Adhesion measurement of thin films by a modified laser spallation technique: theoretical analysis and experimental investigation

Laser driven shocks can lead to a dynamic failure, called film spallation. Here, we use a modified laser spallation set-up to measure the dynamic adhesion of thin films and we propose a novel diagnostic technology. Based on correlation theory, new spallation criteria for characterizing the progressive damage at the interface between the film and the substrate are established, such as interface delamination, film spallation and film expulsion. With the help of the theory, the degree of damage and the dimension of damage (i.e. fracture), such as the minimum width of delamination radius, the thickness of the film etc., are estimated. Experiments are carried out on epoxy/stainless steel and epoxy/Al, and the experimental results show that their dynamic bonding strengths are about 25 MPa and 20 MPa, respectively. The detailed results, analyses and discussions are presented in this paper. Received: 6 February 2001 / Accepted: 3 December 2001 / Published online: 11 February 2002     

Barrier-free intermolecular proton transfer in the uracil-glycine complex induced by excess electron attachment

The photoelectron spectra (PES) of anions of uracil-glycine and uracil-phenylalanine complexes reveal broad features with maxima at 1.8 and 2.0 eV. The results of ab initio density functional B3LYP and second order M?ller-Plesset theory calculations indicate that the excess electron occupies a π^* orbital localized on uracil. The excess electron attachment to the complex can induce a barrier-free proton transfer (BFPT) from the carboxylic group of glycine to the O8 atom of uracil. As a result, the four most stable structures of the anion of uracil-glycine complex can be characterized as the neutral radical of hydrogenated uracil solvated by the anion of deprotonated glycine. The similarity between the PES spectra for the uracil complexes with glycine and phenylalanine suggests that the BFPT is also operative in the case of the latter anionic species. The BFPT to the O8 atom of uracil may be related to the damage of nucleic acid bases by low energy electrons because the O8 atom is involved in a hydrogen bond with adenine in the standard Watson-Crick pairing scheme. Received 6 April 2002 Published online 13 September 2002     

Generation of 3rd and 5th harmonics in a thin superconducting film by temperature oscillations and isothermal nonlinear current response

The generation of harmonics of the voltage response is considered when an AC current is applied through a superconducting film above T_c. It is shown that almost at all temperatures the mechanism of the temperature oscillations created by the AC current and the temperature dependence of the resistance dominates over the isothermal nonlinear electric conductivity. Only in a narrow critical region close to T_c the latter is essential for the generation of the harmonics. A detailed investigation of harmonics generation provides an accurate method for measuring the thermal boundary conductance between the film and the insulating substrate. The critical behaviour of the third harmonic will give a new method for the determination of the lifetime of metastable Cooper pairs above T_c. The comparison of the calculated fifth harmonics of the voltage with the experiment is proposed as an important test for the applicability of the employed theoretical models. Received 8 September 2001     

Propagation of mesons in asymmetric nuclear matter in a density-dependent coupling model

We study the propagation of the light mesons σ,ω,ρ, and a₀(980) in dense hadronic matter in an extended derivative scalar coupling model. Within the scheme proposed it is possible to unambiguously define effective density-dependent couplings at the Lagrangian level. We first apply the model to study asymmetric nuclear matter with fixed isospin asymmetry, and then we pay particular attention to hypermatter in β-equilibrium. The equation of state and the potential contribution to the symmetry coefficient arising from the mean-field approximation are investigated. Received: 16 October 2001 / Accepted: 10 January 2002     

Single chain force spectroscopy - Reading the sequence of HP protein models

We study the elastic properties of single A/B random copolymer chains, with a specific sequence and use them as theoretical model for so called HP proteins. HP proteins carry hydrophilic (P) and hydrophobic (H) monomers. We predict a rich structure in the force-extension relations which can be attributed to the information in the sequence. The variational method is used to probe local minima on the path of stretching and releasing for the chain molecules. At a given force, we find multiple configurations which are separated by energy barriers. A collapsed globular configuration consists of several domains which unravel cooperatively. Upon stretching, the unfolding path shows a stepwise pattern corresponding to the unfolding of each domain. While releasing, several cores can be created simultaneously in the middle of the chain, resulting in a different path of collapse. The long-range interactions and stiffness of the chain simplify the potential landscape given by the disorder in sequence. Received 5 March 2002 / Received in final form 16 May 2002 Published online 13 August 2002     

Controlling global stochasticity of Hamiltonian systems by nonlinear perturbation

A method of controlling global stochasticity in Hamiltonian systems by applying nonlinear perturbation is proposed. With the well-known standard map we demonstrate that this control method can convert global stochasticity into regular motion in a wide chaotic region for arbitrary initial condition, in which the control signal remains very weak after a few kicks. The system in which chaos has been controlled approximates to the original Hamiltonian system, and this approach appears robust against small external noise. The mechanism underlying this high control efficiency is intuitively explained. Received 15 January 2002 Published online 6 June 2002     

Tunneling and EPR linewidths due to dislocations in Mn acetate

We compute the width and shape of the EPR and tunneling resonances due to dislocations in Mn₁₂ acetate crystals. Uncorrelated dislocations produce the Gaussian shape of resonances while dislocations bound in pairs produce the Lorentzian shape. We stress that the uniaxial spin Hamiltonian together with crystal defects can explain the totality of experimental data on Mn₁₂. Received 2 August 2001 / Received in final form 15 March 2002 Published online 17 September 2002     

Renormalization of the two-photon vacuum polarization and the self energy vacuum polarization for a tightly bound electron

The renormalization method of Bogoljubov-Parasiuk-Hepp-Zimmermann (BPHZ) is used in order to derive the renormalized energy shift due to the gauge invariant K?llén-Sabry diagram of the two-photon vacuum polarization (VPVP) as well as the self energy vacuum polarization S(VP)E beyond the Uehling approximation. It is outlined, that no outer renormalization is required for the two-photon vacuum polarization and that only the inner renormalization has to be accomplished. It is shown that the so-called nongauge invariant spurious term is absent for a wide class of vacuum polarization (VP) diagrams if one applies the widely used spherical expansion of bound and free-electron propagator. This simplifies significantly calculations in bound state quantum electrodynamics. As one result of our paper the use of the BPHZ-approach in bound state QED is established. Received 28 September 2001     

Microstructure of laser melted Al18B4O33w/2024Al composite

The microstructure of a laser treated Al₁₈B₄O₃₃w/2024Al composite has been investigated using transmission electron microscope (TEM), low-angle (glancing angle) X-ray diffraction (XRD) techniques. Various surface microstructures were observed in the laser treated composite. The Al₁₈B₄O₃₃ whisker on the surface of the composite was decomposed during laser surface melting, various decomposition products were studied in the laser treated composite. Eutectic phases and the precipitation in the matrix of the composite with laser-treated were observed. The main phases detected in the molten zone were aluminum and decomposition products Al₂O₃. The effect of laser treatment on the hardness of the composite was also examined. A surface hardness of 400 Hv was noted.     

Multiple harmonic series related to multiple Euler numbers

In this paper, we define the multiple Euler numbers and consider some multiple harmonic series of Mordell-Tornheim's type, which is a partial sum of the Mordell-Tornheim zeta series defined by Matsumoto. Indeed, we prove a certain reducibility of these series as well as the multiple zeta values.