GLOW DISCHARGE POLYMERIZATION.

In this review-paper the author summarizes some important aspects of ″polymer formation″ in the glow discharge polymerization or plasma polymerization, rather than presenting a bibliographical review of work. It is shown that glow discharge polymerization can be visualized as a process consisting of three discharge processes. These are (1) controlled discharge of monomer, (2) electric discharge (glow discharge), and (3) glow discharge polymerization of the monomer. Before the electric discharge is initiated, a steady-state flow of the monomer is generally established. During this controlled discharge of the monomer (without electric discharge), adsorption of the monomer onto the solid surfaces in a reactor and degassing of a substrate, etc., take place. The discussion is presented under headings - scope of polymer syntheses; processing factors of glow discharge polymerization; mechanism of polymer formation. Refs

Loose mechanochemical coupling of molecular motors

In living cells, molecular motors convert chemical energy into mechanical work. Its thermodynamic energy efficiency, i.e. the ratio of output mechanical work to input chemical energy, is usually high. However, using two-state models, we found the motion of molecular motors is loosely coupled to the chemical cycle. Only part of the input energy can be converted into mechanical work. Others is dissipated into environment during substeps without contributions to the macro scale unidirectional movement

Spontaneous alloying in binary metal microclusters - A molecular dynamics study -

Microcanonical molecular dynamics study of the spontaneous alloying(SA), which is a manifestation of fast atomic diffusion in a nano-sized metal cluster, is done in terms of a simple two dimensional binary Morse model. Important features observed by Yasuda and Mori are well reproduced in our simulation. The temperature dependence and size dependence of the SA phenomena are extensively explored by examining long time dynamics. The dominant role of negative heat of solution in completing the SA is also discussed. We point out that a presence of melting surface induces the diffusion of core atoms even if they are solid-like. In other words, the {\it surface melting} at substantially low temperature plays a key role in attaining the SA.Comment: 15 pages, 12 fgures, Submitted to Phys.Rev.

A Study Of Surface Dynamics Of Polymers. II. Investigation By Plasma Surface Implantation Of Fluorine–containing Moieties

Macromolecules at the surface of a polymeric solid have considerable mobility, and the specific arrangement of functional groups of macromolecules at the surface is dictated by the environmental conditions in which the surface is placed. Consequently, the change of environmental conditions, such as immersion in water or placement in a biological surrounding, could cause a considerable degree of change in the surface characteristics of a polymer from those evaluated in the laboratory against ambient air. The mobile nature of a polymer surface can be investigated by surface‐implanting fluorine‐containing moieties, mainly—CF3, by the plasma implantation technique and following the disappearance and reappearance of fluorine atoms on the surface. The disappearance rates (based on the immersion time in water at room temperature) of ESCA F1s signals, the decay rates of (advancing) contact angle of water, and the recovery of these values on heat treatment of water‐immersed samples were measured as a function of crystallinity of polymer samples (at three levels of crystallinity) for poly (ethylene terephthalate) and nylon 6. Copyright © 1988 John Wiley & Sons, Inc

In situ imaging of microstructure formation in electronic interconnections

The development of microstructure during melting, reactive wetting and solidification of solder pastes on Cu-plated printed circuit boards has been studied by synchrotron radiography. Using Sn-3.0Ag-0.5Cu/Cu and Sn-0.7Cu/Cu as examples, we show that the interfacial Cu6Sn5 layer is present within 0.05 s of wetting, and explore the kinetics of flux void formation at the interface between the liquid and the Cu6Sn5 layer. Quantification of the nucleation locations and anisotropic growth kinetics of primary Cu6Sn5 crystals reveals a competition between the nucleation of Cu6Sn5 in the liquid versus growth of Cu6Sn5 from the existing Cu6Sn5 layer. Direct imaging confirms that the β-Sn nucleates at/near the Cu6Sn5 layer in Sn-3.0Ag-0.5Cu/Cu joints

Electrodynamic trapping of spinless neutral atoms with an atom chip

Three dimensional electrodynamic trapping of neutral atoms has been demonstrated. By applying time-varying inhomogeneous electric fields with micron-sized electrodes, nearly $10^2$ strontium atoms in the $^1S_0$ state have been trapped with a lifetime of 80 ms. In order to design the electrodes, we numerically analyzed the electric field and simulated atomic trajectories in the trap, which showed reasonable agreement with the experiment.Comment: 4pages, 4figures, to appear in Phys. Rev. Let

Global NLO Analysis of Nuclear Parton Distribution Functions

Nuclear parton distribution functions (NPDFs) are determined by a global analysis of experimental measurements on structure-function ratios F_2^A/F_2^{A'} and Drell-Yan cross section ratios \sigma_{DY}^A/\sigma_{DY}^{A'}, and their uncertainties are estimated by the Hessian method. The NPDFs are obtained in both leading order (LO) and next-to-leading order (NLO) of \alpha_s. As a result, valence-quark distributions are relatively well determined, whereas antiquark distributions at x>0.2 and gluon distributions in the whole x region have large uncertainties. The NLO uncertainties are slightly smaller than the LO ones; however, such a NLO improvement is not as significant as the nucleonic case.Comment: 3 pages, LaTeX, 4 eps files, to be published in the AIP proceedings of the 9th International Workshop on Neutrino Factories, Superbeams and Betabeams (NuFact07), Okayama, Japan, August 6 - 11, 2007. A code for calculating our nuclear parton distribution functions and their uncertainties can be obtained from http://research.kek.jp/people/kumanos/nuclp.htm