Void-mediated formation of Sn quantum dots in a Si matrix

Atomic scale analysis of Sn quantum dots (QDs) formed during the molecular beam-epitaxy (MBE) growth of Sn_xSi_(1−x) (0.05 ⩽ x ⩽ 0.1) multilayers in a Si matrix revealed a void-mediated formation mechanism. Voids below the Si surface are induced by the lattice mismatch strain between Sn_xSi_(1−x) layers and Si, taking on their equilibrium tetrakaidecahedron shape. The diffusion of Sn atoms into these voids leads to an initial rapid coarsening of quantum dots during annealing. Since this formation process is not restricted to Sn, a method to grow QDs may be developed by controlling the formation of voids and the diffusion of materials into these voids during MBE growth

Phase Control and Fast Start-Up of a Magnetron Using Modulation of an Addressable Faceted Cathode

The use of an addressable, faceted cathode has been proposed as a method of modulating current injection in a magnetron to improve performance and control phase. To implement the controllable electron emission, five-sided and ten-sided faceted planar cathodes employing gated field emitters are considered as these emitters could be fabricated on flat substrates. For demonstration, the conformal finite-difference time-domain particle-in-cell simulation, as implemented in VORPAL, has been used to model a ten-cavity, rising sun magnetron using the modulated current sources and benchmarked against a typical continuous current source. For the modulated, ten-sided faceted cathode case, the electrons are injected from three emitter elements on each of the ten facets. Each emitter is turned ON and OFF in sequence at the oscillating frequency with five emitters ON at one time to drive the five electron spokes of the π-mode. The emitter duty cycle is then 1/6th the Radio-Frequency (RF) period. Simulations show a fast start-up time as low as 35 ns for the modulated case compared to 100 ns for the continuous current cases. Analysis of the RF phase using the electron spoke locations and the RF magnetic field components shows that the phase is controlled for the modulated case while it is random, as typical, for the continuous current case. Active phase control during oscillation was demonstrated by shifting the phase of the electron injection 180° after oscillations started. The 180° phase shift time was approximately 25 RF cycles

Determination of the 3-dimensional atomic structure at internal interfaces by electron energy loss spectroscopy

The fine structure of a core-loss edge contains detailed information on the local atomic environment. It can be used as an extremely sensitive probe of the fluctuations in structure and bonding that can occur at internal interfaces. Interpretation of such fluctuations requires only a knowledge of the location of the electron probe when the spectrum is acquired and a means of interpreting the spectrum. The location of the probe can be controlled with atomic precision in the STEM by the use of the Z-contrast image, while the real space cluster methodology of multiple scattering analysis is ideally suited to the task of interpretation. This approach is used here to derive 3-dimensional models for tilt grain boundaries in TiO{sub 2} and SrTiO{sub 3}

Elective Modernism and the Politics of (Bio) Ethical Expertise

In this essay I consider whether the political perspective of third wave science studies – ‘elective modernism’ – offers a suitable framework for understanding the policy-making contributions that (bio)ethical experts might make. The question arises as a consequence of the fact that I have taken inspiration from the third wave in order to develop an account of (bio)ethical expertise. I offer a précis of this work and a brief summary of elective modernism before considering their relation. The view I set out suggests that elective modernism is a political philosophy and that although its use in relation to the use of scientific expertise in political and policy-making process has implications for the role of (bio)ethical expertise it does not, in the final analysis, provide an account that is appropriate for this latter form of specialist expertise. Nevertheless, it is an informative perspective, and one that can help us make sense of the political uses of (bio)ethical expertise