Mössbauer spectroscopy and magnetic properties in thin films of FexNi100−x electroplated on silicon (1 0 0)

Fe_xNi_100−x thin films were produced by galvanostatic electrodeposition on Si (1 0 0), nominal thickness 2800 nm, and x ranging 7-20. The crystalline structure of the sample was determined by X-ray diffraction (XRD). The magnetic properties were investigated by vibration sample magnetometry (VSM) and room temperature ⁵⁷Fe Mössbauer spectroscopy. Conversion Electron Mössbauer spectroscopy (CEMS) in both film surfaces for the thick self-supported films showed that the magnetic moment direction is in the plane and conventional transmission (MS) that the directions are out of the plane films. The results were interpreted assuming a three-layer model where the external layer has in-plane magnetization and the internal one, out of plane magnetization.     

Sound transmission loss across specially orthotropic laminates

This work studies the sound transmission loss across composite material in order to understand the sound-insulating capacity at various frequencies. A so-called specially orthotropic laminate was examined. The material properties in thickness direction are different from those in in-plane directions but it is isotropic in the laminating plane. Thus the specially orthotropic laminate can be analyzed by two-dimensional acoustic analysis. The sound transfer matrix of specially orthotropic single layer is determined by stress and velocity. The boundary conditions between different interface planes and the transfer matrix related to these conditions yield the mathematical model of the sound wave that propagates in composite materials. The experimental and numerical results of sound transmission loss are compared. Arrangement of various material properties and their sound penetrating characteristic were investigated and discussed.     

Analysis of the magnetic domain structure of electrodeposited nickel studied by neutron depolarization

A polarized monochromatic neutron beam is transmitted through a nickel sheet which has been electrodeposited onto a copper backing. The polarization direction of the incoming beam may be adjusted in three orthogonal directions, while the polarization after transmission through the sample can be analyzed in three independent directions. In this way a (3×3) depolarization matrix can be determined, of which the diagonal elements give the depolarization factors in the successive directions. At zero applied magnetic field and perpendicular transmission no depolarization is observed when the polarization vector is perpendicular to the sheet. The depolarization factors in the other two directions nearly follow a cosine dependence on the neutron wavelength. A structure consisting of domains with magnetization directions perpendicular to the sheet could explain the results. By varying the angle of transmission of the neutron beam with respect to the plane of the sheet one can determine the mean domain size and to some extent the nature of the distribution function of the domain size in the plane of the sheet. In addition, the depolarization has been studied as a function of a magnetic field applied in a direction in the plane of the sheet. The results are compared with magnetization measurements performed in a magnetic field applied in the same direction.     

The preliminary evaluation of a 1 MHz ultrasound probe for measuring the elastic anisotropy of human cortical bone

Our objective is to evaluate an ultrasound probe for measurements of velocity and anisotropy in human cortical bone (tibia). The anisotropy of cortical bone is a known and mechanically relevant property in the context of osteoporotic fracture risk. Current in vivo quantitative ultrasound devices measuring the velocity of ultrasound in long bones can only be applied in the axial direction. For anisotropy measurements a second direction for velocity measurements preferably perpendicular to the axial direction is necessary. We developed a new ultrasound probe which permits axial transmission measurements with a simultaneous second perpendicular direction (tangential). Anisotropy measurements were performed on isotropic and anisotropic phantoms and two excised human female tibiae (age 63 and 82). Anisotropy ratios (AI; ratio of squared ultrasound velocities in the two directions) were for the isotropic phantom 1.06 ± 0.01 and for the anisotropic phantom 1.14 ± 0.03 (mean ± standard deviation). AI was 1.83 ± 0.29 in the tibia from the older donor and 1.37 ± 0.18 in the tibia from the younger donor. The AIs were in the expected range and differed significantly (p < 0.05, t-test) between the tibiae. Measured sound velocities were reproducible (mean standard deviation of short time precision of both channels for phantom measurements 31 m/s) and in agreement with reported velocities of the phantom material. Our results document the feasibility of anisotropy measurements at long bones using a single probe. Further improvements in the design of the probe and tests in vivo are warranted. If this approach can be evaluated in vivo an additional tool for assessing the bone status is available for clinical use.     

Investigation of induced parallel magnetic anisotropy at low deposition temperature in Ba-hexaferrites thin films

In this paper we present the effect of low substrate temperature on structural, morphological, magnetic and optical properties of Ba-hexaferrite thin films. Films were deposited on single crystal Silicon (1 0 0) substrate employing the Pulsed Laser Deposition (PLD) technique. The structural, morphological, magnetic and optical properties are found to be strongly dependent on substrate temperature. The low substrate temperatures (room temperature to 200 °C) restrict the formation of larger grains. For the higher substrate temperature i.e., 400 °C, the grain size of the deposited thin film are much larger. The film grown at low substrate temperature do not show any anisotropy. As the substrate temperature is increased, the easy axis of the films alinged itself in the direction parallel to the film plane whereas the hard axis remained in the perpendicular direction. The higher substrate temperature caused the uniaxial magnetic anisotropy, which is very important in magnetic recording devices. The saturation magnetization and optical band gap energy values of 62 emu/cc and 1.75 eV, respectively, were achieved for the film of thickness 500 nm deposited at 400 °C. Higher values of coercivity, squareness and films thickness are associated with the growth of larger grains at higher substrate temperature.     

Needle-like domain structure in Co films deposited on Mo (1 1 0)

Magnetization reversal processes and domain structures have been studied in Mo(1 1 0)/Co(0 0 0 1)/Au(1 1 1) structures grown by molecular beam epitaxy on monocrystalline (11–20) sapphire substrates. Wedge-shaped samples with different Co thickness gradients relative to the Mo [0 0 1] direction were fabricated. Observation of the domain structure was performed at room temperature using Kerr microscopy in a Co thickness range varying from 5 to 50 nm, where the magnetization is oriented in the plane of the sample. A Co thickness-dependent coercivity field was determined through analysis of the domain wall position during the reversal process. A preferential orientation of magnetic domain walls was found, with the domains being needle-like. The orientation, as well as the size of the needles, depends on the Co thickness and the orientation of the magnetic field applied in the sample plane.     

Temperature measurement of air convection using a Schlieren system

In this work, we have developed a procedure for full-field measurement of temperature of a fluid flow by using the schlieren technique. The basic idea is to relate the intensity level of each pixel in a schlieren image to the corresponding knife-edge position measured at the exit focal plane of the system. The method is applied in the measurement of temperature fields of the air convection caused by a heated rectangular metal plate (7.3 cm×12 cm). Our tests are carried out at plate temperatures of 50 °C and 80 °C. To validate the proposed method, the schlieren temperature results are compared to those obtained by a thermocouple. Thermocouple data are obtained along two mutually perpendicular directions (one direction along the optical axis, z-direction, and other direction along the x-axis, which is perpendicular to the optical axis) at points located on a 9×9 grid with a variable spacing. The thermocouple measurements were integrated along the z-axis in order to be compared with the measurements obtained by the schlieren technique. The results from the two methods show good agreement between them.     

Influence of the sign of the refractive index in the reflectivity of a metamaterial surface with localized roughness

To study the scattering properties of metamaterials, we generalize two scattering methods developed for conventional (non-magnetic) isotropic materials to the case of materials with arbitrary values (positive or negative) of magnetic permeability and electric permittivity. The generalized methods are used to study the changes produced in the reflectivity of a metamaterial surface with localized roughness when the relative refractive index changes sign. Our results show that, unlike the case of a plane surface whose reflectivity is unaffected by the change of sign of the relative refractive index, in rough surfaces the change of sign is manifested in the reflectivity, even for very low roughness, particularly in observation directions away from the specular direction.     

Acoustic source localization in anisotropic plates

The conventional triangulation technique cannot locate the acoustic source in an anisotropic plate because this technique requires the wave speed to be independent of the propagation direction which is not the case for an anisotropic plate. All methods proposed so far for source localization in anisotropic plates require either the knowledge of the direction dependent velocity profile or a dense array of sensors. In this paper for the first time a technique is proposed to locate the acoustic source in large anisotropic plates with the help of only six sensors without knowing the direction dependent velocity profile in the plate. Experimental results show that the proposed technique works for both isotropic and anisotropic structures. For isotropic plates the required number of sensors can be reduced from 6 to 4.     

Anisotropy of elastic strains and specific features of the defect structure of <Emphasis Type="Italic">a</Emphasis>-plane GaN epitaxial films grown on <Emphasis Type="Italic">r</Emphasis>-plane sapphire

The structural state of GaN epitaxial layers grown on r-plane sapphire through metal-organic vapor phase epitaxy has been investigated using X-ray diffraction. The interplanar spacings in two directions in the (11$ \bar 2 $ \bar 2 0) plane of the interface and in the direction perpendicular to it, as well as the diffraction peaks in the ϑ and ϑ-2ϑ scan modes in the Bragg and Laue geometries, are measured on double- and triple-crystal diffractometers. The intensity distribution maps for asymmetric Bragg reflections are constructed for two azimuthal positions of the sample. An analysis of the data obtained has demonstrated that the elastic strain is anisotropic and that the X-ray diffraction pattern parallel to the interface plane is broadened. The layers are contracted in the [1$ \bar 1 $ \bar 1 00] direction and unstrained in the [0001] direction. The broadening of the Bragg reflections in the [1$ \bar 1 $ \bar 1 00] direction is considerably larger than that in the [0001] direction. It is shown using the Williamson-Hall plots for the Bragg and Laue reflections that these broadenings are not related to different degrees of mosaicity but are determined by the local dilatations and misorientations around defects. The data obtained are analyzed, and the conclusions regarding the dislocation structure of the samples are drawn.     

Full-Field Determination of Principal-Stress Directions Using Photoelasticity with Plane-Polarized RGB Lights

In this paper, we propose a new three-wavelength method for automatic measurement of principal-stress directions over an entire model on the basis of four-step phase shift method. This method uses four fringe patterns captured by a color charge-coupled devices (CCD) camera corresponding to four angular position arrangements of polaroids in a dark-field plane polariscope. The principal-stress directions can be determined by a single calculation. The method is applied to a circular disc under compression. The principal-stress direction distributions obtained from the proposed method are compared with those obtained from a conventional method and theory. It can be obviously seen that the proposed method accurately yields the principal-stress directions compared with the conventional method.     

Optical transmission loss in tin oxide thin film waveguide

This paper reports the optical transmission loss of tin oxide thin film waveguide. The effect of oxidation temperature, thickness and air ageing (40 days at room temperature) was studied. The vapour chopping technique has been used successfully to reduce the optical transmission loss. The vapour chopped tin oxide thin film waveguide (2.90-3.60 dB/cm) showed smaller transmission loss than those of nonchopped tin oxide thin film waveguide (4.16-4.74 dB/cm). Transmission loss was found to be a function of oxidation temperature and thickness. Due to increased oxidation temperature, transmission loss was found to decrease. The effect of increase in thickness was to increase the transmission loss. The air ageing effect caused the increase in transmission loss whereas the effect was found lesser in the vapour chopped tin oxide thin film waveguide.     

Study of vertical sound image control with parametric loudspeakers

A parametric loudspeaker utilizes nonlinearity of a medium and is known as a super-directive loudspeaker. In this paper, the sound localization in the vertical direction using the upper and lower parametric loudspeakers is confirmed by listening tests and physical measurements. The differences in levels between the upper and lower parametric loudspeakers are varied as a parameter. The direction of sound localization in the vertical plane can be controlled not only when the acoustical axis is set to the right ear but also when it is set to at 5 deg to the right of the right ear. The effect of the level difference between the upper and lower loudspeakers is weaker than the differences observed when using ordinary loudspeakers. We obtained interesting characteristics of the left-right sound localization in the horizontal plane with the upper and lower parametric loudspeakers in the vertical plane. It is found that by setting the parametric loudspeaker at the right ear (that is, the horizontal angle of a listener to it is only 3 deg to the right), the direction of sound localization in the horizontal plane moved approximately 10 deg to the right. Moreover, by setting the parametric loudspeaker 5 deg to the right, the direction of sound localization moves approximately 20 deg to the right. The ILD (Interaural Level Difference) using a dummy head is calculated from the measured left and right sound signals. It is determined that ILDs of the parametric loudspeaker are larger than those of the ordinary loudspeaker. A simple geometrical acoustic model is introduced and analyzed. The analysis helps to explain the measured characteristics.     

Transmission ratio of the Glan-Taylor prism with deviated optical axes in the static polarization interference imaging spectrometer

Glan-Taylor prism is the key component of the static polarization interference imaging spectrometer. In this paper, we consider the case that optical axes of the Glan-Taylor prism have departure angles from their ideal directions that in the principal section, however principal section varies with optical axes. Ray tracing method is employed to detailedly present the light trails in the birefringent Glan-Taylor prism when the incident plane and the principal section are in the same plane. Both double refraction in the crystal and internal double reflection over the interface between the birefringent and isotropic mediums are analyzed in detail. Besides, we obtain the approximate formula about the transmission ratio of Glan-Taylor prism. Finally, the transmission ratio of Glan-Taylor prism due to the deviations of the optical axes is deduced and discussed in particular.     

A transmission electron microscopy study on the atomic arrangement and grain growth of hexagonal structured Ge2Sb2Te5

The atomic arrangement and grain growth of the hexagonal structured Ge₂Sb₂Te₅ were investigated by a transmission electron microscopy study. Unlike the isotropic crystallization of face-centered-cubic (fcc) structured Ge₂Sb₂Te₅, the hexagonal structured Ge₂Sb₂Te₅ grain was preferably grown to a large degree with a specific direction. As a result, we have revealed that the grain growth occurred parallel to the (0 0 0 1) plane, and identified the atomic arrangement of the hexagonal structured Ge₂Sb₂Te₅ having nine cyclic layers by analyzing the high-resolution transmission electron microscopy images and simulated images obtained in the direction of zone axis.     

Thickness dependence of optoelectrical properties of tungsten-doped indium oxide films

Pulsed laser deposition technique is used for deposition of tungsten-doped indium oxide films. The effect of film thickness on structural, optical and electrical properties was studied using X-ray diffraction (XRD), atomic force microscopy, UV-visible spectroscopy, and electrical measurements. X-ray diffraction study reveals that all the films are highly crystalline and oriented along (2 2 2) direction and the film crystallinity increases with increase in film thickness. Atomic force microscopy analysis shows that these films are very smooth with root mean square surface roughness of ∼1.0 nm. Bandgap energy of the films depends on thickness and varies from 3.71 eV to 3.94 eV. It is observed that resistivity of the films decreases with thickness, while mobility increases.     

High pressure X-ray diffraction study of potassium azide

Crystal structure and compressibility of potassium azide was investigated by in-situ synchrotron powder X-ray diffraction in a diamond anvil cell at room temperature up to 37.7 GPa. In the body-centered tetragonal (bct) phase, an anisotropic compressibility was observed with greater compressibility in the direction perpendicular to the plane containing N₃⁻ ions than directions within that plane. The bulk modulus of the bct phase was determined to be 18.6(7) GPa. A pressure-induced phase transition may occur at 15.5 GPa.     

Controlling the transmission of ultrahigh frequency bulk acoustic waves in silicon by 45° mirrors

In this paper, we present a feasible microsystem in which the direction of localized ultrahigh frequency (∼1 GHz) bulk acoustic wave can be controlled in a silicon wafer. Deep etching technology on the silicon wafer makes it possible to achieve high aspect ratio etching patterns which can be used to control bulk acoustic wave to transmit in the directions parallel to the surface of the silicon wafer. Passive 45° mirror planes obtained by wet chemical etching were employed to reflect the bulk acoustic wave. Zinc oxide (ZnO) thin film transducers were deposited by radio frequency sputtering with a thickness of about 1 μm on the other side of the wafer, which act as emitter/receptor after aligned with the mirrors. Two opponent vertical mirrors were inserted between the 45° mirrors to guide the transmission of the acoustic waves. The propagation of the bulk acoustic wave was studied with simulations and the characterization of S₂₁ scattering parameters, indicating that the mirrors were efficient to guide bulk acoustic waves in the silicon wafer.     

Wave reflection and transmission from a thin film with one-dimensional disorder

This paper deals with a TE plane wave reflection and transmission from a thin film with one-dimensional disorder by means of the stochastic functional approach. The relative permittivity of the thin film is written by a Gaussian random field in the horizontal direction with infinite extent, and is uniform in the vertical direction with finite thickness. Arandomwavefield is obtained in terms of a Wiener-Hermite expansion representation with approximate expansion coefficients (Wiener kernels) under a small fluctuation case. For a SiC thin film and a glass thin film having one-dimensional disorder with Gaussian correlation or an exponential correlation, numerical examples of the first-order incoherent scattering cross section and the optical theorem are illustrated in the figures. It is then found that ripples and four major peaks appear in angular distributions of the incoherent scattering. Such four peaks may occur in the directions of forward scattering, specular reflection, backscattering and in the symmetrical direction of forward scattering with respect to the normal to surface of the thin film. Physical processes that yield such ripples and peaks are discussed.     

Microstructural and magnetic properties of CoPt nanowires

In this work, the magnetic and microstructural properties of CoPt nanowires are presented as a function of the electrolyte pH and current density during electrodeposition into anodized alumina templates. CoPt nanowires of high aspect ratio have been prepared using electrolyte pH values in the range from 2 to 6. The as-made samples exhibit a face centered cubic (fcc) structure with soft magnetic properties which transform into the face centered tetragonal (fct) L10 phase after thermal treatment. Different pH values of the electrolyte during electrodeposition lead to significantly different microstructures and, therefore, different magnetic properties. The CoPt nanowires prepared at high pH value are composed of fcc nanorods of about 25 nm in length. Thermal annealing of these samples leads to a preferred (0 0 1) orientation (along the direction perpendicular to the direction of nanowires) which increases with annealing time. On the other hand, the CoPt nanowires prepared at lower pH value are composed of uniform fcc nanograins with the size ∼2−3 nm. Magnetization curves for the later sample are virtually identical in both directions indicating an isotropic behavior.