Design and realization of a sputter deposition system for the \textit{in situ-} and \textit{in operando-}use in polarized neutron reflectometry experiments

We report on the realization of a sputter deposition system for the in situ- and in operando-use in polarized neutron reflectometry experiments. Starting with the scientific requirements, which define the general design considerations, the external limitations and boundaries imposed by the available space at a neutron beamline and by the neutron and vacuum compatibility of the used materials, are assessed. The relevant aspects are then accounted for in the realization of our highly mobile deposition system, which was designed with a focus on a quick and simple installation and removability at the beamline. Apart from the general design, the in-vacuum components, the auxiliary equipment and the remote control via a computer, as well as relevant safety aspects are presented in detail.Comment: Submitted for publication in Nuclear Inst. and Methods in Physics Research, A. (1st revised version

Condensation of Silica Nanoparticles on a Phospholipid Membrane

The structure of the transient layer at the interface between air and the aqueous solution of silica nanoparticles with the size distribution of particles that has been determined from small-angle scattering has been studied by the X-ray reflectometry method. The reconstructed depth profile of the polarizability of the substance indicates the presence of a structure consisting of several layers of nanoparticles with the thickness that is more than twice as large as the thickness of the previously described structure. The adsorption of 1,2-distearoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphocholine molecules at the hydrosol/air interface is accompanied by the condensation of anion silica nanoparticles at the interface. This phenomenon can be qualitatively explained by the formation of the positive surface potential due to the penetration and accumulation of Na+ cations in the phospholipid membrane.Comment: 7 pages, 5 figure

An investigation of the interaction of N2O with the Si(111)-7 × 7 surface using AES and optical reflectometry; A comparison with O2

At 300 K, N2O decomposes into N2, leaving behind atomic oxygen at the Si(111)¿7 × 7 surface. Decomposition at two different sites is proposed, having the overall initial reaction probability: s(0) = (6.7 ± 0.7) × 106. SiOx(x not, vert, similar 1) bonds are predominantly formed, saturation occurring at monolayer coverage. This oxygen monolayer appears to completely prevent further oxygen uptake by additional N2O or O2 exposures, in contrast with the adsorption behaviour of O2 on Si(111)-7 × 7, which exhibits slow sorption beyond one monolayer

On-site surface reflectometry

The rapid development of Augmented Reality (AR) and Virtual Reality (VR) applications over the past years has created the need to quickly and accurately scan the real world to populate immersive, realistic virtual environments for the end user to enjoy. While geometry processing has already gone a long way towards that goal, with self-contained solutions commercially available for on-site acquisition of large scale 3D models, capturing the appearance of the materials that compose those models remains an open problem in general uncontrolled environments. The appearance of a material is indeed a complex function of its geometry, intrinsic physical properties and furthermore depends on the illumination conditions in which it is observed, thus traditionally limiting the scope of reflectometry to highly controlled lighting conditions in a laboratory setup. With the rapid development of digital photography, especially on mobile devices, a new trend in the appearance modelling community has emerged, that investigates novel acquisition methods and algorithms to relax the hard constraints imposed by laboratory-like setups, for easy use by digital artists. While arguably not as accurate, we demonstrate the ability of such self-contained methods to enable quick and easy solutions for on-site reflectometry, able to produce compelling, photo-realistic imagery. In particular, this dissertation investigates novel methods for on-site acquisition of surface reflectance based on off-the-shelf, commodity hardware. We successfully demonstrate how a mobile device can be utilised to capture high quality reflectance maps of spatially-varying planar surfaces in general indoor lighting conditions. We further present a novel methodology for the acquisition of highly detailed reflectance maps of permanent on-site, outdoor surfaces by exploiting polarisation from reflection under natural illumination. We demonstrate the versatility of the presented approaches by scanning various surfaces from the real world and show good qualitative and quantitative agreement with existing methods for appearance acquisition employing controlled or semi-controlled illumination setups.Open Acces

GNSS transpolar earth reflectometry exploriNg system (G-TERN): mission concept

The global navigation satellite system (GNSS) Transpolar Earth Reflectometry exploriNg system (G-TERN) was proposed in response to ESA's Earth Explorer 9 revised call by a team of 33 multi-disciplinary scientists. The primary objective of the mission is to quantify at high spatio-temporal resolution crucial characteristics, processes and interactions between sea ice, and other Earth system components in order to advance the understanding and prediction of climate change and its impacts on the environment and society. The objective is articulated through three key questions. 1) In a rapidly changing Arctic regime and under the resilient Antarctic sea ice trend, how will highly dynamic forcings and couplings between the various components of the ocean, atmosphere, and cryosphere modify or influence the processes governing the characteristics of the sea ice cover (ice production, growth, deformation, and melt)? 2) What are the impacts of extreme events and feedback mechanisms on sea ice evolution? 3) What are the effects of the cryosphere behaviors, either rapidly changing or resiliently stable, on the global oceanic and atmospheric circulation and mid-latitude extreme events? To contribute answering these questions, G-TERN will measure key parameters of the sea ice, the oceans, and the atmosphere with frequent and dense coverage over polar areas, becoming a “dynamic mapper”of the ice conditions, the ice production, and the loss in multiple time and space scales, and surrounding environment. Over polar areas, the G-TERN will measure sea ice surface elevation (<;10 cm precision), roughness, and polarimetry aspects at 30-km resolution and 3-days full coverage. G-TERN will implement the interferometric GNSS reflectometry concept, from a single satellite in near-polar orbit with capability for 12 simultaneous observations. Unlike currently orbiting GNSS reflectometry missions, the G-TERN uses the full GNSS available bandwidth to improve its ranging measurements. The lifetime would be 2025-2030 or optimally 2025-2035, covering key stages of the transition toward a nearly ice-free Arctic Ocean in summer. This paper describes the mission objectives, it reviews its measurement techniques, summarizes the suggested implementation, and finally, it estimates the expected performance.Peer ReviewedPostprint (published version

New methods and applications for interferometric GNSS reflectometry

The GNSS reflectometry technique has been proven to be usable for measuring several environmental properties, such as soil moisture, snow depth, vegetation, and sea level.\ua0As numerous GNSS installations are already installed around the world for geodetic purposes, the technique opens up a large data set for new analyses, complementing other environmental measurement campaigns.\ua0However, a main drawback of the technique is that its precision generally is worse than more specialised equipment, and while this is in part compensated for its low cost and maintenance requirements, improved precision is still a main goal of research in the field of GNSS reflectometry.The first topic of this thesis concerns the development of new methods for analysing GNSS-R data to retrieve precise measurements, especially in the case of sea level.As GNSS-R measurements are usually done over time spans of around half an hour, the dynamic sea surface has proven to be a challenge to measure.\ua0However, using inverse modelling with least squares adjustment, we prove that we can significantly improve the retrieval precision.\ua0Developing on the inverse modelling approach, we also prove that high-precision real-time GNSS reflectometry is also feasible using Kalman filtering.The other main topic of this thesis is finding new applications for the GNSS-R technique.\ua0Firstly, we show that when a GNSS-R installation is mounted close to a body of water, it is possible to determine whether the surface is frozen or not.\ua0Secondly, while GNSS reflectometry is traditionally performed with high-precision geodetic instruments, we show that everyday devices, such as a mobile phone, can be used instead.\ua0\ua0We find that the precision of the mobile devices is on a similar level as for geodetic equipment.Finally, this thesis explores and highlights one of the challenges that are still left in GNSS-R research: absolute referencing of sea level measurements.\ua0Past research has mostly focused on precision, leaving out accuracy, and we show that there are unknown effects that cause an offset between GNSS-R measurements and co-located tide gauges