Combined AFM, XPS, and contact angle studies on treated indium-tin-oxide films for organic light-emitting devices

In the present work, surface modifications were performed on the indium-tin-oxide (ITO) substrates and the treated ITO surface properties were investigated by different characterization techniques. AFM and XPS methods were applied to measure surface roughness and chemical composition, respectively. Standard goniometry was used to determine contact angle and to calculate surface energy. Experimental results show that the ITO surface properties are subjected to the treatment methods which lead the surface to a certain degree of changes. Wettability of the modified surfaces was then monitored as a function of time elapsed after treatment and quantified. Furthermore, the polymer light-emitting electrochemical cells (LECs) with the differently treated ITO substrates as device electrodes were fabricated and characterized. We observe that the electrical and optical performances of the polymer LECs are affected by the treatment methods on the ITO surface which result in the modification of interface formation and electrical contact of the ITO substrate with the polymer blend in the polymer LECs.     

Microstructure and cavitation erosion characteristics of Al-Si alloy coating prepared by electrospark deposition

With a high-power electrospark deposition (ESD) processing unit, an Al-Si coating was prepared on ZL101 aluminum alloy substrate. The Al-Si coating was composed of many thin deposited layers with the thickness of 30-40 μm and showed peculiar microstructural characteristics. The eutectic Si phase, which was homogenously distributed in the coating, existed in the form of latticed morphology with characteristics of being composed of many fine (~ 50 nm size) spherical Si particles. Hardness tests showed that the microhardness of the coating was in the range of 100-110 HV with a small fluctuation, which implied that the deposited coating possess a uniform strength through the whole coating. After 4 hours' cavitation erosion tests, the cumulative volume loss of Al-Si coating (9.03 mm³) was only 31.5% of the substrate (28.66 mm³), which indicated that the Al-Si coating possessed better cavitation erosion resistance than ZL101 substrate. The excellent performance of Al-Si coating was mainly attributed to the peculiar microstructure and the formation of fine spherical Si particles.     

Mechanism of the effect of the ferrite grain size on the fatigue strength of a low-carbon steel

The effect of the ferrite grain size on the fatigue strength of a low-carbon steel is studied. It has been shown that, as the ferrite grain size increases, the fatigue strength decreases due to plastic-flow localization. One of the explanations of this phenomenon is the beginning of the formation of periodical cellular dislocation structures.     

Formation of oxidation-resistant Cu-Mg coatings on (001) Cu for oxide superconducting tapes

The formation of oxidation-resistant buffer layers on (001) oriented Cu for coated high-temperature superconducting tape applications was investigated. The approach employed Cu/Mg multilayer precursor films that were subsequently annealed to form either Mg-doped fcc Cu or intermetallic Cu₂ Mg. The precursor consisted of an Mg/Cu multilayer stack with 5 each of 25 nm thick Mg and 25 nm thick Cu layers which were grown at room temperature by sputter deposition. At annealing temperature of 400 °C, formation of the intermetallic Cu₂ Mg was observed. X-ray diffraction showed that the Cu₂ Mg (100) oriented grains were epitaxial with respect to the underlying Cu film, possessing a cube-on-cube orientation. In order to test oxidation resistance, CeO₂ films were deposited at elevated temperature on Ni/(Cu,Mg)/Cu/MgO structures. In case of the CeO₂ film on Ni/Cu/MgO, significant surface roughness due to the metal oxidation is observed. In contrast, no surface roughness is observed in the SEM images for the CeO₂/Ni/(Cu,Mg)/Cu/MgO structure.     

Investigation on the microstructure and cracking susceptibility of laser-clad V2O5 /NiCrBSiC alloy coatings

The effect of V₂O₅ on the refinement of microstructures and the reduction of cracking susceptibility of laser-clad NiCrBSiC hardfacing coatings are investigated. It is shown that high volume fraction and inhomogeneous distribution of the coarse brittle phases of chromium borides and carbides in NiCrBSiC layer are the dominating origins for hot cracks. The addition of V₂O₅ has an apparent effect on enhancing the toughness, refining the microstructure and reducing the cracking sensitivity of the coating. This is attributed to the generation of vanadium borides and carbides. The vanadium borides generate prior to and consequently inhibit the formation of chromium borides during rapid solidification because of lower standard free energy of formation of the former. They also restrain the growth of chromium carbides and make them distribute homogeneously. The reasons for crack initiation and distribution are discussed based on the microstructures of the cladding layers. It is demonstrated that the generation of cracks is determined by the microstructure of the cladding layers and the occurrence of cracking is governed by heat stress.     

Influence of ion-bombardment-energy on thin zirconium oxide films prepared by dual frequency oxygen plasma sputtering

Thin ZrO₂ films were prepared using dual frequency oxygen reactive plasma sputtering for wear-resistance coating of ceramics products. Influences of ion-bombardment-energy E_i were investigated for improvement of film characteristics. The results revealed that the deposition rate and the hardness of the prepared ZrO₂ thin films gradually increased with increasing E_i for E_i < 220-250 eV and then decreased, whereas the water-contact-angle on ZrO₂ thin films was about 90 °, having a good water-repellent nature.     

Constructing a space from the geodesic equations

Given a space with a metric tensor defined on it, it is easy to write down the system of geodesic equations on it by using the formula for the Christoffel symbols in terms of the metric coefficients. In this paper the inverse problem, of reconstructing the space from the geodesic equations is addressed. A procedure is developed for obtaining the metric tensor explicitly from the Christoffel symbols. The procedure is extended for determining if a second order quadratically semi-linear system can be expressed as a system of geodesic equations, provided it has terms only quadratic in the first derivative apart from the second derivative term. A computer code has been developed for dealing with large systems of geodesic equations.

Program summary

Program title: geodesicCOMMENTED.nbCatalogue identifier: AEBA_v1_0Program summary URL:http://cpc.cs.qub.ac.uk/summaries/AEBA_v1_0.htmlProgram obtainable from: CPC Program Library, Queen's University, Belfast, N. IrelandLicensing provisions: Standard CPC licence, http://cpc.cs.qub.ac.uk/licence/licence.htmlNo. of lines in distributed program, including test data, etc.: 373No. of bytes in distributed program, including test data, etc.: 3641Distribution format: tar.gzProgramming language: MATHEMATICAComputer: Computers that run MATHEMATICAOperating system: MATHEMATICA runs under Linux and windowsRAM: Minimum of 512 kbytesClassification: 1.5Nature of problem: The code we have developed calculates the space when the geodesic equations are given.Solution method: The code gives the user the option of selecting a subset of the metric tensor required for constructing the Christoffel symbols. This system is over-determined hence the results are not unique.Running time: Dependent on the RAM available and complexity of the metric tensor.     

Fourth Sound Measurement of Superfluid 3He in Aerogel

The fourth sound resonance experiment has been done on liquid ³He in 98.5% porosity aerogel. Aerogel was grown inside the pores among the sintered silver powder to avoid the vibration of the aerogel strands by the sound experiment. The measurement was performed at zero magnetic field and 27 bar. We observed the phase transition between the A-like and B-like phases and also their coexistent state. The A-like to B-like phase transition occurs not at a temperature but within a temperature band. In this band, the A-like phase gradually converts to the B-like phase. Possible picture of the coexistent state is discussed.     

Cross section calculations in Glauber model: I. Core plus one-nucleon case

This paper presents a Fortran program to calculate cross sections for various reactions between composite particles in the framework of Glauber theory. The projectile nucleus is described as a core plus one valence-nucleon system. The input data needed for the calculation are the core and target densities and the nucleon-nucleon profile function. The single-particle wave function of the valence nucleon may be provided by a user or generated by the code if appropriate quantum numbers of the wave function are specified. Multiple integrations involving the valence-nucleon wave function are performed by a Monte Carlo technique with Metropolis algorithm. The program gives the total reaction cross section, the one-nucleon removal cross section, the elastic differential cross section, and the longitudinal momentum distribution of the core fragment. Sample calculations include the reactions of ^13,19C+¹²C, ¹¹Be+¹²C, ¹¹Be+⁹Be, and ⁸B+¹²C systems.     

Spin Pumping Effect in Superfluid 3He A1

A fountain effect is a common phenomenon in both ³He and ⁴He superfluids. Unique to superfluid ³He is the magnetic fountain effect, which has been used to determine the spin direction of the condensate in ³He A₁ phase. Here we present a pressure driven fountain effect in A₁ phase. The experimental cell is composed of a large reservoir connected to a small detector chamber through superleak channels of width of 20 μm. One wall of the detector chamber houses a movable circular 6 μm thick membrane which serves as a sensitive capacitive pressure sensor and also acts as a spin pump. In A₁ phase, a DC voltage applied on the capacitor induces a simultaneous mass and spin superfluid current into the small chamber. After equilibration, removal of the DC voltage causes a sudden pressure drop followed by a slow relaxation. The sudden drop is a consequence of reversed superfluid flow through the superleak. The observed decay times during the slow relaxation agree with those obtained in magnetically induced spin flow experiment. These observations show that the slow relaxation stems from spin relaxation in the absence of applied field gradient.