82,649 research outputs found
X-ray microanalysis in STEM of short-term physico-chemical reactions at bioactive glass particles / biological fluids interface. Determination of O/Si atomic ratios
Short-term physico-chemical reactions at the interface between bioactive
glass particles and biological fluids are studied and we focus our attention on
the measurements of O/Si atomic ratio. The studied bioactive glass is in the
SiO2-Na2O-CaO-P2O5-K2O-Al2O3-MgO system. The elemental analysis is performed at
the submicrometer scale by STEM associated with EDXS and EELS. We previously
developed an EDXS quantification method based on the ratio method and taking
into account local absorption corrections. In this way, we use EELS data to
determine, by an iterative process, the local mass thickness which is an
essential parameter to correct absorption in EDXS spectra. After different
delays of immersion of bioactive glass particles in a simulated biological
solution, results show the formation of different surface layers at the
bioactive glass periphery. Before one day of immersion, we observe the presence
of an already shown (Si,O,Al) rich layer at the periphery. In this paper, we
demonstrate that a thin electron dense (Si,O) layer is formed on top of the
(Si,O,Al) layer. In this (Si,O) layer, depleted in aluminium, we point out an
increase of oxygen weight concentration which can be interpreted by the
presence of Si(OH)4 groups, that permit the formation of a (Ca,P) layer.
Aluminium plays a role in the glass solubility and may inhibit apatite
nucleation. After the beginning of the (Ca,P) layer formation, the size of the
electron dense (Si,O) layer decreases and tends to disappear. After two days of
immersion, the (Ca,P) layer grows in thickness and leads to apatite
precipitatio
Surface energetics and structure of the Ge wetting layer on Si(100)
Ge deposited on Si(100) initially forms heteroepitaxial layers, which grow to a critical thickness of ~3 MLs before the appearance of three-dimensional strain relieving structures. Experimental observations reveal that the surface structure of this Ge wetting layer is a dimer vacancy line (DVL) superstructure of the unstrained Ge(100) dimer reconstruction. In the following, the results of first-principles calculations of the thickness dependence of the wetting layer surface excess energy for the c(4Ă—2) and 4Ă—6 DVL surface reconstructions are reported. These results predict a wetting layer critical thickness of ~3 MLs, which is largely unaffected by the presence of dimer vacancy lines. The 4Ă—6 DVL reconstruction is found to be thermodynamically stable with respect to the c(4Ă—2) structure for wetting layers at least 2 ML thick. A strong correlation between the fraction of total surface induced deformation present in the substrate and the thickness dependence of wetting layer surface energy is also shown
The thinning of the liquid layer over a probe in two-phase flow
The draining of the thin water film that is formed between a two dimensional, infinite, initially flat oil-water interface and a smooth, symmetric probe, as the interface is advected by a steady and uniform flow parallel to the probe axis, is modelled using classical fluid dynamics.
The governing equations are nondimensionalised using values appropriate to the oil extraction industry. The bulk flow is driven by inertia and, in some extremes, surface tension while the viscous effects are initially confined to thin boundary layers on the probe and the interface. The flow in the thin water film is dominated by surface tension, and passes through a series of asymptotic regimes in which inertial forces are gradually overtaken by viscous forces. For each of these regimes, and for those concerning the earlier stages of approach, possible solution strategies are discussed and relevant literature reviewed.
Consideration is given to the drainage mechanism around a probe which protrudes a fixed specified distance into the oil. A lubrication analysis of the thin water film may be matched into a capillary-static solution for the outer geometry using a slender transition region if, and only if, the pressure gradient in the film is negative as it meets the static meniscus. The remarkable result is that, in practice, there is a race between rupture in the transition region and rupture at the tip. The analysis is applicable to the case of a very slow far field flow and offers significant insight into the non-static case.
Finally, a similar approach is applied to study the motion of the thin water film in the fully inviscid approximation, with surface tension and a density contrast between the fluids
Nanoscale broadband transmission lines for spin qubit control
The intense interest in spin-based quantum information processing has caused
an increasing overlap between two traditionally distinct disciplines, such as
magnetic resonance and nanotechnology. In this work we discuss rigourous design
guidelines to integrate microwave circuits with charge-sensitive
nanostructures, and describe how to simulate such structures accurately and
efficiently. We present a new design for an on-chip, broadband, nanoscale
microwave line that optimizes the magnetic field driving a spin qubit, while
minimizing the disturbance on a nearby charge sensor. This new structure was
successfully employed in a single-spin qubit experiment, and shows that the
simulations accurately predict the magnetic field values even at frequencies as
high as 30 GHz.Comment: 18 pages, 8 figures, 1 table, pdflate
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