Depth-dependent Distributions Research Articles

Grinding- and robotic hammer peening-induced modifications in the near-surface regions of laser-cladded Inconel 718 coatings

Inconel 718 coatings deposited by laser-cladding (LC) on low-alloy steel substrate have been grinded followed by robotic hammer peening (RHP). White layer consisted of nanograins, smaller than 100 nm, has been observed on the surface accompanied with a deformation layer underneath after grinding and RHP. By increasing the RHP intensity (i.e., both the impact energy and the dent overlap), the residual tensile stress measured by X-ray diffraction from the surface of the coating has been monotonically reduced and eventually converted to residual compressive stress with increased in-plane anisotropy, which was accompanied with monotonically increased surface hardening up to 40.5 HRC. Grain deformations have been induced in the white- and deformation-layer, they are dominated by twinning and slipping, respectively. In terms of depth-dependent distributions of low-angle (<15°) grain boundaries and hardening, the effective cold-working thickness induced by the RHP process is over 1000 μm, which is close to the thickness of a single-pass LC deposition. Onset of porosity closures occurred upon the RHP process, especially in the near-surface regions. These findings shed light on integrity enhancement for additive manufacturing of metal alloys by LC-based techniques through introducing interpass RHP process.

Advanced Mapping of Optically-Blind and Optically-Active Nitrogen Chemical Impurities in Natural Diamonds

Natural diamonds with a rich variety of optically blind and optically active nitrogen impurity centers were explored at a nano/microscale on the surface and in bulk by a number of advanced chemical and structural analytical tools in order to achieve a comprehensive characterization by establishing enlightening links between their analysis results. First, novel compositional relationships were established between high-energy X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and low-energy Fourier-transform infrared vibrational spectroscopy (FT-IR) signals of nitrogen impurity defects acquired in the microscopy mode at the same positions of the diamond surface, indicating the verification XPS modality for qualitative and quantitative FT-IR analysis of high concentrations of nitrogen and other chemical impurity defects in diamond. Second, depth-dependent spatial distributions of diverse photoluminescence (PL)-active nitrogen defects were acquired in the confocal scanning mode in an octahedral diamond and then for the first time corrected to the related Raman signals of the carbon lattice to rule out artefacts of the confocal parameter and to reveal different micron-scale ontogenetic layers in the impurity distributions on its surface. Third, intriguing connections between local structural micro-scale defects (dislocation slip bands of plastic deformation zones) visualized by optical microscopy and Raman microspectroscopy, and related distributions of stress-sensitive PL-active nitrogen impurity defects in the proximity of these planes inside bulk diamonds were revealed. These findings demonstrate the broad instrumental opportunities for comprehensive in situ studies of the chemical, structural, and mechanical micro-features in diamonds, from the surface into bulk.

Fluvial Deposition and Land Use Change Control Selenium Occurrence in Mollisols of Cold Region Agroecosystems.

Mollisols support the most productive agroecosystems in the world. Despite their critical links to food quality and human health, the varying distributions of selenium (Se) species and factors governing Se mobility in the mollisol vadose zone remain elusive. This research reveals that, in northern mollisol agroecosystems, Se hotspots (≥0.32 mg/kg) prevail along the regional river systems draining the Lesser Khingan Mountains, where piedmont Se-rich oil shales are the most probable source of regional Se. While selenate and selenite dominate Se species in the water-soluble and absorbed pools, mollisol organic matter is the major host for Se. Poorly crystalline and crystalline Fe oxides are subordinate in Se retention, hosting inorganic and organic Se at levels comparable to those in the adsorbed pool. The depth-dependent distributions of mollisol Se species for the non-cropland and cropland sites imply a predominance of reduced forms of Se under the mildly acidic and reducing conditions that, in turn, are variably impacted by agricultural land use. These findings therefore highlight that fluvial deposition and land use change together are the main drivers of the spatial variability and speciation of mollisol Se.

Incident light on mesophotic corals is constrained by reef topography and colony morphology

Mesophotic coral reefs, generally defined as deep reefs between 30 and 150 m, are found worldwide and are largely structured by changes in the underwater light field. Additionally, it is increasingly understood that reef-to-reef variability in topography, combined with quantitative and qualitative changes in the underwater light field with increasing depth, significantly influence the observed changes in coral distribution and abundance. Here, we take a modeling approach to examine the effects of the inherent optical properties of the water column on the irradiance that corals are exposed to along a shallow to mesophotic depth gradient. In particular, the roles of reef topography including horizontal, sloping and vertical substrates are quantified, as well as the differences between mounding, plating and branching colony morphologies. Downwelling irradiance and reef topography interact such that for a water mass of similar optical properties, the irradiance reaching the benthos varies significantly with topography (i.e. substrate angle). Coral morphology, however, is also a factor; model results show that isolated hemispherical colonies consistently ‘see’ greater incident irradiances across depths, and throughout the day, compared to plating and branching morphologies. These modeled geometric-based differences in the incident irradiances on different coral morphologies are not, however, consistent with actual depth-dependent distributions of these coral morphotypes, where plating morphologies dominate as you go deeper. Other factors, such as the cost of calcification, arguably contribute to these differences, but irradiance-driven patterns are a strong proximate cause for the observed differences in mesophotic communities on sloping versus vertical reef substrates.

Defect characterization of damaged region of carbon implanted alumina: Effect of ion fluence and annealing

Alumina is considered as a promising host for production of embedded nanoclusters through ion implantation methods. Alumina is also being proposed to be a structural material as an isolating ceramics for thermo-nuclear fusion reactors wherein it will be exposed to high energy radiation. In addition, C-doped alumina is being proposed for medical dosimetery. In order to use alumina for all these applications, a better understanding of defects evolutions at atomic level is required. For this purpose, in the present study, α-alumina crystals have been implanted with C ions (50 keV) with total fluence of 1 × 1015, 5 × 1015, 1 × 1016 and 1 × 1017 ions/cm2 at room temperature. The ion implanted samples have been annealed at 500 °C for 2 h in ambient atmosphere. The ion implantation profile and vacancy distribution profiles have been calculated using computer code SRIM. Depth dependent defect distributions in ion implanted and annealed samples have been experimentally determined using depth dependent Doppler broadening spectroscopy. The experimental data have been analyzed using computer code VEPFIT. The S-E profiles of ion implanted samples confirm that Al vacancy and C ion-vacancy complexes are the primary defects produced due to ion implantation. At the highest implanted dose, amorphization of damaged region is observed. On thermal annealing, samples with lower fluence (1 × 1015 and 5 × 1015 ions/cm2) are recovered followed by annealing out of defects. On the other hand, samples with higher fluence (1 × 1016 and 1 × 1017 ions/cm2) indicate the formation of open volume defects such as vacancy clusters or voids which is confirmed through S-W correlation plots.

Compositional study on the size distribution of nickel nanocrystals in borosilicate glasses

For three borosilicate glasses of different B-to-Si ratio, annealed under reducing atmosphere, the effect of glass composition on the size distribution of nickel nanocrystals formed therein was studied. Depth-dependent crystal size distributions were analyzed using transmission electron microscopy, while the glass structure was examined by optical and X-ray absorption spectroscopy (XAS) and related to magnetic measurements using a superconducting quantum interference device (SQUID). A B-to-Si ratio of 0.092 resulted in a uniform crystal size distribution of small width, both with depth and with time, therefore exhibiting a large share of small nanocrystals close to the superparamagnetic limit. XAS and SQUID results indicate a more effective reduction of Ni ions in the glass of higher boron oxide content due to a higher Tg and a mean lower oxidation state induced via lowering of the glass basicity.

Effect of Shallow Slip Amplification Uncertainty on Probabilistic Tsunami Hazard Analysis in Subduction Zones: Use of Long-Term Balanced Stochastic Slip Models

The complexity of coseismic slip distributions influences the tsunami hazard posed by local and, to a certain extent, distant tsunami sources. Large slip concentrated in shallow patches was observed in recent tsunamigenic earthquakes, possibly due to dynamic amplification near the free surface, variable frictional conditions or other factors. We propose a method for incorporating enhanced shallow slip for subduction earthquakes while preventing systematic slip excess at shallow depths over one or more seismic cycles. The method uses the classic k−2 stochastic slip distributions, augmented by shallow slip amplification. It is necessary for deep events with lower slip to occur more often than shallow ones with amplified slip to balance the long-term cumulative slip. We evaluate the impact of this approach on tsunami hazard in the central and eastern Mediterranean Sea adopting a realistic 3D geometry for three subduction zones, by using it to model ~ 150,000 earthquakes with M_{w} from 6.0 to 9.0. We combine earthquake rates, depth-dependent slip distributions, tsunami modeling, and epistemic uncertainty through an ensemble modeling technique. We found that the mean hazard curves obtained with our method show enhanced probabilities for larger inundation heights as compared to the curves derived from depth-independent slip distributions. Our approach is completely general and can be applied to any subduction zone in the world.

Depth-profiling of nickel nanocrystal populations in a borosilicate glass – A combined TEM and XRM study

Populations of nickel nanocrystals in a borosilicate glass were studied by TEM and XRM. It is found that XRM, which is applied for the first time to this type of material, is superior for the precise determination of the depth-dependent number densities and volume fractions of precipitated Ni crystals. Statistical precision is gained by imaging 3D data of up to 60 times larger volumes as compared to the volume of the electron transparent rim that a standard TEM wedge specimen provides. Depth-dependent particle-size distributions of XRM were in agreement with those of TEM as the mean sizes of the Ni crystal populations were considerably larger than the XRM resolution limit.

Dynamics of Prochlorococcus Diversity and Photoacclimation During Short-Term Shifts in Water Column Stratification at Station ALOHA

The cyanobacterium Prochlorococcus is the dominant phototroph in surface waters of the vast oligotrophic oceans, the foundation of marine food webs, and an important component of global biogeochemical cycles. The prominence of Prochlorococcus across the environmental gradients of the open ocean is attributed to its extensive genetic diversity and flexible chlorophyll physiology, enabling light capture over a wide range of intensities. What remains unknown is the balance between temporal dynamics of genetic diversity and chlorophyll physiology in the ability of Prochlorococcus to respond to a variety of short (approximately one day) and longer (months to year) changes in the environment. Previous field research established depth-dependent Prochlorococcus single cell chlorophyll distributions in the North Pacific Subtropical Gyre. Here, we examined whether the shifts in chlorophyll distributions correspond to changes in Prochlorococcus genetic diversity (i.e. ecotype-level community structure) or photoacclimation of stable communities over short time intervals. We report that community structure was relatively stable despite abrupt shifts in Prochlorococcus chlorophyll physiology, due to unexpected physiological plasticity of high-light adapted Prochlorococcus ecotypes. Through comparison with seasonal-scale changes, our data suggest that variability on daily scales triggers shifts in Prochlorococcus photoacclimation, while seasonal-scale dynamics trigger shifts in community structure. Together, these data highlight the importance of incorporating the process of photoacclimation and chlorophyll dynamics into interpretations of phytoplankton population dynamics from chlorophyll data as well as the importance of daily-scale variability to Prochlorococcus ecology.

Optical sampling depth in the spatial frequency domain.

We present a Monte Carlo (MC) method to determine depth-dependent probability distributions of photon visitation and detection for optical reflectance measurements performed in the spatial frequency domain (SFD). These distributions are formed using an MC simulation for radiative transport that utilizes a photon packet weighting procedure consistent with the two-dimensional spatial Fourier transform of the radiative transport equation. This method enables the development of quantitative metrics for SFD optical sampling depth in layered tissue and its dependence on both tissue optical properties and spatial frequency. We validate the computed depth-dependent probability distributions using SFD measurements in a layered phantom system with a highly scattering top layer of variable thickness supported by a highly absorbing base layer. We utilize our method to establish the spatial frequency-dependent optical sampling depth for a number of tissue types and also provide a general tool to determine such depths for tissues of arbitrary optical properties.

Optical sampling depth in the spatial frequency domain

We present a Monte Carlo (MC) method to determine depth-dependent probability distributions of photon visitation and detection for optical reflectance measurements performed in the spatial frequency domain (SFD). These distributions are formed using an MC simulation for radiative transport that utilizes a photon packet weighting procedure consistent with the two-dimensional spatial Fourier transform of the radiative transport equation. This method enables the development of quantitative metrics for SFD optical sampling depth in layered tissue and its dependence on both tissue optical properties and spatial frequency. We validate the computed depth-dependent probability distributions using SFD measurements in a layered phantom system with a highly scattering top layer of variable thickness supported by a highly absorbing base layer. We utilize our method to establish the spatial frequency-dependent optical sampling depth for a number of tissue types and also provide a general tool to determine such depths for tissues of arbitrary optical properties.

Porous MnO as efficient catalyst towards the decomposition of Li2CO3 in ambient Li-air batteries

The undesirable formation and low-efficient decomposition of Li2CO3 on cathode of Li-air battery, is an insurmountable obstacle for its practical applications. High efficient cathode catalysts toward Li2CO3 decomposition still have not been thoroughly studied. Here, we report a porous MnO prepared by heating precursor using a facile ethanol refluxing method and employed as high efficient cathode catalyst in ambient Li-air battery for Li2CO3 decomposition. Compared with the pure carbon electrode, it demonstrated an improved electrochemical performance of more than 100 cycles in ambient air and low charging overpotential. At the 100th cycle, the discharge/charge terminal voltage of MnO cathode remains 2.65/4.00 V, which is much higher/lower than that of pure carbon electrode (2.36/4.44 V). These results reveal that the superior catalytic performance of MnO towards the Li2CO3 decomposition during charging. Additionally, we carefully examined the time- and depth-dependent discharge products distributions in the carbon-containing cathode, especially for the formation of Li2CO3, by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. The Li2CO3 was initially formed on the surface of Li2O2, and then gradually into the inner part of the Li2O2, which reveals that the Li2O2 is inclined to react with CO2 rather than the carbon based electrode materials. These results present essential information for the development of high efficient cathode catalysts toward the high-efficient decomposition of Li2CO3 for practical Li-air batteries in ambient air.

Complex damage distribution behaviour in cobalt implanted rutile TiO 2 (1 1 0) lattice

Abstract The present work investigates the radiation damage, amorphization and structural modifications that are produced by ion–solid interactions in TiO2 crystals during 200 keV Cobalt ion implantation. RBS/C and GIXRD have been utilized to evaluate the damage in the host lattice as a function of ion fluence. Multiple scattering formalism has been applied to extract the depth dependent damage distributions in TiO2(1 1 0). The results have been compared with the MC simulations performed using SRIM-2013. RBS/C results delineate a buried amorphous layer at a low fluence. Surprisingly, ion induced dynamic activation produces a recovery in this damage at higher fluences. This improvement interestingly occurs only in deep regions (60–300 nm) where a systematic lowering in damage with fluence is observed. Formation of Co-Ti-O phases and generation of stress in TiO2 lattice can also be responsible for this improvement in deep regions. In contrast, surface region (0–60 nm) indicates a gradual increase in damage with fluence. Such a switch in the damage behavior creates a cross point in damage profiles at 60 nm. Surface region is a sink of vacancies whereas deep layers are interstitial rich. However, these regions are far separated from each other resulting in an intermediate (100–150 nm) region with a significant dip (valley) in damage which can be characterized by enhanced recombination of point defects. The damage profiles thus indicate a very complex behavior. MC simulations, however, present very different results. They depict a damage profile that extends to a depth of only 150 nm, which is only about half of the damage- width observed here via RBS/C. Moreover, MC simulations do not indicate presence of any valley like structure in the damage profile. The complex nature of damage distribution observed here via RBS/C may be related to the high ionic nature of the chemical bonds in the TiO2 lattice.

Microstructures-based constitutive analysis for mechanical properties of gradient-nanostructured 304 stainless steels

Austenite stainless steels with gradient nanostructure exhibit exceptional combination of high yield strength and high ductility. In order to describe their structure-property relation, a theoretical model is proposed in this work, in which the depth-dependent bimodal grain size distribution and nanotwin-nanograin composite structure are taken into account. The micromechanical model and the Voigt rule of mixture are adopted in deriving the constitutive relations. Furthermore, the evolution and influence of the nano/micro cracks/voids are considered for predicting the failure strain. The numerical results based on the theoretical model agree well with experimental results in terms of the yield strength, ductility, and the strain hardening rate, demonstrating that the proposed model can well describe the mechanical properties of gradient-nanostructured austenite stainless steels. We further study the variations of the yield strength and ductility of gradient-nanograined and gradient-nanotwinned 304 stainless steels with different distribution of grain size and twin spacing along the depth, which shows that the present model can be applied to optimize the combination of strength and ductility of the gradient-nanostructured metals by tuning depth-dependent distributions of microstructures.

Combining High Hole Concentration in p-GaN and High Mobility in u-GaN for High p-Type Conductivity in a p-GaN/u-GaN Alternating-Layer Nanostructure

p-GaN/u-GaN alternating-layer nanostructures are grown with molecular beam epitaxy to show a low p-type resistivity level of $0.038~\Omega $ -cm. The obtained low resistivity is due to the high hole mobility in the u-GaN layers, which serve as effective transport channels of holes diffused from the neighboring p-GaN layers. The Mg doping in a thin p-GaN layer can lead to a high Mg-doping concentration for supplying holes to the neighboring u-GaN layers. Simulations based on a 1-D drift diffusion charge control model and the Brooks–Herring theory of ionized impurity scattering are undertaken to first obtain the depth-dependent distributions of hole concentration, mobility, and, hence, resistivity. Then, weighted averaging processes are used for evaluating the effective hole concentration, mobility, and resistivity of a p-GaN/u-GaN alternating-layer nanostructure to give consistent results with the measured data.

Depth-dependent influence of different land-use systems on bacterial biogeography.

Despite progress in understanding microbial biogeography of surface soils, few studies have investigated depth-dependent distributions of terrestrial microorganisms in subsoils. We leveraged high-throughput sequencing of 16S rRNA genes obtained from soils collected from the RARE: Charitable Research Reserve (Cambridge, ON, Canada) to assess the influence of depth on bacterial communities across various land-use types. Although bacterial communities were strongly influenced by depth across all sites, the magnitude of this influence was variable and demonstrated that land-use attributes also played a significant role in shaping soil bacterial communities. Soil pH exhibited a large gradient across samples and strongly influenced shifts in bacterial communities with depth and across different land-use systems, especially considering that physicochemical conditions showed generally consistent trends with depth. We observed significant (p ≤ 0.001) and strongly correlated taxa with depth and pH, with a strong predominance of positively depth-correlated OTUs without cultured representatives. These findings highlight the importance of depth in soil biogeographical surveys and that subsurface soils harbour understudied bacterial members with potentially unique and important functions in deeper soil horizons that remain to be characterized.

Finite element modeling of finite deformable, biphasic biological tissues with transversely isotropic statistically distributed fibers: toward a practical solution.

The distribution of collagen fibers across articular cartilage layers is statistical in nature. Based on the concepts proposed in previous models, we developed a methodology to include the statistically distributed fibers across the cartilage thickness in the commercial FE software COMSOL which avoids extensive routine programming. The model includes many properties that are observed in real cartilage: finite hyperelastic deformation, depth-dependent collagen fiber concentration, depth- and deformation-dependent permeability, and statistically distributed collagen fiber orientation distribution across the cartilage thickness. Numerical tests were performed using confined and unconfined compressions. The model predictions on the depth-dependent strain distributions across the cartilage layer are consistent with the experimental data in the literature.

Comparison of photodynamic therapy with different excitation wavelengths using a dynamic model of aminolevulinic acid-photodynamic therapy of human skin

Different wavelength light sources are used in photodynamic therapy (PDT) of the skin to treat different conditions. Clinical studies show inconsistent results for the effectiveness of aminolevulinic acid (ALA)-PDT performed at different wavelengths. In order to understand the effect of treatment wavelength, a theoretical study was performed to calculate time-resolved depth-dependent distributions of PDT components including ground-state oxygen, sensitizer, and reacted singlet oxygen for different treatment wavelengths (405, 523, and 633 nm) using a numerical model of ALA-PDT of human skin. This model incorporates clinically relevant features of the PDT process including light attenuation, photobleaching, oxygen consumption, and diffusion, as well as tissue perfusion. The calculations show that the distributions of these quantities are almost independent of the treatment wavelength to a depth of about 1 mm. In this surface region, PDT-induced hypoxia is the dominant process. At greater depths, the production of singlet -oxygen is governed by the penetration of the treatment light. Two noninvasive PDT dosimetry approaches: the cumulative singlet oxygen luminescence (CSOL) and the fractional fluorescence bleaching metric, were investigated and compared for all three wavelengths. Although CSOL was more robust, both metrics provided correlations with the singlet oxygen dose in the upper dermis that were almost independent of treatment wavelength. This relationship breaks down at greater depths because light penetration depends on wavelength.

Evaluation of the effects of drying shrinkage on the behavior of concrete structures strengthened by overlays

The present contribution focuses on the experimental evaluation of the effects of drying shrinkage on the behavior of concrete structures strengthened by overlays. To this end a comprehensive laboratory test program is presented. Tests on thin concrete slices served for determining the water desorption isotherm and the ultimate drying shrinkage strains. The time and depth dependent mass water content distributions and the evolution of the drying shrinkage strains were measured on concrete prisms and on larger brick-shaped concrete specimens during two years of drying. After two years of drying the brick-shaped specimens were supplemented by a concrete overlay. Measurements of the mass water content distribution were continued during water jetting and subsequent wetting of the top surface. In addition, the shrinkage strains were recorded in the composite specimens during subsequent drying.

Understanding stress gradients in microelectronic metallization

The manufacture of ultra-large scale integration technology can impose significant strain within the constituent metallization because of the mismatch in coefficients of thermal expansion between metallization and its surrounding environment. The resulting stress distributions can be large enough to induce voiding within Cu-based metallization, a key reliability issue that must be addressed. The interface between the Cu and overlying capping layers is a critical location associated with void formation. By combining conventional and glancing-incidence X-ray diffraction, depth-dependent stress distributions that develop in Cu films and patterned features are investigated. In situ annealing and as-deposited measurements reveal that strain gradients are created in capped Cu structures, where an increased in-plane tensile stress is generated near the Cu/cap interface. The interplay between plasticity in Cu and the constraint imposed by capping layers dictates the extent of the observed gradients. Cu films possessing caps deposited at temperatures where Cu experienced only elastic deformation did not exhibit depth-dependent stress distributions. However, all capped Cu samples exposed to temperatures that induce plastic behavior developed greater tensile stress at the Cu/cap interface than in the bulk Cu film after cooling, representing a clear concern for the mitigation of metallization voiding.