Raman micro‐spectroscopy for quantitative thickness measurement of nanometer thin polymer films

The sensitivity of far‐field Raman micro‐spectroscopy was investigated to determine quantitatively the actual thickness of organic thin films. It is shown that the thickness of organic films can be quantitatively determined down to 3 nm with an error margin of 20% and down to 1.5 nm with an error margin of 100%. Raman imaging of thin‐film surfaces with a far‐field optical microscope establishes the distribution of a polymer with a lateral resolution of ~400 nm and the homogeneity of the film. Raman images are presented for spin‐coated thin films of polysulfone (PSU) with average thicknesses between 3 and 50 nm. In films with an average thickness of 43 nm, the variation in thickness was around 5% for PSU. In films with an average thickness of 3 nm for PSU, the detected thickness variation was 100%. Raman imaging was performed in minutes for a surface area of 900 µm². The results illustrate the ability of far‐field Raman microscopy as a sensitive method to quantitatively determine the thickness of thin films down to the nanometer range. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Review on the thickness measurement of ultrathin oxide films by mutual calibration method

Mutual calibration was suggested as a method to determine the absolute thickness of ultrathin oxide films. It was motivated from the large offset values in the reported thicknesses in the Consultative Committee for Amount of Substance (CCQM) pilot study P-38 for the thickness measurement of SiO₂ films on Si(100) and Si(111) substrates in 2004. Large offset values from 0.5 to 1.0 nm were reported in the thicknesses by ellipsometry, X-ray reflectometry (XRR), medium-energy ion scattering spectrometry (MEIS), Rutherford backscattering spectroscopy (RBS), nuclear reaction analysis (NRA), and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). However, the offset value for the thicknesses by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) was close to zero (−0.013 nm). From these results, the mutual calibration method was reported for the thickness measurement of SiO₂ films on Si(100) by combination of TEM and XPS. The mutual calibration method has been applied for the thickness measurements of hetero oxide films such as Al₂O₃ and HfO₂. Recently, the effect of surface contamination was reported to be critical to the thickness measurement of HfO₂ films by XPS. On the other hand, MEIS was proved to be a powerful zero offset method which is not affected by the surface contamination. As a result, the reference thicknesses in the CCQM pilot study P-190 for the thickness measurement of HfO₂ films on Si(100) substrate were determined by mutual calibration method from the average XRR data and MEIS analysis. Conclusively, the thicknesses of ultrathin oxide films can be traceably certified by mutual calibration method and most thickness measurement methods can be calibrated from the certified thicknesses.     

Synergic Enhancement of High-density Polyethylene through Ultrahigh Molecular Weight Polyethylene and Multi-flow Vibration Injection Molding: A Facile Fabrication with Potential Industrial Prospects

General-purpose plastics with high strength and toughness have been in great demand for structural engineering applications. To achieve the reinforcement and broaden the application scope of high-density polyethylene(HDPE), multi-flow vibration injection molding(MFVIM) and ultrahigh molecular weight polyethylene(UHMWPE) are synergistically employed in this work. Herein, the MFVIM has better shear layer control ability and higher fabrication advantage for complex parts than other analogous novel injection molding technologies reported.The reinforcing effect of various filling times and UHMWPE contents as well as the corresponding microstructure evolution are investigated.When 5 wt% UHMWPE is added, MFVIM process with six flow times thickens the shear layer to the whole thickness. The tensile strength and modulus increase to 2.14 and 1.39 times, respectively, compared to neat HDPE on the premise of remaining 70% impact strength. Structural characterizations indicate that the enhancement is attributed to the improvement of shish-kebab content and lamellae compactness, as well as related to the corresponding size distributions of undissolved UHMWPE particles. This novel injection molding technology with great industrial prospects provides a facile and effective strategy to broaden the engineering applications of HDPE materials. Besides, excessive UHMWPE may impair the synergistic enhancement effect, which is also reasonably explained.     

极性晶体膜中强耦合激子的性质

在强耦合极化子模型基础上,采用Lee-Low-Pines(LLP)变分法研究了极性晶体膜中激子与表面光学(SO)声子强耦合、与体纵光学(LO)声子弱耦合体系的性质.讨论了极性晶体膜中激子的诱生势与膜厚度和温度的变化关系.结果表明:激子的诱生势不仅与电子-空穴间距离有关,而且与极性晶体膜厚度有关,同时温度对激子诱生势的影响十分显著.     

Aharonov–Bohm effect in non-uniform crater-like quantum dot with double rim

We study electron energies in a double concentric quantum ring with anisotropy in the rims heights in the presence of the external magnetic field applied along the symmetry axis. To this end, we consider a model in which the thickness grows linearly from the axis up to the inner rim with a slope different from one between the inner and the outer rims. The anisotropy in the rims heights originated by the presence in the structure of various valleys we simulate by periodic dependence of the slope on the radial direction. We show that the wave functions of the electron confined in such structure can be found analytically if the slopes in all radial directions are the same, and by using a simple exact diagonalization procedure otherwise. The behavior of the electron energies as functions of the magnetic field, rings radii and rims heights, as well as the number of the valleys and their depths is consistently described with our formalism. The entanglement of the states with different radial and orbital quantum numbers, the period and the amplitude of the Aharonov–Bohm oscillations are very sensible to any variations of the rims heights.     

纤维素纳米晶体薄膜的制备与表征

讨论了两种新型纤维素纳米晶体(Cellulose nanocrystal,CNC)薄膜的制备方法:浸没法和旋涂法,并利用红外反射吸收光谱(Infrared reflection absorption spectroscopy,IRRAS)和原子力显微镜(Atomic force microscopy,AFM)对其进行表征。AFM高度图显示两种工艺制备的CNC薄膜均由棒状的CNC纳米颗粒交错叠加而成。实验结果显示,旋涂法制备的薄膜更加光滑,粗糙度RMS约为2.7 nm。由于带电颗粒间斥力的存在,浸没法制备的CNC膜厚度最大约为15 nm,而旋涂法可以得到更厚的CNC薄膜,其厚度可达50 nm以上。研究CNC悬浮液浓度与旋涂法CNC膜厚之间的关系后发现,可以通过改变CNC溶液的浓度对薄膜厚度进行控制。IRRAS结果也证实随着CNC悬浮液浓度的增加,旋涂薄膜的厚度随之增加。     

动态冰浆传热特性的研究

动态冰浆由于具有较强的蓄能和传热能力,日益受到人们的重视。文中建立了动态冰浆传热特性的数理模型,并利用已知的载流溶液和冰晶的物性参数,得到了动态冰浆在水平直管、等热流加热条件下的传热系数,根据计算结果,分析了传热系数随着冰浆浓度的变化的规律和冰浆流速和管径对动态冰浆传热性能的影响。     

Evaluation of drawbar performance of winter tyres for special purpose vehicles

Driving on ice is still a risky activity. Research has investigated the factors contributing to the friction mechanism and has reported experimental studies of pneumatic tyres on ice in order to develop models that predict tractive and braking performance on ice/snow. Therefore, developing testing methods to obtain relevant experimental data for the validation of models is equally important.There are agricultural and industrial vehicles which are also designed for pulling but there are no specific studies reporting experimental tests on traction force of such machines in snowy conditions. However, this issue is very topical, as demonstrated by the appearance on the market of winter tyres for such vehicles.This study presents a method for testing winter tyres in outdoor test facilities with a focus on traction performance. The conclusions will serve in future investigations as a concise knowledge source to develop improved testing facilities and tyre–ice interaction models, aiding the development of better tyre designs and improved vehicle safety systems.The functional tests hereafter described have been carried out with the aim of evaluating the possibility of measuring the influences of different technique solutions on the performance of certain 17.5 R25 sized industrial tyres.     

原位X射线研究拉伸过程中间规聚丙烯晶体熔融与晶体取向关系

间规聚丙烯熔体(sPP)淬冷至液氮温度并保持5 min, 于20, 40, 80, 120 ℃下等温退火10 h, 制备出具有不同片晶厚度的样品. 在室温条件下, 利用原位X射线在线研究sPP样品拉伸过程中应力诱导的晶体熔融和晶体取向关系. 结果表明, 在单轴拉伸过程中, 应力导致的晶体熔融和晶体取向同时发生, 即两者在同一应变、 同一应力下同时发生, 这一特性不受片晶厚度的影响. 随着片晶厚度的增加, 晶体熔融和取向需要的临界应力不断增大, 在所研究范围内, 该临界应力的增加和片晶厚度基本呈线性关系. 另外, 随着片晶厚度增大, 样品的弹性模量、 屈服强度和应变硬化模量均有一定程度的增大.