Substrate Interface Research Articles

Preparation of a modified phosphate-based adhesive and its hot bonding performance on 316L stainless steel

In this study, a novel phosphate-based adhesive was prepared by using homemade aluminum phosphate as a matrix and by adding different fillers simultaneously. The effects of calcination temperature and filler composition on the bonding mechanism and high-temperature bonding strength of the adhesive for high-temperature alloys were studied. The results indicated that the crystalline transformation of AlPO4 occurred at 500 °C. AlPO4 has two crystalline forms at 500 °C: orthorhombic and hexagonal. The addition of CuO to the fillers resulted in the exchange of Fe and Cu at the substrate interface and enhanced the high-temperature bonding strength of the specimens. The maximum tensile strength of the specimens reached 3.9 MPa at 500 °C. These composites have potential applications in aviation, aerospace, and other fields.

Investigating the nature of active forces in tissues reveals how contractile cells can form extensile monolayers.

Actomyosin machinery endows cells with contractility at a single cell level. However, within a monolayer, cells can be contractile or extensile based on the direction of pushing or pulling forces exerted by their neighbours or on the substrate. It has been shown that a monolayer of fibroblasts behaves as a contractile system while epithelial or neural progentior monolayers behave as an extensile system. Through a combination of cell culture experiments and in silico modeling, we reveal the mechanism behind this switch in extensile to contractile as the weakening of intercellular contacts. This switch promotes the buildup of tension at the cell-substrate interface through an increase in actin stress fibers and traction forces. This is accompanied by mechanotransductive changes in vinculin and YAP activation. We further show that contractile and extensile differences in cell activity sort cells in mixtures, uncovering a generic mechanism for pattern formation during cell competition, and morphogenesis.

Intrinsic and extrinsic effects on intraband optical conductivity of hot carriers in photoexcited graphene

We present a numerical study on the intraband optical conductivity of hot carriers at quasi-equilibria in photoexcited graphene based on the semiclassical Boltzmann transport equations (BTE) with the aim of understanding the effects of intrinsic optical phonon and extrinsic coulomb scattering caused by charged impurities at the graphene--substrate interface. Instead of using full-BTE solutions, we employ iterative solutions of the BTE and the comprehensive model for the temporal evolutions of hot-carrier temperature and hot-optical-phonon occupations to reduce computational costs. Undoped graphene exhibits large positive photoconductivity owing to the increase in thermally excited carriers and the reduction in charged impurity scattering. The frequency dependencies of the photoconductivity in undoped graphene having high concentrations of charged impurities significantly deviate from those observed in the simple Drude model, which can be attributed to temporally varying charged impurity scattering during terahertz (THz) probing in the hot-carrier cooling process. Heavily doped graphene exhibits small negative photoconductivity similar to that of the Drude model. In this case, charged impurity scattering is substantially suppressed by the carrier-screening effect, and the temperature dependencies of the Drude weight and optical phonon scattering governs the negative photoconductivity. In lightly doped graphene, the appearance of negative and positive photoconductivity depends on the frequency and the crossover from negative photoconductivity to positive emerges from increasing the charged impurity concentration. This indicates the change of the dominant scattering mechanism from optical phonons to charged impurities. Our approach provides a quantitative understanding of non-Drude behaviors and the temporal evolution of photoconductivity in graphene.

Island formation and the heterogeneous nucleation of aluminum

Liquid phase epitaxy of aluminum on substrates of varying lattice spacing is investigated. Molecular dynamic simulations show the formation and growth of small (nm to µm) islands following a Stranski-Krastanov mode, where a few unit cell thick, solid layer first templates to the substrate. Subsequent island formation reduces the strain energy within the nucleating solid. Growing islands coalesce upon impinging, while misfit dislocations form during growth and remain at the substrate interface. A thermodynamic analysis reveals island creation is a stochastic process, requiring thermal energy to overcome an activation barrier. Relative to a planar growth criterion, island growth becomes the prominent mechanism at moderate lattice mismatch between the solid and substrate. The difference in activation undercooling between the two growth mechanisms increases with mismatch magnitude. The presented model is used to evaluate island growth for other metals, and can be used as a criterion for activation of a catalyzing surface.

Interface creation on a mixed-terminated perovskite surface

In the field of complex oxide heterostructures, understanding of the initial substrate surface can be critical to fundamental studies regarding the development of emergent properties at the film–substrate interface. For this reason, a considerable amount of effort has gone into the development of techniques to achieve surfaces with single termination for a variety of perovskite single crystals. However, a decisive understanding of how an interface is created when epitaxial growth occurs on a mixed terminated surface remains lacking. Employing in situ synchrotron X-ray scattering during thin film growth by molecular beam epitaxy, we investigate the initial stages of growth on (LaAlO3)(Sr2AlTaO6) (001) substrates with mixed termination. Using LaNiO3 as a model system, we find that the surface layers of the substrate restructure during deposition such that while a NiO2 monolayer is weakly bound, a LaO monolayer bonds strongly, effectively incorporating with (Al, Ta)O2 from the surface and forming a La(Al, Ta)O3 ultrathin film.

Bond performance of repair mortar made with magnesium phosphate cement and ferroaluminate cement

This paper is aimed to investigate the bond performance of mortar with magnesium phosphate cement (MPC) as a novel-type repair material. This is achieved by mixing ferroaluminate cement (FAC) with MPC to prepare composite cement (MPC-FAC). Under standard and water curing conditions, the properties of MPC-FAC composite including setting time, ph, compressive and flexural bond strengths were tested. Experimental results show that adding FAC could significantly improve the compressive strength, flexural bond strength, water-resistance of FAC-MPC composite. Rough substrate interface contributes to the flexural bond strength of MPC-FAC mortar and OPC substrate. SEM-EDS was used to analyze the bond interface and micro-morphology of MPC-FAC before and after water immersion respectively. It was shown that the main reason for better bond performance is that the interface structure of MPC-40FAC composite and OPC substrate is more compacted, while MPC-40FAC composite microstructure is more integrated after water immersion. The three-zone model of the bond between OPC substrate and MPC-FAC repair material is also presented, which indicates that the interface bond behavior includes mechanical interlock, permeating and filling and secondary hydration. These promising results indicate that MPC-FAC composite can be used as a rapid-hardening repair material in the practical field.

The strength of the ceramic matrix composites under the influence of pore is reviewed

Ceramic matrix composites with strong structural characteristics, is a kind of multiphase materials. Its mechanical properties and the regularity of damage not only depends on the material properties of components, but also depends on the mesoscopic structure characteristics. Past for reinforcement of composite materials, usually by adding inclusions, makes the interface strength is improved. But as a result of the mixed with non-uniformity, and the preparation process to air and other impurities, makes the substrate near the interface of substrate, in particular, inevitable existence of the pore, pore under external load when the crack and then expand, causing material failure. So by studying the material under external load impact, its performance in the damage evolution of mesoscopic level and macro failure, the relationship between material from the mesoscopic level analysis the rule of damage evolution and fracture mechanism, can not only provide theoretical guidance for the preparation of composite materials, but also through the further optimization of material mesoscopic structure to achieve the purpose of design materials. In this paper, the current ceramic matrix composites, has introduced the preparation of defect, defect cause material damage failure occurred, and the research status of the influence of the effective strength of the composites, the composite material related research achievements and disadvantages, on the basis of combining the simulation modeling analysis method for composite material next effective strength problem research was discussed.

Adhesive Strength of Ni–Cu Surface Alloy Formation by Low-Energy High-Current Electron Beam

The paper presents the adhesive strength measurements of the Ni–Cu surface alloy formed on a copper substrate at a different thickness of the transition layer. The formation of the surface alloy is provided by the low-energy high-current electron beam of a microsecond duration; the different thickness of the transition layer is varied by the thickness of the nickel film sputtered. The multiple deposition-irradiation process is performed during one vacuum cycle. It is found that the cross-section of the film (Ni)-substrate (Cu) interface is rather developed and curved. The transition layer thickness reduces with increasing thickness of the deposited nickel film. Scratch testing shows that the adhesive strength of the Ni–Cu surface alloy obtained by using the low-energy high-current electron beam, is higher than that of the sputter-deposited surface alloy. The highest adhesion is observed for the Ni–Cu surface alloy obtained by the nickel film deposition 0.125 μm thick. In this case, the crack formation and localized film delamination occur under the critical loads of 15 and 17 N, respectively. Nevertheless, a complete delamination of the surface alloy is not observed.

Strain depth profiles in thin films extracted from in-plane X-ray diffraction

Thin films generally contain depth-dependent residual stress gradients, which influence their functional properties and stability in harsh environments. An understanding of these stress gradients and their influence is crucial for many applications. Standard methods for thin-film stress determination only provide average strain values, thus disregarding possible variation in strain/stress across the film thickness. This work introduces a new method to derive depth-dependent strain profiles in thin films with thicknesses in the submicrometre range by laboratory-based in-plane grazing X-ray diffraction, as applied to magnetron-sputtering-grown polycrystalline Cu thin films with different thicknesses. By performing in-plane grazing diffraction analysis at different incidence angles, the in-plane lattice constant depth profile of the thin film can be resolved through a dedicated robust data processing procedure. Owing to the underlying intrinsic difficulties related to the inverse Laplace transform of discrete experimental data sets, four complementary procedures are presented to reliably extract the strain depth profile of the films from the diffraction data. Surprisingly, the strain depth profile is not monotonic and possesses a complex shape: highly compressive close to the substrate interface, more tensile within the film and relaxed close to the film surface. The same strain profile is obtained by the four different data evaluation methods, confirming the validity of the derived depth-dependent strain profiles as a function of the film thickness. Comparison of the obtained results with the average in-plane stresses independently derived by the standard stress analysis method in the out-of-plane diffraction geometry validates the solidity of the proposed method.

GaN-on-silicon transistors with reduced current collapse and improved blocking voltage by means of local substrate removal

We report on the demonstration of low trapping effects above 1200 V of GaN-on-silicon transistors using a local substrate removal (LSR) followed by a thick backside ultra-wide-bandgap AlN deposition. Substrate ramp measurements show reduced hysteresis up to 3000 V. It has been found that the LSR approach not only enables the extension operation voltage capabilities of GaN-on-silicon HEMTs with low on-resistance but also allow for the reduction of trapping effects directly affecting their dynamic behavior. This work points out that a large part of the electron trapping under high bias occurs at the AlN nucleation layer and Si substrate interface.

Corrosion Behavior of an Anti-Icing Coating on an Aluminum Alloy: An Experimental and Numerical Study

Abstract In this paper, a coating–substrate interfacial corrosion test method was developed to simulate and study the failure processes occurring at the coating interface as a direct consequence of environment-induced degradation or corrosion. It was found that the corrosion-induced failure rate of the coating–substrate interface upon exposure to an aggressive corrosive medium was high. Microscopic pits tend to appear at the interface of the coating and the substrate. The permeation channel at the coating interface did cause the corrosive medium, primarily the chloride ions, to gradually diffuse from the sides of the sample to the inner surface of the interface thereby enabling the initiation and continued progression of “local” corrosion. The process for failure due essentially to corrosion of the coating was established, while ensuring to include the infiltration phase, the presence of “local” corrosion phases, expansion, if any, due to corrosion, and eventually culminating in failure. Based on the experimental results, a finite element simulation of the “local” corrosion occurring at the coating interface was executed. The results revealed the microscopic pits at the interface to progressively increase the “local” stress concentration on the surface of the substrate but were found to have little influence on overall stress distribution in the coating. It was also found the shape of the etch pit had an effect on failure expansion under the influence of stress. The numerical method can be used to predict structural failure caused by corrosion pits at the interface of the coating–substrate system in an aggressive environment.

Characterization and Corrosion Behavior Evaluation of Nanostructured TiO2 and Al2O3-13 wt.%TiO2 Coatings on Aluminum Alloy Prepared via High-Velocity Oxy-Fuel Spray

In this study, nanostructured titania (TiO2; n-TO) and nanostructured alumina-titania (Al2O3-13 wt.%TiO2; n-ATO) coatings were successfully deposited on the 6061 aluminum alloy by applying the high-velocity oxy-fuel process. The n-TO coating showed limited pores or microcracks accompanied by both partially and fully melted areas within splats. The n-TO coating exhibited about 25% higher microhardness compared with the n-ATO coating. The agglomerated non-molten nanostructured TiO2 particles that are randomly dispersed and embedded within the n-TO coating microstructure act as arresters of cracks through either branching or blunting crack tips, resulting in about 17% higher bonding strength, as compared to the n-ATO coating with a looser microstructure. The n-TO coating demonstrated superior hardness, higher wear resistance, and smoother wear scar than the n-ATO and uncoated Al substrate. The electrochemical test indicated that the n-ATO coating had about a 50% higher corrosion rate than the n-TO coating because of its looser structure. The immersion test revealed that the n-ATO coating had been severely attacked by blistering and deep cracks corrosions, whereas limited attacks could be distinguished using the n-TO coating in the substrate interface. Based on the results, the n-TO coating can effectively protect the Al alloy substrate against 3.5 wt.% NaCl solution.

A Journey in Lanthanide Coordination Chemistry: From Evaporable Dimers to Magnetic Materials and Luminescent Devices.

ConspectusLanthanide ions are prime ingredients for the design of compounds, materials, and devices with unique magnetic and optical properties. Accordingly, coordination chemistry is one of the best tools for building molecular edifices from these ions because it allows careful control of the ions' environment and of the dimensionality of the final compound.In this Account, we review our results on lanthanide-based dimers. We show how a pure fundamental study on lanthanide coordination chemistry allows the investigation of a full continuum of results from the compound to materials and then to devices. The conversion of molecules into materials is a tricky task because it requires strong molecular robustness toward the surface deposition processes as well as the preservation and detectability of the molecular properties in the material. Additionally, the passage of a material toward a device implies a material with a given function, for example, a tailored response to an external stimulus.To do so, we targeted neutral and isolated molecules whose transfer on surfaces by chemi- or physisorption is much easier than that of charged molecules or extended coordination networks. Then, we focused on molecules with very strong evaporability to avoid wet chemistry deposition processes that are more likely to damage the molecules and/or distort their geometries.We thus designed lanthanide dimers based on fluorinated β-diketonates and pyridine-N-oxide ligands. As expected, they show remarkable evaporability but also strong luminescence and interesting magnetic behavior because they behave as single-molecule magnets (SMMs). Ligand substitutions and stoichiometric modifications allow the optimization of the geometric organization of the dimers in the crystal packing as well as their evaporability, SMM behavior, luminescent properties, or their ability to be anchored on surfaces. Most of all, this family of molecules shows a strong ability to form thick films on various substrates. This allows converting these molecules to magnetic materials and luminescent devices.Magnetic materials can be designed by creating thick films of the dimers deposited on gold. These films have been designed and investigated with the most advanced techniques of on-surface imaging (atomic force microscopy, AFM), on-surface physicochemical characterization (X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), time of flight-secondary ion mass spectroscopy (Tof-SIMS)), and on-surface magnetic investigation (low-energy muon spin relaxation (LE-μSR)). Contrary to what was previously observed on other SMM films, no depth dependence of the SMM behavior was observed. This means that the dimers do not suffer from the vacuum or substrate interface and behave similarly, whatever their localization. This exceptional magnetic robustness is a key ingredient in the creation of materials for molecular magnetic data storage.Luminescent devices can be obtained by layering molecular films of the dimers with a copper-rich solid-state electrolyte between ITO/Pt electrodes. The electromigration of Cu2+ ions into films of Eu3+, Tb3+, and Dy3+ dimers quenches their luminescence. This luminescence tuning by electromigration is reversible, and this setup can be considered to be a proof of concept of full solid-state luminescent device where reversible coding can be tailored by an electric field. It is envisioned for optical data storage purposes. In the future, it could also benefit from the SMM properties of the molecules to pave the way toward multifunctional molecular data storage devices.

Realizing the large current field emission characteristics of single vertical few-layer graphene by constructing a lateral graphite heat dissipation interface.

With the potential to be an excellent field electron emitter, few-layer graphene (FLG) has to avoid Joule heat induced vacuum breakdown during high current field electron emission. Creating a good heat dissipation path is the key factor maintaining the heat equilibrium of a field emitter. In this work, a graphite interlayer was grown between the FLG and the tungsten substrate. The graphite interlayer with its good in plane electrical and thermal conductivities helps FLG dissipate the heat in the lateral direction efficiently and broaden the heat dissipation path. As a result, both the temperature of the FLG and the chance of vacuum breakdown were reduced. The destructive in situ TEM field emission test of a single FLG showed that the breakage of the graphite interlayer during field emission blocks up the lateral heat dissipation path, causes heat accumulation and finally induces the vacuum breakdown of FLG. Benefiting from the graphite interlayer, the high current field emission characteristics of a single FLG were achieved. The maximum field emission current of six single FLG samples was between 78 and 233 μA with the corresponding current densities in the range of 1.2 × 107-5.85 × 108 A cm-2. This finding demonstrates that interface heat engineering is crucial for nanomaterial-based field emitters that work under high current and high temperature conditions.

STUDYING HYDROGEN DIFFUSION IN PALLADIUM SILVER FILMS BY MOLECULAR DYNAMICS

The formation of Pd1–xAgx thin films from the gas phase on a silver substrate is simulated by molecular dynamics. The influence of coating composition on hydrogen diffusion in these films is studied by varying x from 0 to 0.5 with a step of 0.05. The hydrogen absorbed in the structures is mainly concentrated on the coating surfaces and at the film–substrate interface. The proportion of hydrogen in the bulk of the deposited layer increases together with the concentration of silver. The coefficient of hydrogen diffusion in the bulk of the film is calculated by introducing two potential barriers which act selectively on hydrogen atoms to prevent them from reaching the film boundaries. It is shown that the coefficient of hydrogen self-diffusion decreases and the average hydrogen absorption energy increases as silver content increases in the deposited layer.

Effects of Mg-Al Alloy and Pure Ti on High Temperature Wetting and Coherency on Al Interface Using the Sessile Drop Method

In this study, high temperature wetting analysis and AZ80/Ti interfacial structure observation are performed for the mixture of AZ80 and Ti, and the effect of Al on wetting in Mg alloy is examined. Both molten AZ80 and pure Mg have excellent wettability because the wet angle between molten droplets and the Ti substrate is about 10° from initial contact. Wetting angle decreases with time, and wetting phenomenon continues between droplets and substrate; the change in wetting angle does not show a significant difference when comparing AZ80-Ti and Mg-Ti. As a result of XRD of the lower surface of the AZ80-Ti sample, in addition to the Ti peak of the substrate, the peak of TiAl3, which is a Ti-Al intermetallic compound, is confirmed, and TiAl3 is generated in the Al enrichment region of the Ti substrate surface. EDS analysis is performed on the droplet tip portion of the sample section in which pure Mg droplets are dropped on the Ti substrate. Concentration of oxygen by the natural oxide film is not confirmed on the Ti surface, but oxygen is distributed at the tip of the droplet on the Mg side. Molten AZ80 and Ti-based compound phases are produced by thickening of Al in the vicinity of Ti after wetting is completed, and Al in the Mg alloy does not affect the wetting. The driving force of wetting progression is a thermite reaction that occurs between Mg and TiO2, and then Al in AZ80 thickens on the Ti substrate interface to form an intermetallic compound.

Effect of film / substrate interface properties on adhesion of CrN films

Effect of film / substrate interface properties on adhesion of CrN films

A compact design for narrowband optical absorber based on surface plasmon polaritons

A compact design for realizing narrowband optical absorbers at deep subwavelength is proposed, the physical regime of which is based on the excitation of quasi-surface plasmon polariton (quasi-SPP) mode at metal–substrate interface. Due to its small intrinsic loss balanced with the radiation loss, peak absorbance exceeding 99.9% with full width at half-maximum (FWHM) 2.6 nm is achieved at normal incidence. The spatially resolved feature at fixed wavelength, with narrower angular width and high peak absorbance at larger angle of incidence for TE polarization, makes the design more suitable for potential applications in optical filters, optical measurement, biosensors, and thermal emitters.

Mechanical and Physical Regulation of Fibroblast-Myofibroblast Transition: From Cellular Mechanoresponse to Tissue Pathology.

Fibroblasts are cells present throughout the human body that are primarily responsible for the production and maintenance of the extracellular matrix (ECM) within the tissues. They have the capability to modify the mechanical properties of the ECM within the tissue and transition into myofibroblasts, a cell type that is associated with the development of fibrotic tissue through an acute increase of cell density and protein deposition. This transition from fibroblast to myofibroblast—a well-known cellular hallmark of the pathological state of tissues—and the environmental stimuli that can induce this transition have received a lot of attention, for example in the contexts of asthma and cardiac fibrosis. Recent efforts in understanding how cells sense their physical environment at the micro- and nano-scales have ushered in a new appreciation that the substrates on which the cells adhere provide not only passive influence, but also active stimulus that can affect fibroblast activation. These studies suggest that mechanical interactions at the cell–substrate interface play a key role in regulating this phenotype transition by changing the mechanical and morphological properties of the cells. Here, we briefly summarize the reported chemical and physical cues regulating fibroblast phenotype. We then argue that a better understanding of how cells mechanically interact with the substrate (mechanosensing) and how this influences cell behaviors (mechanotransduction) using well-defined platforms that decouple the physical stimuli from the chemical ones can provide a powerful tool to control the balance between physiological tissue regeneration and pathological fibrotic response.

Silicon substrate significantly alters dipole-dipole resolution in coherent microscope

Considering a coherent microscopy setup, influences of the substrate below the sample in the imaging performances are studied, with a focus on high refractive index substrate such as silicon. Analytical expression of 3D full-wave vectorial point spread function, i.e. the dyadic Green's function is derived for the optical setup together with the substrate. Numerical analysis are performed in order to understand and compare magnification, depth of field, and resolution when using silicon substrate versus the conventional glass substrate or usually modelled condition of no substrate. Novel insights are generated about the scope of resolution improvement due to near field effect of the silicon substrate. Importantly, we show that the expected resolution varies greatly with the position of the sources and the substrate interface relative to the focal plane. Both better and worse resolution as compared to glass substrate may be expected with small changes in their positions. Therefore, our studies show that deriving a single indicative number of expected resolution is neither possible nor judicious for the case of silicon substrate.