Sharif Digital Repository

Models capable of accurate simulation of microcantilever dynamics coupled with complex tip–sample interactions are essential for interpretation and prediction of the imaging results in amplitude modulation or tapping-mode atomic-force microscopy (AM-AFM or TM-AFM). In this paper, four approaches based on combinations of lumped and finite element methods for modelling of cantilever dynamics, and van der Waals and molecular dynamics for modelling of tip–sample interactions, are used to simulate the precise imaging by AM-AFM. Based on the simulated imaging and force determination, the efficiency of different modelling schemes is evaluated. This comparison is performed considering their... 

In this investigation, we have studied the elemental diffusion coefficients of the Cu/Ta and Ta/Si interfaces in the Cu/Ta/Si(1 1 1) structure. The diffusion parameters for Cu diffusion into the Ta barrier layer, Ta diffusion into the Si substrate and diffusion of Si atoms into the Ta layer have been calculated using conversion of RBS data to concentration-depth profile curves and the solution of Fick's equation based on a constant diffusing amount boundary conditions. Furthermore, by calculating grain boundary diffusion coefficients, we have estimated grain boundary slabs of the Ta layer at different temperatures. It was shown that, the width of grain boundary slabs in the Ta layer at 700°C... 

In this paper, the possibility of guided light propagation in dielectric slab waveguides in the presence of interface free charge layers is explored. It is shown that, under certain conditions, the interface charge layer can have no influence on the TM or TE polarized guided modes. The density, and therefore the conductivity, of the interface free charges can be controlled by a transverse dc voltage. It is concluded that the applied voltage across such a structure can be used for switching the light propagation on or off. This device finds numerous applications in integrated optics, as discussed here. A design example is also presented  

Often, during fabrication processes of fiber-matrix composites, the pertinent interface may be made imperfectly bonded either deliberately or undesirably. The effect of electric capacitors and mechanical imperfections on the electro-mechanical fields associated with an anisotropic piezoelectric matrix containing a cylindrical inhomogeneity made of a different anisotropic piezoelectric material is of interest. In fact the interface imperfection condition presented in this paper is quite general, in the sense that any combination of mechanical and electrical imperfections may exist. The interface electrical imperfection is mimicked by the electric capacitors. The capacity of the capacitors is... 

In this article, a time-domain non-linear model is proposed for quantum dynamics of interface traps. This model includes the effects of thermoionic emission, combined with the drift and tunneling currents. The model is simplified for the case of interface traps of the directly bonded Silicon wafers, and linearized. Therefore, an equivalent electrical circuit is obtained being composed of two resistive and capacitive branches. The theory predicts a close spacing between the corresponding zero and pole in the frequency response of the system, being justified by experiment on directly bonded n-type Silicon wafers. The low frequency response to a square-wave is quite in agreement with the... 

The scattering of in-plane P- and SV-waves by a multi-coated circular nanofiber with deformable interfaces is of interest. To this end, in the present work, after introducing two kinds of interface momenta defined as the derivative of the interface excess kinetic energy with respect to the average and relative velocities at the interface, we extend the elastostatic theory of Gurtin et al. (1998) on deformable interfaces to the elastodynamic theory and derive the interface equations of motion using Hamilton principle. The effects of the generalized interface properties including the interface inertial parameters and interface stiffness towards stretch and slip on the dynamic stress... 

In this paper, an enriched finite element method is presented for numerical simulation of saturated porous media. The arbitrary discontinuities, such as material interfaces, are encountered via the extended finite element method (X-FEM) by enhancing the standard FEM displacements. The X-FEM technique is applied to the governing equations of porous media for the spatial discretization, followed by a generalized Newmark scheme used for the time domain discretization. In X-FEM, the material interfaces are represented independently of element boundaries and the process is accomplished by partitioning the domain with some triangular sub-elements whose Gauss points are used for integration of the... 

Microstructural development and phase formation at the interface of yttria stabilized zirconia (3Y-TZP)/430L stainless steel composite layers produced by co-sintering method were studied by SEM, HRTEM, micro-focus XRD, and EPMA. Formation of a rich chromium boundary layer at the interface was noticed, which revealed Cr aggregation at the interface at the elevated temperatures. Misfit dislocations were also observed at the joint interface to tackle the mismatch crystallographic orientations between the ceramic and metal layer. The results of the micro-focus XRD showed formation of no new phases at the boundary zone. Microstructural studies also revealed a retarded grain growth in the... 

The elastic behavior of an edge dislocation placed in the shell of a free-standing core-shell nanowire is considered within the theory of surface/interface elasticity. Using the method of complex potential functions the expressions for the stress field of the dislocation, image forces on the dislocation, and the dislocation strain energy are derived and studied in detail. A special attention is paid to non-classical effects revealed within the surface/interface elasticity approach where a characteristic length parameter referred to as surface/interface modulus is introduced. These effects are (i) the stress oscillations along the shell surface and core-shell interface for negative values of... 

Roll bonding is the most important stage of the accumulative roll bonding process, which is used to produce high strength composites. The presence of a particle layer at the interface alters the bonding condition and increases the threshold reduction for the commencement of bonding. In this study, the bonding mechanism in presence of powder at the interface is analyzed and a theoretical model is proposed to predict the required threshold reduction in warm roll bonding of commercially pure aluminum sheets as a function of amount of alumina particles at the interface. The model considers the rolling parameters and the effect of amount and size of particles by defining some constants, which are... 

In this paper, a polygonal-FEM technique is presented in modeling of arbitrary interfaces in large deformations. The method is used to model the internal interfaces and arbitrary geometries using a uniform non-conformal mesh. The technique is applied to capture discontinuous deformations in the non-conformal elements, which are cut by the interface in a uniform regular mesh. In this approach, a uniform non-conformal mesh is decomposed into sub-elements that conform to the internal interfaces. The geometry of interface is used to produce various triangular, quadrilateral and pentagonal elements at the intersection of interface with regular FE mesh, in which the extra degrees-of-freedom are... 

The critical condition for the generation of a screw misfit dislocation dipole (MDD) at the interface between a nanowire (NW) with uniform shear misfit strain and its surrounding unbounded matrix within surface/interface elasticity theory is of particular interest. The analysis is carried out using the complex potential variable method. It is shown that the critical radius of the NW corresponding to the onset of the MDD generation decreases with the increase in the uniform shear eigenstrain inside the NW as well as when the stiffness of the NW increases with respect to the matrix. The critical radius strongly depends on the non-classical interface parameter. Comparison is made with classical... 

Abstract original image Smart Enhanced Oil Recovery Process using Core–Shell Nanoparticles: The cover image denotes schematically the enhanced oil recovery process by flooding using an aqueous dispersion of core–shell nanoparticles made up of protected polyacrylamide nanostructures (PPNs). Y. Tamsilian and his colleagues at Sharif University of Technology (Iran) and the Institute for Polymer Material (POLYMAT, Spain) demonstrated the synthesis of polyacrylamide nanoparticles protected with a hydrophobic polystyrene shell by using a one-pot, two-step inverse emulsion polymerization technique, where the polystyrene shell was created by surface polymerization. The presence of the hydrophobic... 

An electroflotation technique was utilized to reclaim the surfactant molecules from oil-in-water emulsions. A two-staged separation mechanism was suggested to describe the process. The surfactant recovery efficiencies were higher than 70% after 30 min treatment. The method could be an effective process in recycling surfactants from the emulsions existing in industrial wastes. This is an abstract of a paper presented at the 8th World Congress of Chemical Engineering (Montreal, Quebec, Canada 8/23-27/2009)  

Molecular dynamics (MD) simulation was utilized to study the role of asphaltene extracted from Gachsaran (an Iranian oilfield) at the synthetic oil-water interface. In agreement with experimental data, IFTs predicted by MD simulation for heptol/brine system showed a minima at around 50 vol.% n-heptane, reflecting the highest contribution of asphaltene into the interface. At greater n-heptane fractions, IFT was increased steadily. Simulation results suggest the asphaltene propensity for remaining in the bulk heptol phase rather related to the fraction of toluene in the mixture. Heptol ingredients, i.e., toluene and heptane, act differently with respect to asphaltene, where former tends to... 

An important challenge in smart environments is how to manipulate the smart objects. Although mobile applications are typically used for controlling a smart environment, no previous study has evaluated the users performance in manipulating smart objects under different environmental complexities. This article presents an experimental comparison between three different selection techniques 3-D, 2-D, and physical user interfaces (UIs). We evaluate these techniques across two levels of environment complexity measuring 51 participants timing data and errors. Our results indicate that the 3-D UI is superior for task completion time and error, and the 2-D UI is not a better solution than the... 

In this paper, a modified transfer matrix method is applied for the analysis of electromagnetic slow wave propagation in Kronig-Penny photonic crystals. Analytic expressions for Bloch wavenumbers in terms of normalized frequency are derived and the asymptotic behaviour of electromagnetic slow wave propagation in these structures is investigated at different regimes. The tight binding method is also used for the analysis of electromagnetic slow wave propagation in Kronig-Penny photonic crystals and analytic expressions are given. It has been shown that forbidden wavenumbers rather than forbidden frequencies can be observed under specific circumstances  

The electromagnetic interface states formed in a heterostructure composed of two semi-infinite Kronig-Penny photonic crystals were studied. Modified transfer matrices were used for the study to show strong similarity between solid-state physics and electromagnetics. The calculations were limited to TE polarization and the numerical examples for both surface and interface states were given  

In several recent papers, layered waveguide structures with conductive interfaces have been discussed, whose propagation properties are controlled by a transverse voltage. These structures can be used as a dynamic optical read/write memory cell, and programmable optical diffractive element. In this paper, the excitation of surface waves with the presence of interface charges is discussed. Interface charges affect the dispersion of surface waves, and therefore they can be used in various applications such as optical modulators, switches, sensors and filters. These waves can be superior to surface plasmon waves since they are not lossy. The lossless property is satisfied in limited range:...