Felicia Manciu

Thermalizing an impulse

We study the propagation of an impulse through a finite chain of N elastic beads in which the grain diameters progressively shrink by a factor q. We show that it should be possible to construct “tapered” chains that can effectively thermalize shock waves.

Development of Conductive Boron-Doped Diamond Electrode: A microscopic, Spectroscopic, and Voltammetric Study

Building on diamond characteristics such as hardness, chemical inertness and low electron emission threshold voltage, the current microscopic, spectroscopic and voltammetric investigations are directed towards improving the properties of electrode coating materials for their future use in clinical studies of deep brain stimulation via fast-scan cyclic voltammetry (FSCV). In this study we combine the capabilities of confocal Raman mapping in providing detailed and accurate analysis of local distributions of material constituents in a series of boron-doped polycrystalline diamond films grown by chemical vapor deposition, with information from the more conventional techniques of scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and infrared absorption spectroscopy. Although SEM images show a uniform distribution of film crystallites, they have the limitation of being unable to differentiate the distribution of boron in the diamond. Values of 1018–1021 atoms/cm3 of boron content have been estimated from the absorption coefficient of the 1290 cm−1 infrared absorption band and from the 500 cm−1 Raman vibration. The observed accumulation of boron atoms and carbon sp2 impurities at the grain boundaries suggests that very high doping levels do not necessarily contribute to improvement of the material’s conductivity, corroborating with voltammetric data. FSCV results also indicate an enhanced stability of analyte detection.

A Diamond-Based Electrode for Detection of Neurochemicals in the Human Brain

Deep brain stimulation (DBS), a surgical technique to treat certain neurologic and psychiatric conditions, relies on pre-determined stimulation parameters in an open-loop configuration. The major advancement in DBS devices is a closed-loop system that uses neurophysiologic feedback to dynamically adjust stimulation frequency and amplitude. Stimulation-driven neurochemical release can be measured by fast-scan cyclic voltammetry (FSCV), but existing FSCV electrodes rely on carbon fiber, which degrades quickly during use and is therefore unsuitable for chronic neurochemical recording. To address this issue, we developed durable, synthetic boron-doped diamond-based electrodes capable of measuring neurochemical release in humans. Compared to carbon fiber electrodes, they were more than two orders-of-magnitude more physically-robust and demonstrated longevity in vitro without deterioration. Applied for the first time in humans, diamond electrode recordings from thalamic targets in patients (n = 4) undergoing DBS for tremor produced signals consistent with adenosine release at a sensitivity comparable to carbon fiber electrodes. (Clinical trials # NCT01705301).

Tungsten oxide (WO3) thin films for application in advanced energy systems

Inherent processes in coal gasification plants produce hazardous hydrogen sulfide (H2S), which must be continuously and efficiently detected and removed before the fuel is used for power generation. An attempt has been made in this work to fabricate tungsten oxide (WO3) thin films by radio-frequency reactive magnetron-sputter deposition. The impetus being the use of WO3 films for H2S sensors in coal gasification plants. The effect of growth temperature, which is varied in the range of 30–500 °C, on the growth and microstructure of WO3 thin films is investigated. Characterizations made using scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and x-ray diffraction (XRD) indicate that the effect of temperature is significant on the microstructure of WO3 films. XRD and SEM results indicate that the WO3 films grown at room temperature are amorphous, whereas films grown at higher temperatures are nanocrystalline. The average grain-size increases with increasing temperature. WO3 films exhibit smooth morphology at growth tempera...

Ejection of ferrofluid grains using nonlinear acoustic impulses— A particle dynamical study

We consider a model dilute ferrofluid with the grains suspended in water (e.g.,γ-Fe2O3) and subject the system to a strong, homogeneous magnetic field directed perpendicular to the surface such that there is chain formation along the field direction. We show that an appropriate impulse initiated at the base of the container might travel as a nondispersive soliton pulse with sufficient energy to overcome surface tension and eject the ferrofluid grain nearest to the liquid–air interface. The proposed mechanism, if successfully realized in the laboratory, could help design a nozzle-free, ink-jet printer of unparalleled resolution.We consider a model dilute ferrofluid with the grains suspended in water (e.g.,γ-Fe2O3) and subject the system to a strong, homogeneous magnetic field directed perpendicular to the surface such that there is chain formation along the field direction. We show that an appropriate impulse initiated at the base of the container might travel as a nondispersive soliton pulse with sufficient energy to overcome surface tension and eject the ferrofluid grain nearest to the liquid–air interface. The proposed mechanism, if successfully realized in the laboratory, could help design a nozzle-free, ink-jet printer of unparalleled resolution.

On the surface tension and Zeta potential of electrolyte solutions

The distribution of ions in the vicinity of the air/water interface is still a matter of strong debate, with numerous calculations and experiments providing contradictory results, even regarding the preference of simple ions (such as H+ and OH-) for interfacial or bulk water. When short range interactions between ions and the interface are assumed independent of bulk concentrations, if they are compatible with the surface tension data, they underpredict the experimental Zeta potentials by orders of magnitude. If they are compatible with Zeta potential data, they are in strong disagreement with surface tension experiments. It is suggested that these observations might be a result of the relatively low number of interfacial water molecules available to hydrate the ions and the competition between various ions for adsorption sites. Therefore, whereas at low bulk concentrations, the Structure-Breaking ions prefer the interface, at sufficiently large bulk concentrations the surface adsorptions of these ions become saturated, and their interfacial concentrations may become lower than in the bulk. Consequently, the total interactions of ions with the interface can be strongly attractive at low bulk concentrations, and less attractive (or even repulsive), at high concentrations. To model this effect, the interactions between ions and interface are taken into account via modified Langmuir adsorption expressions for OH- and Cl-, while the H+ ions are considered to be attached to any interfacial water molecule, even if the latter participate in the hydration of anions. The simple model of adsorption employed here is in agreement with both experiments on Zeta potential and on surface tension, and might reveal the conditions under which a given ion exhibits propensity for either the air/water interface, or for bulk water.

Optical constants, band gap, and infrared-active phonons of (LaAlO3)0.3(Sr2AlTaO6)0.35 (LSAT) from spectroscopic ellipsometry

Using spectroscopic ellipsometry, the authors determined the optical constants (complex dielectric function) for (LaAlO3)0.3(Sr2AlTaO6)0.35 (LSAT) from 0.01 to 6.5 eV. Above 0.5 eV, the data were described with a sum of two Tauc-Lorentz oscillators and two poles. A direct gap of 5.8 ± 0.1 eV was found. An Urbach tail extends to even lower photon energies and makes the crystal opaque above 4.8 eV. Using Fourier-transform infrared ellipsometry, the lattice dynamics was studied. Nine pairs of transverse/longitudinal phonons were found and attributed to disorder in the La/Sr sublattice, ordering in the Al/Ta sublattice, and two-phonon absorption.

Robust megavoltage x-ray spectra estimation from transmission measurements.

Megavoltage X-ray sources are commonly used for therapy planning, and knowledge of their spectral distribution is important for accurate dose calculations. There are many methods that could provide reasonable estimations of Megavoltage X-ray spectra, when very accurate attenuation data or at least very good set of initial guesses of the spectra are available. We present here a novel method, which can be used for accurate Megavoltage spectral reconstruction without any prior knowledge of spectral distribution; the method performs well even when the available transmission data are affected by noise. The method is based on a search for a smooth function that minimizes the differences between measured and calculated attenuation data. The algorithm is compared with well-known existing algorithms, using computer simulated data, both error-free and containing added random Gaussian noise. The reconstructed spectra are subsequently used to calculate the transmission through 50 cm of bone, muscle or fat tissue. It is shown that the relative errors in dose calculations, using the spectra reconstructed via this method, are significantly smaller than those obtained via well-established reconstruction algorithms--Truncated Singular Value Decomposition (TSVD) and Expectation Maximization (EM). These results suggest that the novel algorithm might be practical for routine Megavoltage therapy X-ray source calibration.

Impulse acoustics based ejection of ferrofluid grains from a ferrofluid: the blueprint of a concept for a nozzle-free inkjet printer

We present numerical simulations to demonstrate that it may be possible to eject ferrofluid grains from a ferrofluid using non-linear acoustic impulses. The study considers a container with some dilute ferrofluid that is placed in a strong, vertical, homogeneous magnetic field. The field induces the formation of magnetic dipoles into vertical chains that approximately span the region between the base and the surface of the container. We use particle dynamical simulations to show that an impulse generated at the base of any chain, will typically travel as a weakly dispersive bundle of energy. When the impulse magnitudes are appropriate (typically ~60 m/s or more) the ferrofluid grain nearest to the surface of the liquid may be ejected by the impulse. Since all ferrofluid grains possess a coating of the liquid host, the ejected grain can be used as an ink-drop, with typical diameter of 15 or so nanometers. The velocities of the ejecting grains can be controlled and hence the method, if experimentally feasible, may have wide ranging applications. One of these applications is likely to be in designing special-purpose nozzle-free inkjet printers of unprecedented resolution.

Possibility of controlled ejection of ferrofluid grains from a magnetically ordered ferrofluid using high frequency non-linear acoustic pulses – a particle dynamical study

Abstract We consider a model dilute ferrofluid that is subjected to a strong, homogeneous magnetic field directed perpendicular to the surface of the ferrofluid, such that there is a chain formation in the direction perpendicular to the surface of the liquid. We study the propagation of impulses generated at high-frequency across finite times through the ferrofluid chains. Our numerical analysis shows that a very high-frequency sequence of non-linear acoustic pulses of appropriate magnitudes, initiated at the base of the container, can lead to the ejection of desired number of ferrofluid grains through the liquid–air interface. The proposed mechanism, if successfully realized in the laboratory, could help design a nozzle-free, ultrafast, ink-jet printer of unparalleled resolution.