Growth and crystallization of molybdenum layers on amorphous silicon

The structure of molybdenum layers deposited by direct current magnetron sputtering onto the amorphous silicon (a-Si) layers as function of nominal layer thickness was studied by methods of transmission electron microscopy. Molybdenum layers with nominal thickness 1.5btMo nomb1.9 nm consist of clusters which should be considered as a transient state between strongly disordered (amorphous) state and crystal one. A transition from clusters to polycrystals takes place within the thickness range of 1.9btMo nomb2.5 nm. Resulting Mo crystallites have an inequiaxial form with dimensions of (3–4)×(15–30)nm2 and consist of blocks. The lateral axis of inequiaxial crystallites is parallel to 110 direction. As the metal layer thickness increases Mocrystallites take the more regular form at the expense of recrystallization

Reactive diffusion in Sc/Si multilayer X-ray mirrors with CrB2 barrier layers

Processes undergoing in Sc/Si multilayer X-ray mirrors (MXMs) with periods of ∼27 nm and barrier layers of CrB20.3- and 0.7-nm thick within the temperature range of 420–780 K were studied by methods of small-angle Xray reflectivity (λ = 0.154 nm) and cross-sectional transmission electron microscopy. All layers with the exception of Sc ones are amorphous. Barrier layers are stable at least up to a temperature of 625 K and double the activation energy of diffusional intermixing at moderate temperatures. Introduction of barriers improves the thermal stability of Sc/Si MXMs at least by 80 degrees. Diffusion of Si atoms through barrier layers into Sc layers with formation of silicides was shown to be the main degradation mechanism of MXMs. A comparison of the stability for Sc/Si MXMs with different barriers published in the literature is conducted. The ways of further improvement of barrier properties are discusse

Theory of transverse spin dynamics in a polarized Fermi liquid and an itinerant ferromagnet

The linear equations for transverse spin dynamics in a weakly polarized degenerate Fermi liquid with arbitrary relationship between temperature and polarization are derived from Landau-Silin phenomenological kinetic equation with general form of two-particle collision integral. Unlike the previous treatment where Fermi velocity and density of states have been taken as constants independent of polarization here we made derivation free from this assumption. The obtained equations are applicable for description of spin dynamics in paramagnetic Fermi liquid with finite polarization as well in an itinerant ferromagnet. In both cases transverse spin wave frequency is found to be proportional to the square of the wave vector with complex constant of proportionality (diffusion coefficient) such that the damping has a finite value at T=0. The polarization dependence of the diffusion coefficient is found to be different for a polarized Fermi liquid and for an itinerant ferromagnet. These conclusions are confirmed by derivation of transverse spin wave dispersion law in frame of field theoretical methods from the integral equation for the vortex function. It is shown that similar derivation taking into consideration the divergency of static transverse susceptibility also leads to the same attenuating spin wave spectrum.Comment: 7 pages, no figure

Skin effect with arbitrary specularity in Maxwellian plasma

The problem of skin effect with arbitrary specularity in maxwellian plasma with specular--diffuse boundary conditions is solved. A new analytical method is developed that makes it possible to to obtain a solution up to an arbitrary degree of accuracy. The method is based on the idea of symmetric continuation not only the electric field, but also electron distribution function. The solution is obtained in a form of von Neumann series.Comment: 7 pages, 2 figure

Interaction of the Electromagnetic p-Waves with Thin Metal Films

For the first time it is shown that for thin metallic films thickness of which not exceed thickness of skin-layer, the problem allows analytical solution for arbitrary boundary value problems. The analysis of dependence of coefficients of transmission, reflection and absorbtion on angle incidence, thickness of films and coefficient of specular reflection is carried out.Comment: 15 pages, 9 figure

Method of individual forecasting of sow reproductive performance on the basis of a non-linear canonical model of a random sequence

Improvement of sow reproductive performance is a key factor determining the efficiency of the pig production cycle and profitability of pork production. This article presents the solution of an important scientific and practical problem of individual forecasting of sow reproduction . The population used for the present study is from a pig farm managed by the Limited Liability Company (LLC) ‘Tavriys’kisvyni’ located in Skadovsky district (Kherson region, Ukraine). The experimental materials used for this study consisted of 100 inds. of productive parent sows of the Large White breed.The litter size traits – the total number of piglets born (TNB), number of piglets born alive (NBA) and number of weaned piglets (NW) – were monitored in the first eight parities over an eleven year period (2007–2017). The method of the forecasting of sow litter size is developed based on the non-linear canonical model of the random sequence of a litter size change. The proposed method allows us to take maximum account of stochastic peculiarities of sow reproductive performance and does not impose any restrictions on the random sequence of a litter size change (linearity, stationarity, Markov property, monotony, etc.). The block diagram of the algorithm presented in this work reflects the peculiarities of calculation of the parameters of a predictive model. The expression for the calculation of an extrapolation error allows us to estimate the necessary volume of a priori and a posteriori information for achieving the required quality of solving the forecasting problem. The results of the numerical experiment confirmed the high accuracy of the proposed method of forecasting of sow reproduction. The method offered by us almost doubles the accuracy of forecasting of sow litter size compared to the use of the Wiener and Kalman methods. Thus, average forecast error decreases across the range of features TNB (1.71), NBA (1.68) and NW (1.25 piglets). Apparently, this may reflect a higher level of manifestation of the genetically determined level of individual sow fertility at the moment of piglet weaning. The higher adequacy of the developed mathematical model with regard to NW can be also due to the fact that the relations between sow litter size in different farrowings primarily have a non-linear character, which is taken into maximum account in our offered model. Given non-linearity, on the other hand, turns out to be a significant factor determining a lower estimation of the repeatability value for NW compared to the estimations for TNB and NBA. The use of the developed method will help to improve the efficiency of pig farming

The influence of working gas pressure on interlayer mixing in magnetron-deposited Mo/Si multilayers

Impact of Ar gas pressure (1−4 mTorr) on the growth of amorphous interlayers in Mo/Si multilayers deposited by magnetron sputtering was investigated by small-angle x-ray scattering (l=0.154 nm) and methods of cross-sectional transmission electron microscopy. Some reduction of thickness of the amorphous inter-layers with Ar pressure increase was found, while composition of the layers was enriched with molybdenum. The interface modification resulted in raise of EUV reflectance of the Mo/Si multilayer

Comparison of oxidizing agents for the oxidative coupling of methane over state-of-the-art catalysts

The synthesis of selected state-of-the-art catalysts providing high performances in the oxidative coupling of methane (OCM) with O2 was reproduced according to the respective recipes reported in literature. A reference material with identical stoichiometric composition was further synthesized by applying the cellulose templating method. This method increases the surface area and affects the phase composition and crystallite size of the catalysts as determined by N2-physisoprtion, X-ray diffraction and scanning electron microscopy. This, however, is in most cases detrimental to the catalytic OCM performance due to enhanced global activity resulting in hot spots in the catalyst bed. Catalysts were tested in the OCM under variation of temperature (973–1073 K), GHSV (3600–100,000 h−1) and oxidizing agent (O2 and N2O). In general, conversions of CH4 when using N2O are lower than in the presence of O2, however, the selectivities to C2 products ethane and ethylene are higher even at a similar level of CH4 conversion. This confirms the presence of different oxygen species formed by activation of these oxidizing agents