Evidence for Glass–glass Interfaces in a Columnar Cu–Zr Nanoglass

Comprehensive analyses of the atomic structure using advanced analytical transmission electron microscopy-based methods combined with atom probe tomography confirm the presence of distinct glass–glass interfaces in a columnar Cu-Zr nanoglass synthesized by magnetron sputtering. These analyses provide first-time in-depth characterization of sputtered film nanoglasses and indicate that glass–glass interfaces indeed present an amorphous phase with reduced mass density as compared to the neighboring amorphous regions. Moreover, dedicated analyses of the diffusion kinetics by time-of-flight secondary ion mass spectroscopy (ToF SIMS) prove significantly enhanced diffusivity, suggesting fast transport along the low density glass–glass interfaces. The present results further indicate that sputter deposition is a feasible technique for reliable production of nanoglasses and that some of the concepts proposed for this new class of glassy materials are applicable

Hyper-Enabled Operator: Situational Awareness as Armor

The Hyper-Enabled Operator (HEO) project seeks to increase the survivability of special forces operators through increased situational awareness (SA) capabilities. The precursor to HEO was the Tactical Assault Light Operator Suit (TALOS) which sought to protect operators during room clearing operations by increasing their armor coverage. This study used combat modeling to compare the benefits of HEO to TALOS. This project developed four base models, each based on a relevant mission set. Each base model was compared against two variant models. The first variant provided the operators with enhanced SA. The second variant increased operator armor coverage without a performance degradation from increased weight. For some scenarios the incorporation of SA increased survivability more than a large increase in armor. Further, the study found that enhancing SA increases survivability by 8.3% on average for the four mission sets; this increase is similar to increasing armor coverage by a factor of four