Stability of charged metal clusters in the vicinity of an ionic charge

Stability of highly charged metal clusters in the electric field of an external ion is investigated with the classical liquid drop model. We study the optimum shape of the cluster which has a local minimum of the total energy, taking account of the effects of the surface charge polarization on the Coulomb energy and the cluster deformation on the surface energy. We find that the cluster deformation greatly affects the total energy of the system and that a cluster with a fissility larger than some critical value 0.7-0.8 can become unstable against deformation. We investigate the local competition between the Coulomb force and the surface tension at the cluster surface and show that the surface charge polarization which is induced by the external electric field significantly affects the shape of the cluster and its stability. Received 5 November 2002 / Received in final form 27 January 2003 Published online 11 March 2003 RID="a" ID="a"e-mail: hamada@konan-u.ac.jp     

Molecular mechanics modeling of the adsorption of methionine on graphite

In this study we were modeling the adsorption of the amino acid methionine on a graphite surface using molecular mechanics calculations. We were employing two different force fields, namely MM+ and AMBER, and considering the molecule in its non-ionic and zwitterionic form. The surface was modeled as a single sheet of graphite. We found that each of the force fields delivers qualitative consistency with experimental results, but the AMBER force field with the parameter set of AMBER3 leads to the best quantitative agreement regarding adsorption energy, bonding energies and distances.     

A study of fused silica micro/nano patterning by focused-ion-beam

A dual-beam scanning electron microscopy (SEM)/focused-ion-beam (FIB) system was used to pattern fused silica substrates coated with a 15 nm thin Cr layer. The dimensions of fabricated features together with their surface morphology and profiles were investigated by SEM and atomic force microscopy (AFM). The study demonstrated that with the increase of the ion beam fluence the sputtering rate of the fused silica decreased non-linearly. Also, it was found that initially the sputtering rate increased with the increase of the beam current, after reaching a maximum value, it started decreasing when further beam current increment was performed. Compared with unprocessed areas, the surface finish of the features fabricated by FIB exhibited a significant improvement, and the ion fluence influence on the surface roughness of trenches with low aspect ratios could be considered as negligible. Using a fine beam probe, nano-gratings in the form of grooves with a width down to 54 nm and an aspect ratio higher than three were fabricated. The study showed that FIB machining could be an alternative technology to e-beam lithography for producing fused silica templates for UV nanoimprinting.     

天然金刚石形成透明硼皮金刚石的研究

 本文采用离子注入法，对天然金刚石表面进行少量渗硼，形成透明硼皮金刚石。经NP-1型X光电子能谱仪（XPS）表面测试，证明注入硼后的金刚石表面硼原子和碳原子形成了结合键。又经热失重分析（TGA）表明，用B₂O₃和硼作离子源进行注入，均能使金刚石的抗氧化温度得到提高，但用硼注入得到的“硼皮”金刚石抗氧化性更好些。用四种不同能量进行注硼时，都能使金刚石的抗氧化性得到几乎相同程度的提高，与注入的深度无关。     

Kinetic contrast in atomic force microscopy

The mechanism of the formation of phase contrast in atomic force microscopy (AFM) is studied for various conditions of an oscillating tip interacting with the surface. A phase shift is detected in oscillations of the resonating AFM tip during its interaction with the substrate surface when the AFM tip moves over the surface. We substantiate kinetic mechanism of the formation of phase contrast in AFM, which is initiated when the velocity of the AFM tip moving over the substrate surface increases as a result of increasing friction force. A dependence of the kinetic contrast in AFM on the effective roughness of the surface is discovered. Images of the distribution of copper impurity over the silicon surface under atmospheric conditions are obtained using the method of kinetic phase contrast in AFM.     

翼型绕流的洛伦兹力控制机理

在翼型上翼面壁面附近流场中形成的流向洛伦兹力,可提升翼型的升力减小阻力,然而制约其推广应用的主要瓶颈是极为低下的控制效率,为提高洛伦兹力的控制效率,需研究其控制机理.以翼型绕流的洛伦兹力控制为例,利用双时间步Roe格式及水槽对其进行数值及实验研究.结果表明:洛伦兹力的控制效果随着来流速度的增加而下降,升力增幅和阻力减幅与来流速度大小呈反比关系,但升力增加和阻力减小的规律不变,都是升力先急剧增加随后缓慢增加,而阻力先急剧减小然后再缓慢增加,基本原因为升力和阻力先受洛伦兹力推力的影响而分别增加和减小,随后洛伦兹力作用增加翼面壁面摩擦力,导致升力减小和阻力增加,流向洛伦兹力还导致翼型壁面压力下降,增加翼型升力和压差阻力;壁面摩擦力导致的升力降幅比壁面压力变化导致的升力增幅小,壁面压力变化起主导作用;洛伦兹力推力对阻力的降幅比压差阻力的增幅大,洛伦兹力推力起主导作用,因此阻力减小.     

Charged condensation

We consider Bose–Einstein condensation of massive electrically charged scalars in a uniform background of charged fermions. We focus on the case when the scalar condensate screens the background charge, while the net charge of the system resides on its boundary surface. A distinctive signature of this substance is that the photon acquires a Lorentz-violating mass in the bulk of the condensate. Due to this mass, the transverse and longitudinal gauge modes propagate with different group velocities. We give qualitative arguments that at high enough densities and low temperatures a charged system of electrons and helium-4 nuclei, if held together by laboratory devices or by force of gravity, can form such a substance. We briefly discuss possible manifestations of the charged condensate in compact astrophysical objects.     

Computer simulation of nanoindentation into polymer films

We present computer simulations of nanoindentation into amorphous polymer films. The bulk polymer is treated through a united atom model in connection with molecular dynamics methods. The dynamics of the indenter is modeled as overdamped, such that the indentation velocity is proportional to the difference between the external force acting onto the tool and the resistance force built up in the polymer film. We concentrate on the initial, kinetic stage of the indentation process and give results for the motion of the indenter, the deformation field of the polymer film, the stress field, and the field of total monomer energy. We propose an effective coefficient as a new measure for the resistivity of a surface against indentation. Its value can be determined in an experiment with constant indentation velocity. In addition, we investigate the free drift behavior when the external driving force has been set to zero and the tool is expelled from the polymer film. For different polymer chain lengths, the tool’s motion is exponential in time and we determine the relaxation scale.     

Casimir force in dense confined electrolytes

ABSTRACT

Understanding the force between charged surfaces immersed in an electrolyte solution is a classic problem in soft matter and liquid-state theory. Recent experiments showed that the force decays exponentially but the characteristic decay length in a concentrated electrolyte is significantly larger than what liquid-state theories predict based on analysing correlation functions in the bulk electrolyte. Inspired by the classical Casimir effect, we consider an additional mechanism for force generation, namely the confinement of density fluctuations in the electrolyte by the walls. We show analytically within the random phase approximation, which assumes the ions to be point charges, that this fluctuation-induced force is attractive and also decays exponentially, albeit with a decay length that is half of the bulk correlation length. These predictions change dramatically when excluded volume effects are accounted for within the mean spherical approximation. At high ion concentrations the Casimir force is found to be exponentially damped oscillatory as a function of the distance between the confining surfaces. Our analysis does not resolve the riddle of the anomalously long screening length observed in experiments, but suggests that the Casimir force due to mode restriction in density fluctuations could be an hitherto under-appreciated source of surface–surface interaction.     

Use and abuse of a fractional Fokker-Planck dynamics for time-dependent driving

We investigate a subdiffusive, fractional Fokker-Planck dynamics occurring in time-varying potential landscapes and thereby disclose the failure of the fractional Fokker-Planck equation (FFPE) in its commonly used form when generalized in an ad hoc manner to time-dependent forces. A modified FFPE (MFFPE) is rigorously derived, being valid for a family of dichotomously alternating force fields. This MFFPE is numerically validated for a rectangular time-dependent force with zero average bias. For this case, subdiffusion is shown to become enhanced as compared to the force free case. We question, however, the existence of any physically valid FFPE for arbitrary varying time-dependent fields that differ from this dichotomous varying family.     

Self-organized dot patterns on Si surfaces during noble gas ion beam erosion

The erosion of target materials with energetic ions can lead to the formation of patterns on the surface. During low-energy (?2000 eV) noble gas (Ne⁺, Ar⁺, Kr⁺, Xe⁺) ion beam erosion of silicon surfaces dot patterns evolve on the surface. Dot structures form at oblique ion incidence of 75° with respect to surface normal, with simultaneous sample rotation, at room temperature. The lateral ordering of dots increases while the dot size remains constant with ion fluence, leading to very well ordered dot patterns for prolonged sputtering. Depending on ion beam parameters, dot nanostructures have a mean size from 25 nm up to 50 nm, and a mean height up to 15 nm. The formation of dot patterns depends on the ion/target mass ratio and on the ion energy. The temporal evolution and the lateral ordering of these nanostructures is studied using scanning force microscopy (AFM).     

Potential energy,force distribution and oscillatory motion of chloride ion inside electrically charged carbon nanotubes

In this research, a continuum-based model is presented to explore potential energy, force distribution and oscillatory motion of ions, and in particular chloride ion, inside carbon nanotubes (CNTs) decorated by functional groups at two ends. To perform this, van der Waals (vdW) interactions between ion and nanotube are modeled by the 6-12 Lennard-Jones (LJ) potential, whereas the electrostatic interactions between ion and functional groups are modeled by the Coulomb potential and the total interactions are analytically derived by summing the vdW and electrostatic interactions. Making the assumption that carbon atoms and charge of functional groups are all uniformly distributed over the nanotube surface and the two ends of nanotube, respectively, a continuum approach is utilized to evaluate the related interactions. Based on the actual force distribution, the equation of motion is also solved numerically to arrive at the time history of displacement and velocity of inner core. With respect to the proposed formulations, comprehensive studies on the variations of potential energy and force distribution are carried out by varying functional group charge and nanotube length. Moreover, the effects of these parameters together with initial conditions on the oscillatory behavior of system are studied and discussed in detail. It is found out that chloride ion escapes more easily from negatively charged CNTs which is followed by uncharged and positively charged ones. It is further shown that the presence of functional groups leads to enhancing the operating frequency of such oscillatory systems especially when the electric charges of ion and functional groups have different signs.     

薄膜系列实验的教学研究

从薄膜制备、生长过程动态分析以及形貌表征3方面设计了薄膜系列实验.用离子束溅射制备金属薄膜,研究了制备条件对溅射速率的影响,测量了薄膜生长过程中电阻的变化,用扫描隧道显微镜或原子力显微镜观测薄膜的表面形貌,并分析不同制备条件得到的薄膜的表面形貌特征.     

From holes to sponge at irradiated Ge surfaces with increasing ion energy—an effect of defect kinetics?

We show that hole patterns and sponge-like layers at irradiated Ge surfaces originate from the same driving force, namely the kinetics of ion beam induced defects in the amorphous Ge surface layer. Ge hole patterns reported earlier for irradiation with low energy (5 keV) Ga⁺ ions were reproduced for low energy Bi⁺ but also for Ge⁺ self-irradiation, which proves that the dominating driving force for morphology evolution cannot originate from the implanted impurities. At higher ion energies the well-known formation of sponge-like Ge surface layers after heavy ion irradiation was found for Bi⁺ irradiation and Ge⁺ self-irradiation, also. The transition from smooth surfaces via hole patterns to sponge-like morphologies with increasing ion energies was studied in detail. A model based on the kinetics of ion beam induced defects was developed and implemented in 3D kinetic Monte Carlo simulations, which reproduce the transition from hole patterns to sponge-like layers with increasing ion energy.     

Heating mechanisms in short-pulse laser-driven cone targets

The fast ignitor is a modern approach to laser fusion that uses a short-pulse laser to initiate thermonuclear burn. In its simplest form the laser launches relativistic electrons that carry its energy to a precompressed fusion target. Cones have been used to give the light access to the dense target core through the low-density ablative cloud surrounding it. Here the ANTHEM implicit hybrid simulation model shows that the peak ion temperatures measured in recent cone target experiments arose chiefly from return current joule heating, mildly supplemented by relativistic electron drag. Magnetic fields augment this heating only slightly, but capture hot electrons near the cone surface and force the hot electron stream into filaments.     

A consistent interpretation of the atomic and electronic structure of the Si(111)−7×7 surface

A simple mechanism leading to the 7×7 reconstruction of the Si(111) surface is proposed. In this model a charge-density wave with the 7×7 pattern acts as the driving force which precipitates the dehybridisation of the surface atoms. The atoms at the surface form terraces of height ～0.3 Å. This small corrugation of the surface gives rise to a much larger (～3 Å) corrugation of the charge in agreement with recent He atom scattering experiments. The model is also in qualitative agreement with photoemission, optical absorption and ion scattering experiments.     

Spontaneous pattern formation induced by ion bombardment of binary compounds

A theory is developed that explains the genesis of the strikingly regular hexagonal arrays of nanoscale mounds that can form when a flat surface of a binary compound is subjected to normal-incidence ion bombardment. We find that the species with the higher sputter yield is concentrated at the peaks of the nanodots and that hysteretic switching between the flat and the hexagonally ordered state can occur as the sample temperature is varied. Surface ripples are predicted to emerge for a certain range of the parameters.     

Ordered Structures of a Few Ions in the Paul Trap

We have carried out a molecular dynamics stimulation for a few Paul-trapped ions exerted by a trapping force, inter-ion Coulomb forces and a damping force from a cooling source. The geometric structure in the ordered phase is studied in detail. It is found that the structure varies regularly with the ion number and forms concentric shells when the ion number grows. Furthermore, the similarity between the ions' structure and the potential of the trap is also presented. Finally, the case in the second stability region is investigated, which gives a comparison with that in the first stability region.     

Specific ion adsorption at hydrophobic solid surfaces

Molecular dynamics simulations of ions at a hydrophobic self-assembled monolayer with polarizable force fields for water and ions are used to extract potentials of mean force for Na+ and the halide ions Cl-, Br-, and I-. Similar to the air-water interface, the large halide ions are attracted to the surface, which is traced back to surface-modified ion hydration. The total effective interaction is parametrized and used within Poisson-Boltzmann theory to calculate surface potentials and interfacial tensions at finite ion concentration in qualitative agreement with experiments.     

离子束作用下的光学表面粗糙度演变研究

 为了获得超光滑光学表面,介绍了离子束作用下改善表面粗糙度的抛光方法,并通过相关的实验进行了验证。光学材料是典型的硬脆材料,在加工过程中的表面粗糙度要经历复杂的演变过程。离子束加工作为光学镜面加工中的最后一道工序,如果在修正面形的同时,能够有效地改善表面粗糙度,那么离子束加工的性能就可以得到更好的延伸。分析了离子束作用下的粗糙度演变机理,在此基础上提出了倾斜入射抛光和牺牲层抛光技术2种改善表面粗糙度的方法,并使用原子力显微镜进行了测量。实验结果表明：以45°倾斜入射抛光熔石英样件,其粗糙度由初始的0.67nm RMS减小到0.38nm RMS;涂上牺牲层的材料表面粗糙度由0.81nm RMS减小到0.28nm RMS,倾斜入射抛光和牺牲层抛光技术能够有效地改善表面粗糙度。