Growth kinetics of metastable (3 3 1) nanofacet on Au and Pt(1 1 0) surfaces

A theoretical epitaxial growth model with realistic barriers for surface diffusion is investigated by means of kinetic Monte Carlo simulations to study the growth modes of metastable (3 3 1) nanofacets on Au and Pt(1 1 0) surfaces. The results show that under experimental atomic fluxes, the (3 3 1) nanofacets grow by 2D nucleation at low temperature in the submonolayer regime. A metastable growth phase diagram that can be useful to experimentalists is presented and looks similar to the one found for the stationary growth of the bcc(0 0 1) surface in the kinetic 6-vertex model.     

Interdiffusion of adsorbed Pb and Bi on Cu(1 0 0)

The impingement and interdiffusion of adsorbed Pb and Bi layers spreading from separated 3D pure bulk sources on Cu(1 0 0) has been studied, at T = 513 K, by in situ scanning Auger microscopy. When the leading edges of the pure Pb and Bi diffusion profiles impinge, they both consist of low-coverage lattice gas surface alloyed phases. In these low-coverage phases, Pb displaces surface alloyed Bi and the point of intersection of the profiles drifts towards the Bi source. These features lead to the conclusion that Pb atoms are more strongly bound at surface alloyed sites in Cu(1 0 0) than Bi atoms. Once the total coverage (Pb + Bi) on the substrate reaches about one monolayer, Pb and Bi are dealloyed from the substrate, and the interdiffusion profiles become essentially symmetric. Pb and Bi mix in all proportions, with an interdiffusion coefficient of ∼10⁻¹³ m²/s. This is considerably smaller than the self-diffusion coefficients previously observed for pure Pb and Bi in their respective high-coverage phases, indicating that the mechanism of interdiffusion is different from that of self-diffusion. As interdiffusion proceeds, the point of intersection of the Pb and Bi profiles reverses its drift direction, leading to the conclusion that binding of Bi atoms to the Cu(1 0 0) substrate is stronger than that of Pb atoms in the highest-coverage surface dealloyed layers.     

On the flow of thermal defects from the bulk to surfaces

This paper treats flow of defects between bulk and surface sites, as a crystal passes towards equilibrium, for some practical cases. These include the realistic but quite elaborate example in which vacancy flow from the bulk is coupled to surface step edges, acting as sinks, by reaction with adatoms that are believed to dominate transport on metal surfaces. It is shown how surface processes modify the defect flow from the bulk only at short times. Lacking accurate parameters (such as concentrations) for surface defects, a crude modeling of the theoretical results is offered in order to explore likely generic behavior. The model employs a recently described approximate universality of behavior, scaled to the melting temperature, relevant mainly to fcc (1 1 1) surfaces. Under a range of conditions it is the reaction of advacancies with adatoms that provides the important channel for bulk vacancy flow. Adatom flow onto the terraces from surface step edge sinks is the bottleneck to flow above a crossover temperature (depending on step spacing) and equilibrium recombination is the bottleneck below the crossover.     

Si nucleation on Si(1 1 1)-7 × 7: From cluster pairs to 2D islands

Nucleation of 2D islands in Si/Si(1 1 1)-7 × 7 molecular beam epitaxy is studied using scanning tunneling microscopy (STM). A detailed analysis of the population of small amorphous clusters coexisting on the surface with epitaxial 2D islands has been performed. It is shown that small clusters tend to form pairs. The pairs serve as precursors for 2D islands as confirmed by direct STM observations of the smallest 2D islands covering two adjacent half-unit cells of the 7 × 7 reconstruction. It is proved with scaling arguments that the critical nucleus for 2D island formation consists not only of the pair itself, but also includes additional adatoms not belonging to the stable clusters.     

Thermodynamic and kinetic aspects on the selective surface oxidation of binary, ternary and quarternary model alloys

Segregation and selective oxidation phenomena of minor alloying elements during annealing of steel sheets lead to the formation of bare spots after hot dip galvanizing. In order to understand the influence of common alloying elements on the surface chemistry after annealing, model alloys of binary (Fe-2Si, Fe-2Mn and Fe-0.8Cr), ternary (Fe-2Mn-2Si, Fe-2Mn-0.8Cr and Fe-2Si-0.8Cr) and quarternary (Fe-2Mn-2Si-0.8Cr) systems were investigated. The specimens were annealed for 60 s at 820 °C in N₂-5% H₂ gas atmospheres with different dew points −80 and −40 °C, respectively. Surface chemistry of the annealed specimens was obtained by using X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). The field emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM) was used to view surface morphology. At low dew point −80 °C, apart from the thermodynamical calculations such as solubility product of oxides and their critical solute concentrations, kinetics play a decisive role on the selective oxidation, i.e. oxygen competition. As expected, the amount of external selective oxidation of alloying elements are well pronounced at higher dew point −40 °C. An attempt has been made to explain the dominant process of Si and Mn on Cr-oxidation and segregation. It is observed that annealing of quarternary system at higher dew point shifts the Cr-oxidation from external to internal.     

Synthesis of carbon nanotubes on Ni-alloy and Si-substrates using counterflow methane–air diffusion flames

We have conducted an experimental study to investigate the synthesis of multi-walled carbon nanotubes (CNTs) in counterflow methane–air diffusion flames, with emphasis on effects of catalyst, temperature, and the air-side strain rate of the flow on CNTs growth. The counterflow flame was formed by fuel (CH₄ or CH₄ + N₂) and air streams impinging on each other. Two types of substrates were used to deposit CNTs. Ni-alloy (60% Ni + 26% Cr + 14% Fe) wire substrates synthesized curved and entangled CNTs, which have both straight and bamboo-like structures; Si-substrates with porous anodic aluminum oxide (AAO) nanotemplates synthesized well-aligned, self-assembled CNTs. These CNTs grown inside nanopores had a uniform geometry with controllable length and diameter. The axial temperature profiles of the flow were measured by a 125 μm diameter Pt/10% Rh–Pt thermocouple with a 0.3 mm bead junction. It was found that temperature could affect not only the success of CNTs synthesis, but also the morphology of synthesized CNTs. It was also found, against previous general belief, that there was a common temperature region (1023–1073 K) in chemical vapor deposition (CVD) and counterflow diffusion flames where CNTs could be produced. CNTs synthesized in counterflow flames were significantly affected by air-side strain rate not through the residence time, but through carbon sources available for CNTs growth. Off-symmetric counterflow flames could synthesize high-quality CNTs because with this configuration carbon sources at the fuel side could easily diffuse across the stagnation surface to support CNTs growth. These results show the feasibility of using counterflow flames to synthesize CNTs for particular applications such as fabricating nanoscale electronic devices.     

A second-order accurate numerical method for the two-dimensional fractional diffusion equation

Spatially fractional order diffusion equations are generalizations of classical diffusion equations which are used in modeling practical superdiffusive problems in fluid flow, finance and others. In this paper, we present an accurate and efficient numerical method to solve a fractional superdiffusive differential equation. This numerical method combines the alternating directions implicit (ADI) approach with a Crank–Nicolson discretization and a Richardson extrapolation to obtain an unconditionally stable second-order accurate finite difference method. The stability and the consistency of the method are established. Numerical solutions for an example super-diffusion equation with a known analytic solution are obtained and the behavior of the errors are analyzed to demonstrate the order of convergence of the method.     

二元编码光栅的误差扩散算法研究

为了研究二元误差扩散算法,采用计算机仿真的方法产生光栅模板用于位相测量轮廓术,分析误差扩散点数和误差分配系数对编码方法和测量精度的影响.结果表明,应用3种常见的误差分配系数用于产生正弦光场都具有较高的测量精度,三者间没有显著性差异.误差扩散点数对编码方法和相位测量精度的影响较小.实验证明,采用误差扩散编码后,系统综合误差可以控制在1%的等效波长以内,验证了二元误差扩散方法的可行性与精确性.     

基于各向异性扩散方程的局部非纹理图像修整与去噪

图像修整(image inpainting)是一种图像插值的方法,它根据丢失信息区域周围的图像信息来猜测和填充这个区域,图像修整属于图像恢复的范畴。利用变分方法导出的各向异性扩散方程对于图像边缘的良好保持特性,而在图像处理中得到了广泛的应用。基于这一思想,本文提出了一种基于各向异性扩散方程的图像修整算法:在填补修整区域的同时,可有效地去除噪声,同时保持边缘信息。理论分析和实验结果表明了这一点。     

Polymersome‐forming amphiphilic glycosylated polymers: Synthesis and characterization

Copper‐catalyzed azide‐alkyne cycloaddition (CuAAC) was used to prepare glycosylated polyethylene (PE)–poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG) amphiphilic block copolymers. The synthetic approach involves preparation of alkyne‐terminated PE‐b‐PEG followed by CuAAC reaction with different azide functionalized sugars. The alkyne‐terminated PE‐b‐PEG was prepared by etherification reaction between hydroxyl‐terminated PE‐b‐PEG (M_n ～ 875 g mol^?1) and propargyl bromide and azidoethyl glycosides were prepared by glycosylation of 2‐azidoethanol. Atmospheric pressure solids analysis probe‐mass spectrometry was used as a novel solid state characterization tool to determine the outcome of the CuAAC click reaction and end‐capping of PE‐b‐PEG by the azidoethyl glycoside group. The aqueous solution self‐assembly behavior of these amphiphilic glycosylated polymers was explored by TEM and dye solubilization studies. Carbohydrate‐bearing spherical aggregates with the ability to solubilize a hydrophobic dye were observed. The potential of these amphiphilic glycosylated polymers to self‐assemble via electro‐formation into giant carbohydrate‐bearing polymersomes was also investigated using confocal fluorescence microscopy. An initial bioactivity study of the carbohydrate‐bearing aggregates is furthermore presented. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Polym. Sci., Part A: Polym. Chem. 2013 , 51, 5184–5193