A Scanning Electron Microscopy study of water in soil

Cold stage Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) with a rapid cooling technique makes it possible to investigate the water phase within unsaturated porous media. It is thought that this technique preserves the main features of the micromorphology of the water menisci as it exists in the liquid phase in soils. Saddle-shaped elements, as well as pendular rings of water, were observed with concave and convex curvatures of the water-air interface. The hydraulic conductivity of an unsaturated soil may be inferred from SEM photographs. Observations of isolated water menisci indicate the existence of an immobile water domain. The surface geometry of the water menisci was analyzed quantitatively and surface tension and capillary pressure were determined.     

On the deformation and fracture of porous materials

The constitutive behavior of porous materials (including the yield loci, the void growth rate, the macro stress-strain relation and the strain to localization instability) is examined based on the lower bound approach proposed by the present authors. These results are then compared with the experimental and the finite element results as well as those predicted by Gurson's equations. Emphasis is placed on approaching the real behavior from the upper and the lower bound analysis. Calculation is also made on the influence of void nucleation on the critical strain to instability and a modified strain-controlled nucleation criterion is proposed. Finally the instability and fracture of AISI4340 steel in plane strain tension is examined and comparison is made between theoretical and experimental results.     

Application of the finite Hankel transform to a diffusion problem without azimuthal symmetry

The problem treated in this paper concerns calculating the evolution of the pressure in a single-phase, slightly compressible fluid in a porous medium consisting of communicating layers. The fluid is produced through a point sink located on the side of an otherwise sealed cylindrical wellbore. This location of the sink causes the flow around the wellbore to be azimuthally asymmetric.The problem is solved through successive application of Laplace, finite Fourier and finite Hankel transforms. Although apparently straightforward, this approach leads to serious numerical difficulties. The published form of the inversion formula for the finite Hankel transform leads to inaccurate computation for the higher azimuthal modes even with 128 bit arithmetic. An alternative form is developed which enables accurate evaluation of the solution with the more practical 64 bit arithmetic. The technique for two-layer solution presented here can be directly extended to a problem with a larger number of communicating layers. This is the first instance of successful application of the finite Hankel transform to an azimuthally asymmetric diffusion problem.     

Effect of post-metallization annealing on the ferroelectric properties of sol-gel derived PZT thin films

A series of monolithic Pt-PZT-Pt capacitors was prepared based on sol-gel derived PZT 53/47 films fired to 700 C. After deposition of top Pt electrodes, the capacitors were subjected to post-metallization annealing (PMA) temperatures of 100 C to 700 C. Dielectric and ferroelectric (FE) characterizations were performed. Increasing the PMA temperature produced lower values of spontaneous and remanent polarizations, dielectric constant and leakage currents. The observations are correlated with a proposed FE capacitor model.     

Temperature dependence of excitonic luminescence from nanocrystalline ZnO films

The properties of the excitonic luminescence for nanocrystalline ZnO thin films are investigated by using the dependence of excitonic photoluminescence (PL) spectra on temperature. The ZnO thin films are prepared by thermal oxidation of ZnS films prepared by low-pressure metalorganic chemical vapor deposition (LP-MOCVD) technique. The X-ray diffraction (XRD) indicates that ZnO thin films have a polycrystalline hexagonal wurtzite structure with a preferred (0 0 2) orientation. A strong ultraviolet (UV) emission peak at 3.26 eV is observed, while the deep-level emission band is barely observable at room temperature. The strength of the exciton-longitudinal-optical (LO) phonon coupling is deduced from the temperature dependence of the full-width at half-maximum (FWHM) of the fundamental excitonic peak, decrease in exciton-longitudinal-optical (LO) phonon coupling strength is due to the quantum confinement effect.     

溅射功率对多层膜质量的影响

用磁控溅射技术制备薄膜，用X射线衍射研究在基片和靶间距离固定的情况下不同的溅射功率对薄膜结构的影响。结果表明：过低的溅射功率下淀积的薄膜有畸变的X射线衍射特征峰，特征峰强度小，半峰全宽大。而比较高溅射功率得到的薄膜有比较尖锐的X射线衍射特征峰，强度高和半峰全宽非常窄。研究表明，X射线衍射特征峰强度小和半峰全宽大的薄膜结构疏松，而强度高和半峰全宽非常窄的薄膜结构致密。     

反应离子镀光学薄膜的微观结构分析

用反应离子镀方法制备了ＴｉＯ２单层膜及ＴｉＯ２／ＳｉＯ２多层膜，用透射电子显微镜分别观察了由反应离子镀方法及传统蒸镀法二种不同工艺制得的ＴｉＯ２单层膜及ＴｉＯ２／ＳｉＯ２多层膜的断面结构，并对ＴｉＯ２单层膜进行了喇曼分析和卢瑟福背散射分析。     

Magnetic pole pinning at rectangular defects on MnAs/GaAs(0 0 1)

Strong magnetic poles at characteristic rectangular defects have been observed using a magnetic force microscope on a MnAs(  1 0 0) thin film with the thickness of 30 nm. The MnAs thin film was epitaxially grown on a GaAs(0 0 1) substrate. The magnetic poles were in one-arranging direction, being independent of the magnetization direction of the film. The poles were pinned at the edges of the rectangular defects until just below the Curie temperature, and formed a stable magnetic-field loop on the MnAs surface. The stability of the magnetic pole pinning shows the distinctive feature of the magnetic domain structure on the surface with a strong anisotropy, which was built in the heterostructure of MnAs and GaAs.     

Features of the Motion of a Gas-Liquid Medium in a Compound Shell (Sphere and Truncated Cone) Subject to Vibration

The results from an experimental study into the dynamic behavior of a gas-liquid medium and solid particles in a compound shell (sphere-truncated cone) are reported on. The following processes are studied: formation of gas bubbles and their clusters, strong macroflows, and intensive chaotic motion of the medium in the truncated cone as a nonlinear vibrating liquid-gas system__________Translated from Prikladnaya Mekhanika, Vol. 41, No. 1, pp. 112–118, January 2005.