Flows in rectangular microchannels driven by capillary force and gravity

Capillary phenomena was studied and discussed by the scholars about 200 years ago, but the progress was slow due to the limited equipment and manufacture precision of the microchannel. In recent years, because of the rapid development of MEMS and micromachining, many applications of the capillary flow is widely developing in some modern processes, such as underfilling of flip chip, flow in microfluidic chip or biochip, and a variety of other fields.     

LASER ENHANCED ELECTROCHEMICAL MACHINING PROCESS

An experimental apparatus was designed and built for the hybrid process of laser enhanced electrochemical machining (ECM). Comparison experiments had been done between solely ECM and laser enhanced ECM. The machining performance of hybrid process was investigated and compared with solely ECM. The principle of the hybrid process was exposed by analyzing the microstructure of machining surface. The results show that the hybrid process has advantages in machining accuracy, surface quality, and machining efficiency.     

Surface electronic structure of detonation nanodiamonds after oxidative treatment

X-ray absorption spectroscopy has been used for comparative study of electronic structure of detonation nanodiamonds (ND) purified using different oxidative treatments. The treatment of detonation soot with a mixture of nitric and sulphuric acids followed by ion exchange and ultrafiltration of hydrosol obtained was found to result in developing of ND surface coverage consisting of oxidized carbon species, which electronic state is close to that of strongly oxidized graphite. The deeper purification of ND was demonstrated to allow cleaning of ND particles from most of the oxidized carbon contaminations.     

Micro-RBS characterisation of the chemical composition and particulate deposition on pulsed laser deposited Si1−xGex thin films

The formation and deposition of particulates by pulsed laser deposition of Si_1−xGe_x semiconductor alloy thin films are discussed. Using Rutherford backscattering spectrometry with micrometer lateral resolution (micro-RBS) the film composition was measured with high accuracy, even in the presence of particulates with a high areal density of 20,000–30,000 particulates per mm². We show that on impact of a particulate, the part of the thin film which is already deposited probably melts and its Ge content segregates to the surface.     

Effect of the Treatment Temperature on the Surface Drying Set of Sugi Boxed-Heart Square Timber

High-temperature and controlled humidity treatment before drying has proven to be highly effective in preventing surface checks by forming drying sets in the surface layer of boxed-heart square timber in Japan. In this study, we examined the differences of the surface drying sets on sugi timber under different treatment temperatures. As a result, the width of a surface check after drying was much smaller at a treatment temperature of 120°C than at 80°C, and this indicates that the drying set with 120°C treatment would be larger than that with 80°C treatment. Also we observed that treatment temperature had a greater effect on the drying set as the drying advanced.     

Preparation of submicrometer-sized titania hollow spheres by templating sulfonated polystyrene latex particles

Submicrometer-sized titania hollow spheres with tunable shell thickness and smooth surfaces have been successfully synthesized by employing sulfonated polystyrene (PS) latex particles as a template in sol-gel method. The structure of the particles was characterized by scanning electron microscopy and transmission electron microscopy. The shell thickness was readily tuned by altering the concentration of titanium tetrabutoxide (TBOT) in ethanol solutions. The surface roughness as well as the shell thickness has the tendency to increase with the increase in the concentration of TBOT. The diameter of the hollow spheres was on the average of 20-26% smaller than the diameter of template PS latex particles. Some titania fragments were also observed for the sample with the highest TBOT concentration.     

Influence of the Preheat Treatment on the Microstructure and Properties of X37CrMoV5-1 Steel

The technological properties of the hot-work tool steels depend on their microstructural quality induced by the production process and the heat treatment. One of the frequently applied methods to improve microstructure is preheat treatment. The treatment of carbonitriding X37CrMoV5-1 steel has been investigated in fluidized bed furnaces. Thickness and phase composition have been conducted using optical microscopy Neophot 32 and scanning microscopy, JEOL 5400, after etching in nital.     

Stages of surface erosion under ion irradiation

Initial stages of surface erosion have been studied for NaCl and LiF single crystals bombarded by Ar⁺ ions with 20 keV. For irradiation with doses D=10¹⁰-10¹¹ ions/cm², exoelectron emission has been used, whereas for higher doses, we have used electron microscopy. Two stages of initial surface erosion have been identified; for small doses, there is slow development of atomic-scale roughening, which reaches its peak when areas damaged by closest incident ions start to overlap, and then, beginning with D=10¹⁶ ions/cm², there is rapid etching, deep into the crystal, followed by the emergence of secondary microscopic structure, i.e. caverns, concentric closed steps and terraces. Ion-induced surface structure of alkali halide crystals has been shown to depend strongly on the presence of foreign particles on the surface, as well as on segregation. Topography of thin carbon films and some metals have been discussed.     

Investigation of structural properties of ITO thin films deposited on different substrates

The influence of the substrate nature on the structure and morphology of ITO thin films grown by thermal evaporation in vacuum is investigated. The as-prepared metal films with Sn/In molar ratio of 0.1 were subsequently annealed for 2 h at 723 K in air (to obtain tin doped indium oxide), then annealed in vacuum at 523 K, followed by UV irradiation (to reduce the electrical resistivity). Irrespective of substrate nature, XRD data evidence a (222) preferential orientation in films. Substrate nature, annealing in vacuum and UV irradiation influence the structure, morphology, optical, electrical and surface wetting properties of the films' surface.