Deemo: a new technology for the fabrication of microstructures

The recent innovations in dry etching make it a promising technology for the fabrications of micromoulds. The high aspect ratios, directional freedom, low roughness, high etch rates and high selectivity with respect to the mask material allow a versatile fabrication process of micromoulds for subsequent electroplating and embossing, as is demonstrated with the DEEMO process. DEEMO is an English acronym and stands for Dry Etching, Electroplating and Moulding

Image Delocalisation and High Resolution Transmission Electron Microscopic Imaging with a Field Emission Gun

The high spatial and temporal coherence of a field emission gun (FEG) increases the information limit of high-resolution transmission electron microscopes (HRTEM), but has also its implications on the localisation of the high resolution information in the image. In this paper, we present the results of a combined theoretical and experimental study of delocalisation in HRTEM. First, we derive a spatial frequency analysis of the delocalisation for crystal defects. Next, the delocalisation is studied from a real-space point of view, in terms of the impulse-response function, for which an instructive asymptotic mathematical analysis has been set up. Finally, we present experimental HRTEM images of crystal defects and of an amorphous Ge film, which are recorded with a Philips CM20 FEG electron microscope, and which illustrate the delocalisation phenomena

Precise Determination of |V{us}| from Lattice Calculations of Pseudoscalar Decay Constants

Combining the ratio of experimental kaon and pion decay widths, Gamma(K to mu antineutrino{mu} (gamma)) / Gamma(pi to mu \antineutrino (gamma)), with a recent lattice gauge theory calculation of f{K}/f{pi} provides a precise value for the CKM quark mixing matrix element |V{us}|=0.2236(30) or if 3 generation unitarity is assumed |V{us}|=0.2238(30). Comparison with other determinations of that fundamental parameter, implications, and an outlook for future improvements are given

Research on mechanisms of alloy strengthening. Part 1 - Strengthening through fine particle dispersion. Part 2 - Control of structure and properties by means of rapid quenching of liquid metals /splat cooling/ Semiannual report

Alloy strengthening mechanisms - strengthening by fine particle dispersion, and structure and properties control by rapid quenching or splat cooling of liquid metal

Adaptive mesh refinement approach to construction of initial data for black hole collisions

The initial data for black hole collisions is constructed using a conformal-imaging approach and a new adaptive mesh refinement technique, a fully threaded tree (FTT). We developed a second-order accurate approach to the solution of the constraint equations on a non-uniformly refined high resolution Cartesian mesh including second-order accurate treatment of boundary conditions at the black hole throats. Results of test computations show convergence of the solution as the numerical resolution is increased. FTT-based mesh refinement reduces the required memory and computer time by several orders of magnitude compared to a uniform grid. This opens up the possibility of using Cartesian meshes for very high resolution simulations of black hole collisions.Comment: 13 pages, 11 figure

Anomalous temperature evolution of the internal magnetic field distribution in the charge-ordered triangular antiferromagnet AgNiO2

Zero-field muon-spin relaxation measurements of the frustrated triangular quantum magnet AgNiO2 are consistent with a model of charge disproportionation that has been advanced to explain the structural and magnetic properties of this compound. Below an ordering temperature of T_N=19.9(2) K we observe six distinct muon precession frequencies, due to the magnetic order, which can be accounted for with a model describing the probable muon sites. The precession frequencies show an unusual temperature evolution which is suggestive of the separate evolution of two opposing magnetic sublattices.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figure

A Robust AFPTAS for Online Bin Packing with Polynomial Migration

In this paper we develop general LP and ILP techniques to find an approximate solution with improved objective value close to an existing solution. The task of improving an approximate solution is closely related to a classical theorem of Cook et al. in the sensitivity analysis for LPs and ILPs. This result is often applied in designing robust algorithms for online problems. We apply our new techniques to the online bin packing problem, where it is allowed to reassign a certain number of items, measured by the migration factor. The migration factor is defined by the total size of reassigned items divided by the size of the arriving item. We obtain a robust asymptotic fully polynomial time approximation scheme (AFPTAS) for the online bin packing problem with migration factor bounded by a polynomial in $\frac{1}{\epsilon}$. This answers an open question stated by Epstein and Levin in the affirmative. As a byproduct we prove an approximate variant of the sensitivity theorem by Cook at el. for linear programs

Interstellar Carbon in Translucent Sightlines

We report interstellar C II column densities or upper limits determined from weak absorption of the 2325.4029 A intersystem transition observed in six translucent sightlines with STIS. The sightlines sample a wide range of interstellar characteristics including total-to-selective extinction, R_{V} = 2.6 - 5.1; average hydrogen density along the sightline, = 3 - 14 cm^{-3}; and fraction of H in molecular form, 0 - 40%. Four of the sightlines, those toward HD 37021, HD 37061, HD 147888 and HD 207198, have interstellar gas-phase abundances that are consistent with the diffuse sightline ratio of 161 +/- 17 carbon atoms in the gas per million hydrogen nuclei. We note that while it has a gas-phase carbon abundance that is consistent with the other sightlines, a large fraction of the C II toward HD 37061 is in an excited state. The sightline toward HD 152590 has a measured interstellar gas-phase carbon abundance that is well above the diffuse sightline average; the column density of C in this sightline may be overestimated due to noise structure in the data. Toward HD 27778 we find a 3 sigma abundance upper limit of <108 C atoms in the gas per million H, a substantially enhanced depletion of C as compared to the diffuse sightline value. The interstellar characteristics toward HD 27778 are otherwise not extreme among the sample except for an unusually large abundance of CO molecules in the gas.Comment: Accepted for publication in the Astrophysical Journa

The Structure of the [Zn_In - V_P] Defect Complex in Zn Doped InP

We study the structure, the formation and binding energies and the transfer levels of the zinc-phosphorus vacancy complex [Zn_In - V_P] in Zn doped p-type InP, as a function of the charge, using plane wave ab initio DFT-LDA calculations in a 64 atom supercell. We find a binding energy of 0.39 eV for the complex, which is neutral in p-type material, the 0/-1 transfer level lying 0.50 eV above the valence band edge, all in agreement with recent positron annihilation experiments. This indicates that, whilst the formation of phosphorus vacancies (V_P) may be involved in carrier compensation in heavily Zn doped material, the formation of Zn-vacancy complexes is not. Regarding the structure: for charge states Q=+6 to -4 the Zn atom is in an sp^2 bonded DX position and electrons added/removed go to/come from the remaining dangling bonds on the triangle of In atoms. This reduces the effective vacancy volume monatonically as electrons are added to the complex, also in agreement with experiment. The reduction occurs through a combination of increased In-In bonding and increased Zn-In electrostatic attraction. In addition, for certain charge states we find complex Jahn-Teller behaviour in which up to three different structures, (with the In triangle dimerised, antidimerised or symmetric) are stable and are close to degenerate. We are able to predict and successfully explain the structural behaviour of this complex using a simple tight binding model.Comment: 10 pages text (postscript) plus 8 figures (jpeg). Submitted to Phys. Rev.

Helicoidal magnetic order in a clean copper oxide spin chain compound

We report susceptibility, specific heat, and neutron diffraction measurements on NaCu$_2$O$_2$, a spin-1/2 chain compound isostructural to LiCu$_2$O$_2$, which has been extensively investigated. Below 13 K, we find a long-range ordered, incommensurate magnetic helix state with a propagation vector similar to that of LiCu$_2$O$_2$. In contrast to the Li analogue, substitutional disorder is negligible in NaCu$_2$O$_2$. We can thus rule out that the helix is induced by impurities, as was claimed on the basis of prior work on LiCu$_2$O$_2$. A spin Hamiltonian with frustrated longer-range exchange interactions provides a good description of both the ordered state and the paramagnetic susceptibility.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figures Improved Fig.1 and 4. Minor rephrasing. Reference adde