Ultrasonic force microscopy: detection and imaging of ultra-thin molecular domains

The analysis of the formation of ultra-thin organic films is a very important issue. In fact, it is known that the properties of organic light emitting diodes and field effect transistors are strongly affected by the early growth stages. For instance, in the case of sexithiophene, the presence of domains made of molecules with the backbone parallel to the substrate surface has been indirectly evidenced by photoluminescence spectroscopy and confocal microscopy. On the contrary, conventional scanning force microscopy both in contact and intermittent contact modes have failed to detect such domains. In this paper, we show that Ultrasonic Force Microscopy (UFM), sensitive to nanomechanical properties, allows one to directly identify the structure of sub-monolayer thick films. Sexithiophene flat domains have been imaged for the first time with nanometer scale spatial resolution. A comparison with lateral force and intermittent contact modes has been carried out in order to explain the origins of the UFM contrast and its advantages. In particular, it indicates that UFM is highly suitable for investigations where high sensitivity to material properties, low specimen damage and high spatial resolution are required.     

Fabrication and characterization of APT specimens from high dose heavy ion irradiated materials

The next generations of advanced energy systems will require materials that can withstand high doses of irradiation at elevated temperatures. Therefore, a methodology has been developed for the fabrication of high-dose ion-irradiated atom probe tomography specimens at a specific dose with the use of a focused ion beam milling system. The method also enables the precise ion dose of the atom probe tomography specimen to be estimated from the local concentration of the implanted ions. The method has been successfully applied to the characterization of the distribution of nanoclusters in a radiation-tolerant 14YWT nanostructured ferritic steel under ion irradiation to doses up to 400 displacements per atom.     

Optimisation of specimen temperature and pulse fraction in atom probe microscopy experiments on a microalloyed steel

This paper details the effects of systematic changes to the experimental parameters for atom probe microscopy of microalloyed steels. We have used assessments of the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR), compositional measurements and field desorption images to establish the optimal instrumental parameters. These corresponded to probing at the lowest possible temperature (down to 20 K) with the highest possible pulse fraction (up to 30%). A steel containing a fine dispersion of solute atom clusters was used as an archetype to demonstrate the importance of running the atom probe at optimum conditions.     

Atom-probe for FinFET dopant characterization

With the continuous shrinking of transistors and advent of new transistor architectures to keep in pace with Moore's law and ITRS goals, there is a rising interest in multigate 3D-devices like FinFETs where the channel is surrounded by gates on multiple surfaces. The performance of these devices depends on the dimensions and the spatial distribution of dopants in source/drain regions of the device. As a result there is a need for new metrology approach/technique to characterize quantitatively the dopant distribution in these devices with nanometer precision in 3D.In recent years, atom probe tomography (APT) has shown its ability to analyze semiconductor and thin insulator materials effectively with sub-nm resolution in 3D. In this paper we will discuss the methodology used to study FinFET-based structures using APT. Whereas challenges and solutions for sample preparation linked to the limited fin dimensions already have been reported before, we report here an approach to prepare fin structures for APT, which based on their processing history (trenches filled with Si) are in principle invisible in FIB and SEM. Hence alternative solutions in locating and positioning them on the APT-tip are presented. We also report on the use of the atom probe results on FinFETs to understand the role of different dopant implantation angles (10° and 45°) when attempting conformal doping of FinFETs and provide a quantitative comparison with alternative approaches such as 1D secondary ion mass spectrometry (SIMS) and theoretical model values.     

Optimisation of four-sensor probes for measuring bubble velocity components in bubbly air-water and oil-water flows

In a previous paper Lucas and Mishra (2005) [3] a local four-sensor conductance probe was introduced to measure the velocity vectors of dispersed bubbles in bubbly two-phase flow in which the continuous phase is water. There are a very limited number of alternative methods available for bubble velocity vector measurement with which results from, for example, computational fluid dynamic models can be compared and so the four-sensor probe technique is of interest to the multiphase flow community. In the previous paper [3] a mathematical model was presented to calculate the velocity vector of each gas bubble from seven time intervals which were measured using the output signals from each of four ‘needle’ conductance sensors located within the probe. In the present paper, a new technique for making the local four-sensor probe is introduced to minimise interference with the measured bubbles. A new signal processing method is presented using criteria to ensure that (i) the group of sensor signals from which the bubble velocity vector is to be determined are all produced by the same bubble and (ii) bubbles which contact the local four-sensor probe in an ambiguous manner are ignored. The accuracy with which the locations of each of the rear sensors in the probe relative to the lead sensor can be measured influences the accuracy with which the bubble velocity vector can be measured. However, the degree to which the accuracy of the measured velocity vector is affected by errors in the measured probe dimensions is dependent upon the geometrical arrangement of the four sensors within the probe. Experimental results and an error analysis are presented which show that the susceptibility of the velocity vector measurement technique to errors in the measured probe dimensions is reduced if the geometrical arrangement of the four sensors is optimised. As a result of this initial work, an optimised probe, known as the P30 probe, was designed and built and results obtained from the P30 probe in swirling oil-in-water bubbly flow are presented. A probe calibration factor is defined in this paper which can be interpreted as a measure of the interference of a probe with the motion of the bubbles with which it interacts. For the probes described in this paper the calibration factor was found to be much closer to unity than for previous four-sensor probes described in the literature (e.g. [3]) suggesting that these new probes have a much smaller effect on the bubbles’ motion than previous probes.     

采用浊度监测实现悬移质泥沙监测自动化的探讨

介绍了南宁水文站通过对水体浊度参数测试,得到浊度与含沙量关系,研究新悬移质泥沙监测模式,实现悬移质泥沙监测自动化,推进水文信息化进程适应经济发展,为防灾减灾决策,及时、准确提供科学依据。     

手持导航设备的电磁干扰定位和整改

手持导航产品中,电磁干扰对产品性能的影响巨大。该文重点描述PND产品中EMI定位和整改问题的一般分析方法和手段,即通过组合使用通用的电、磁场探头,GPS有源天线,电压探头进行近场扫描,准确定位PND中的干扰源和干扰路径,并举例说明这些方法的应用。     

叶片测量仪系统的工作原理及其应用

本文论述了叶片测量仪的结构及工作原理。介绍了叶片测量仪硬件和软件系统及住实际工作中的应用,并探讨了叶片测量仪的发展趋势和应用前景。     

Probe compensated single feed circularly polarized fractal‐shaped microstrip antennas

A single feed circularly polarized fractal boundary microstrip antenna with improved axial ratio bandwidth is presented. The low‐axial ratio bandwidth of single feed circularly polarized microstrip antenna is due to its probe reactance. In this article, the inherent disadvantage of this low‐AR bandwidth is overcome by compensating the probe reactance by incorporating capacitance in the form of small patch between the radiating patch and the probe. The perturbation of the patch is done using fractal curve as boundary. The proposed antenna exhibits impedance and axial ratio bandwidths of 9 and 2.2% respectively at 2.4 GHz. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Int J RF and Microwave CAE, 2009.     

Iterative control approach to high-speed force-distance curve measurement using AFM: time-dependent response of PDMS example

Force-distance curve measurements using atomic force microscope (AFM) has been widely used in a broad range of areas. However, currently force-curve measurements are hampered the its low speed of AFM. In this article, a novel inversion-based iterative control technique is proposed to dramatically increase the speed of force-curve measurements. Experimental results are presented to show that by using the proposed control technique, the speed of force-curve measurements can be increased by over 80 times--with no loss of spatial resolution--on a commercial AFM platform and with a standard cantilever. High-speed force curve measurements using this control technique are utilized to quantitatively study the time-dependent elastic modulus of poly(dimethylsiloxane) (PDMS). The force-curves employ a broad spectrum of push-in (load) rates, spanning two-order differences. The elastic modulus measured at low-speed compares well with the value obtained from dynamic mechanical analysis (DMA) test, and the value of the elastic modulus increases as the push-in rate increases, signifying that a faster external deformation rate transitions the viscoelastic response of PDMS from that of a rubbery material toward a glassy one.