One of the most common forms of cohesive failure observed in brittle thin film subjected to a tensile residual stress is channel cracking, a fracture mode in which through-film cracks propagate in the film. The crack growth rate depends on intrinsic film properties, residual stress, the presence of reactive species in the environments, and the precise film stack. In this paper, we investigate the effect of various buffer layers sandwiched between a brittle carbon-doped-silicate (CDS) film and a silicon substrate on channel cracking of the CDS film. The results show that channel cracking is enhanced if the buffer layer is more compliant than the silicon substrate. Crack velocity increases with increasing buffer layer thickness and decreasing buffer layer stiffness. This is caused by a reduction of the constraint imposed by the substrate on the film and a commensurate increase in energy release rate. The degree of constraint is characterized experimentally as a function of buffer layer thickness and stiffness, and compared to the results of a simple shear lag model that was proposed previously. The results show that the shear lag model does not accurately predict the effect of the buffer layer.

The compressive properties and the Vickers hardness of Cu-, Fe-, Mg-, and Zr-based monolithic bulk metallic glasses (BMGs) as well as Ti-based nanostructure-dendrite composites were investigated and compared. The monolithic BMGs exhibit nearly the same yield strength σ y and fracture strength σf but poor plasticity. The Vickers hardness HV of the monolithic BMGs follows the empirical relationship HV/3 ≈σy ≈σf. The Ti-based composites yield at a relatively low stress level (less than 850 MPa) but fail at a very high fracture stress (∼ 2 GPa) and exhibit a large strain hardening ability. Accordingly, the Vickers hardness HV of the Ti-based nanostructure-dendrite composites obeys the relationship σy <HV/3 <σf. Based on these results, the relationship between the Vickers hardness and the compressive properties of the investigated materials will be discussed by taking the yield and fracture strength (σ y and σf), the strain hardening exponent n, and the elastic and plastic energy stored upon deformation (δΕ and δP) into account.

Microstructures in the thin film of La0.8Sr0.2MnO3 grown on (100) SrTiO3 by laser molecular beam epitaxy were characterized by transmission electron microscopy. Highly dense and dimensionally uniform nano-agglomerates were found embedded in thin film of La0.8Sr0.2MnO3. High-angle angular dark-field imaging, elemental mapping, and compositional analysis revealed that the nano-agglomerates are rich in manganese and poor in lanthanum. The ratio of Mn/La in the nano-agglomerates fluctuates. A salient feature of this compositional fluctuation within the nanoscale isthe formation of cubic MnO phase, which appears as the core of the nano-agglomerates.The La0.8Sr0.2MnO3 film is domain-oriented and two domains were identified on the basis of orthorhombic lattice. The orientation relationships between La0.8Sr0.2MnO3 domains and MnO were determined as [010]LSMO,1//[001]MnO and (100)LSMO,1//(110)MnO; [101]LSMO,2//[001]MnO and (010)LSMO,2//(100)MnO. The domain structuresand compositional inhomogeneities within nanoscale result in a textured microstructure, which is one of the most important parameters for tuning electronic properties in colossal magnetoresistance oxides.

High-mobility molybdenum-doped In2O3 films (IMO) were prepared on the normal glass substrate by reactive direct current magnetron sputtering from the molybdenum-embedded indium metal target. The effects of oxygen partial pressure, substrate temperature, and sputtering current on the optoelectrical properties of IMO films were investigated. The films with the highest carrier mobility of 50 cm2 V−1 s−1, as well as the average visible transmission greater than 80% including the 1.2-mm-thick glass substrate, were obtained. The minimum resistivity of the films is 3.7 × 10−4 ohm cm. The properties of the IMO films are sensitive to the oxygen partial pressure in the sputtering environment. X-ray diffraction measurements indicate that the films show In2O3 crystal structure.

Measuring the toughness of brittle coatings has always been a difficult task. Coatings are often too thin to easily prepare a freestanding sample of a defined geometry to use standard toughness measuring techniques. Using standard indentation techniques gives results influenced by the effect of the substrate. A new technique for measuring the toughness of coatings is described here. A precracked micro-beam was produced using focused ion beam (FIB) machining, then imaged and loaded to fracture using a nanoindenter.

The initial oxidation stages of Cu(100), (110), and (111) surfaces have been investigated by using in situ ultra-high-vacuum transmission electron microscopy (TEM) techniques to visualize the nucleation and growth of oxide islands. The kinetic data on the nucleation and growth of oxide islands shows a highly enhanced initial oxidation rate on the Cu(110) surface as compared with Cu(100), and it is found that the dominant mechanism for the nucleation and growth is oxygen surface diffusion in the oxidation of Cu(100) and (110). The oxidation of Cu(111) shows a dramatically different behavior from that of the other two orientations, and the in situ TEM observation reveals that the initial stages of Cu(111) oxidation are dominated by the nucleation of oxide islands at temperatures lower than 550 °C, and are dominated by two-dimensional oxide growth at temperatures higher than 550 °C. This dependence of the oxidation behavior on the crystal orientation and temperature is attributed to the structures of the oxygen-chemisorbed layer, oxygen surface diffusion, surface energy, and the interfacial strain energy.

In the effort toward achieving lightweight, wear-resistant, composite materials, considerable effort, in recent times, has been put forward to develop Mg–SiC composites. The detailed wear mechanism of these newly developed composites is still unclear, and most of the work on metal matrix composites (MMC) to date has concentrated on evaluating the wear behavior of Al-based MMCs. In the present work, the influences of fretting test duration on the evolution of frictional behavior as well as wear properties were studied. The experimental results revealed that fluctuations in friction curve are significantly suppressed with highest reinforcement content (26.3 wt%) in composites while considerable fluctuations continue to exist even after achieving steady state condition in base Mg. In all the fretting contacts, tribochemical reactions were observed to be dominant wear mechanisms. In the early stage of fretting, oxidative wear dominates due to formation of MgO. As the fretting continues, MgO undergoes tribochemical reaction and forms soft, viscous hydrated magnesia. For base Mg, surface fatigue cracks were observed after a threshold number of cycles. In composites, the soft, viscous triboproducts (hydrated MgO and dense hydrous magnesium silicate) smear on the worn surfaces and decrease the friction coefficient.

The 0.5 at.% Nd-doped gadolinium and yttrium orthovanadate, Nd:GdVO4 (NGV) and Nd:YVO4 (NYV), crystallize in the tetragonal space group I41/amd and are of a zircon-type structure with the lattice constants a = b = 0.7212(6) and c = 0.6348(3) nm for NGV and a = b = 0.7123(5) and c = 0.6292(5) nm for NYV. At high and room temperatures, the Raman spectra of NYV are much the same; however, the Raman spectra of NGV are different from those of NYV. The scattering intensity of NGV is largely stronger than that of NYV. Nonharmonic effect of the lattice thermal vibrations, including the thermal conductivity and expansion, is theoretically and experimentally discussed. The theoretical results roughly indicate that a crystal with the larger integrated intensities of the Raman-scattering peaks under the cutoff value of linear dependence of Debye frequency versus the temperature has the larger thermal conductivity. The experimental data of the thermal conductivity of the five samples show that the thermal conductivity of NGV is more outstanding than that of NYV in every direction. Compared the integrated intensity ratio IG/IY between the NGV and NYV Raman-scattering peaks under the cutoff wavenumber of Debye frequency with the ratio κG/κY of their crystal thermal conductivity, it may be seen that the Raman results are basically in agreement with the conductivity measurements within our experimental error. The experimental datum of the thermal conductivity of NYAG (Nd-doped yttrium aluminum garnet) with the cubic symmetry and stable laser properties and thermodynamics parameters, which is often considered as a comparable standard, approximately approaches to the average value of the NGV thermal conductivity in the a and c directions. The thermal-expansion data of NGV exhibit its small line-expansion coefficients, which imply that the large thermal conductivity is needed and existential and that NGV is more capable to bear a large temperature gradient, therefore, is also more suitable as a solid-state laser material than NYV crystals.

The degree of undercooling of Sn in near eutectic, SnAgCu solder balls upon cooling at a rate of 1 °C/s from the melt was examined and found to increase linearly with inverse nominal sample diameter (for balls of radius between 100 and 1000 μm). The mean undercooling for SnAgCu solder balls in a flip chip assembly was 62 °C. The microstructures of these different samples were examined by means of scanning electron microscopy. The Sn dendrite arm width was observed to monotonically increase with ball diameter, indicating a possible dependence of the mechanical response of such solder balls upon size.

Hydrogen isotherms on a variety of single-walled carbon nanotube (SWNT) samples were measured using a differential pressure adsorption apparatus, which provides highly accurate data. A number of these SWNT samples were modified by a non-destructive cutting process, which reduced the aspect ratio of the nanotube bundles by two orders of magnitude. There were no apparent differences in the microporosity of SWNT as a function of aspect ratio. The adsorption of helium on SWNT is shown to be non-negligible and results in artificially low hydrogen capacities using conventional adsorption methodology. With no accounting for helium adsorption, the hydrogen adsorption results show that cut and uncut SWNT have similar hydrogen capacities of <1 wt% at 25 °C and pressures up to 110 bar. However, an analysis of hydrogen capacity versus N2 Brunauer–Emmett–Teller surface area suggests that there is an enhanced heat of adsorption of hydrogen for SWNT versus activated carbon.

The layered compounds MnPS3 and CdPS3 were exfoliated to form single molecular layers of Mn0.8PS3 and Cd0.8PS3 in suspension in water by ion exchange. The x-ray diffraction patterns of the two single-layer suspensions showed profound differences in some of the Bragg peaks, and we demonstrated that the differences are not due to the quality or size of the single layers, but are caused by structure factor modulations of the Warren tail for two-dimensional systems. We also demonstrated that the Cd or Mn vacancies generated in the exfoliation process are not ordered at long range, in contrast to an earlier report of vacancy ordering on intercalated MnPS3.

We review experimental results—over the past 10–15 years and more recent theoretical modeling and computer simulations—on the effects of surface subnanoscale texture on adhesion and friction and the implications for certain mechanical properties of materials such as Mode I and Mode II failure. Examples and comparisons include surfaces that are adhesive or nonadhesive, rough or smooth, hard or soft (e.g., viscoelastic polymers), dry (unlubricated) or lubricated. One important conclusion is that the ultrafine picoscale details of a surface lattice or its roughness (“texture”) can be the most important factor in determining its friction and Mode II fracture, whereas such effects are less important for determining adhesion forces and Mode I fracture processes. Such studies are also clarifying the molecular and atomic basis of many well-established adhesion and tribological laws and empirical observations and are revealing new fundamental insights and relationships between nanoscale (molecular) and macroscale processes.

Results of simple computer simulations and model calculations for ion conducting rotor phases are compared to quasi-elastic neutron scattering data from solid solutions of sodium orthophosphate and sodium sulphate, xNa2SO4⋅(1 − x)Na3PO4. These materials are not only sodium fast-ion conductors in their high-temperature cubic phases but also show considerable dynamic reorientation disorder of their tetrahedral anions. At an elastic energy resolution of about 100 μeV, neutron spectrometry monitored oxygen scattering due to anion reorientation which occurs on the picosecond time scale. This thermally activated process exhibits activation energies between 0.184 eV (x = 0.0) and 0.052 eV (x = 0.5). Analysis of the quasielastic intensities as a function of scattering vector Q gives clear evidence of the involvement of cations in the anion reorientation. Increasing the elastic resolution to about 1 μeV full width at half-measure (FWHM) (thereby shifting the dynamic window to the nanosecond scale) allowed examination of sodium diffusion in xNa2SO4⋅(1 − x)Na3PO4. This process consists predominantly of thermally activated jumps between tetrahedrally coordinated sites, the activation energies ranging from 0.64 eV for x = 0.0 to 0.30 eV for x = 0.5.

The world of nanomaterials has become the real world for most applications in the area of nanotechnology. As postsynthesis handling of materials at the nanoscale level is impractical, nanomaterials must be synthesized directly as part of a device or circuit. The demands of nanotechnology have led to modifications in the design of transmission electron microscopes (TEMs) that enable in situ synthesis and characterization simultaneously. The environmental TEM (ETEM) is one such modified instrument that has often been used to follow gas–solid and/or liquid–solid interactions at elevated temperatures. Although the history and development of the ETEM, also called the controlled atmosphere or environmental cell TEM, is as old as transmission electron microscopy itself, developments in the design of medium-voltage TEMs have succeeded in bringing resolutions down to the subnanometer level. A modern ETEM equipped with a field-emission gun, energy filter or electron energy-loss spectrometer, scanning transmission electron microscopy coils, and bright-field and dark-field detectors can be a versatile tool for understanding chemical processes at the nanometer level. This article reviews the design and operations of a dedicated ETEM. Its applications range from the in situ characterization of reaction steps, such as oxidation-reduction and hydroxylation, to the in situ synthesis of nanomaterials, such as quantum dots and carbon nanotubes. Some examples of the current and the future applications for the synthesis and characterization of nanomaterials are also discussed.

The dependence of the novel properties observed in colossal magnetoresistance (CMR) materials, other than average ionic radii 〈rA〉 and Mn valence ratio (Mn3+/Mn4+), was investigated through examination of the transport and magnetic properties of Pr0.65(Ca0.7Sr0.3)0.35MnO3, La0.123Pr0.527(Ca0.8Sr0.2)0.35MnO3, and Pr0.65(Ca0.866Ba0.134)0.35MnO3. The average ionic radii 〈rA〉 and valence ratio of all three samples have been kept equal. The results of this investigation indicate a more intense role of the nature of individual A-site cation and the lattice mismatch. A remarkably large magnetoresistance of the order of 108 at moderate magnetic field has been observed for Ba-doped sample.

Eu3+-doped Lu2O3 phosphors were synthesized through a novel solution combustion route using glycine as the fuel. The influence of the glycine-to-nitrate (G/N) mole ratio on the crystallite size, specific surface area, morphology, and photoluminescence of the synthesized phosphors was investigated. The ignition temperature on the properties of the products was also studied. With G/N ratio increasing from 1.0 to 1.7, the grain size increased from 35 to 118 nm accordingly, resulting in the obvious changes of the photoluminescence properties. Concentration dependence of the emission intensity revealed that the quenching concentration of europium dopant was around 5 mol% for G/N- 1.7. The intensity of the peak emission due to the 5D0 → 7F2 transition of the Eu3+ ions dropped as the grain size decreased. The charge transfer band position of Eu3+-doped lutetia phosphors shifted toward lower energy (red shift) with the reduction of crystallite sizes and also with the increase of Eu3+ concentrations.

The primary transformation reaction of the Zr65Al7.5Cu27.5 ternary glassy alloy with a low oxygen impurity of approximately 100 mass ppm was investigated. We have discovered the precipitation of the metastable icosahedral phase with a fine grain size of 50–100 nm in diameter accompanying with the formation of stable Zr2Cu phase at the annealing temperatures ranging from 715 to 730 K. The lattice spacing of Zr2Cu phase decreases at higher temperatures, which is attributed to the rearrangement of Zr and Cu in the decomposition of the icosahedral phase. It is suggested that the formation of the icosahedral phase in the primary stage originates from the existence of the quenched-in icosahedral local atomic configuration in the glassy state.

The microwave dielectric properties of ceramics based on Ba[(Mg1/3Ta2/3)1−xTix]O3 (BMT-BT) and Ba[(Mg1−xZnx)1/3Ta2/3]O3 (BMT-BZT) were investigated as a function of composition x. In BMT-BT solid solution, the dielectric properties deteriorated with increasing concentration of Ti substitution at the B-site of BMT. A correlation was established between the quality factors of the solid solution phases and their tolerance factor. In BMT-BZT solid solution, where both the end compounds are ordered perovskites, the unit cell expands with increasing mole fraction of the Zn in Mg site of BMT while the dielectric constant increases monotonously from 24.8 (for BMT) to 29.7 (BZT). In BMT-BZT solid solution, the quality factor reaches a maximum (Qu·f = 109,900 GHz) for 60 mol/ of BZT.

A dark red colored composite of C60 and (zinc, bismuth) borate glass was synthesized by solid-state reaction between C60 and frits of the glass at 650–700 °C in an argon atmosphere completely free from oxygen and moisture. An unusual change in color and the absorption spectrum of the glass upon composite formation with C60 indicated that the incorporated C60 underwent some sort of interaction with the glass. Such fullerene molecules bonded to relatively smaller units of bismuth-boron network, were extracted out by eluting a powdered sample with toluene. The composite itself and the toluene extract there of, were then characterized by ultraviolet–visible–near-infrared, infrared, and mass spectral studies. The results showed that the bismuth ions of the bismuth-boron network were bonded with the C60 cages through direct donation of their lone pair of electrons to the latter. The phenomenon of addition of boron to C60 via an “oxygen bridge,” which was observed in our earlier work, was also detected in this case. Studies on the nonlinear optical properties of the composite exhibited a moderate value of third order nonlinear susceptibility χ(3) (1.5 × 10−11 esu) and optical limiting properties of the composite. The result showed that the material had the prospect of being used in nonlinear optical devices.

The effect of a Cu layer on the electronic structure and magnetic properties of Ni3Fe was studied by employing the discrete-variational method in the framework of density-functional theory. Three models were established for Ni3Fe(6), Ni3Fe(3)/Cu(3)/Ni3Fe(3), and Ni3Fe(3)/Cu(3). The charge transfer, magnetic moment, and spin exchange split at the Fermi level were obtained for Fe and Ni atoms in a Ni3Fe layer. The related characterizations of Ni3Fe were estimated from those of Fe and Ni atoms. It was discovered that the magnetic properties of the Ni3Fe layer improved when adjacent to Cu layer due to the improvement of the corresponding properties of the Fe atoms in the Ni3Fe. However, the magnetic moment and the spin exchange split of the Ni atoms in the Ni3Fe decreased when the Ni3Fe was adjacent to a Cu layer.