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    Liquid-Phase Electron Microscopy for Soft Matter Science and Biology
    (Weinheim : Wiley-VCH Verlag, 2020) Wu, H.; Friedrich, H.; Patterson, J.P.; Sommerdijk, N.A.J.M.; de Jonge, N.
    Innovations in liquid-phase electron microscopy (LP-EM) have made it possible to perform experiments at the optimized conditions needed to examine soft matter. The main obstacle is conducting experiments in such a way that electron beam radiation can be used to obtain answers for scientific questions without changing the structure and (bio)chemical processes in the sample due to the influence of the radiation. By overcoming these experimental difficulties at least partially, LP-EM has evolved into a new microscopy method with nanometer spatial resolution and sub-second temporal resolution for analysis of soft matter in materials science and biology. Both experimental design and applications of LP-EM for soft matter materials science and biological research are reviewed, and a perspective of possible future directions is given.
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    Microstructure Evaluation and Impurities in La Containing Silicon Oxynitrides
    (Basel : MDPI, 2021) Hakeem, Abbas Saeed; Ali, Sharafat; Höche, Thomas; Drmosh, Qasem Ahmed; Khan, Amir Azam; Jonson, Bo
    Oxynitride glasses are not yet commercialised primarily due to the impurities present in the network of these glasses. In this work, we investigated the microstructure and instinctive defects in nitrogen rich La-Si-O-N glasses. Glasses were prepared by heating a powder mixture of pure La metal, Si3N4, and SiO2 in a nitrogen atmosphere at 1650-1800 °C. The microstructure and impurities in the glasses were examined by optical microscopy, scanning electron microscopy, atomic force microscopy, and transmission electron microscopy in conjunction with electron energy-loss spectroscopy. Analyses showed that the glasses contain a small amount of spherical metal silicide particles, mostly amorphous or poorly crystalline, and having sizes typically ranging from 1 µm and less. The amount of silicide was estimated to be less than 2 vol. %. There was no systematic relation between silicide formation and glass composition or preparation temperature. The microstructure examination revealed that the opacity of these nitrogen rich glasses is due to the elemental Si arise from the decomposition reaction of silicon nitride and silicon oxide, at a high temperature above ~1600 °C and from the metallic silicide particles formed by the reduction of silicon oxide and silicon nitride at an early stage of reaction to form a silicide intermetallic with the La metal.
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    Systematic tuning of segmented magnetic nanowires into three-dimensional arrays of 'bits'
    (London : RSC Publishing, 2017) Bochmann, S.; Fernandez-Pacheco, A.; Mačković, M.; Neff, A.; Siefermann, K.R.; Spiecker, E.; Cowburn, R.P.; Bachmann, J.
    A method is presented for the preparation of a three-dimensional magnetic data storage material system. The major ingredients are an inert nanoporous matrix prepared by anodization and galvanic plating of magnetic and non-magnetic metals in wire shape inside the cylindrical pores. The individual nanomagnets consist of a nickel-cobalt alloy, the composition of which is tuned systematically by adjusting the electrolytic bath composition at one optimal applied potential. The lowest magnetocrystalline anisotropy is obtained at the composition Ni60Co40, as quantified by superconducting quantum interference device magnetometry. Wires of this composition experience a pinning-free propagation of magnetic domain walls, as determined by single-wire magneto-optical Kerr effect magnetometry. Adding copper into the electrolyte allows one to generate segments of Ni60Co40 separated by non-magnetic copper. The segment structure is apparent in individual nanowires imaged by scanning electron microscopy, UV-photoelectron emission microscopy, and transmission electron microscopy. The single-domain structure of the wire segments is evidenced by magnetic force microscopy.