Composition depth profile analysis of electrodeposited alloys and metal multilayers: the reverse approach

The reverse depth profile analysis is a recently developed method for the study of a deposit composition profile in the near-substrate zone. The sample preparation technique enables one to separate the deposit and a thin cover layer from its substrate, and the initial roughness of the sample is much smaller than in the conventional sputtering direction. This technique is particularly suitable to study the zones being formed in the early phase of the electrodeposition of alloys. It has been demonstrated with the reverse depth profile analysis that in many cases when one component of an alloy is preferentially deposited, an initial zone is formed that is rich in the preferentially deposited component. This phenomenon is demonstrated for Ni Cd, Ni Sn, Fe Co Ni, Co Ni and Co Ni Cu alloys. The composition change is confined to the initial 150 nm thick deposit, and it is the result of the interplay of the deposition preference and the depletion of the electrolyte near the cathode with respect to the ion reduced preferentially. The reverse depth profile analysis made it possible to compare the measured and the calculated composition depth profile of electrodeposited multilayers. It has been shown that the decay in the composition oscillation intensity in Co/Cu multilayers with the increase of the sputtering depth can be derived from the roughness measured as a function of the deposit thickness

The Aldous-Shields model revisited (with application to cellular ageing)

In Aldous and Shields (1988), a model for a rooted, growing random binary tree was presented. For some c>0, an external vertex splits at rate c^(-i) (and becomes internal) if its distance from the root (depth) is i. For c>1, we reanalyse the tree profile, i.e. the numbers of external vertices in depth i=1,2,.... Our main result are concrete formulas for the expectation and covariance-structure of the profile. In addition, we present the application of the model to cellular ageing. Here, we assume that nodes in depth h+1 are senescent, i.e. do not split. We obtain a limit result for the proportion of non-senescent vertices for large h.Comment: 13 pages, 2 figure

A predictive surface profile model for turning based on spectral analysis

This article presents a predictive approach of surface topography based on the FFT analysis of surface profiles. From a set of experimental machining tests, the parameters investigated are: feed per revolution, insert nose radius, depth of cut and cutting speed. The first step of the analysis consists of normalizing the measured profiles with the feed per revolution. This results in normalized profiles with a feed per revolution and a signal period equal to 1. The effect of each cutting parameter on the surface profile is expressed as a spectrum with respect to the period length. These effects are quantified and can be sorted in descending order of importance as feed per revolution, insert nose radius, depth of cut and cutting speed. The second part of the paper presents a modeling of the surface profile using the parameters effects and one interaction. The proposed model gives the spectrum of the profile to be predicted. The inverse Fourier transform applied to the spectrum yields the expected surface profile. Measured and simulated profiles are compared for two cutting conditions and results correlate well

Numerical classification of soils and its application in survey

Numerical classification of soils was studied with emphasis on methodology and feasibility in survey. A procedure was designed for construction of classes sufficiently homogeneous in terms of relevant properties and handlable by the surveyor. In the procedure 'central' depth-profiles are calculated separately for each property (e.g. clay content), from a sample of depth-profiles, with a relocation method minimizing within-class variances. Any soil profile can thus be identified in the field by allocating its constituent depth-profiles to the central depth-profile that is most similar for the respective properties. Resulting strings of class labels serve for interim data recording. If too many combinations of central depth-profiles arise to map all individually, they are fused into larger classes and within-class variances are again minimized. This procedure was applied to survey data from a marine clay area in the Netherlands: field estimates for 6 properties in 2212 profiles divided into 20 depth intervals. A new method was used to map classes automatically. Tests showed that: samples of several hundred profiles were needed; order of profiles and initial solution for relocation had little effect on results; only extreme weighting significantly affected homogeneity for different variables. Choice of weights and number of classes should be related and supported by sensitivity analysis.<p/

Depth Profile of Optically Recorded Patterns in Light-Sensitive Liquid Crystal Elastomers

We investigated nonlinear absorption and photobleaching processes in a liquid crystal elastomer (LCE) doped with light-sensitive azobenzene moiety. A conventional one-dimensional holographic grating was recorded in the material with the use of two crossed UV laser beams and the angular dependence of the diffraction efficiency in the vicinity of the Bragg peak was analyzed. These measurements gave information on the depth to which trans to cis isomerisation had progressed into the sample as a function of the UV irradiation time. Using a numerical model that takes into account the propagation of writing beams and rate equations for the local concentration of the absorbing trans conformer, we computed the expected spatial distribution of the trans and cis conformers and the shape of the corresponding Bragg diffraction peak for different irradiation doses. Due to residual absorption of the cis conformers the depth of the recording progresses logarithmically with time and is limited by the thermal relaxation from the cis to trans conformation.Comment: 19 pages (incl. figs), 6 figure

Magnetic non-uniformity and thermal hysteresis of magnetism in a manganite thin film

We measured the chemical and magnetic depth profiles of a single crystalline (La$_{1-x}$Pr$_x$)$_{1-y}$Ca$_y$MnO$_{3-{\delta}}$ (x = 0.52\pm0.05, y = 0.23\pm0.04, {\delta} = 0.14\pm0.10) film grown on a NdGaO3 substrate using x-ray reflectometry, electron microscopy, electron energy-loss spectroscopy and polarized neutron reflectometry. Our data indicate that the film exhibits coexistence of different magnetic phases as a function of depth. The magnetic depth profile is correlated with a variation of chemical composition with depth. The thermal hysteresis of ferromagnetic order in the film suggests a first order ferromagnetic transition at low temperatures