Epitaxial self-assembly of block copolymers on lithographically defined nanopatterned substrates

Parallel processes for patterning densely packed nanometre-scale structures are critical for many diverse areas of nanotechnology. Thin films of diblock copolymers can self-assemble into ordered periodic structures at the molecular scale (approximately 5 to 50 nm), and have been used as templates to fabricate quantum dots, nanowires, magnetic storage media, nanopores and silicon capacitors. Unfortunately, perfect periodic domain ordering can only be achieved over micrometre-scale areas at best and defects exist at the edges of grain boundaries. These limitations preclude the use of block-copolymer lithography for many advanced applications. Graphoepitaxy, in-plane electric fields, temperature gradients, and directional solidification have also been demonstrated to induce orientation or long-range order with varying degrees of success. Here we demonstrate the integration of thin films of block copolymer with advanced lithographic techniques to induce epitaxial self-assembly of domains. The resulting patterns are defect-free, are oriented and registered with the underlying substrate and can be created over arbitrarily large areas. These structures are determined by the size and quality of the lithographically defined surface pattern rather than by the inherent limitations of the self-assembly process. Our results illustrate how hybrid strategies to nanofabrication allow for molecular level control in existing manufacturing processes.     

用交替方向隐式迭代法计算铸件凝固过程的温度场

为了提高薄壁、复杂铸件凝固过程数值模拟时的计算速度,将整个计算域分为砂型和铸件两个分区,用显式差分格式计算砂型中的温度场,用交替方向隐式迭代法计算铸件中的温度场;基于热焓法,采用源项线性化技术处理凝固潜热,以提高铸件温度场的收敛速度,采用变时间步长以提高铸件温度场的计算效率。通过一个算例,证实本算法可提高薄壁铸件凝固过程数值模拟的计算效率。     

Texturing of the Earth's inner core by Maxwell stresses.

Elastic anisotropy in the Earth's inner core has been attributed to a preferred lattice orientation, which may be acquired during solidification of the inner core or developed subsequent to solidification as a result of plastic deformation. But solidification texturing alone cannot explain the observed depth dependence of anisotropy, and previous suggestions for possible deformation processes have all relied on radial flow, which is inhibited by thermal and chemical stratification. Here we investigate the development of anisotropy as the inner core deforms plastically under the influence of electromagnetic (Maxwell) shear stresses. We estimate the flow caused by a representative magnetic field using polycrystal plasticity simulations for epsilon-iron, where the imposed deformation is accommodated by basal and prismatic slip. We find that individual grains in an initially random polycrystal become preferentially oriented with their c axes parallel to the equatorial plane. This pattern is accentuated if deformation is accompanied by recrystallization. Using the single-crystal elastic properties of epsilon-iron at core pressure and temperature, we average over the simulated orientation distribution to obtain a pattern of elastic anisotropy which is similar to that observed seismologically.     

Effects of gravity on the microstructure of Zr41Ti14-Cu12.5Ni10Be22.5 bulk glass forming alloy

The ZrTiCuNiBe alloy is melt and solidified by Bridgman unidirectional solidification on two gravity field orientations (the gravity field orientation is parallel and opposite to solidification direction). Effects of gravity on morphology and microstructure are investigated by scanning electron microscope (SEM) and X-ray diffraction (XRD). When gravity field orientation is parallel to solidification direction, less needle-like primary phase is embedded in a matrix eutectic; when gravity field orientation is opposite to solidification direction, a large amount of coarser needle-like primary phases were observed.     

Hankel transform domain analysis of dual-frequency stacked circular microstrip antennas

This paper presents an accurate and efficient method for the computation of resonant frequencies and radiation patterns of a dual-frequency stacked circular microstrip antenna. The problem is first formulated using the Hankel transform domain approach and expressions are obtained for the Green's function in the Hankel transform domain, which relates the electric surface currents on the circular disks and tangential electric field components on the surfaces of the substrates. Then Galerkin's method together with Parsebal's relation for Hankel transformation is used to solve for the unknown currents. In the derivation process, the resonant frequencies are numerically determined as a function of the radii of two circular disks and thicknesses and relative permittivies of two substrates. Finally, the far-zone radiation patterns are directly obtained from the Green's function and the currents. The numerical results for the resonant frequencies and radiation patterns are in excellent agreement with the available experimental data corroborating the accuracy of the present method. Huang Jingxi: born in Nov. 1937, Professor     

FIBER ORIENTATION DISTRIBUTION OF PAPER SURFACE CALCULATED BY IMAGE ANALYSIS

Pulp fibers take a variety of spatial configuration in paper and its alignment is an important aspect of paper structure. Statistically, fiber alignment is defined as a fiber orientation distribution as a function of angle θwhenthemachinedirectionofaweb or sheet is set to θ=0.Fiberorientationoccurs due to a flow of pulp suspension including the turbulence level and orienting shear, so the flow condition may alter it through web or sheet thickness and across the wire plane. Fiber orientation …     

粉煤灰熔融固化利用探索性研究

我国每年都有大量的粉煤灰因无法得到有效利用而堆积在灰场,在占用大量土地的同时,扬尘、重金属浸出等现象严重污染空气、土壤及地下水。为解决上述问题,尝试采用熔融固化技术对粉煤灰进行处置。实验研究了粉煤灰的熔融固化特性、熔渣的利用以及设计了以煤为燃料的粉煤灰熔融联合余热发电系统。实验结果表明,熔融固化技术可以实现粉煤灰减量化、无害化处理以及熔渣的资源化利用。Aspen模拟结果表明余热发电能够有效地降低粉煤灰熔融处置的成本,熔融固化技术是粉煤灰处置的有效途径之一。     

定向凝固制备多晶硅柱状晶的研究

为了控制定向凝固过程中柱状晶的稳定生长,结合真空定向凝固技术,在一定的工艺参数下,利用真空定向凝固设备成功制备出具有单向凝固组织的多晶硅材料,通过对制备的多晶硅锭从纵截面和不同位置横截面的微观组织进行研究,分析得出了定向凝固过程中多晶硅垂直于底部的柱状晶和大晶粒形成的最佳工艺参数,通过X射线衍射检测,显示晶体择优取向为<111>面,文章还利用晶粒淘汰机制和柱状晶合并机制合理解释柱状晶体长大过程.     

CdTe的ICB淀积和成膜特性

应用一种新的薄膜淀积技术──ＩＣＢ方法，对ＣｄＴｅ薄膜的淀积进行了系统的研究。在单晶Ｓｉ及玻璃衬底上演积的ＣｄＴｅ膜具有定向生长的大晶粒结构，其晶粒尺寸、取向度与离化电流、加速电压等可控实验参数之间的关系在实验结果中得到了反映。通过考察入射原子团与表面的相互作用，研究了表面迁移能力以及电荷存在对成膜特性的影响。     

Nanoscopic channel lattices with controlled anisotropic wetting

Engineered microscopic surface structures allow local control of physical surface properties such as adhesion, friction and wettability. These properties are related both to molecular interactions and the surface topology--for example, selective adsorption and molecular recognition capabilities require controlled anisotropy in the surface properties. Chemistry with extremely small amounts of material has become possible using liquid-guiding channels of sub-micrometre dimensions. Laterally structured surfaces with differing wettabilities may be produced using various techniques, such as microcontact printing, micromachining, photolithography and vapour deposition. Another strategy for introducing anisotropic texture is based on the use of the intrinsic material properties of stretched ultrathin polymer coatings. Here we present a fast and simple method to generate extended patterned surfaces with controlled wetting properties on the nanometre scale, without any lithographic processes. The technique utilizes wetting instabilities that occur when monomolecular layers are transferred onto a solid substrate. The modified surfaces can be used as templates for patterning a wide variety of molecules and nanoclusters into approximately parallel channels, with a spatial density of up to 20,000 cm(-1). We demonstrate the transport properties of these channels for attolitre quantities of liquid.     

表面增强拉曼光谱研究尼古丁与金属纳米粒子的相互作用

以金、银纳米及Au@Ag、Au-Ag合金复合纳米粒子为基底,研究尼古丁分子的表面增强拉曼光谱,讨论分子在4种纳米粒子表面的作用方式及可能的吸附取向.结果表明,分子在金纳米和Au-Ag合金纳米粒子表面的吸附取向相同——垂直吸附,不同的是与金纳米粒子形成了稳定的N-Au键;由于银纳米粒子和Au@Ag核壳纳米粒子表面均富含大...     

Selection of peptides with semiconductor binding specificity for directed nanocrystal assembly

In biological systems, organic molecules exert a remarkable level of control over the nucleation and mineral phase of inorganic materials such as calcium carbonate and silica, and over the assembly of crystallites and other nanoscale building blocks into complex structures required for biological function. This ability to direct the assembly of nanoscale components into controlled and sophisticated structures has motivated intense efforts to develop assembly methods that mimic or exploit the recognition capabilities and interactions found in biological systems. Of particular value would be methods that could be applied to materials with interesting electronic or optical properties, but natural evolution has not selected for interactions between biomolecules and such materials. However, peptides with limited selectivity for binding to metal surfaces and metal oxide surfaces have been successfully selected. Here we extend this approach and show that combinatorial phage-display libraries can be used to evolve peptides that bind to a range of semiconductor surfaces with high specificity, depending on the crystallographic orientation and composition of the structurally similar materials we have used. As electronic devices contain structurally related materials in close proximity, such peptides may find use for the controlled placement and assembly of a variety of practically important materials, thus broadening the scope for 'bottom-up' fabrication approaches.     

纳米压印技术制备Si基GaN纳米柱图形化衬底

采用纳米压印和反应离子刻蚀技术,通过实验研究反应离子刻蚀时间与GaN纳米柱高度的相关性,成功地在Si基GaN衬底上制备出了GaN纳米柱图形化衬底。SEM表征分析发现在图形化衬底上所制备的GaN纳米柱形貌均匀、排列整齐;室温光致发光光谱分析发现GaN纳米柱图形化衬底与GaN材料相比带边发光峰出现2．1nm的红移,发光强度增强。研究结果表明GaN纳米柱内应力得到释放且具有光子晶体的作用。     

Three-dimensional illusory contours and surfaces.

Under general viewing conditions, objects are often partially camouflaged, obscured or occluded, thereby limiting information about their three-dimensional position, orientation and shape to incomplete and variable image cues. When presented with such partial cues, observers report perceiving 'illusory' contours and surfaces (forms) in regions having no physical image contrast. Here we report that three-dimensional illusory forms share three fundamental properties with 'real' forms: (1) the same forms are perceived using either stereo or motion parallax cues (cue invariance); (2) they retain their shape over changes in position and orientation relative to an observer (view stability); and (3) they can take the shape of general contours and surfaces in three dimensions (morphic generality). We hypothesize that illusory contours and surfaces are manifestations of a previously unnoticed visual process which constructs a representation of three-dimensional position, orientation and shape of objects from available image cues.     

Extended surface chirality from supramolecular assemblies of adsorbed chiral molecules

The increasing demand of the chemical and pharmaceutical industries for enantiomerically pure compounds has spurred the development of a range of so-called 'chiral technologies' (ref. 1), which aim to exert the ultimate control over a chemical reaction by directing its enantioselectivity. Heterogeneous enantioselective catalysis is particularly attractive because it allows the production and ready separation of large quantities of chiral product while using only small quantities of catalyst. Heterogeneous enantioselectivity is usually induced by adsorbing chiral molecules onto catalytically active surfaces. A mimic of one such catalyst is formed by adsorbing (R,R)-tartaric acid molecules on Cu(110) surfaces: this generates a variety of surface phases, of which only one is potentially catalytically active, and leaves the question of how adsorbed chiral molecules give rise to enantioselectivity. Here we show that the active phase consists of extended supramolecular assemblies of adsorbed (R,R)-tartaric acid, which destroy existing symmetry elements of the underlying metal and directly bestow chirality to the modified surface. The adsorbed assemblies create chiral 'channels' exposing bare metal atoms, and it is these chiral spaces that we believe to be responsible for imparting enantioselectivity, by forcing the orientation of reactant molecules docking onto catalytically active metal sites. Our findings demonstrate that it is possible to sustain a single chiral domain across an extended surface--provided that reflection domains of opposite handedness are removed by a rigid and chiral local adsorption geometry, and that inequivalent rotation domains are removed by successful matching of the rotational symmetry of the adsorbed molecule with that of the underlying metal surface.     

Ultralow-power organic complementary circuits

The prospect of using low-temperature processable organic semiconductors to implement transistors, circuits, displays and sensors on arbitrary substrates, such as glass or plastics, offers enormous potential for a wide range of electronic products. Of particular interest are portable devices that can be powered by small batteries or by near-field radio-frequency coupling. The main problem with existing approaches is the large power consumption of conventional organic circuits, which makes battery-powered applications problematic, if not impossible. Here we demonstrate an organic circuit with very low power consumption that uses a self-assembled monolayer gate dielectric and two different air-stable molecular semiconductors (pentacene and hexadecafluorocopperphthalocyanine, F16CuPc). The monolayer dielectric is grown on patterned metal gates at room temperature and is optimized to provide a large gate capacitance and low gate leakage currents. By combining low-voltage p-channel and n-channel organic thin-film transistors in a complementary circuit design, the static currents are reduced to below 100 pA per logic gate. We have fabricated complementary inverters, NAND gates, and ring oscillators that operate with supply voltages between 1.5 and 3 V and have a static power consumption of less than 1 nW per logic gate. These organic circuits are thus well suited for battery-powered systems such as portable display devices and large-surface sensor networks as well as for radio-frequency identification tags with extended operating range.     

带有支座松动故障的转子-轴承系统的混沌特性

应用现代非线性动力学理论,分析了带有一端支座松动故障的简单转子系统的复杂运动现象,讨论了转速变化时系统具有的多种形式的周期、拟周期和混沌运动。在拟周期与混沌运动的轨道中,轨迹的方向性可以更清楚地表现出来。这类系统的某些周期运动的映射点结构具有慢变特性,有些表现为长时间下的拟周期运动;另外某些Ｐｏｉｎｃａｒｅ映射点的结构随时间的变化出现分岔。系统的这些复杂运动特征可望用来诊断这一故障。     

Functionalizing hydrogen-bonded surface networks with self-assembled monolayers

One of the central challenges in nanotechnology is the development of flexible and efficient methods for creating ordered structures with nanometre precision over an extended length scale. Supramolecular self-assembly on surfaces offers attractive features in this regard: it is a 'bottom-up' approach and thus allows the simple and rapid creation of surface assemblies, which are readily tuned through the choice of molecular building blocks used and stabilized by hydrogen bonding, van der Waals interactions, pi-pi bonding or metal coordination between the blocks. Assemblies in the form of two-dimensional open networks are of particular interest for possible applications because well-defined pores can be used for the precise localization and confinement of guest entities such as molecules or clusters, which can add functionality to the supramolecular network. Another widely used method for producing surface structures involves self-assembled monolayers (SAMs), which have introduced unprecedented flexibility in our ability to tailor interfaces and generate patterned surfaces. But SAMs are part of a top-down technology that is limited in terms of the spatial resolution that can be achieved. We therefore rationalized that a particularly powerful fabrication platform might be realized by combining non-covalent self-assembly of porous networks and SAMs, with the former providing nanometre-scale precision and the latter allowing versatile functionalization. Here we show that the two strategies can indeed be combined to create integrated network-SAM hybrid systems that are sufficiently robust for further processing. We show that the supramolecular network and the SAM can both be deposited from solution, which should enable the widespread and flexible use of this combined fabrication method.     

Quantum tunnelling of the magnetization in a monolayer of oriented single-molecule magnets

A fundamental step towards atomic- or molecular-scale spintronic devices has recently been made by demonstrating that the spin of an individual atom deposited on a surface, or of a small paramagnetic molecule embedded in a nanojunction, can be externally controlled. An appealing next step is the extension of such a capability to the field of information storage, by taking advantage of the magnetic bistability and rich quantum behaviour of single-molecule magnets (SMMs). Recently, a proof of concept that the magnetic memory effect is retained when SMMs are chemically anchored to a metallic surface was provided. However, control of the nanoscale organization of these complex systems is required for SMMs to be integrated into molecular spintronic devices. Here we show that a preferential orientation of Fe(4) complexes on a gold surface can be achieved by chemical tailoring. As a result, the most striking quantum feature of SMMs-their stepped hysteresis loop, which results from resonant quantum tunnelling of the magnetization-can be clearly detected using synchrotron-based spectroscopic techniques. With the aid of multiple theoretical approaches, we relate the angular dependence of the quantum tunnelling resonances to the adsorption geometry, and demonstrate that molecules predominantly lie with their easy axes close to the surface normal. Our findings prove that the quantum spin dynamics can be observed in SMMs chemically grafted to surfaces, and offer a tool to reveal the organization of matter at the nanoscale.     

纳米压印过程中的聚合物流变机理

针对紫外纳米压印工艺,采用有限元软件对光刻胶的流变填充过程进行了模拟.根据紫外压印中光刻胶黏度系数小的特点,建立了基于黏性流体的模型,采用流固耦合的ALE（Arbitrary Lagrange Euler）方法,系统分析了模板的周期性、占空比、深宽比及非周期结构对光刻胶填充效果的影响.结果表明,相对于非周期模板,周期结构的模板所能引起的图形转移缺陷小;占空比及深宽比对小周期模板比大周期模板的影响大.进行了纳米压印实验,实验结果与仿真结果吻合,说明了仿真的可信,可以作为模板结构设计及表面处理工艺的依据.