Tomographic imaging and scanning thermal microscopy: thermal impedance tomography

The application of tomographic imaging techniques developed for medical applications to the data provided by the scanning thermal microscope will give access to true three-dimensional information on the thermal properties of materials on a mm length scale. In principle, the technique involves calculating and inverting a sensitivity matrix for a uniform isotropic material, collecting ordered data at several modulation frequencies, and multiplying the inverse of the matrix with the data vector. In practice, inversion of the matrix in impractical, and a novel iterative technique is used. Examples from both simulated and real data are given

Thermal Conductivity of Ordered Mesoporous Nanocrystalline Silicon Thin Films Made from Magnesium Reduction of Polymer-Templated Silica

This paper reports the cross-plane thermal conductivity of ordered mesoporous nanocrystalline silicon thin films between 25 and 315 K. The films were produced by evaporation induced self-assembly of mesoporous silica followed by magnesium reduction. The periodic ordering of pores in mesoporous silicon was characterized by X-ray diffraction and direct SEM imaging. The average crystallite size, porosity, and film thickness were about 13 nm, 25-35%, and 140-340 nm, respectively. The pores were arranged in a face-centered cubic lattice. The cross-plane thermal conductivity of the mesoporous silicon thin films was measured using the 3ω method. It was between 3 and 5 orders of magnitude smaller than that of bulk single crystal silicon in the temperature range considered. The effects of temperature, film thickness, and copolymer template on the thermal conductivity were investigated. A model based on kinetic theory was used to accurately predict the measured thermal conductivity for all temperatures. On the one hand, both the measured thermal conductivity and the model predictions showed a temperature dependence of k proportional to T2 at low temperatures, typical of amorphous and strongly disordered materials. On the other hand, at high temperatures the thermal conductivity of mesoporous silicon films reached a maximum, indicating a crystalline-like behavior. These results will be useful in designing mesoporous silicon with desired thermal conductivity by tuning its morphology for various applications

Parental diet, pregnancy outcomes and offspring health:metabolic determinants in developing oocytes and embryos

The periconceptional period, embracing the terminal stages of oocyte growth and post-fertilisation development up to implantation, is sensitive to parental nutrition. Deficiencies or excesses in a range of macro- and micronutrients during this period can lead to impairments in fertility, fetal development and long-term offspring health. Obesity and genotype-related differences in regional adiposity are associated with impaired liver function and insulin resistance, and contribute to fatty acid-mediated impairments in sperm viability and oocyte and embryo quality, all of which are associated with endoplasmic reticulum stress and compromised fertility. Disturbances to maternal protein metabolism can elevate ammonium concentrations in reproductive tissues and disturb embryo and fetal development. Associated with this are disturbances to one-carbon metabolism, which can lead to epigenetic modifications to DNA and associated proteins in offspring that are both insulin resistant and hypertensive. Many enzymes involved in epigenetic gene regulation use metabolic cosubstrates (e.g. acetyl CoA and S-adenosyl methionine) to modify DNA and associated proteins, and so act as 'metabolic sensors' providing a link between parental nutritional status and gene regulation. Separate to their genomic contribution, spermatozoa can also influence embryo development via direct interactions with the egg and by seminal plasma components that act on oviductal and uterine tissues

Compositional Analysis of Metal Chelating Materials Using Near-Field Photothermal Fourier Transform Infrared Microspectroscopy

Photothermal-Fourier transform-infrared (PT-FT-IR) microspectroscopy employs a thermal probe mounted in a scanning probe microscope (SPM). By placement of the tip of the probe on the surface of a solid sample, it can obtain localized IR spectra of a wide range of samples. A second mode of analysis is also available; a sample can be taken from the selected location using a technique called thermally assisted nanosampling (TAN), then a spectrum can be obtained of the nanosample while the probe is remote from the surface. We report a novel method of local compositional analysis that combines both of these types of measurement; a reagent is attached to the tip using TAN, then the reagent is placed in contact with analyte. IR spectroscopy can then be used to analyze any interaction between the reagent and surface it is placed in contact with. All of these modes of analysis were illustrated using a metal chelating agent. In the surface mode, changes to a solid bead of a chelating resin were measured using standard PT-FT-IR. In the nanosampling mode of analysis, a particle of a chelating polymer was attached to the tip of the probe using TAN and this was placed in contact with a concentrated calcium solution. Strong spectral changes were observed that mirrored those found when exposing the surface bound chelating resin bead to a solution of the same ion. A semiquantitative simulation of the PT spectrum for a chelating resin bead was achieved using a thermal diffusion model derived from photoacoustic spectroscopy indicating that semiquantitative or quantitative measurements will be possible in such a system

Structural and morphological characterizations of pure and Ce-doped ZnO nanorods hydrothermally synthesized with different caustic bases

This investigation concerns the synthesis as well as structural and morphological characterizations of pure and Ce-doped ZnO nanorods. The samples were synthesized by simple low-temperature hydrothermal process using respectively NaOH and KOH as caustic bases. The as-synthesized nanorods were characterized in terms of their morphological, structural, compositional and vibrational properties. The sizes of the rods were found to be 1.5 μm to 2 μm in length and 250 nm to 300 nm in diameter. The presence of Ce ions in ZnO (NaOH) favored the agglomeration of the rods to form flower-like nanostructures. EDAX measurements showed Zn rich materials with high oxygen vacancy concentration. XRD results indicated that the synthesized ZnO nanorods possess a pure wurtzite structure with good crystallinity. It has also been found that Ce doping deteriorates the crystalline quality of ZnO (NaOH) and improves that of ZnO (KOH). The insignificant intensities observed in FT-IR signals confirm that the synthesized nanorods are of high purity. The Raman spectroscopy studies showed that Ce ions shift the vibrational modes towards lower frequencies. The peaks related to E2 (high) mode in ZnO (KOH) are relatively intense compared to those of ZnO (NaOH). The peaks are found to be shifted and asymmetrically broadened due to anharmonic effects originating from quantum-phonon-effect confinement

Imaging Joule heating in a conjugated-polymer light-emitting diode using a scanning thermal microscope.

We have used a scanning thermal microscope to image Joule heating in a conjugated-polymer light-emitting diode (LED). Our LEDs had an active diameter of 100 µm, which was defined using an insulating layer of silicon nitride patterned onto the LED anode. At an average power input of 0.2 mW into the LED, we find that the center of the cathode is some 0.2 K warmer than its periphery. The observed temperature distribution across the pixel is slightly asymmetric, an effect which may be correlated with spatial inhomogeneity in the local current density across the device. We present a finite element analysis thermal model which is able to accurately describe the observed temperature distribution across the LED cathode