; Swedish Government Strategic Research Area in Materials Science on Functional Materials at Linkoping University [SFO-Mat-LiU 2009-00971]; Knut and Alice Wallenberg Foundation [2011.0143]

We review results on the growth of metastable Ti1-xAlxN alloy films by hybrid high-power pulsed and dc magnetron co-sputtering (HIPIMS/DCMS) using the time domain to apply substrate bias either in synchronous with the entire HIPIMS pulse or just the metal-rich portion of the pulse in mixed Ar/N-2 discharges. Depending upon which elemental target, Ti or Al, is powered by HIPIMS, distinctly different film-growth kinetic pathways are observed due to charge and mass differences in the metal-ion fluxes incident at the growth surface. Al+ ion irradiation during Al-HIPIMS/Ti-DCMS at 500 degrees C, with a negative substrate bias V-s = 60 V synchronized to the HIPIMS pulse (thus suppressing Ar+ ion irradiation due to DCMS), leads to single-phase NaCl-structure Ti1-xAlxN films (x less than= 0.60) with high hardness (greater than30 GPa with x greater than 0.55) and low stress (0.2-0.8 GPa compressive). Ar+ ion bombardment can be further suppressed in favor of predominantly Al+ ion irradiation by synchronizing the substrate bias to only the metal-ion-rich portion of the Al-HIPIMS pulse. In distinct contrast Ti-HIPIMS/Al-DCMSTi1-xAlxN layers grown with Ti+/Ti2+ metal ion irradiation and the same HIPIMS-synchronized V-s value, are two-phase mixtures, NaCl-structure Ti1-xAlxN plus wurtzite AlN, exhibiting low hardness (similar or equal to 18 GPa) with high compressive stresses, up to -3.5 GPa. In both cases, film properties are controlled by the average metal-ion momentum per deposited atom less thanp(d)greater than transferred to the film surface. During Ti-HIPIMS, the growing film is subjected to an intense flux of doubly-ionized Ti2+, while Al2+ irradiation is insignificant during Al-HIPIMS. This asymmetry is decisive since the critical less thanp(d)greater than limit for precipitation of w-AlN, 135 [eV-amu](1/2), is easily exceeded during Ti-HIPIMS, even with no intentional bias. The high Ti2+ ion flux is primarily due to the second ionization potential (IP2) of Ti being lower, Funding Agencies|European Research Council (ERC) through an Advanced Grant; VINN Excellence Center Functional Nanoscale Materials (FunMat)

A hybrid deposition process consisting of reactive high-power pulsed and dc magnetron cosputtering (HIPIMS and DCMS) from Ti and Al targets is used to grow Ti1-xAlxN alloys, with x similar to 0.6, on Si(001) at 500 degrees C. Two series of films are deposited in which the energy and momentum of metal ions incident at the growing film are individually varied. In both sets of experiments, a negative bias V-s ranging from 20 to 280 V is applied to the substrate in synchronous, as determined by in-situ mass spectrometry, with the metal-ion-rich part of the HIPIMS pulse. Ion momentum is varied by switching the HIPIMS and dc power supplies to change the mass m and average charge of the primary metal ion. Al-HIPIMS/Ti-DCMS layers grown under Al+ (m(Al) = 26.98 amu) bombardment with 20 less than= V-s less than= 160 V are single-phase NaCl-structure alloys, while films deposited with V-s greater than 160 V are two-phase, cubic plus wurtzite. The corresponding critical average metal-ion momentum transfer per deposited atom for phase separation is less than p(d)*greater than greater than= 135 [eV-amu](1/2). In distinct contrast, layers deposited in the Ti-HIPIMS/Al-DCMS configuration with Ti+/Ti2+ (m(Ti) = 47.88 amu) ion irradiation are two-phase even with the lowest bias, V-s = 20 V, for which less than p(d)*greater than greater than 135 [eV-amu](1/2). Precipitation of wurtzite-structure AlN is primarily determined by the average metal-ion momentum transfer to the growing film, rather than by the deposited metal-ion energy. Ti-HIPIMS/Al-DCMS layers grown with V-s= 20 V are two-phase with compressive stress sigma= -2 GPa which increases to -6.2 GPa at V-s= 120 V; hardness H values range from 17.5 to 27 GPa and are directly correlated with sigma. However, for Al-HIPIMS/Ti-DCMS, the relatively low mass and single charge of the Al+ ion permits tuning properties of metastable cubic Ti0.38Al0.62 N by adjusting V-s to vary, for example, the hardness from 12 to 31 GPa while maintaini

Hereditary retinal degeneration (RD) relates to a heterogeneous group of blinding human diseases in which the light sensitive neurons of the retina, the photoreceptors, die. RD is currently untreatable and the underlying cellular mechanisms remain poorly understood. However, the activity of the enzyme poly-ADP-ribose polymerase-1 (PARP1) and excessive generation of poly-ADP-ribose (PAR) polymers in photoreceptor nuclei have been shown to be causally involved in RD. The activity of PARP1 is to a large extent governed by its functional antagonist, poly-ADP-glycohydrolase (PARG), which thus also may have a role in RD. To investigate this, we analyzed PARG expression in the retina of wild-type (wt) mice and in the rd1 mouse model for human RD, and detected increased PARG protein in a subset of degenerating rd1 photoreceptors. Knockout (KO) animals lacking the 110 kDa nuclear PARG isoform were furthermore analyzed, and their retinal morphology and function were indistinguishable from wild-type animals. Organotypic wt retinal explants can be experimentally treated to induce rd1-like photoreceptor death, but PARG110 KO retinal explants were unexpectedly highly resistant to such treatment. The resistance was associated with decreased PAR accumulation and low PARP activity, indicating that PARG110 may positively regulate PARP1, an event that therefore is absent in PARG110 KO tissue. Our study demonstrates a causal involvement of PARG110 in the process of photoreceptor degeneration. Contrasting its anticipated role as a functional antagonist, absence of PARG110 correlated with low PARP activity, suggesting that PARG110 and PARP1 act in a positive feedback loop, which is especially active under pathologic conditions. This in turn highlights both PARG110 and PARP1 as potential targets for neuroprotective treatments for RD.

Item does not contain fulltext, Achromatopsia (ACHM) is an autosomal-recessive retinal dystrophy characterized by color blindness, photophobia, nystagmus, and severely reduced visual acuity. Its prevalence has been estimated to about 1 in 30,000 individuals. Four genes, GNAT2, PDE6C, CNGA3, and CNGB3, have been implicated in ACHM, and all encode functional components of the phototransduction cascade in cone photoreceptors. Applying a functional-candidate-gene approach that focused on screening additional genes involved in this process in a cohort of 611 index cases with ACHM or other cone photoreceptor disorders, we detected a homozygous single base change (c.35C>G) resulting in a nonsense mutation (p.Ser12( *)) in PDE6H, encoding the inhibitory gamma subunit of the cone photoreceptor cyclic guanosine monophosphate phosphodiesterase. The c.35C>G mutation was present in three individuals from two independent families with a clinical diagnosis of incomplete ACHM and preserved short-wavelength-sensitive cone function. Moreover, we show through immunohistochemical colocalization studies in mouse retina that Pde6h is evenly present in all retinal cone photoreceptors, a fact that had been under debate in the past. These findings add PDE6H to the set of genes involved in autosomal-recessive cone disorders and demonstrate the importance of the inhibitory gamma subunit in cone phototransduction.