Diffusivity of adatoms on plasma-exposed surfaces determined from the ionization energy approximation and ionic polarizability

Microscopic surface diffusivity theory based on atomic ionization energy concept is developed to explain the variations of the atomic and displacement polarizations with respect to the surface diffusion activation energy of adatoms in the process of self-assembly of quantum dots on plasma-exposed surfaces. These polarizations are derived classically, while the atomic polarization is quantized to obtain the microscopic atomic polarizability. The surface diffusivity equation is derived as a function of the ionization energy. The results of this work can be used to fine-tune the delivery rates of different adatoms onto nanostructure growth surfaces and optimize the low-temperature plasma based nanoscale synthesis processes.     

Correlation between the surface free energy of modified and non-modified glasses with controlled porosity and their sorption properties

Summary Contact angles for water and diiodomethane drops were measured on the surface of thermally and chemically (by Carbowax 20M bonding) modified porous glasses and on the surface of naphthalene, diphenyl and anthracene. Using the obtained results to a modified Young equation, dispersion and nondispersion components of the surface free energy of these glasses and organic substances were calculated. The work of adhesion (W_A) for benzene, naphthalene, diphenyl, anthracene, nitrobenzene was estimated and correlated with the capacity factors, (k′) of these substances. On the basis of experimental and calculated data it can be stated that the thermal treatment of porous glasses increases, their hydrophobicity but the Carbowax layer causes hydrophilicity. There is a linear relationship between k′ and W_A which can be helpful for predicting retention data of chromatographed substances on the base of surface free energy which can be calculated from contact angle measurements.     

Overlap effects on surface states

A tight-binding investigation is performed of the electronic structure of a semi-infinite monatomic chain, whose atomic orbitals are assumed to be non-orthogonal, so that the effects of overlap can be taken into account. In addition to markedly modifying the bulk band-edges, the presence of overlap also greatly influences the position and existence of the surface states. These latter effects are examined in detail.     

Inertial effects of hypoelastic cylindrical bar of grade zero under simple extension of constant velocity

In this paper an analytical solution for finite deformation at the simple extension of a hypoelastic cylindrical bar of grade zero under constant velocity is obtained. It is found that the difference between stress-strain curves at different tensile velocities is only due to the inertial terms in the solution. The axial stress due to inertia increases with the square of ratio of tensile velocities.     

Hydrophilicity of amorphous TiO2 ultra-thin films

The UV-light-induced hydrophilicity of amorphous titanium dioxide thin films obtained by radio frequency magnetron sputtering deposition was studied in relation with film thickness. The effect of UV light irradiation on the film hydrophilicity was fast, strong and did not depend on substrate or thickness for films thicker than a threshold value of about 12 nm, while for thinner films it was weak and dependent on substrate or thickness. The weak effect of UV light irradiation observed for the ultra-thin films (with thickness less than 12 nm) is explained based on results of measurements of surface topography, UV-light absorption and photocurrent decay in vacuum. Comparing to thicker films, the ultra-thin films have a smoother surface, which diminish their real surface area and density of defects, absorb partially the incident UV light radiation, and exhibit a longer decay time of the photocurrent in vacuum, which proves a spatial charge separation. All these effects may contribute to a low UV light irradiation effect on the ultra-thin film hydrophilicity.     

Theoretical investigation of the Au/Si(1 1 1)-(5 × 2) surface structure

The atomic structure of the Au/Si(1 1 1)-(5 × 2) surface has been studied by density-functional theory calculations. Two structure models, proposed experimentally by Marks et al. and Hasegawa et al., have been examined on an equal ground. In our total-energy calculations, both models are found to be locally stable and energetically comparable. In our electronic-structure analyses, however, both models fail to reproduce the key features of angle-resolved photoemission spectra and scanning-tunneling-microscopy images, indicating that the considered models need to be modified. Suggestions for the modification are given based on the present calculations.     

Texture of molybdenum thin films on SrTiO3(1 0 0): A RHEED study

The structure of ultrathin Mo films on SrTiO₃(1 0 0) was studied by in situ reflection high-energy electron diffraction (RHEED). A different structure was observed for films less than 20 Å thick than for thicker films. These films were epitaxial and had a metastable structure. Thicker films had the dimensions of equilibrium bcc Mo(1 1 0). Relaxation processes transformed the metastable Mo into bcc Mo, resulting in the following orientation relationships between Mo and SrTiO₃: (1 1 0)[0 0 1]_bcc Mo ∥ (1 0 0)[0 0 1]_SrTiO3 and (1 1 0)[1 1 1]_bcc Mo ∥ (1 0 0)[0 1 1]_SrTiO3. The formation of such specific orientations is related to transformations via the Bain and Needle Path, respectively.     

Observation of the V2O5(001) surface using ambient atomic force microscopy

Constant force images of the V₂O₅(001) surface were recorded in ambient conditions with atomic force microscopy. All images exhibit the 11.5 Å × 3.5 Å. periodicity expected for a bulk terminated surface. However, images reveal differences from the ideal structure. The experimental results are interpreted in terms of preferential adsorption sites for water molecules. Because these sites are thought to influence the catalytic properties of the surface, their characterization is an important step towards understanding how the atomic-scale structure of a surface influences its properties.     

Development of an X-ray detector using surface plasmon resonance

A new X-ray detector using surface plasmon resonance (SPR) is proposed. The detector consists of a prism coated with a thin metal film and semiconductor film. Optical laser pulse induces SPR condition on the metal surface, and synchronized X-ray pulse which is absorbed into the semiconductor film can be detected by measuring the change of the resonance condition of the surface plasmon. The expected time and spatial resolution of this detector is better than that of conventional X-ray detectors by combining this SPR measurement with ultra-short laser pulse as the probe beam. Our preliminary investigation using Au and ZnSe coated prism implies this scheme works well as the detector for the ultra-short X-ray pulse.     

Meshfree Thinning of 3D Point Clouds

An efficient data reduction scheme for the simplification of a surface given by a large set X of 3D point-samples is proposed. The data reduction relies on a recursive point removal algorithm, termed thinning, which outputs a data hierarchy of point-samples for multiresolution surface approximation. The thinning algorithm works with a point removal criterion, which measures the significances of the points in their local neighbourhoods, and which removes a least significant point at each step. For any point x in the current point set Y⊂X, its significance reflects the approximation quality of a local surface reconstructed from neighbouring points in Y. The local surface reconstruction is done over an estimated tangent plane at x by using radial basis functions. The approximation quality of the surface reconstruction around x is measured by using its maximal deviation from the given point-samples X in a local neighbourhood of x. The resulting thinning algorithm is meshfree, i.e., its performance is solely based upon the geometry of the input 3D surface point-samples, and so it does not require any further topological information, such as point connectivities. Computational details of the thinning algorithm and the required data structures for efficient implementation are explained and its complexity is discussed. Two examples are presented for illustration. This paper is dedicated to Arieh Iserles on the occasion of his 60th anniversary.