Modern Methods of Analysis in Mineral Raw Materials Industry

The development of analytical chemistry in the past decades has provided the raw materials industry with a wealth of new methods and procedures for the characterization of raw, intermediate and final products. The greatest advances were made in trace and micro analytical methods. These are now routinely available at reasonable cost and turnaround times. Equally significant for the industry is the development of process analytical methods for bulk properties that provide crucial information for successful automation of complex processes.     

Modelling of boron nitride: Atomic scale simulations on thin film growth

Molecular-dynamics simulations on ion-beam deposition of boron nitride are presented. A realistic Tersoff-like potential energy functional for boron nitride, which was specially fitted to ab initio-data, has been used. The impact of energetic boron and nitrogen atoms on a c-BN target is simulated with energies ranging from 10 to 600 eV. The structural analysis of the grown films shows that a loose, dominantly sp²-bonded structure arises at high ion flux. In no case the formation of a sp³-bonded phase is observed, but the obtained films partially reveal textured basal planes as found in experiment. Two different growth regimes are identified for ion energies above and below 100 eV.     

Evolution of ion-induced ripple patterns on SiO2 surfaces

The evolution of nanoscale ripple patterns during sub-keV ion sputtering of thermally grown, fused and single crystalline SiO₂ surfaces has been investigated by means of atomic force microscopy. For all three materials, different dependencies of the ripple wavelength and the surface roughness on the ion fluence have been found. Within the Bradley-Harper model of pattern formation, the observed differences are consistent with different amounts of surface and near-surface mass transport by ion-enhanced viscous flow which might result from different surface energies of the SiO₂ specimens.     

The diffusion of hydrogen and inert gas in sputtered a-SiC:H alloys: Microstructure study

The microstructure of DC sputtered amorphous silicon carbon (a-SiC:H) is studied by effusion measurements of hydrogen and of implanted inert gases helium, neon, argon and secondary ion mass spectrometry. The results suggest that the motion of inert gas atoms is controlled by the diffusion, greatly depending on a broadening of network openings. Already at carbon concentrations of 25 at%, isolated voids disappeared presumably because interconnected voids are formed. A void formation is mainly attributed to an increase in hydrogen incorporation in the samples.     

An MR-compatible stereoscopic in-room 3D display for MR-guided interventions

Background and methods

A commercial three-dimensional (3D) monitor was modified for use inside the scanner room to provide stereoscopic real-time visualization during magnetic resonance (MR)-guided interventions, and tested in a catheter-tracking phantom experiment at 1.5 T. Brightness, uniformity, radio frequency (RF) emissions and MR image interferences were measured.

Results and discussion

Due to modifications, the center luminance of the 3D monitor was reduced by 14 %, and the addition of a Faraday shield further reduced the remaining luminance by 31 %. RF emissions could be effectively shielded; only a minor signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) decrease of 4.6 % was observed during imaging. During the tracking experiment, the 3D orientation of the catheter and vessel structures in the phantom could be visualized stereoscopically.     

MR safety: simultaneous B 0, d��/dt, and dB/dt measurements on MR-workers up to 7 T

Object

The EU directive on safety requirements (2004/40/EC) limits the exposure to time varying magnetic fields to dB /dt = 200 mT/s. This action value is not clearly defined as it considers only the temporal change of the magnitude of ${\vec {B}}$ . Thus, only the translational motion in the magnet??s fringe field is considered and rotations are neglected.

Materials and methods

A magnetic field probe was constructed to simultaneously record the magnetic flux density ${\vec{B}}$ (x, y, z) with a 3-axis Hall sensor and the induced voltage due to movements with a set of three orthogonal coils. Voltages were converted into time-varying magnetic flux d ??(x, y, z)/dt serving as an exposition parameter for both translations and rotations. To separate the two types of motion, d B/dt was additionally calculated on the basis of the Hall sensor??s data. The calibrated probe was attached to the forehead of 8 healthcare workers and 17 MR physicists, and ${\vec {B}}$ and d??/dt were recorded during standard operating procedures at three different MR systems up to 7 T.

Results

The maximum percentage of the translational motion referring the data including both translations and rotations amounts to 32%. During volunteer measurements, maximum exposure values of d??/dt = 21 mWb/s, dB/dt = 1.40 T/s and ${\left| {\vec {B}}\right|= 2.75}$ Twere found.

Conclusion

The findings in this work indicate that both translations and rotations in the vicinity of an MR system should be taken into account, and that a single regulatory action level might not be sufficient.