Combined EPMA and AES depth profiling of a multilayer Ti-Al-O-N coating

In order to compare thin-film electron probe microanalysis (EPMA) and Auger electron spectroscopy (AES) regarding reliability in quantifying chemical compositions of Ti-Al-O-N coatings with depth, a multilayer was prepared on a silicon wafer by using reactive ionized cluster beam deposition technique. Within a total thickness of about 25 nm the composition of the multilayer varied step by step from Ti-Al-O-N at the bottom to Al-O at the top. AES and, as an innovation, EPMA crater edge profiling was applied to measure the composition with depth. For quantification special thin-film EPMA techniques based on Monte Carlo simulations were applied. The chemical binding states of Al and Ti with depth were analysed using a high resolution energy analyser (MAC 3) for the AES investigations working in the direct mode. According to the deposition procedure the concentration profiles of the components varied with depth for both AES and EPMA measurements. AES provided a better depth resolution than EPMA. To get a true calibration of the depth scale an in-situ measurement method like an optical interferometry will be required. Assuming that the relative sensitivity factors are available AES depth profiling delivers concentration profiles with good accuracy. The new EPMA application provided quantitative depth profiles concerning concentration and coverage. For EPMA crater edge profiling the coating needs to be deposited on a foreign substrate because depth distributions of elements being present in both the layer and the substrate cannot be resolved.The combination of AES-depth profiling with EPMA crater edge profiling techniques is a powerful tool to analyse heterostructures quantitatively.     

Crystal orientation in a semicrystalline polymer in relation to deformation of polymer spherulites. IV. Crystal orientation mechanism of nylon-6 under uniaxial stretching

A model relating crystal orientation to the deformation of nylon-6 spherulites under uniaxial stretching is discussed in terms of the orientation distribution functions of reciprocal lattice vectors of crystal planes, such as the (002) and (200) planes. The distribution functions calculated from the model are compared with those obtained from x-ray diffraction experiments. It is found that the crystal a axis and, consequently, the direction of hydrogen bonds within the crystal (α modification) orient parallel to the lamellar axis in the undeformed state, and that the crystal orientation behavior of nylon-6 is much different from that of low-density polyethylene, being characterized by much smaller values of the reorientation parameters of crystallites within orienting lamellae. Moreover, small-angle light scattering for H_v and V_v polarization is also calculated on the basis of the spherulite deformation model by taking the nylon-6 crystal as having orthogonal–biaxial symmetry in optical anisotropy. It is concluded that the H_v scattering can be realized in terms of the proposed model for spherulite deformation by taking into account a considerable contribution of hydrogen bonds to the molecular polarizability, so as to make the polarizability along the crystal a axis larger than that along the b axis. In other words, this conclusion suggests positively birefringent spherulites in the nylon-6 samples studied.     

Studies on vocal fold injection and changes in pitch associated with alcohol intake

The current study was carried out with particular emphasis on the association between phonetic function tests and alterations in the appearance of the hypopharyngeal and laryngeal mucosa, such as capillary dilatation, edema, and vocal fold injection after alcohol intake. The results demonstrated the occurrence of previously unrecognized pathophysiological changes associated with synchronous phonetic functions in the vocal pathway after alcohol intake. Serum ethanol and aldehyde concentration levels were evaluated hourly for 2.5 h after ingestion of alcohol. When an electronystagmogram showed the typical pattern of alcohol intake, the study was initiated. Occasionally, rhinography was performed on subjects complaining of a stuffy nose after alcohol intake.     

From discrete rotational bands to damped rotational motion

We present shell model calculations for warm rotating nuclei, combining the cranked Nilsson mean field and a residual surface-delta two-body interaction. The model is used to describe the transition from the region of well-defined rotational bands into the region dominated by rotational damping, and the results are in overall agreement with the experimental findings.     

Fluorescence reaction between o-hydroxyhydroquinonephthalein and vanadium in micellar media, and its application

Summary The formation of complexes amongst vanadium, o-hydroxyhydroquinonephthalein (Qnph), or/and chlorpromazine hydrochloride (CP · HCl), as a phenothiazine drug, in non-ionic surfactant micellar media was fluorometrically investigated in weakly acidic media. Fluorometric methods for the determination of vanadium and CP · HCl were respectively established by measuring the difference of relative fluorescence intensities (F) between Qnph and Qnph-vanadium solutions, andF between Qnph-vanadyl and Qnph-vanadyl-CP · HCl solutions at an emission wavelength of 540 nm with excitation at 400 nm in the presence of polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) micelles. The calibration graphs were linear in the ranges of 0–0.5 vanadium and 0–220 g CP · HCl per 10 ml of aqueous solution. The relative standard deviations (5 replicates) were 2.5% for 0.2 g vanadium and 1.3% for 100 g CP · HCl per 10 ml of aqueous solution, respectively. The applications to assays of vanadium in water and CP · HCl preparations were investigated, and the results were relatively good.

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Fluorescenzreaktion von o-Hydroxyhydrochinonphthalein und Vanadium in micellaren Medien und deren Anwendung

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Application of xanthene derivatives in analytical chemistry. Part LXXIII. Part LXXII see ref. [1]