[en] The gap length effect on plasma parameters is investigated in a planar type inductively coupled plasma at various conditions. The spatial profiles of ion densities and the electron temperatures on the wafer level are measured with a 2D probe array based on the floating harmonic method. At low pressures, the spatial profiles of the plasma parameters rarely changed by various gap lengths, which indicates that nonlocal kinetics are dominant at low pressures. However, at relatively high pressures, the spatial profiles of the plasma parameter changed dramatically. These plasma distribution profile characteristics should be considered for plasma reactor design and processing setup, and can be explained by the diffusion of charged particles and the local kinetics

[en] General conditions controlling the formation of incommensurate phases in crystals undergoing reconstructive phase transitions are analyzed in the framework of a model-free phenomenological approach. A universal trend to stabilizing such intermediate phases in the vicinity of reconstructive phase transitions stems from the fact that certain high-order improper Lifshitz invariants reduce at such transformations to ones bi-linearly coupling critical displacement gradients and strains or even to the proper Lifshitz invariant. The approach developed here introduces a universal mechanism for the formation both of premartensite incommensurate phases and complex structures with giant unit cells, as found in some elemental crystals at high pressure. (paper)

[en] Highlights: → We measure viscosities for di(2-ethylhexyl)sebacate from (298.15 to 398.15) K and up to 60 MPa. → We measure densities for DEHS from (298.15 to 373.15) K and from (0.1 to 60) MPa. → The reported and lit. data were used in a viscosity correlation from (273 to 491) K and up to 1.1 GPa. → This correlation could be used in industrial equipment that operate at high pressures. - Abstract: Experimental densities and dynamic viscosities of di(2-ethylhexyl)sebacate (DEHS) are the object of study in this work. DEHS could be a useful industrial reference fluid for moderately high viscosity at high pressures as it is often used as a pressure transmitting fluid. At atmospheric pressure the density and viscosity measurements have been performed in a rotational SVM 3000 Stabinger viscometer from (273.15 to 373.15) K, whereas from (0.1 to 60) MPa and from (298.15 to 398.15) K an automated Anton Paar DMA HPM vibrating-tube densimeter, and a high-pressure rolling-ball viscometer were used. Several Vogel-Fulcher-Tammann type equations were used to fit the experimental values of viscosity to the pressure and temperature. The measured viscosity data have been used together with previous data found in the literature to establish a correlation of the viscosity surface η(T, p) of DEHS, covering a temperature range from (273 to 491) K and pressure up to 1.1 GPa. This correlation could be used in industrial equipment like viscometers and other devices that operate at high pressures. Our viscosity data have also been fitted as a function of temperature and volume to the thermodynamic scaling model of Roland et al. [C.M. Roland, S. Bair, R. Casalini, J. Chem. Phys. 125 (2006) 124508].

[en] The multi-holed electrode that has been reported to enhance the electron density of the capacitively coupled plasma is now being adopted to speed up the processes. However, the discharge condition when the multi-holed electrode enhances the electron density of the discharge at fixed power is not studied. At low pressure, the multi-holed electrode increased the electron density of the plasma at fixed power. However, the multi-holed electrode is experimentally revealed to lower the electron density at high pressure. In this paper, the different roles of the multi-holed electrode are experimentally studied.

[en] We examine the challenge of performing accurate electronic structure calculations at high pressures by comparing the results of all-electron full potential linearized augmented-plane-wave calculations, as implemented in the WIEN2k code, with those of the projector augmented wave (PAW) method, as implemented in Quantum ESPRESSO or Abinit code. In particular, we focus on developing an automated and consistent way of generating transferable PAW data-sets that can closely produce the all electron equation of state defined from zero to arbitrary high pressures. The technique we propose is an evolutionary search procedure that exploits the ATOMPAW code to generate atomic data-sets and the Quantum ESPRESSO software suite for total energy calculations. We demonstrate different aspects of its workability by optimizing PAW basis functions of some elements relatively abundant in planetary interiors. In addition, we introduce a new measure of atomic data-set goodness by considering their performance uniformity over an extended pressure range. - Highlights: • An attempt made to achieve the AE-FLAPW accuracy, at the favorable computational efficiency of the PAW approach for an outspread pressure range. • Provided an automatic and consistent route for developing efficient and transferable PAW data-sets. • Explicated an improved measure for the goodness of data-sets by including uniformity of the data-set performance over an extended pressure range.

[en] The torsional behavior of Ni-rich Ni_50.3Ti_29.7Hf₂₀ (at%) high-temperature shape memory alloy tubes was investigated under pure torsion loading. Torque tubes with varying geometry including outer diameter, wall thickness, and length were subjected to constant-torque thermal cycling at stresses ranging from 0 to 500 MPa (0–175 N m). It was found that the wall thickness had a notable effect on the transformation temperatures where thick-walled tubes transformed at lower temperatures when compared to the thin-walled form. In all tube outer diameters, shear strains were found to be in the order of 6% obtained at stresses above 300 MPa. At lower stresses, little to no effect of wall thickness was observed, but the influence increased at higher stresses where thin-walled tubes generated approximately 2% less strain when compared to the solid forms. Two-way shape memory effect was also evaluated after 20 cycles and was found to reach ∼3% strain when cycled at high stresses. (paper)

[en] High spatial resolution imaging of material properties is an important task for the continued development of nanomaterials and studies of biological systems. Time-varying interaction forces between the vibrating tip and the sample in a tapping-mode atomic force microscope contain detailed information about the elastic, adhesive, and dissipative response of the sample. We report real-time measurement and analysis of the time-varying tip-sample interaction forces with recently introduced torsional harmonic cantilevers. With these measurements, high-resolution maps of elastic modulus, adhesion force, energy dissipation, and topography are generated simultaneously in a single scan. With peak tapping forces as low as 0.6 nN, we demonstrate measurements on blended polymers and self-assembled molecular architectures with feature sizes at 1, 10, and 500 nm. We also observed an elastic modulus measurement range of four orders of magnitude (1 MPa to 10 GPa) for a single cantilever under identical feedback conditions, which can be particularly useful for analyzing heterogeneous samples with largely different material components.

[en] The electrical transport properties of Mg_2Ge under high pressure were studied with the in situ temperature-dependent resistivity and Hall-effect measurements. The theoretically predicted metallization of Mg_2Ge was definitely found around 7.4 GPa by the temperature-dependent resistivity measurement. Other two pressure-induced structural phase transitions were also reflected by the measurements. Hall-effect measurement showed that the dominant charge carrier in the metallic Mg_2Ge was hole, indicating the “bad metal” nature of Mg_2Ge. The Hall mobility and charge carrier concentration results pointed out that the electrical transport behavior in the antifluorite phase was controlled by the increase quantity of drifting electrons under high pressure, but in both anticotunnite and Ni_2In-type phases it was governed by the Hall mobility

[en] After pretreatment of micronization for 60 mins, the nanostarches were obtained by high speed jet (HSJ) of one cycle at 240 Mpa. The nanostarches were also observed by morphological analysis. Moreover, the zeta potential of nanostarches (-17 mv) dramatically decreased compared with native (-4.90 mv), and the pasting properties of nanostarches significantly changed, indicating the disruption of the crystalline structures. The obtained nanostarches were related to the breakdown of starch molecules. This study will provide useful information of the nanostarches for its potential industrial application. (paper)

[en] Using a computational fluid dynamics (CFD) software, the gas dynamics of the open-wake and closed-wake conditions of an annular-slit high-pressure gas atomization (AS-HPGA) nozzle were investigated to validate the predictions of a pulsatile atomization model that was recently proposed. The location of the recirculation zones, the oblique shocks and the Mach disks were analyzed for this type of closed-coupled gas atomization nozzle. The stagnation pressures located downstream of the Mach disk, in closed-wake condition, were found to be approximately twice as high as the stagnation pressure in an open-wake condition at a slightly lower atomization gas pressure. The turbulence model utilized within the CFD calculation scheme appeared to be inadequate for calculating aspiration pressure just below wake-closure pressure when the recirculation zone is extremely long and narrow. However, overall, the CFD calculation correlated well with the experimental results, showing that the aspiration pressure progressively lowers as operation pressure increases in open-wake condition, and rises as operation pressure increases in closed-wake condition