Thin Films Deposition from Hexamethyldisiloxane and Hexamethyldisilazane under Dielectric-Barrier Discharge (DBD) Conditions

Hexamethyldisiloxane (HMDSO) and hexamethyldisilazane (HMDSN) were used as organosilicon reagents for PE-CVD of thin films under filamentary barrier-discharge conditions at atmospheric pressure. Efficient discharges were obtained in the region of moderate frequencies (5 kHz). The following mixtures of organosilicon reagents with carrier gas and oxidants or ammonia were investigated: HMDSO+Ar, HMDSO+N₂, HMDSO+O₂+Ar, HMDSO+N₂O+Ar, and HMDSN+NH₃+N₂. Under such conditions HMDSO was converted to produce thin films (10–1000 nm) of silicon oxide, generally containing admixtures of residual organic content (Si—CH_n and Si—H groups). The films deposited from HMDSN+NH₃+N₂ contained silicon, nitrogen and oxygen.     

Two-photon decay in strong central fields observed for the case of He-like gold

The photon energy differential shape of the second order matrix element for the two-photon (2E1) decay of the 1s2s¹S₀ level in He-like gold has been measured. The results are in agreement with a recent fully relativistic calculation. The corresponding 2E1 matrix element deviates from those in lighter He-like systems due to the strong central field in a heavy two-electron ion.     

1s lamb shift in hydrogenlike uranium measured on cooled, decelerated ion beams

The Lyman- alpha transitions of hydrogenlike uranium associated with electron capture were measured in collisions of stored bare U (92+) ions with gaseous targets at the storage ring ESR. By applying the deceleration technique, the experiment was performed at slow collision energies in order to reduce the uncertainties associated with Doppler corrections. From the measured centroid energies, a ground state Lamb shift of 468 eV+/-13 eV is deduced which gives the most precise test of quantum electrodynamics for a single electron system in the strong field regime. In particular, the technique applied paves the way towards the 1 eV precision regime.     

An international round-robin calibration protocol for nanoindentation measurements

Nanoindentation has become a common technique for measuring the hardness and elastic-plastic properties of materials, including coatings and thin films. In recent years, different nanoindenter instruments have been commercialised and used for this purpose. Each instrument is equipped with its own analysis software for the derivation of the hardness and reduced Young's modulus from the raw data. These data are mostly analysed through the Oliver and Pharr method. In all cases, the calibration of compliance and area function is mandatory. The present work illustrates and describes a calibration procedure and an approach to raw data analysis carried out for six different nanoindentation instruments through several round-robin experiments. Three different indenters were used, Berkovich, cube corner, spherical, and three standardised reference samples were chosen, hard fused quartz, soft polycarbonate, and sapphire. It was clearly shown that the use of these common procedures consistently limited the hardness and reduced the Young's modulus data spread compared to the same measurements performed using instrument-specific procedures. The following recommendations for nanoindentation calibration must be followed: (a) use only sharp indenters, (b) set an upper cut-off value for the penetration depth below which measurements must be considered unreliable, (c) perform nanoindentation measurements with limited thermal drift, (d) ensure that the load-displacement curves are as smooth as possible, (e) perform stiffness measurements specific to each instrument/indenter couple, (f) use Fq and Sa as calibration reference samples for stiffness and area function determination, (g) use a function, rather than a single value, for the stiffness and (h) adopt a unique protocol and software for raw data analysis in order to limit the data spread related to the instruments (i.e. the level of drift or noise, defects of a given probe) and to make the H and E(r) data intercomparable.     

微载荷含油轴承摩擦性能研究Ⅰ.摩擦试验机设计

研制了1种针对径向轴承的微载荷摩擦试验机,介绍了其工作原理及结构,即利用外加载荷抵消浮动测试架重量以施加微小载荷,并利用激光位置传感器(PSD传感器)实现无接触位移测量;同时测量了摩擦副的转动角度并计算出摩擦系数;采用摩擦转角测量法和外加力矩平衡摩擦法测量微载荷下的摩擦性能,以测量时间末端位置作为位置基准,通过极限偏载平衡进行载荷标定.结果表明:微载荷摩擦试验机可应用于径向轴承在微小载荷下的摩擦力测量;可以通过在较大范围内设置结构参数来研究径向轴承的摩擦特性;并可利用数据采集技术研究速度和载荷连续变化条件下的摩擦性能.     

Study of electron bremsstrahlung in strong Coulomb fields at the ESR storage ring

Electron bremsstrahlung has been investigated for collisions of 223.2 MeV/amu He-like uranium ions with N₂ and Ar gaseous targets. The doubly differential cross-sections for bremsstrahlung are compared to the predictions of relativistic first order Born calculations (Bethe-Heitler formula with Elwert correction factor) and to the calculations based on the exact wavefunctions for electrons moving in the external point-Coulomb potential of the projectile. Whereas the “exact” IPA calculations give an improved agreement with experimental data, as compared to the Bethe-Heitler theory, in particular at the end-point region of the bremsstrahlung spectra, discrepancies still remain at lower photon energies. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

The two-photon decay in helium-like gold

Progress on a measurement of the spectral distribution of the two-photon decay of the 2¹S₀ level in helium-like gold is reported. A measurement of the exact shape of the continuous spectrum of the two-photon decay in heavy helium-like ions provides a sensitive test on the details of the complete structure of a helium-like system. In our experiment at GSI, a beam of 106.6 MeV/u Au⁷⁷⁺ ions is excited by a thin Aluminum foil and the subsequent decays are observed in an array of Ge(i) detectors. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Higher-order effects studied for K-shell excitation of high-Z projectiles

The study of projectile excitation of high-Z ions in collisions with light target atoms is a powerful tool for the investigation of magnetic and higher-order effects occurring in relativistic collisions. Very first investigations performed for bismuth ions were recently extended at the ESR storage ring by using He-like uranium ions in collisions with gaseous targets. At the ESR jet target, the absence of solid-state effects (e.g., multiple collisions) allows one to study higher order processes, such as excitation and ionization or excitation and capture, occurring in single collisions. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Photon angular distribution of Radiative Electron Capture into the M shell of He-like uranium ions at 110–140 MeV/u

Measurements of the photon angular distribution of Radiative Electron Capture into the M shell have been performed with He-like uranium ions in the range 110–140 MeV/u. In addition, L REC was studied at a projectile energy of 140 MeV/u. In both cases, the experimental data show an asymmetry around 90° and agree well with a fully relativistic theory.     

First experiment with decelerated bare uranium ions conducted at the ESR storage ring

The deceleration capabilities of the ESR have been used for the first time in a dedicated ground state QED experiment conducted at the gasjet target of the ring. By decelerating bare uranium ions from 358 MeV/u down to energies of as low as 49 MeV/u, X-ray spectra have been obtained which provide an abundant yield of characteristic X-ray transitions. The experiment demonstrates that, by choosing the appropriate beam energy and gasjet target, almost all excited projectile states can be selectively populated. Moreover, the experiment provides the first data for beam lifetimes of stored decelerated high-Z ions. Such data are essential for the design of future experiments dealing with decelerated ion beams far below 50 MeV/u. This revised version was published online in August 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.