Interface energy of semicoherent metal-ceramic interfaces

An ab initio based approach to determine energies and structures for semicoherent interfaces is developed and applied to the Fe(001)/VN(001) system. To account for elastic displacements resulting from the lattice misfit, we compare an atomistic approach using a model potential (embedded-atom method) with a continuum approach using the Peierls-Nabarro model. The total interface energy of the atomistic modeling is found to be well reproduced by the Peierls-Nabarro model, demonstrating that accurate interface energies of semicoherent interfaces can be obtained by combining first principles for the chemical part of the energy and a Peierls-Nabarro model to account for the elasticity of the media.     

Experimental evidence for a collective insulating state in two-dimensional superconductors

We present the results of an experimental study of the current-voltage characteristics in a strong magnetic field (B) of disordered, superconducting, thin films of amorphous indium oxide. As the B strength is increased superconductivity degrades, until a critical field (B(c)) where the system is forced into an insulating state. We show that the differential conductance measured in the insulating phase vanishes abruptly below a well-defined temperature, resulting in a clear threshold for conduction. Our results indicate that a new collective state emerges in two-dimensional superconductors at high B.     

Trapping of microparticles in the near field of an ultrasonic transducer

We are investigating means of handling microparticles in microfluidic systems, in particular localized acoustic trapping of microparticles in a flow-through device. Standing ultrasonic waves were generated across a microfluidic channel by ultrasonic microtransducers integrated in one of the channel walls. Particles in a fluid passing a transducer were drawn to pressure minima in the acoustic field, thereby being trapped and confined at the lateral position of the transducer. The spatial distribution of trapped particles was evaluated and compared with calculated acoustic intensity distributions. The particle trapping was found to be strongly affected by near field pressure variations due to diffraction effects associated with the finite sized transducer element. Since laterally confining radiation forces are proportional to gradients in the acoustic energy density, these near field pressure variations may be used to get strong trapping forces, thus increasing the lateral trapping efficiency of the device. In the experiments, particles were successfully trapped in linear fluid flow rates up to 1mm/s. It is anticipated that acoustic trapping using integrated transducers can be exploited in miniaturised total chemical analysis systems (microTAS), where e.g. microbeads with immobilised antibodies can be trapped in arrays and subjected to minute amounts of sample followed by a reaction, detected using fluorescence.     

Metal-nonmetal transition in the boron group elements

Structural competition in boron group elements has been studied by means of ab initio calculations. For boron we predict a structural change alpha-B-->alpha-Ga accompanied by a nonmetal-metal transition at a pressure of about 74 GPa. For Al and Ga we find an icosahedron based elemental modification (alpha-B) 0.22 and 0.05 eV/atom, respectively, higher in energy than the corresponding metallic ground state structures. In particular, the low energy difference for Ga raises expectations into the experimental feasibility of new modifications for these elements, especially in nanosized systems.     

Internal conversion studies of transitions in96Mo

The internal conversion spectrum from the decay of⁹⁶Tc has been investigated using a 50 cm radius double-focussing beta-ray spectrometer. Relevant features of the internal conversion spectrum from the decay of⁹⁶Nb have also been reexamined in the same way. Special interest has been focussed on investigating a proposed doublet level structure at about 2.44 MeV and higher lying levels in⁹⁶Mo. Internal conversion coefficients have been obtained for most transitions by combining the measured conversion electron intensities obtained in this work with recently reported gamma-ray intensities from Ge(Li) detector measurements. A level scheme has been compiled and deduced transition multipolarities have been used for a discussion of spins and parities for the levels.     

A shift register construction of unconditionally secure authentication codes

We consider the authentication problem, using the model described by Simmons. Several codes have been constructed using combinatorial designs and finite geometries. We introduce a new way of constructing authentication codes using LFSR-sequences. A central part of the construction is an encoding matrix derived from these LFSR-sequences. Necessary criteria for this matrix in order to give authentication codes that provides protection aginst impersonation and substitution attacks will be given. These codes also provide perfect secrecy if the source states have a uniform distribution. Moreover, the codes give a natural splitting of the key into two parts, one part used aginst impersonation attacks and a second part used against substitution attacks and for secrecy simultaneously. Since the construction is based on the theory of LFSR-sequences it is very suitable for implementation and a simple implementation of the construction is given.     

Molecular spectroscopy by means of ESCA: V. Boron compounds

The B 1s binding energies of 23 compounds, including boron hydrides and carboranes have been measured in the vapor state. Correlations with Pauling charges and with shifts, calculated from the potential model using CNDO charges, are presented. The B 1s binding energies are subsequently discussed in terms of the chemical reactivity of the compounds. The iodomethanes have also been studied, and an electronegativity value for iodine suitable for ESCA correlations is given.     

A strategy for ranking environmentally occurring chemicals. Part VI. QSARs for the mutagenic effects of halogenated aliphatics.

A strategy for the systematic analysis and priority ranking of environmental chemicals has been applied to a class of 58 halogenated aliphatic hydrocarbons. A training set of ten compounds representing this class, was selected by statistical design. The training set compounds were then subjected to biological testing in the Salmonella typhimurium reverse mutation assay (Ames test). The measured biological data, recorded as dose-response curves, were analyzed to determine the mutagenic potency (slope of the initial portion) and the mutagen dose (MD 50) required to increase the number of revertants above the background by 50%. For each compound, four mutagenic potency estimates and four MD 50 values were determined, all originating from the tester strains TA 100 and TA 1535 with and without metabolic activation. The obtained responses were analyzed with multivariate techniques to give QSAR models relating the mutagenic potency data to the physico-chemical properties of the compounds. Finally, the derived QSARs were used to predict the mutagenic potencies and the MD 50S for the non-tested compounds in the class.