Raman scattering study of the phonon dispersion in twisted bilayer graphene

Bilayer graphene with a twist angle θ between the layers generates a superlattice structure known as a Moiré pattern. This superlattice provides a θ-dependent q wavevector that activates phonons in the interior of the Brillouin zone. Here we show that this superlattice-induced Raman scattering can be used to probe the phonon dispersion in twisted bilayer graphene (tBLG). The effect reported here is different from the widely studied double-resonance in graphene-related materials in many aspects, and despite the absence of stacking order in tBLG, layer breathing vibrations (namely ZO’ phonons) are observed.      

Characterization of ultrathin SOI film and application to short channel MOSFETs

In this study, a very dilute solution (NH(4)OH:H(2)O(2):H(2)O 1:8:64 mixture) was employed to reduce the thickness of commercially available SOI wafers down to 3?nm. The etch rate is precisely controlled at 0.11???s(-1) based on the self-limited etching speed of the solution. The thickness uniformity of the thin film, evaluated by spectroscopic ellipsometry and by high-resolution x-ray reflectivity, remains constant through the thinning process. Moreover, the film roughness, analyzed by atomic force microscopy, slightly improves during the thinning process. The residual stress in the thin film is much smaller than that obtained by sacrificial oxidation. Mobility, measured by means of a bridge-type Hall bar on 15?nm film, is not significantly reduced compared to the value of bulk silicon. Finally, the thinned SOI wafers were used to fabricate Schottky-barrier metal-oxide-semiconductor field-effect transistors with a gate length down to 30?nm, featuring state-of-the-art current drive performance.     

Bacterial community structure in the drinking water microbiome is governed by filtration processes

The bacterial community structure of a drinking water microbiome was characterized over three seasons using 16S rRNA gene based pyrosequencing of samples obtained from source water (a mix of a groundwater and a surface water), different points in a drinking water plant operated to treat this source water, and in the associated drinking water distribution system. Even though the source water was shown to seed the drinking water microbiome, treatment process operations limit the source water's influence on the distribution system bacterial community. Rather, in this plant, filtration by dual media rapid sand filters played a primary role in shaping the distribution system bacterial community over seasonal time scales as the filters harbored a stable bacterial community that seeded the water treatment processes past filtration. Bacterial taxa that colonized the filter and sloughed off in the filter effluent were able to persist in the distribution system despite disinfection of finished water by chloramination and filter backwashing with chloraminated backwash water. Thus, filter colonization presents a possible ecological survival strategy for bacterial communities in drinking water systems, which presents an opportunity to control the drinking water microbiome by manipulating the filter microbial community. Grouping bacterial taxa based on their association with the filter helped to elucidate relationships between the abundance of bacterial groups and water quality parameters and showed that pH was the strongest regulator of the bacterial community in the sampled drinking water system.     

Strain gradient plasticity analysis of the strength and ductility of thin metallic films using an enriched interface model

The mechanical response of thin metallic films is simulated using a two-dimensional strain gradient plasticity finite-element model involving grain boundaries in order to investigate the effect of the thickness, grain shape and surface constraint on the strength, ductility and back-stress. The grain boundaries and surface layers are modeled as initially impenetrable to dislocations while allowing for relaxation at a critical stress level. The model captures the variation of the strength with grain size, film thickness, and with the presence or not of constraining surface layers, in agreement with experimental results on Al and Cu films. A decrease in the uniform elongation is predicted with decreasing film thickness due to a loss of strain-hardening capacity and the possible presence of imperfections. These two effects dominate over the stabilizing contribution of the plastic strain gradients. Accounting for the relaxation of the interface constraint affects the magnitude of the back-stress as well as the drop in ductility.     

Inter- and intragranular plasticity mechanisms in ultrafine-grained Al thin films: An in situ TEM study

The nature of the elementary deformation mechanisms in small-grained metals has been the subject of numerous recent studies. In the submicron range, mechanisms other than intragranular dislocation mechanisms, such as grain boundary (GB)-based mechanisms, are active and can explain the deviations from the Hall–Petch law. Here, we report observations performed during in situ transmission electron microscopy (TEM) tensile tests on initially dislocation-free Al thin films with a mean grain size around 250 nm prepared by microfabrication techniques. Intergranular plasticity is activated at the onset of plasticity. It consists of the motion of dislocations in the GB plane irrespective of the GB character. Surface imperfections, such as GB grooves, are supposed to trigger intergranular plasticity. At larger deformations, the motion of the intergranular dislocations leads to GB sliding and eventually cavitation. In the meantime, GB stress-assisted migration and dislocation emission inside the grain from GB sources have also been observed. The observation of these different mechanisms during the deformation provides an important insight into the understanding of the mechanical properties of metallic thin films.