41 research outputs found
Instabilities at vicinal crystal surfaces - competition between the electromigration of the adatoms and the kinetic memory effect
We studied the step dynamics during sublimation and growth in the presence of
electromigration force acting on the adatoms. In the limit of fast surface
diffusion and slow kinetics of atom attachment-detachment at the steps we
formulate a model free of the quasi-static approximation in the calculation of
the adatom concentration on the terraces. Numerical integration of the
equations for the time evolution of the adatom concentrations and the equations
of step motion reveals two different step bunching instabilities: 1) step
density waves (small bunches which do not manifest any coarsening) induced by
the kinetic memory effect and 2) step bunching with coarsening when the
dynamics is dominated by the electromigration. The model developed in this
paper also provides very instructive illustrations of the Popkov-Krug dynamical
phase transition during sublimation and growth of a vicinal crystal surface.Comment: 15 pages, 6 figure
Evaporation and growth of crystals - propagation of step density compression waves at vicinal surfaces
We studied the step dynamics during crystal sublimation and growth in the
limit of fast surface diffusion and slow kinetics of atom attachment-detachment
at the steps. For this limit we formulate a model free of the quasi-static
approximation in the calculation of the adatom concentration on the terraces at
the crystal surface. Such a model provides a relatively simple way to study the
linear stability of a step train in a presence of step-step repulsion and an
absence of destabilizing factors (as Schwoebel effect, surface electromigration
etc.). The central result is that a critical velocity of the steps in the train
exists which separates the stability and instability regimes. When the step
velocity exceeds its critical value the plot of these trajectories manifests
clear space and time periodicity (step density compression waves propagate on
the vicinal surface). This ordered motion of the steps is preceded by a
relatively short transition period of disordered step dynamics.Comment: 18 pages, 6 figure
The ANDROID Case Study; Venice and its territory: Existing mitigation options and challenges for the future
The Work Package 7 (Research Futures & Special Interest Groups) of the ANDROID project, within a specific working group, selected Venice and its territory as an emblematic case study of a region that could be affected by cross-border disastrous events. The paper provides a general overview on the topic, trying to organise the large amount of available scientific literature in some strategic cores, identifying undoubted milestones, open questions and future research needs, following a holistic approach to risk assessment. This case study is carried out not only as an engaging exercise, but with the purpose to provide a reference point for scientists and teachers interested to translate multifaceted knowledge into specific solutions. In fact, the paper is strongly linked as a whole to other three ones (presented at the 4th International Conference on Building resilience by WP7 group participants), which deepen respectively hazard, vulnerability/resilience, and mitigation about the site taken into consideration. Furthermore, the City of Venice takes part to the UNISDR Program “Making Cities Resilient”, and planned a robust intervention, consisting in the realisation of mobile dikes located at the openings of the lagoon (MOSE project, almost terminated), which has been strongly debated since the beginning, due to possible negative consequences on the environment. At last, the paper analyses drawbacks and benefits of the above said intervention, and suggests further proposals for the global safeguard of Venice and its lagoon
Tsunami hazard in the Black Sea and the Azov Sea: a new tsunami catalogue
Data on tsunamis occurring in the Black Sea and the Azov Sea from antiquity up to the present were updated, critically evaluated and compiled in the standard format developed since the 90's for the New European Tsunami Catalogue. Twenty nine events were examined but three of them, supposedly occurring in 557 AD, 815 AD and 1341 or 1343, were very likely falsely reported. Most of the remaining 26 events were generated in Crimea, offshore Bulgaria as well as offshore North Anatolia. For each of the 26 events examined, 22 events were classified as reliable ones receiving a score of 3 or 4 on a 4-grade reliability scale. Most of them were caused by earthquakes, such as the key event 544/545 of offshore Varna, but a few others were attributed either to aseismic earth slumps or to unknown causes. The tsunami intensity was estimated using the traditional 6-grade scale and the new 12-grade scale introduced by Papadopoulos and Imamura (2001). From 544/545 up to now, only two reliable events of high intensity <i>K</i> &ge; 7 have been reported, which very roughly indicates that the mean repeat time is &sim; 750 years. Five reliable tsunamis of moderate intensity 4 &le; <i>K</i> < 7 have been observed from 1650 up to the present, which implies a recurrence of 72 years on the average. Although these calculations were based on a very small statistical sample of tsunami events, the repeat times found are consistent with the theoretical expectations from size-frequency relations. However, in the Black Sea there is no evidence of tsunamis of very high intensity (<i>K</i> &sim; 10) such as the AD 365, 1303 and 1956 ones associated with large earthquakes occurring along the Hellenic arc and trench, Greece, or the 1908 one in Messina strait, Italy. This observation, along with the relatively low tsunami frequency, indicates that the tsunami hazard in the Black Sea is low to moderate but not negligible. The tsunami hazard in the Azov Sea is very low because of the very low seismicity but also because of the shallow water prevailing there. In fact, only three possible tsunami events have been reported in the Azov Sea
Non-conserved dynamics of steps on vicinal surfaces during electromigration-induced step bunching
We report new results on the non-conserved dynamics of parallel steps on
vicinal surfaces in the case of sublimation with electromigration and step-step
interactions. The derived equations are valid in the quasistatic approximation
and in the limit , where is the inverse
electromigration length, the diffusion length, the kinetic
lengths and the terrace widths. The coupling between crystal sublimation
and step-step interactions induces non-linear, non-conservative terms in the
equations of motion. Depending on the initial conditions, this leads to
interrupted coarsening, anticoarsening of step bunches or periodic switching
between step trains of different numbers of bunches.Comment: 11 pages, 4 figures; revised and extended versio
Adatom diffusion on vicinal surfaces with permeable steps
We study the behavior of single atoms on an infinite vicinal surface assuming
certain degree of step permeability. Assuming complete lack of re-evaporation
an ruling out nucleation the atoms will inevitably join kink sites at the steps
but can do many attempts before that. Increasing the probability of step
permeability or the kink spacing lead to increase of the number of steps
crossed before incorporation of the atoms into kink sites. The asymmetry of the
attachment-detachment kinetics (Ehrlich-Schwoebel effect) suppresses the step
permeability and completely eliminates it in the extreme case of infinite
Ehrlich-Schwoebel barrier. The average number of permeability events per atom
scales with the average kink spacing. A negligibly small drift of the adatoms
in a direction perpendicular to the steps leads to a significant asymmetry of
the distribution of the permeability events the atoms thus visiting more
distant steps in the direction of the drift.Comment: 12 pages, 6 figure
GPS results for Macedonia and its importance for the tectonics of the Southern Balkan extensional regime
Severe neurological outcomes after very early bilateral nephrectomies in patients with autosomal recessive polycystic kidney disease (ARPKD)
To test the association between bilateral nephrectomies in patients with autosomal recessive polycystic kidney disease (ARPKD) and long-term clinical outcome and to identify risk factors for severe outcomes, a dataset comprising 504 patients from the international registry study ARegPKD was analyzed for characteristics and complications of patients with very early (� 3 months; VEBNE) and early (4�15 months; EBNE) bilateral nephrectomies. Patients with very early dialysis (VED, onset � 3 months) without bilateral nephrectomies and patients with total kidney volumes (TKV) comparable to VEBNE infants served as additional control groups. We identified 19 children with VEBNE, 9 with EBNE, 12 with VED and 11 in the TKV control group. VEBNE patients suffered more frequently from severe neurological complications in comparison to all control patients. Very early bilateral nephrectomies and documentation of severe hypotensive episodes were independent risk factors for severe neurological complications. Bilateral nephrectomies within the first 3 months of life are associated with a risk of severe neurological complications later in life. Our data support a very cautious indication of very early bilateral nephrectomies in ARPKD, especially in patients with residual kidney function, and emphasize the importance of avoiding severe hypotensive episodes in this at-risk cohort. © 2020, The Author(s)
Spirals on Si(111) at sublimation and growth REM and LODREM observations
International audienc