Toward the understanding of the brittle to ductile transition at low size in silicon: Experiments and simulations

While bulk silicon is brittle at temperatures below 600-700K, the compression of nanopillars has shown that a decrease of the diameter below few hundreds of nanometers could change the silicon behavior from brittle to ductile [1,2]. This size effect cannot be explained by the initial defect density like in metals, because pristine silicon nano-objects do not contain residual defects. In these conditions the cracks and/or the dislocations nucleation should take origin at the surface. The identification of the parameters governing the brittle to ductile transition in size and the understanding of the mechanisms are the key points to further develop the MEMS and NEMS technology or to prevent the failure of microelectronic components based on the silicon strained technology. Nowadays the respective improvements in simulations and experiments allow to investigate the mechanical properties of objects of similar sizes, close to hundreds of nanometers. We have then used both approaches - experiments and simulations – to understand the mechanisms at the origin of cracks and dislocations nucleation in such nanopillars. Experimentally,nanopillars with diameters of 100 nm and heights of 300 nm are obtained by lithography. They are deformed in compression by a flat punch nano-indentor under controlled-displacement mode at room temperature, and analyzed by scanning electron microscopy and high resolution transmission electron microscopy. In simulation, nanopillars up to 44 nm in diameter and height are investigated under compression and tension in controlled-displacement too, with a temperature ranging from 1 to 600K. The atomic interactions in silicon are modeled by two different semi-empirical potentials, Stillinger Weber and a Modified Embedded-Atom-Method (MEAM), both fitted to better reproduce the ductile and brittle properties of bulk silicon. Under compressive load (Fig. 1), both approaches reveal a ductile behavior with similar stress-strain curves, and large shear bands of amorphous silicon along the slip plane. In addition the simulations enlighten the formation of stacking fault plane in the anti-twining shear stress direction at the onset of plasticity, not yet confirmed by experiments (work in progress). The simulations under tensile load (Fig. 2) show the nucleation of perfect dislocations from the surface that can lead to cavity opening when they interact [3]. We observe first that the height of the nanopillars must be higher than 20 nm to allow the cavity opening, and second that the brittle to ductile transition is controlled by the diameter of the nanopillars, as observed experimentally in compression. The deformation of pillars with large diameters operates by cavity expansion leading to the brittle fracture, while pillars with smaller diameters are deformed by dislocations gliding leading to ductile fracture. Finally, the simulations in temperature seem to corroborate the fact that the size of the brittle to ductile transition could increase with temperature, as presumed experimentally [2]

Prevalence, associated factors and outcomes of pressure injuries in adult intensive care unit patients: the DecubICUs study

Funder: European Society of Intensive Care Medicine; doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.13039/501100013347Funder: Flemish Society for Critical Care NursesAbstract: Purpose: Intensive care unit (ICU) patients are particularly susceptible to developing pressure injuries. Epidemiologic data is however unavailable. We aimed to provide an international picture of the extent of pressure injuries and factors associated with ICU-acquired pressure injuries in adult ICU patients. Methods: International 1-day point-prevalence study; follow-up for outcome assessment until hospital discharge (maximum 12 weeks). Factors associated with ICU-acquired pressure injury and hospital mortality were assessed by generalised linear mixed-effects regression analysis. Results: Data from 13,254 patients in 1117 ICUs (90 countries) revealed 6747 pressure injuries; 3997 (59.2%) were ICU-acquired. Overall prevalence was 26.6% (95% confidence interval [CI] 25.9–27.3). ICU-acquired prevalence was 16.2% (95% CI 15.6–16.8). Sacrum (37%) and heels (19.5%) were most affected. Factors independently associated with ICU-acquired pressure injuries were older age, male sex, being underweight, emergency surgery, higher Simplified Acute Physiology Score II, Braden score 3 days, comorbidities (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, immunodeficiency), organ support (renal replacement, mechanical ventilation on ICU admission), and being in a low or lower-middle income-economy. Gradually increasing associations with mortality were identified for increasing severity of pressure injury: stage I (odds ratio [OR] 1.5; 95% CI 1.2–1.8), stage II (OR 1.6; 95% CI 1.4–1.9), and stage III or worse (OR 2.8; 95% CI 2.3–3.3). Conclusion: Pressure injuries are common in adult ICU patients. ICU-acquired pressure injuries are associated with mainly intrinsic factors and mortality. Optimal care standards, increased awareness, appropriate resource allocation, and further research into optimal prevention are pivotal to tackle this important patient safety threat

Correction to: Prevalence, associated factors and outcomes of pressure injuries in adult intensive care unit patients: the DecubICUs study

The original version of this article unfortunately contained a mistake

Prevalence, associated factors and outcomes of pressure injuries in adult intensive care unit patients: the DecubICUs study

Funder: European Society of Intensive Care Medicine; doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.13039/501100013347Funder: Flemish Society for Critical Care NursesAbstract: Purpose: Intensive care unit (ICU) patients are particularly susceptible to developing pressure injuries. Epidemiologic data is however unavailable. We aimed to provide an international picture of the extent of pressure injuries and factors associated with ICU-acquired pressure injuries in adult ICU patients. Methods: International 1-day point-prevalence study; follow-up for outcome assessment until hospital discharge (maximum 12 weeks). Factors associated with ICU-acquired pressure injury and hospital mortality were assessed by generalised linear mixed-effects regression analysis. Results: Data from 13,254 patients in 1117 ICUs (90 countries) revealed 6747 pressure injuries; 3997 (59.2%) were ICU-acquired. Overall prevalence was 26.6% (95% confidence interval [CI] 25.9–27.3). ICU-acquired prevalence was 16.2% (95% CI 15.6–16.8). Sacrum (37%) and heels (19.5%) were most affected. Factors independently associated with ICU-acquired pressure injuries were older age, male sex, being underweight, emergency surgery, higher Simplified Acute Physiology Score II, Braden score 3 days, comorbidities (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, immunodeficiency), organ support (renal replacement, mechanical ventilation on ICU admission), and being in a low or lower-middle income-economy. Gradually increasing associations with mortality were identified for increasing severity of pressure injury: stage I (odds ratio [OR] 1.5; 95% CI 1.2–1.8), stage II (OR 1.6; 95% CI 1.4–1.9), and stage III or worse (OR 2.8; 95% CI 2.3–3.3). Conclusion: Pressure injuries are common in adult ICU patients. ICU-acquired pressure injuries are associated with mainly intrinsic factors and mortality. Optimal care standards, increased awareness, appropriate resource allocation, and further research into optimal prevention are pivotal to tackle this important patient safety threat

Size effect on the brittle to ductile transition in silicon nano-pillars : a numerical simulation study

Pour des intérêts technologiques, la compréhension des mécanismes de déformation des nano-structures est essentielle afin d'éviter que la relaxation des contraintes ne génère des défauts aux conséquences parfois catastrophiques. De plus, dans les nano-objets semi-conducteurs, les expériences montrent une transition fragile-ductile qui dépend de la taille des systèmes : ils sont ductiles pour des dimensions inférieures à quelques centaines de nanomètres, fragiles au-delà. Nous avons abordé ce problème via des calculs de dynamique moléculaire pour simuler des tests de déformation de nano-fils, et nous avons choisi le silicium comme prototype de matériau semi-conducteur. Nous avons dans un premier temps analysé des grandeurs mesurables comme les coefficients d'élasticité et la limite d'élasticité en fonction de différents paramètres, et montré notamment que la limite d'élasticité diminue quand la hauteur du nano-fil augmente. L'analyse à l'échelle atomique des systèmes déformés nous a permis de décomposer le comportement global des nano-fils en mécanismes élémentaires ; nous avons ainsi montré que la nucléation d'une première dislocation est à l'origine de l'ensemble des comportements, ductiles et fragiles. Après cette nucléation initiale, le comportement global du nano-fil est déterminé par la compétition entre la nucléation d'autres dislocations et l'ouverture de cavités. Finalement, nous avons essayé d'estimer quantitativement les degrés de ductilité et de fragilité des nano-fils en analysant l'énergie relaxée pendant le régime plastique par ces deux mécanismes élémentaires, et de rationaliser ainsi le rôle de la taille du système sur la transition fragile-ductile.For technological interest, the understanding of the deformation mechanisms at the nano-scale is essential in order to prevent stress relaxation mechanisms that could lead to defects formation and/or to catastrophic failure. Furthermore, recent experimental findings showed in semiconductor nano-objects, a size dependent brittle to ductile transition: they are ductile below a few hundreds of nanometers, brittle above that scale. To investigate this behavior, we have used molecular dynamics as a tool to simulate deformation tests of nanowires and we have used silicon as a prototypical semiconductor material. First we analyzed a number of measurable quantities such as the elasticity coefficients and the elasticity limit with respect to various parameters and we found that the elasticity limit decreases when the length of the nanowire increases. An analysis of the atomic structure of the deformed systems allowed us to decompose the overall mechanical behavior of the nanowires into elementary mechanisms; we thus showed that the nucleation of a first dislocation was systematically at the origin of ductility and brittleness. After the initial dislocation nucleation, the competition between further dislocation nucleation events and cavities opening, determine the overall mechanical behavior of the nanowire. Finally, we tried to estimate quantitatively the degree of ductility and brittleness of the nanowires by analyzing the amount of energy released by those two elementary mechanisms during the plastic regime and we rationalized the role of the size of the deformed systems on the brittle to ductile transition

Atomic scale mechanisms and brittle to ductile transition at low size in silicon

International audienceMolecular dynamics (MD) simulations of silicon nanowires (NW) tensile deformation were performed. They reveal a great variety of behaviors, which are rationalized thanks to a diagram highlighting the sequences of elementary mechanisms. In particular, MD simulations show that cavity formation inside the NW can occur through dislocations interactions. To quantify the brittle/ductile character of the NWs for each tested conditions, we define a ductility parameter which is extracted from the simulation output. Its variation suggests that the brittle to ductile transition (BDT) at low size is not sharp, conversely to the well-known BDT for bulk silicon

Prevalence, associated factors and outcomes of pressure injuries in adult intensive care unit patients: the DecubICUs study

Funder: European Society of Intensive Care Medicine; doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.13039/501100013347Funder: Flemish Society for Critical Care NursesAbstract: Purpose: Intensive care unit (ICU) patients are particularly susceptible to developing pressure injuries. Epidemiologic data is however unavailable. We aimed to provide an international picture of the extent of pressure injuries and factors associated with ICU-acquired pressure injuries in adult ICU patients. Methods: International 1-day point-prevalence study; follow-up for outcome assessment until hospital discharge (maximum 12 weeks). Factors associated with ICU-acquired pressure injury and hospital mortality were assessed by generalised linear mixed-effects regression analysis. Results: Data from 13,254 patients in 1117 ICUs (90 countries) revealed 6747 pressure injuries; 3997 (59.2%) were ICU-acquired. Overall prevalence was 26.6% (95% confidence interval [CI] 25.9–27.3). ICU-acquired prevalence was 16.2% (95% CI 15.6–16.8). Sacrum (37%) and heels (19.5%) were most affected. Factors independently associated with ICU-acquired pressure injuries were older age, male sex, being underweight, emergency surgery, higher Simplified Acute Physiology Score II, Braden score 3 days, comorbidities (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, immunodeficiency), organ support (renal replacement, mechanical ventilation on ICU admission), and being in a low or lower-middle income-economy. Gradually increasing associations with mortality were identified for increasing severity of pressure injury: stage I (odds ratio [OR] 1.5; 95% CI 1.2–1.8), stage II (OR 1.6; 95% CI 1.4–1.9), and stage III or worse (OR 2.8; 95% CI 2.3–3.3). Conclusion: Pressure injuries are common in adult ICU patients. ICU-acquired pressure injuries are associated with mainly intrinsic factors and mortality. Optimal care standards, increased awareness, appropriate resource allocation, and further research into optimal prevention are pivotal to tackle this important patient safety threat

Prevalence, associated factors and outcomes of pressure injuries in adult intensive care unit patients: the DecubICUs study

Funder: European Society of Intensive Care Medicine; doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.13039/501100013347Funder: Flemish Society for Critical Care NursesAbstract: Purpose: Intensive care unit (ICU) patients are particularly susceptible to developing pressure injuries. Epidemiologic data is however unavailable. We aimed to provide an international picture of the extent of pressure injuries and factors associated with ICU-acquired pressure injuries in adult ICU patients. Methods: International 1-day point-prevalence study; follow-up for outcome assessment until hospital discharge (maximum 12 weeks). Factors associated with ICU-acquired pressure injury and hospital mortality were assessed by generalised linear mixed-effects regression analysis. Results: Data from 13,254 patients in 1117 ICUs (90 countries) revealed 6747 pressure injuries; 3997 (59.2%) were ICU-acquired. Overall prevalence was 26.6% (95% confidence interval [CI] 25.9–27.3). ICU-acquired prevalence was 16.2% (95% CI 15.6–16.8). Sacrum (37%) and heels (19.5%) were most affected. Factors independently associated with ICU-acquired pressure injuries were older age, male sex, being underweight, emergency surgery, higher Simplified Acute Physiology Score II, Braden score 3 days, comorbidities (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, immunodeficiency), organ support (renal replacement, mechanical ventilation on ICU admission), and being in a low or lower-middle income-economy. Gradually increasing associations with mortality were identified for increasing severity of pressure injury: stage I (odds ratio [OR] 1.5; 95% CI 1.2–1.8), stage II (OR 1.6; 95% CI 1.4–1.9), and stage III or worse (OR 2.8; 95% CI 2.3–3.3). Conclusion: Pressure injuries are common in adult ICU patients. ICU-acquired pressure injuries are associated with mainly intrinsic factors and mortality. Optimal care standards, increased awareness, appropriate resource allocation, and further research into optimal prevention are pivotal to tackle this important patient safety threat

Correction to: Prevalence, associated factors and outcomes of pressure injuries in adult intensive care unit patients: the DecubICUs study (Intensive Care Medicine, (2021), 47, 2, (160-169), 10.1007/s00134-020-06234-9)

The original version of this article unfortunately contained a mistake. The members of the ESICM Trials Group Collaborators were not shown in the article but only in the ESM. The full list of collaborators is shown below. The original article has been corrected