(Press-News.org) A breakthrough in the study of chemical reactions during etching and coating of materials was achieved by a research group headed by Kiel physicist, Professor Olaf Magnussen. The team from the Christian-Albrechts-Universität zu Kiel (CAU), Germany, in collaboration with staff from the European Synchrotron Radiation Facility (ESRF) in Grenoble, France, have uncovered for the first time just what happens in manufacturing processes, used for the formation of metal contacts thinner than a human hair in modern consumer electronics, such as flat-screen television. The results appear as the cover feature in the current issue (23.3.2011) of the renowned Journal of the American Chemical Society.
For their research the scientists used the intense X-ray radiation of the experimental station ID32, one of the ESRF's instruments. The X-ray beam was directed onto a gold surface while it dissolved in diluted hydrochloric acid. Because the reflected X-rays are sensitive to tiny changes in the atomic arrangement at the material's surface, the metal removal during the reaction can be precisely measured. "Such studies were only possible during very slow changes of the material so far", Olaf Magnussen explains. To gain insight into the fast reactions going on in industrially employed processes the speed of the measurements had to be increased more than a hundredfold. Even during very fast etching the removal of the metal proceeded very uniformly. "The material dissolves quasi atomic layer by atomic layer, without formation of deeper holes", Magnussen remarks. In a similar way, the team could follow the attachment of atoms during the chemical coating of materials.
Among the diverse industrial applications of chemical etching and coating are high-tech manufacturing processes, for example in the production of electronic devices. These require precisely controlled reactions. In order to optimize such etching and coating processes they are intensely studied worldwide. Until now it was only possible to analyse the finished product. With the method developed by the scientists, changes within a few thousandth seconds may be detected so that the reactions at the material's surface can be tracked on the atomic scale under realistic conditions.
Christian-Albrechts-Universität zu Kiel is a North German research university with proven international expertise in the field of nanoscience, including research using synchrotron radiation. In a number of research networks, funded by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research, Kiel scientists develop new methods and instruments. In addition, the CAU competes for a Cluster of Excellence in the area of nanoscience and surface science within the ongoing round of the German Excellence Initiative.
INFORMATION:
The ESRF is a European research institution, funded by 19 nations, providing and utilizing brilliant synchrotron X-rays for advanced scientific research.
Original publication:
F. Golks, K. Krug, Y. Gründer, J. Zegenhagen, J. Stettner, O. Magnussen: High-speed in situ surface X-ray diffraction studies of the electrochemical dissolution of Au(001).
Journal of the American Chemical Society 2010, 133, 3772
Three images on this topic are available for download:
http://www.uni-kiel.de/download/pm/2011/2011-027-1.png
Caption: Graphical representation of the experiment. The X-ray beam impinges on a gold surface, which is chemically dissolving. A fast X-ray detector captures the reflected beam. From the fluctuations of the beam intensity with time, the atomic-scale changes at the surface are deduced.
Copyright: CAU, artwork: J. Golks
http://www.uni-kiel.de/download/pm/2011/2011-027-2.jpg
Caption: Graduate student and first author Frederik Golks while adjusting the gold sample for the experiment at the European Synchrotron Radiation Source.
Copyright: CAU, Photo: J. Stettner
http://www.uni-kiel.de/download/pm/2011/2011-027-3.jpg
Caption: European Synchrotron Radiation Source in Grenoble, France.
Copyright: ESRF
END
Ambrico, creators of the popular E-Z Thin Brick installation system, have announced a new partnership with Clover Creek Brick Company of Kentucky. As providers of high quality clay brick and thin brick products, Ambrico is excited about this latest partnership, which brings Clover Creek's exclusive products directly to their customers. Specializing in high quality, tumbled bricks, Clover Creek has been producing materials at their historical production site for over 125 years, making them leaders in the clay brick industry.
Ambrico, who has been recommending Clover ...
Even relatively mild stress can lead to long term disability and an inability to work, reveals a large population based study published online in the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health.
It is well known that mental health problems are associated with long term disability, but the impact of milder forms of psychological stress is likely to have been underestimated, say the authors.
Between 2002 and 2007, the authors tracked the health of more than 17,000 working adults up to the age of 64, who had been randomly selected from the population in the Stockholm ...
International piracy costs the shipping industry billions of dollars a year and leads to high-profile murders that make global headlines. Longstanding concerns over piracy have led to numerous international laws and conventions designed to keep pirates in check – but research from North Carolina State University shows that the tangled network of laws may actually be helping pirates escape justice.
"We wanted to know why the international community is not working together and taking advantage of existing laws to address piracy, even as piracy is on the rise in places like ...
Methadone has been used to treat heroin addicts for nearly 50 years. Yet we have surprisingly incomplete knowledge about possible harmful effects from prolonged use. New research from the Norwegian Institute of Public Health shows that methadone affects the brain and impairs the attention of experimental animals.
In general, opioids such as heroin and morphine are known to weaken intellectual functions such as learning, memory and attention.
"It is therefore tempting to assume that methadone has similar effects," says researcher Jannike M. Andersen at the NIPH's Division ...
Applications on modern wireless devices make demands on data rate and connectivity far beyond anything experienced in the past. One way to meet these stringent requirements is to give the device multiple antennas or multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) technology. The problem of physically accommodating these additional antennas in the latest consumer products is investigated in new research from the University of Bristol.
The study by academics in the field of antennas and propagation in the University's Centre for Communications Research (CCR) is published in the journal ...
Men with high-risk prostate cancer who take statin drugs commonly used to lower cholesterol while receiving radiation therapy are less likely to have their cancer return than patients who do not take these medications, according to a study published in the March issue of the International Journal of Radiation Oncology•Biology•Physics, an official journal of the American Society for Radiation Oncology (ASTRO).
In the study, 1,681 men with high-risk, localized prostate cancer were treated with radiation therapy between 1995 and 2007. Of them, 382 (23 percent) were taking ...
It is not clear whether disease management programs (DMPs), which are expensive and involve a great deal of documentation, improve medical outcomes for participants. Roland Linder's working group present their results in the current issue of Deutsches Ärzteblatt International (Dtsch Arztebl Int 2011; 108[10]: 155).
In 2009, DMPs in Germany cost around 1.1 billion euros; the larger part of this related to the DMP for type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM).
The authors investigated whether the T2DM DMP resulted in medical benefit for patients. To do this, they analyzed ...
With 300 days of sunshine a year, it is no surprise that bicycling is a popular pastime in the State of Colorado. Whether for transportation or recreation, thousands of Coloradans take to the streets and trails all year long. Considering the sheer volume of cyclists in the state, some bike accidents will inevitably happen. Yet, many of those hurt while cycling fail to consider a possible cause of their injuries: bicycle defects.
Bike product recalls are a common occurrence. A bicycle design or manufacturing defect can cause severe injury to the rider. Unfortunately, ...
Having sex for the first time can improve or degrade your self-image depending on whether you are male or female, according to Penn State researchers. On average, college-age males become more satisfied with their appearance after first intercourse, whereas college-age females become slightly less satisfied.
"We're not talking about 12-year-old girls having sex, so it's striking that even among these young women -- who are 17 or older when they first had sex -- their images of themselves went down," said Eva S. Lefkowitz, associate professor of human development and family ...
This press release is available in Spanish.
Using commercially available parts, U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) scientists and colleagues have developed a new automated system for detecting insects based on the peculiar sounds the insects make while moving.
According to entomologist Richard Mankin of USDA's Agricultural Research Service (ARS), one likely application will be to automate routine monitoring of industrial-scale traps, especially those placed in hard-to-reach areas like crawl spaces or near food processing equipment.
Automated insect monitoring ...
