Elastic Interaction between a String of Cells and an Individual Cell

The elastic interaction between a string of cells and an individual cell on an elastic substrate is investigated numerically using the force-dipole model. This interaction is found to be of short range, and the cut-off distance is about 1.4 times of the length of the cell. The energy-minimization distance is about half the cellular length. The specific relationship between the cellular reorientation and the cellular position are obtained quantitatively. A critical distance is found, and the cellular orientation has an abrupt change at this transition point.     

Ferromagnetic nanoparticles suspensions in twisted nematic

Ferromagnetic nanoparticles insertions in nematic liquid crystals (NLC) in twisted configuration are studied and a theoretical model is proposed to explain the results. Experimental observation revealed that nanoparticles tend to overcrowd in long strings parallel to the rubbing direction of the alignment substrate of the LC cell. Their behavior under external field was studied and their interaction with their nematic host is described using elastic continuum theory.     

Molecular dynamics of contact behavior of self-assembled monolayers on gold using nanoindentation

Molecular dynamics simulation is used to study nanoindentation of the self-assembled monolayers (SAMs) on an Au surface. The interaction of SAM atoms is described by a general universal force field (UFF), the tight-binding second-moment approximation (TB-SMA) is used for Au substrate, and the Lennard-Jones potential function is employed to describe interaction among the indenter, the SAMs, and the Au substrate atoms. The model consists of a planar Au substrate with n-hexadecanethiol SAM chemisorbed to the substrate. The simulation results show that the contact pressure increases as the SAMs temperature increases. In addition, the contact pressure also increases as the depth and velocity of indentation increase.     

Investigation of the adsorption mechanism of water nanocluster on the substrate: The size and interaction strength effect

Molecular dynamics simulation is utilized to investigate the effects of both the size of a water nanocluster and the interaction strength between the water nanocluster and a solid surface on the dynamic behavior of the water nanocluster when it is adsorbed on a solid surface. The simulation results demonstrate that both the size and the interaction strength influence the adsorption behavior of the water nanocluster on the substrate. When the interaction strength between water molecules and the substrate is strong, the morphology of the water nanocluster adsorbed on the substrate will tend to be flatter in shape. However, when the interaction strength is weak, the morphology of the water nanocluster is a semi-spherical shape. The size of the water nanocluster causes the water molecules in the first layer to lay flatter on the substrate at stronger interaction strengths. As the interaction strengths exceed 1.5 kcal mol⁻¹, the value of orientation factor will reverse its trend for water nanoclusters with different sizes, with the smaller water nanocluster having the smallest orientation factor.     

Effect of elastic strain energy on grain growth and texture in AZ31 magnesium alloy by phase-field simulation

A phase-field model is modified to investigate the grain growth and texture evolution in AZ31 magnesium alloy during stressing at elevated temperatures. The order parameters are defined to represent a physical variable of grain orientation in terms of three angles in spatial coordinates so that the grain volume of different order parameters can be used to indicate the texture of the alloy. The stiffness tensors for different grains are different because of elastic anisotropy of the magnesium lattice. The tensor is defined by transforming the standard stiffness tensor according to the angle between the (0001) plane of a grain and the direction of applied stress. Therefore, different grains contribute to different amounts of work under applied stress. The simulation results are well-explained by using the limited experimental data available, and the texture results are in good agreement with the experimental observations. The simulation results reveal that the applied stress strongly influences AZ31 alloy grain growth and that the grain-growth rate increases with the applied stress increasing, particularly when the stress is less than 400 MPa. A parameter (△d) is introduced to characterize the degree of grain-size variation due to abnormal grain growth; the △d increases with applied stress increasing and becomes considerably large only when the stress is greater than 800 MPa. Moreover, the applied stress also results in an intensive texture of the 〈0001〉 axis parallel to the direction of compressive stress in AZ31 alloy after growing at elevated temperatures, only when the applied stress is greater than 500 MPa.     

Spatially resolved Raman spectroscopy evaluation of residual stresses in 3C-SiC layer deposited on Si substrates with different crystallographic orientations

Raman scattering studies were performed on hot-wall chemical vapor deposited (heteroepitaxial) silicon carbide (SiC) films grown on Si substrates with orientations of (1 0 0), (1 1 1), (1 1 0) and (2 1 1), respectively. Raman spectra suggested that good quality cubic SiC single crystals could be obtained on the Si substrate, independent of its crystallographic orientation. Average residual stresses in the epitaxially grown 3C-SiC films were measured with the laser waist focused on the epilayer surface. Tensile and compressive residual stresses were found to be stored within the SiC film and in the Si substrate, respectively. The residual stress exhibited a marked dependence on the orientation of the substrate. The measured stresses were comparable to the thermal stress deduced from elastic deformation theory, which demonstrates that the large lattice mismatch between cubic SiC and Si is effectively relieved by initial carbonization. The confocal configuration of the optical probe enabled a stress evaluation along the cross-section of the sample, which showed maximum tensile stress magnitude at the SiC/Si interface from the SiC side, decreasing away from the interface in varied rate for different crystallographic orientations. Defocusing experiments were used to precisely characterize the geometry of the laser probe in 3C-SiC single crystal. Based on this knowledge, a theoretical convolution of the in-depth stress distribution could be obtained, which showed a satisfactory agreement with stress values obtained by experiments performed on the 3C-SiC surface.     

Substrate-interaction,long-range order,and epitaxy of large organic adsorbates

Large and symmetric organic molecules (>200 amu) can form highly-ordered adsorbate layers and thin films when they are deposited by vacuum sublimation on clean reactive surfaces. In such cases covalent bonding often occurs via the molecular -system leading to a parallel orientation of the adsorbate as shown for oligothiophenes and PTCDA on Ag(1 1 1). A proper choice of the substrate and/or a preadsorbate may also cause an upright orientation with bonding via a reactive group of the molecule (example: NDCA/Ni(1 11)). Most of the used molecules yield long-range ordered monolayers with large, almost defect-free domains. The stronger the bonding and the smaller the molecule the more likely is the formation of commensurate superstructures which indicate site-specific adsorption even for such large molecules as PTCDA or EC4T. Organic epitaxy is discussed and shown for a particular system, PTCDA on Ag(1 1 1), for which the structure of the monolayer is nearly identical to that of the-modification of PTCDA crystals, whereas on other substrates (e.g. Si(1 1 1), Ge(1 0 0)) a disordered interface and hence no true epitaxy is found.     

Two-dimensional self-assembly of esters with different configurations at the liquid-solid interface

Self-assembled monolayers of hexadecyl palmitate (HP) and 3,3′-thiodipropionic acid di-n-octadecyl ester (TADE) physisorbed on highly oriented pyrolytic graphite (HOPG) are investigated using scanning tunneling microscope (STM) and computer simulation. Both molecules form alkane-like linear shapes to maximize the interactions with substrate when they adsorb on HOPG surface. The HP molecules self-assemble into lamellae with the chain-trough angle of 48°, which is the result of a shifting 3/2 units from the adjacent molecule in a lamella. Based on the simulation insights combined with STM images, we confirm that a perpendicular orientation appears in which the HP molecular backbone is rotated 90° with respect to the substrate such that the carbonyl points away from the HOPG surface. TADE molecules form three kinds of configurations with chain-trough angles of 90°, 72° and 60° by shifting 0, 1/2 and 1 units from their adjacent molecules, respectively. The bright stripes in STM images reveal the electron density distribution of the part between two ester groups. The energy differences of three TADE adsorption configurations by molecular mechanics (MM) simulation are used to explain the structural coexistence phenomenon. It is also shown that lattice match between alkyl chain of molecules and HOPG substrate could change molecular conformation upon self-assembly.     

动态压缩下马氏体相变力学性质的微观研究

使用分子动力学方法,模拟了活塞以恒定加速运动从一端压缩单晶铁（沿［001］晶向）发生马氏体相变的微观过程.根据模拟结果将上述压缩过程分为弹性压缩、晶格软化、相变（bcc至hcp）、超应力松弛和高压相弹性压缩五个阶段,对各阶段的原子滑移规律和应力变化特征做了详细分析.分析得出应力超过约10 GPa时,开始出现弹性常数软化行为;层错结构（fcc）和孪晶界为新相形核的两种缺陷,前者更为稳定;相变后粒子首先进入超应力松弛状态（即沿加载方向的偏应力呈现负值）,在应力超过约36 GPa粒子转变为高压相弹性压缩状态. 关键词： 分子动力学 单晶铁 相变 动态压缩     

Near-Field Birefringence Response of Liquid Crystal Molecules in Thickness Direction of Liquid Crystal Thin Film Orientated by Shear Force

Information of molecular orientation in nematic liquid crystal （LC） is attractive and important for applications in the field of display devices. We demonstrate a novel method using a birefringence scanning near-field optical microscope （Bi-SNOM） with a probe which is inserted into the LC thin film to detect the molecular orientation from its birefringence responses in the thickness direction of the LC thin film. The probe is laterally vibrated when going forward into the LC thin film, and the retardation and azimuth angle are recorded as the probe going down. Firstly, the thickness of the LC thin film is measured by the shear force detection. Since the shear force acts as a stimulation to reorientate the LC molecules above the substrate surface, we can detect the molecular orientation caused by a polyimide alignment substrate and the effect to molecular orientation caused by vibration of fibre probe. As a result, the orientation profiling of the LC film in depth direction is obtained in both the cases that the direction of probe vibrating is vertical/parallel to the rubbing direction of the alignment film. Furthermore, the thickness of completely orientated layers just above the substrate surface can also be obtained by either vibrating probe or no-vibrating probe. Ultimately, the LC thin film can be modelled in thickness direction from all the results using this method.     

Interaction of colloidal molecules adsorbed on soft solid films

Colloidal molecules adsorbed on soft solid films interact indirectly via elastic substrate deformations. For this substrate mediated attraction force an effective pair potential can be evaluated by using the elasticity theory for solids. The range of the indirect force increases with increasing film thickness. For very soft substrates the interaction is found to be strong enough to influence the structure and the thermodynamic properties of the adsorbate, e.g. enforce aggregation or crystallization.     

Substrate induced 1D tilt-modulated state in nematic monolayers

Symmetry considerations yield the general form, up to second order terms, for the deformation elastic energy of a nematic monolayer, composed by symmetric achiral molecules, on a rigid planar substrate. The deformation energy contains an elastic contribution linear in the deformation tensor, whose elements are the spatial derivatives of the average molecular orientation. This linear Lifshitz-invariant-like term can be responsible for a ground state of the nematic monolayer periodically deformed if the relevant elastic constant is stiffer than a critical value. The wave-length of the modulation diverges at the transition threshold. We show that only large variations of the tilt angle form stable states. The effect of a destabilizing electric or magnetic field on the layer is to induce (i) the transition towards the tilt-modulated phase, while (ii) for higher enough values of the field the modulation is destroyed.     

Planar nematic anchoring on SiO-coated substrates

Summary The nematic planar anchoring is usually explained by using simple elastic models: the surface easy axis corresponds to the surface direction that minimizes the excess of nematic elastic energy. When anisotropic rough substrates are used to align nematic liquid crystals, due to the complex surface morphology, usual elastic models are not directly applicable. This paper presents quantitative topographical data of rough substrates, obtained with oblique SiO evaporation under vacuum for nematic planar anchoring. Experimental data are obtained by means of Atomic Force Microscopy and they are used to demonstrate the self-affine nature of these substrates and to relate the nematic anchoring with the anisotropy of the local fractal properties of the substrate itself. Paper presented at the I International Conference on Scaling Concepts and Complex Fluids, Copanello, Italy, July 4–8, 1994.     

Langmuir-Blodgett film and nematic interface

The orientation induced by a Langmuir-Blodgett film on a Nematic Liquid Crystal (NLC) is theoretically analyzed. We show that the effective surface energy is due to different contributions connected with steric and van der Waals interactions between the nematic and the solid substrate. The analysis shows that the Langmuir-Blodgett film orientation depends on the surface density of the molecules. The initial homeotropic orientation may become unstable giving rise to a tilted film. The average orientation of the nematic molecules is also analyzed. We show that, in the event in which the steric interaction Nematic-Langmuir-Blodgett film is very large with respect to the dispersion interaction Nematic-Substrate, the nematic orientation coincides with the one of the film. On the contrary, when the two interactions are comparable, the orientation of the two media may differ. In particular, we analyze how the stable orientation depends on the surface molecular density of the film.     

激光等离子体中高能电子各向异性压强的粒子模拟

直接驱动惯性约束聚变(ICF)的实现需要对靶丸进行严格的对称压缩,以达到自持热核反应(点火)所需的条件.快点火方案的应用降低了对靶丸压缩对称性以及驱动能量的要求,但压缩及核反应过程中良好的靶丸对称性无疑有助于核反应增益的提高.本文研究了快点火方案中高能电子注入高密等离子体后导致的各向异性电子的压强张量.这一现象存在于ICF快点火方案中的高能电子束"点火"及核反应阶段.鉴于高能电子加热离子过程以及靶丸核反应自持燃烧过程的时间较长,高密靶核会由于超高的各向异性压强的作用破坏高密靶丸的对称性,降低核燃料密度,进而降低了核燃料燃烧效率以及核反应增益.     

Transverse anisotropy field and lattice plane anisotropy of stress annealed Fe–Cu–Nb–Si–B ribbons

The transverse magnetic anisotropy and lattice plane anisotropy of stress-annealed Fe–Cu–Nb–Si–B amorphous ribbons have been studied. The GMI effect or impedance ratio decreased gradually with increasing applied tensile stress. The transverse anisotropy field (H_k) corresponded to the full width at half maximum (FWHM) of the GMI curves. A linear response was found between the applied tensile stress (σ) and the transverse anisotropy field (H_k), and it was seen from the linear expression that annealing without stress resulted in a very small H_k of ～200 A/m. We also calculated the strains from the elongations obtained during the stress annealing process, the results showed that the strain and applied stress were linearly related and for a zero-tensile stress, the elastic strain was negative (?0.0219) showing that contraction dominates during annealing without tensile stresses. The lattice plane anisotropy (Δd) calculated from XRD peaks was also linearly related to the applied tensile stress. The lattice spacing in the direction parallel to the tensile stress was elongated while the lattice spacing in the direction perpendicular to the tensile stress was compressed.     

应力对铁磁薄膜磁滞损耗和矫顽力的影响

改进了JA-SW混合模型, 使之能处理具有两种单轴各向异性的磁体. 数值研究了面内应力对铁磁薄膜磁滞损耗和矫顽力的影响. 结果表明, 磁滞损耗和矫顽力与应力强度和应力施加方向以及外场取向有关. 磁滞损耗或矫顽力随应力强度变化的关系曲线并不完全是单调增加的, 比如当外场与易轴方向平行时会出现弯曲. 另外, 应力会造成矫顽力随外场取向角关系曲线的峰值偏移. 结果与文献资料进行了广泛对比并对其差异进行了解释. 关键词： JA-SW混合模型 磁滞损耗 矫顽力 应力     

Simulation of proliferation and differentiation of cells in a stem-cell niche

Stem-cell niches represent microscopic compartments formed of environmental cells that nurture stem cells and enable them to maintain tissue homeostasis. The spatio-temporal kinetics of proliferation and differentiation of cells in such niches depend on the specifics of the niche structure and on adhesion and communication between cells and may also be influenced by spatial constraints on cell division. We propose a generic lattice model, taking all these factors into account, and systematically illustrate their role. The model is motivated by the experimental data available for the niches located in the subventricular zone of adult mammalian brain. The general conclusions drawn from our Monte Carlo simulations are applicable to other niches as well. One of our main findings is that the kinetics under consideration are highly stochastic due to a relatively small number of cells proliferating and differentiating in a niche and the autocatalytic character of the symmetric cell division. In particular, the kinetics exhibit huge stochastic bursts especially if the adhesion between cells is taken into account. In addition, the results obtained show that despite the small number of cells present in stem-cell niches, their arrangement can be predetermined to appreciable extent provided that the adhesion of different cells is different so that they tend to segregate.     

Dependence of the microstructural properties on the substrate temperature in strained CdTe (1 0 0)/GaAs (1 0 0) heterostructures

CdTe thin films were grown on GaAs (1 0 0) substrates by using molecular beam epitaxy at various temperatures. The bright-field transmission electron microscopy (TEM) images and the high-resolution TEM (HRTEM) images showed that the crystallinity of CdTe epilayers grown on GaAs substrates was improved by increasing the substrate temperature. The result of selected-area electron diffraction pattern (SADP) showed that the orientation of the grown CdTe thin films was the (1 0 0) orientation. The lattice constant the strain, and the stress of the CdTe thin film grown on the GaAs substrate were determined from the SADP result. Based on the SADP and HRTEM results, a possible atomic arrangement for the CdTe/GaAs heterostructure is presented.