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Ultra-thin films (e.g., graphene, MoS2, and black phosphorus) have shown amazing performance in a variety of applications. The tailoring or machining of these ultra-thin films is often the preliminary step to manufacturing them into functional devices. Atomic force microscopy (AFM) is a flexible, high-efficiency and low-cost tailoring or machining tool with the advantages of high resolution and precision. However, the current AFM-based tailoring methods are often set up as an open loop regarding the machined depth and state. Thus, because of a lack of real-time feedback, an inappropriate applied force leads to over-cutting or under-cutting, which limits the performance of the manufactured devices. In this study, we propose a real-time tailoring and sensing method based on an ultrasonic vibration-assisted (USV-assisted) AFM system to solve the above problems. With the proposed method, the machined depth and state can be sensed in real time by detecting the phase value of the vibrating cantilever. To characterize and gain insight into the phase responses of the cantilever to the machined depth and sample material, a theoretical dynamic model of a cantilever-film vibrating system is introduced to model the machining process, and a sensing theory of machined depth and state is developed based on a USV-assisted AFM system. The experimental results verify the feasibility and effectiveness of the proposed method, which in turn lay the foundation for a closed-loop tailoring control strategy for ultra-thin films. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Tin oxide (SnO2) is one of the most promising transparent conducting oxide materials, which is widely used in thin film gas sensors. We investigate the dependence of the deposition time on structural, morphological and hydrogen gas sensing properties of SnO2 thin films synthesized by dc magnetron sputtering. The deposited samples are characterized by XRD, SEM, AFM, surface area measurements and surface profiler. Also the H2 gas sensing properties of SnO2 deposited samples are performed against a wide range of operating temperature. The XRD analysis demonstrates that the degree of crystallinity of the deposited SnO2 films strongly depends on the deposition time. SEM and AFM analyses reveal that the size of nanoparticles or agglomerates, and both average and rms surface roughness is enhanced with the increasing deposition time. Also gas sensors based on these SnO2 nanolayers show an acceptable response to hydrogen at various operating temperatures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this study is to investigate feasibility of a novel real-time dosimetry method for fluoroscopically guided interventions utilizing thin-film detector arrays in several potential locations with respect to the patient and x-ray equipment. We employed Monte Carlo (MC) simulation to establish the fluoroscopic beam model to determine dosimetric quantities directly from measured doses in thin-film detector arrays at three positions: A—attached to the x-ray source, B—on the couch under the patient and C—attached to the fluoroscopic imager. Next, we developed a calibration method to determine skin dose at the entry of the beam () as well as the dose distribution along each ray of the beam in a water-equivalent patient model. We utilized the concept of water-equivalent thickness to determine the dose inside the patient based on doses measured outside of the patient by the thin-film detector array layers: (a) A, (b) B, or (c) B and C. In the process of calibration we determined a correction factor that characterizes the material-specific response of the detector, backscatter factor and attenuation factor for slab water phantoms of various thicknesses. Application of this method to an anthropomorphic phantom showed accuracy of about 1% for and up to about 10% for integral dose along the beam path when compared to a direct simulation of dose by MC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Bismuth Hall effect sensors with active sizes in the range of 0.1–2 μm have been fabricated by electron beam lithography and lift-off techniques for applications in scanning Hall probe microscopy. The Hall coefficients, offset resistances and minimum detectable fields of the sensors have been systematically characterised as a function of device size. The minimum detectable field of 100 nm probes at 300 K and dc currents of 5 μA was found to be Bmin = 0.9 mT Hz−0.5 with scope for up to a factor of ten reduction by using higher Hall probe currents. This is significantly lower than in similar samples fabricated by focused ion beam (FIB) milling of continuous Bi films, suggesting that the elimination of FIB damage and Ga+ ion incorporation through the use of lift-off techniques leads to superior figures of merit. A number of ways in which the room temperature performance of our sensors could be further improved are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]