Differential AC-chip calorimeter for glass transition measurements in ultrathin films

A differential AC-chip calorimeter capable of measuring the step in heat capacity at the glass transition in nanometer-thin films is described. Because of the differential setup, pJ/K sensitivity is achieved. Heat capacity can be measured for sample masses below 1 ng in broad temperature range as needed for the study of the glass transition in nanometer-thin polymeric films. Relative accuracy is sufficient to investigate the changes in heat capacity as the step at the glass transition of polystyrene. The step is about 25% of the total heat capacity of polystyrene. The calorimeter allows for the frequency dependent measurement of complex heat capacity in the frequency range from 1 Hz to 1 kHz. The glass transition in thin polystyrene films (50–4 nm) was determined at well-defined experimental time scales. No thickness dependency of the glass transition temperature was observed within the error limits (±3 K)—neither at constant frequency (40 Hz) nor for the trace in the activation diagram (1 Hz–1 kHz). © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part B: Polym Phys 44: 2996–3005, 2006     

Step-edge induced anisotropic domain-wall propagation

We report the observation of anisotropic domain-wall propagation in ultrathin magnetic films with perpendicular anisotropy. A controlled density of step edges was introduced which allowed us to quantify its influence on the domain-wall pinning. For a sawtooth arrangement of the step edges the corresponding wall movement resulted in triangular shaped domains. All aspects of this anisotropic domain-wall evolution could be reproduced by a simulation based on a modified Ginzburg-Landau-type soft-spin model.     

In der elektrochemischen Literatur

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Vortex lattice matching effects in a washboard pinning potential induced by Co nanostripe arrays

An advanced mask-less nanofabrication technique, focused electron beam-induced deposition (FEBID), has been employed on epitaxial Nb thin films to prepare ferromagnetic decorations in the form of an array of Co stripes. These substantially modify the non-patterned films’ superconducting properties, providing a washboard-like pinning potential landscape for the vortex motion. At small magnetic fields B ? 0.1 T, vortex lattice matching effects have been investigated by magneto-transport measurements. Step-like drops in the field dependencies of the films resistivity ρ(B) have been observed in particular for the vortex motion perpendicular to the Co stripes. The field values, corresponding to the middle points of these drops in ρ(B), meet the vortex lattice parameter matching the pinning structure’s period. These disagree with the results of Jaque et al. (2002) [11], who observed matching effects corresponding to the stripe width in Nb films grown on periodically distributed submicrometric lines of Ni.     

The behavior of a many-particle electrode in a lithium-ion battery

We study a rechargeable lithium-ion battery that uses a many-particle FePO₄ electrode to reversibly store lithium atoms. This process is accompanied by a phase transition and charging/discharging run along different paths, so that hysteretic behavior is observed.Although there are experimental studies suggesting that the overall behavior of the battery is a many-particle effect, most authors exclusively describe the phase transition within a single particle model of the electrode.In this work, we study in detail a many-particle model for the electrode. The model is capable to describe a kind of phase transition where each individual particle of the electrode is homogeneous. It will be shown that the particles are either in the first phase or in the second phase. This phenomenon is due to the non-monotone relation between the chemical potential and the lithium mole fraction of a single particle.The pressure-radius relation of a spherical elastic rubber balloon also exhibits non-monotone behavior. In fact, a system of many interconnected balloons behaves correspondingly to an electrode consisting of many storage particles. The analogy between the two systems is important, because the predictions of the many-particle model can easily be tested with rubber balloons of macroscopic size than with an ensemble of microscopically small (FePO₄) particles.     

Nitrogen uptake of nickel free austenitic stainless steel powder during heat treatment—an XPS study

In austenitic stainless steel nitrogen stabilizes the austenitic phase, improves the mechanical properties and increases the corrosion resistance. Nitrogen alloying enables to produce austenitic steels without the element nickel which is high priced and classified as allergy inducing. A novel production route is nitrogen alloying of CrMn‐prealloyed steel powder via the gas phase. This is beneficial as the nitrogen content can be adjusted above the amount that is reached during conventional casting. A problem which has to be overcome is the oxide layer present on the powder surface which impedes both the sintering process and the uptake of nitrogen. This study focuses on whether heat treatment under pure nitrogen is an appropriate procedure to enable sintering and nitrogen uptake by reduction of surface oxides. X‐ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) in combination with scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and energy dispersive X‐ray spectrometry (EDS) are used to investigate the surface of powdered FeMn19Cr17C0.4N heat treated under nitrogen atmosphere. The analyses showed reduction of iron oxides already at 500 °C leading to oxide‐free metallic surface zones. Mn and Cr oxides are reduced at higher temperatures. Distinct nitrogen uptake was registered, and successful subsequent sintering was reached. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.