Crystal orientation changes of Ag thin films on the Si(111) substrate due to tribo-assisted recrystallization

Crystal orientation changes of Ag thin films due to the tribo-assisted recrystallization have been studied using grazing incidence X-ray diffraction with synchrotron radiation. After preparation of an Si(111) √3 × √3-Ag surface, a 5-nm-thick Ag film was deposited on the surface at the substrate temperature of 303 K in an ultra-high vacuum chamber. The friction experiments were carried out using a diamond pin-on-plate type tribometer just after the Ag deposition in the same UHV chamber. We found that the coefficient of friction of the Ag films on the Si(111) √3 × √3-Ag surface decreases from 0.07 to 0.03, with increasing reciprocal sliding cycles. In synchronization with the coefficient change, Ag{100} grains are gradually disappearing. As a result, the Ag{111} grains cover the entire surface after 50 sliding cycles. Moreover, we found that the domain size of the Ag{111} grains increases with increasing reciprocal sliding cycles by measuring the rocking curve width. These results directly show that the Ag(111) plane is the sliding plane of friction and the coefficient of friction of Ag films is determined by the fraction of the Ag(111) grains in the Ag films. Moreover, to clarify the reaction between the Ag film and the Si substrate due to the tribo-assisted recrystallization, the substrate strain has been studied by an extremely asymmetric X-ray diffraction technique using synchrotron radiation.     

Statistical analysis for multiplicatively modulated nonlinear autoregressive model and its applications to electrophysiological signal analysis in humans

Modulating the dynamics of a nonlinear autoregressive model with a radial basis function (RBF) of exogenous variables is known to reduce the prediction error. Here, RBF is a function that decays to zero exponentially if the deviation between the exogenous variables and a center location becomes large. This paper introduces a class of RBF-based multiplicatively modulated nonlinear autoregressive (mmNAR) models. First, we establish the local asymptotic normality (LAN) for vector conditional heteroscedastic autoregressive nonlinear (CHARN) models, which include the mmNAR and many other well-known time-series models as special cases. Asymptotic optimality for estimation and testing is described in terms of LAN properties. The mmNAR model indicates goodness-of-fit for surface electromyograms (EMG) using electrocorticograms (ECoG) as the exogenous variables. Concretely, it is found that the negative potential of the motor cortex forces change in the frequency of EMG, which is reasonable from a physiological point of view. The proposed mmNAR model fitting is both useful and efficient as a signal-processing technique for extracting information on the action potential, which is associated with the postsynaptic potential.     

Simplified analysis of steady-state crack growth of piezoelectric ceramics based on the continuum damage mechanics

Summary A simplified analysis of crack growth of piezoelectric ceramics was performed by using the double cantilever beam (DCB) model. The analysis was intended for the crack growth in a steady state by using some assumptions to simplify the analysis. In the present paper, damage within piezoelectric ceramics was represented by a damage variable based on the continuum damage mechanics, and the effect of the damage on material properties was taken into account in a constitutive equation of the piezoelectric ceramics. The constitutive equation and an evolution equation of the damage variable were applied to the DCB model. Then, the crack growth in the DCB model was dealt with within the framework of the continuum damage mechanics. As a result of the analysis, a constant crack growth rate and distribution of stress, strain and damage variable in front of the crack tip were elucidated, and the effects of the applied electric field on the crack growth were discussed in particular.     

Route guidance by a car navigation system based on augmented reality

Car navigation systems play a prominent role in road traffic safety and traffic regulation. However, it is necessary to improve the route guidance of car navigation systems so that they accurately and quickly recognize small differences in location. Thus, to increase the ease of understanding and safety of car navigation systems, navigation systems based on augmented reality have been proposed for providing guidance at road intersections. We are currently developing a car navigation system based on augmented reality, called AR‐Navi. We investigated designs for the display of road intersection guidance that can be easily understood even when limited information is available and proposed a “best shot” display method that does not use moving images. In addition, we implemented a prototype system that includes these methods and conducted driving experiments on public roads to evaluate the ease of understanding and safety of AR‐Navi. Using the evaluation results, we confirmed that the ease of understanding and safety is similar in the case of AR‐Navi and CG‐Navi. We also clarified the characteristics of AR‐Navi. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Electr Eng Jpn, 180(2): 43–54, 2012; Published online in Wiley Online Library (wileyonlinelibrary.com). DOI 10.1002/eej.22278     

One-step route to a hybrid TiO2/TixW1?xN nanocomposite by in situ selective carbothermal nitridation

Metal oxide/nitride nanocomposites have many existing and potential applications, e.g. in energy conversion or ammonia synthesis. Here, a hybrid oxide/nitride nanocomposite (anatase/Ti_xW_1−xN) was synthesized by an ammonia-free sol–gel route. Synchrotron x-ray diffraction, complemented with electron microscopy and thermogravimetric analysis, was used to study the structure, composition and mechanism of formation of the nanocomposite. The nanocomposite contained nanoparticles (<5 nm diameter) of two highly intermixed phases. This was found to arise from controlled nucleation and growth of a single oxide intermediate from the gel precursor, followed by phase separation and in situ selective carbothermal nitridation. Depending on the preparation conditions, the composition varied from anatase/Ti_xW_1−xN at low W content to an isostructural mixture of Ti-rich and W-rich Ti_xW_1−xN at high W content. In situ selective carbothermal nitridation offers a facile route to the synthesis of nitride-oxide nanocomposites. This conceptually new approach is a significant advance from previous methods, which generally require ammonolysis of a pre-synthesized oxide.     

Droplet-based biochemical assay by magnetic wire manipulation between multiple droplets

Reaction performance of a droplet-based biochemical assay technique that uses magnetic wires as sample carriers is evaluated. Wires 2.0 mm in length, 0.05 mm in width, and 0.02 mm in thickness are fabricated by chemical etching, introduced into a droplet immersed in oil, and manipulated by the magnetic force of a moving magnet. Alkaline-phosphatase as an enzyme is immobilized on the wire surfaces by applying Au and self-assembled monolayer coatings, and the method’s on-chip reaction performance is evaluated. The enzymatic reaction is found to increase linearly as the number of wires and the reaction time increase. Relatively high performance reproducibility for enzymatic reactions is obtained; on average, the reaction absorbance, standard deviation, and coefficient of variance are found to be respectively 1.14, 0.103, and 9.1 %. The conductivity change in a fused droplet is used to evaluate the absolute volume of liquid transferred with the extracted wires and a value of 0.33 μl is obtained.     

Effect of α-substituents on molecular motion and wetting behaviors of poly(fluoroalkyl acrylate) thin films with short fluoroalkyl side chains

The effect of α-substituent on the molecular motion and wetting behavior of poly{2-(perfluorobutyl)ethyl acrylate} [PFA-C₄], poly{2-(perfluorobutyl)ethyl methacrylate} [PFMA-C₄], poly{2-(perfluorobutyl)ethyl α-fluoroacrylate} [PFFA-C₄], and poly{2-(perfluorobutyl)ethyl α-chloroacrylate} [PFClA-C₄] films were characterized by dynamic contact angle measurement, lateral force microscopy (LFM), wide angle X-ray diffraction (WAXD), and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). WAXD of oriented PFClA-C₄ fiber suggested the presence of rod-like chain due to the presence of bulky α-substituent. The glass transition temperature (T_g) of PFFA-C₄ and PFClA-C₄ were well above the room temperature. The water repellencies of PFFA-C₄ and PFClA-C₄ were as high as that of PFMA-C₄ and their oil repellency of PFFA-C₄ and PFClA-C₄ was higher than the PFMA-C_4. This result was originated from the low main chain mobility of PFFA-C₄ and PFClA-C₄ due to the presence of bulky α-substituents. The effect of molecular motion on water repellency was clarified by the results of temperature dependence studies of dynamic contact angle, LFM, and surface chemical composition measured by XPS.     

Surface-collection efficiency of Nuclepore filters for nanoparticles

The flat surface of Nuclepore filters is suitable for observing collected particles with a scanning electron microscope (SEM). However, experimental data on surface-collection efficiency are limited because surface-collection efficiencies cannot be measured directly using aerosol measuring instruments. In this study, the surface-collection efficiencies of Nuclepore filters were determined by establishing the ratio of the number of particles deposited on the surface of the filter visually counted with an SEM to the number of inflow particles counted by a condensation particle counter, using monodispersed polystyrene latex particles (30–800 nm) and silver particles (15–30 nm). Because Nuclepore filters with smaller pore sizes would be expected to produce higher minimum surface-collection efficiency and a higher pressure-drop, 0.08 and 0.2 µm Nuclepore filters were chosen as the test filters in view of both collection efficiency and pressure drop. The results showed that the minimum surface-collection efficiencies of the 0.08 µm pores at face velocities of 1.9 and 8.4 cm·s^?1 were approximately 0.6 and 0.7, respectively, and those of the 0.2 µm pores at face velocities of 1.5 and 8.6 cm·s^?1 were approximately 0.8 and 0.6, respectively. Because the pressure drop of the 0.2 µm pore filter was lower than that of the 0.08 µm pore filter under the same flow-rate conditions, the 0.2 µm pore filter would be more suitable considering the pressure drop and collection efficiency. The obtained surface collection efficiencies were quantitatively inconsistent with theoretical surface-collection efficiencies calculated using conventional theoretical models developed to determine the collection efficiency of filters with larger pores.

© 2016 American Association for Aerosol Research