Hydrogen adsorption studies in micro-size cobalt dots

Hydrogen desorption curves were obtained from a sample composed of a square arrangement of Co dots with average diameter of 4.4 μm, separated by a distance of 11.6 μm. A macroscopic sample of Co dots grown on a 2.5 × 2.5 cm Si substrate was made by standard lithographic techniques and used in these experiments. Thermal programmed desorption (TPD) was performed under ultra-high vacuum conditions. Hydrogen TPD curves were obtained from a 1 × 1 cm Co dots samples displaying a maximum of intensity at 425 K. Hydrogen TPD curve was also obtained from 1 cm× 1 cm samples of Co films and Co foils for comparison. The hydrogen TPD curves have decreasing intensity from the Co foils to the Co dots and finally to the Co films. This indicates that there are more sites for hydrogen adsorption on the Co dots than in the Co films. This is a surprising result because there is approximately 8.7 times less Co atoms exposed in the Co dots that in the Co film sample. A desorption energy of 27 kcal/mol was obtained for the Co dots suggesting that hydrogen is adsorbed on an hcp hollow site of the Co dot crystalline structure.     

Lateral Magnetically Modulated Multilayers by Combining Ion Implantation and Lithography

The combination of lithography and ion implantation is demonstrated to be a suitable method to prepare lateral multilayers. A laterally, compositionally, and magnetically modulated microscale pattern consisting of alternating Co (1.6 µm wide) and Co‐CoO (2.4 µm wide) lines has been obtained by oxygen ion implantation into a lithographically masked Au‐sandwiched Co thin film. Magnetoresistance along the lines (i.e., current and applied magnetic field are parallel to the lines) reveals an effective positive giant magnetoresistance (GMR) behavior at room temperature. Conversely, anisotropic magnetoresistance and GMR contributions are distinguished at low temperature (i.e., 10 K) since the O‐implanted areas become exchange coupled. This planar GMR is principally ascribed to the spatial modulation of coercivity in a spring‐magnet‐type configuration, which results in 180° Néel extrinsic domain walls at the Co/Co‐CoO interfaces. The versatility, in terms of pattern size, morphology, and composition adjustment, of this method offers a unique route to fabricate planar systems for, among others, spintronic research and applications.     

Flux confinement by artificial arrays and clusters in superconducting films

We have studied the superconducting properties of antidot arrays and mesoscopic antidot clusters near the superconducting-normal phase boundary. Characteristic minima and maxima have been observed in the magnetore-sistance, critical current and phase boundary caused by the formation of stable vortex configurations at the antidots. A comparison with a simple theoretical model has shown that the effects in the arrays as well as in the clusters originate from quantization of the fluxoid at the antidots. This model has enabled an identification of all vortex configurations.     

Empirical surveys of frontier applications: a meta‐review

This contribution is the first attempt to systematically review all empirical surveys that so far have been made available in the broad field of efficiency and productivity analysis using frontier estimation methodologies. We provide a systematic bibliometric review on the many empirical surveys in the field of efficiency and productivity analysis, the most relevant concepts, areas, overlaps, and potentials to explore from its introduction to the most recent surveys. We combine the United Nations’ International Standard Industrial Classification (ISIC) taxonomy for the economic activity with the Journal of Economic Literature (JEL) classification system to classify the empirical surveys and to identify the current gaps in the literature. In addition to the most relevant/generic potential areas for applications (according to the United Nation's ISIC), this methodology provides a cluster analysis with the most relevant concepts that have been considered so far (according to the JEL codes). This overview brings an interesting guide for future work to develop the whole field.     

Preferentially oriented BaTiO3 thin films deposited on silicon with thin intermediate buffer layers

Barium titanate (BaTiO₃) thin films are prepared by conventional 2-methoxy ethanol-based chemical solution deposition. We report highly c-axis-oriented BaTiO₃ thin films grown on silicon substrates, coated with a lanthanum oxynitrate buffer layer of 8.9 nm. The influence of the intermediate buffer layer on the crystallization of BaTiO₃ film is investigated. The annealing temperature and buffer layer sintering conditions are optimized to obtain good crystal growth. X-ray diffraction measurements show the growth of highly oriented BaTiO₃ thin films having a single perovskite phase with tetragonal geometry. The scanning electron microscopy and atomic force microscopy studies indicate the presence of smooth, crack-free, uniform layers, with densely packed crystal grains on the silicon surface. A BaTiO₃ film of 150-nm thickness, deposited on a buffer layer of 7.2 nm, shows a dielectric constant of 270, remnant polarization (2P_r) of 5 μC/cm², and coercive field (E_c) of 60 kV/cm.     

Approximate adjoint-based iterative learning control

This paper characterises stochastic convergence properties of adjoint-based (gradient-based) iterative learning control (ILC) applied to systems with load disturbances, when provided only with approximate gradient information and noisy measurements. Specifically, conditions are discussed under which the approximations will result in a scheme which converges to an optimal control input. Both the cases of time-invariant step sizes and cases of decreasing step sizes (as in stochastic approximation) are discussed. These theoretical results are supplemented with an application on a sequencing batch reactor for wastewater treatment plants, where approximate gradient information is available. It is found that for such case adjoint-based ILC outperforms inverse-based ILC and model-free P-type ILC, both in terms of convergence rate and measurement noise tolerance.     

Least-Squares Support Vector Machines for the identification of Wiener–Hammerstein systems

This paper considers the identification of Wiener–Hammerstein systems using Least-Squares Support Vector Machines based models. The power of fully black-box NARX-type models is evaluated and compared with models incorporating information about the structure of the systems. For the NARX models it is shown how to extend the kernel-based estimator to large data sets. For the structured model the emphasis is on preserving the convexity of the estimation problem through a suitable relaxation of the original problem. To develop an empirical understanding of the implications of the different model design choices, all considered models are compared on an artificial system under a number of different experimental conditions. The obtained results are then validated on the Wiener–Hammerstein benchmark data set and the final models are presented. It is illustrated that black-box models are a suitable technique for the identification of Wiener–Hammerstein systems. The incorporation of structural information results in significant improvements in modeling performance.     

Nonparametric cost and revenue functions under constant economies of scale: an enumeration approach for the single output or input case

This article shows how the linear programs needed to compute cost and revenue functions under constant returns to scale and a single output or input, respectively, can be replaced with a more efficient enumeration algorithm.