Damage Mechanism of Ultra-thin Asphalt Overlay(UTAO) based on Discrete Element Method

Aiming to analyze the damage mechanism of UTAO from the perspective of meso-mechanical mechanism using discrete element method(DEM),we conducted study of diseases problems of UTAO in several provinces in China,and found that aggregate spalling was one of the main disease types of UTAO.A discrete element model of UTAO pavement structure was constructed to explore the meso-mechanical mechanism of UTAO damage under the influence of layer thickness,gradation,and bonding modulus.The experimental results show that,as the thickness of UTAO decreasing,the maximum value and the mean value of the contact force between all aggregate particles gradually increase,which leads to aggregates more prone to spalling.Compared with OGFC-5 UTAO,AC-5 UTAO presents smaller maximum and average values of all contact forces,and the loading pressure in AC-5 UTAO is fully diffused in the lateral direction.In addition,the increment of pavement modulus strengthens the overall force of aggregate particles inside UTAO,resulting in aggregate particles peeling off more easily.The increase of bonding modulus changes the position where the maximum value of the tangential force appears,whereas has no effect on the normal force.

Regulation of interlayer channels of graphene oxide nanosheets in ultra-thin Pebax mixed-matrix membranes for CO_(2) capture

For the application of carbon capture by membrane process,it is crucial to develop a highly permeable CO_(2)-selective membrane.In this work,we reported an ultra-thin polyether-block-amide(Pebax)mixedmatrix membranes(MMMs)incorporated by graphene oxide(GO),in which the interlayer channels were regulated to optimize the CO_(2)/N_(2) separation performance.Various membrane preparation conditions were systematically investigated on the influence of the membrane structure and separation performance,including the lateral size of GO nanosheets,GO loading,thermal reduction temperature,and time.The results demonstrated that the precisely regulated interlayer channel of GO nanosheets can rapidly provide CO_(2)-selective transport channels due to the synergetic effects of size sieving and preferential adsorption.The GO/Pebax ultra-thin MMMs exhibited CO_(2)/N_(2) selectivity of 72 and CO_(2) permeance of 400 GPU(1 GPU=106 cm^(3)(STP)·cm^(2)·s^(-1)·cmHg^(-1)),providing a promising candidate for CO_(2) capture.

Research on the Influence of Cutting Condition on the Surface Microstruct ure of Ultra-thin Wall Parts in Ultrasonic Vibration Cutting

In many fields of high-tech industry the ultra-t hi n wall parts are employed. In this paper the experiments were carried out to dis cuss the surface microstructure of the camera’s guided drawtube by applying ult rasonic vibration cutting device to the traditional lathe. The influence rule of the cutting condition on the surface roughness was put forward, which was drawn by comparing the ultrasonic cutting with the common cutting by use of the cemen ted carbide tool and the polycrystalline diamond (PCD) tool. The test results sh owed that the ultrasonic cutting performs better than the common cutting in the same condition. According to the test results analyzing, the surface characteriz ation is influenced clearly by the rigidity of the acoustic system and the machi ne tool, as well the setting height of the tool tip. Otherwise, the dense regula r low frequency vibration ripples will be scraped on the machined surface. When the tool tip is set higher than the rotating center of the work piece by three t imes of the amplitude of ultrasonic vibration, the vibration ripples behave alig ht; they turn light and shade alternatively when the tool tip is lower than the rotating center of the work piece by three times of the amplitude of ultrasonic vibration. According to the test result analyzing, the following conclusions are put forward: 1) The surface roughness in ultrasonic cutting is better than that in common cutting. Under a one third critical cutting velocity, the value of th e surface roughness in ultrasonic cutting rise slightly along with the cutting v elocity, while in common cutting it decreases contrast to the cutting velocity; the curves of the surface roughness in ultrasonic cutting and common cutting see m to be alike, both increase along with the feed rate and the cutting depth, but the value in ultrasonic cutting is smaller in the same condition.2) The influen ce of the coolant on the surface roughness cannot be ignored. The kerosene can b e employed to improve the surface roughness in ultrasonic machining.3) In ultras onic cutting process of aluminum alloy ultra-thin wall work piece, the PCD tool performs better than the cemented carbide tools.4) The vibration ripples result from the not enough rigidity of the acoustic system and the improper setting he ight of the tool tip. The departure of the tool tip from the rotating center of the work piece to some extent causes the vibration ripples on the machined surfa ce.

Large energy-loss straggling of swift heavy ions in ultra-thin active silicon layers

Monte Carlo simulations reveal considerable straggling of energy loss by the same ions with the same energy in fully-depleted silicon-on-insulator （FDSOI） devices with ultra-thin sensitive silicon layers down to 2.5 rim. The absolute straggling of deposited energy decreases with decreasing thickness of the active silicon layer. While the relative straggling increases gradually with decreasing thickness of silicon films and exhibits a sharp rise as the thickness of the silicon film descends below a threshold value of 50 nm, with the dispersion of deposited energy ascending above ~10%. Ion species and energy dependence of the energy-loss straggling are also investigated. For a given beam, the dispersion of deposited energy results in large uncertainty on the actual linear energy transfer （LET） of incident ions, and thus single event effect （SEE） responses, which pose great challenges for traditional error rate prediction methods.

High-efficiency ultra-thin Cu_(2)ZnSnS_(4) solar cells by double-pressure sputtering with spark plasma sintered quaternary target

In recent years,Cu_(2)ZnSnS_(4)(CZTS)semiconductor materials have received intensive attention in the field of thin-film solar cells owing to its non-toxic and low-cost elements.In this work,double-pressure sputtering technology is applied to obtain highly efficient and ultra-thin(-450 nm)pure Cu_(2)ZnSnS_(4)(CZTS)solar cell.Using mixed materials with sulfides and copper powder as a quaternary target via spark plasma sintering(SPS)method and adopting double-layer sputtering(high+low pressure),a highly adhesive and large-grained CZTS thin film is achieved.As a result,the damage to the surface of Mo contact is decreased so that the reflectivity of incident light can be improved.Moreover,the composition of CZTS film was more uniform and the secondary phase separation at the Mo interface was reduced.Therefore,the interface defect state and deep level defect density in corresponding device with double-pressure is reduced and the ratio of depletion thickness to absorption layer thickness can reached to 0.58,which promoted the collection of photogenerated carriers.Finally,an efficiency of 9.3%for ultra-thin(~450 nm)CZTS film solar cell is obtained.

Oxygen migration triggering molybdenum exposure in oxygen vacancy-rich ultra-thin Bi_(2)MoO_(6) nanoflakes: Dual binding sites governing selective CO_(2) reduction into liquid hydrocarbons

Oxygen vacancy plays vital roles in regulating the electronic and charge distribution of the oxygen deficient materials.Herein,abundant oxygen vacancies are created during assembling the two-dimensional(2D)ultra-thin Bi_(2)MoO_(6) nanoflakes into three dimensional(3D)Bi_(2)MoO_(6) nanospheres,resulting in significantly improved performance for photocatalytical conversion of CO_(2) into liquid hydrocarbons.The increased performance is contributed by two primary sites,namely the abundant oxygen vacancy and the exposed molybdenum(Mo)atom induced by oxygen-migration,as revealed by the theoretical calculation.The oxygen vacancy(Ov)and uncovered Mo atom serving as dual binding sites for trapping CO_(2) molecules render the synchronous fixation-reduction process,resulting in the decline of activation energy for CO_(2) reduction from 2.15 eV on bulk Bi_(2)MoO_(6) to 1.42 eV on Ov-rich Bi_(2)MoO_(6).Such a striking decrease in the activation energy induces the efficient selective generation of liquid hydrocarbons,especially the methanol(C_(2)H_(5) OH)and ethanol(CH_(3) OH).The yields of CH_(3) OH and C_(2)H_(5) OH over the optimal Ov-Bi_(2)MoO_(6) is high up to 106.5 and 10.3μmol g^(-1) respectively,greatly outperforming that on the Bulk-Bi_(2)MoO_(6).

New process for production of ultra-thin grain oriented silicon steel

The Hi-B silicon steels were cold rolled by cross shear rolling (CSR) with different mismatch speed ratio(MSR)s and conventional rolling(CR) respectively, followed by primary recrystallization annealing. The effects of MSR and annealing temperature on magnetic properties of ultra-thin grain oriented silicon steel were analyzed. Experimental results show that, with the increase of MSR, the magnetic properties can be remarkably improved. The higher the annealing temperature is, the higher the magnetic induction and the lower the iron loss in ultra-thin silicon steel is.

Research on Influence of Cutting Conditions on Roundness of Ultra-thin Wall Parts in Ultrasonic Vibration Cutting

In the paper, the experimental researches were carr ie d out to discuss the roundness forming rule and the influence of cutting paramet ers on roundness by ultrasonic vibration cutting of the camera’s guiding drawtu be with 47.75 mm diameter and 0.6～1.5 mm wall thickness. The research results s h ow that the roundness error of ultra-thin wall parts in ultrasonic vibration cu tting is only one third of that in common cutting. The relations between the rou ndness error and the cutting parameters behave as: (1) The roundness error in co mmon cutting decreases gradually with the rise of cutting speed, while in ultras onic cutting, the roundness changes not obviously till the cutting speed is up t o a value, which is nearly equal to one third of the critical velocity. Then the roundness of workpiece will begin to increase slowly. (2) The roundness error i ncreases along with the feed rate both in common cutting and ultrasonic cutting. (3) Within the range of cutting depth in experiment, the influence of cutting d epth on the roundness error is more obvious in common cutting than that in ultra sonic vibration cutting. The conclusions are useful in machining such precise ul tra-thin wall parts. According to the tests, the following conclusions can be o btained: 1) Compared with common cutting, ultrasonic cutting can decrease effect ively roundness error of the workpiece. Under the same condition, the roundness error of the ultra-thin wall part in ultrasonic turning is about one third of t hat in common cutting. 2) In common cutting, cutting depth and feed rate have mu ch influence on the roundness and the influence of cutting velocity is little. W hile in ultrasonic cutting, the roundness was influenced heavily only when feed rate is more than 0.1 mm/r and cutting speed is more than 1/3 of the critical ro tation speed, cutting depth has little influence on the roundness in the experim ent. 3) Kerosene-oil is an optimum cutting fluid in machining ultra-thin wall workpiece. 4) To machine the ultra-thin wall precision part, ultrasonic cutting is the perfect method which can decrease the roundness error effectively an d ensure high quality of the surface.

Ultra-thin circularly polarized lens antenna based on single-layered transparent metasurface

Circularly polarized （CP） lens antenna has been applied to numerous wireless communication systems based on its unique advantages such as high antenna gain, low manufacturing cost, especially stable data transmission between the transmitter and the receiver. Unfortunately, current available CP lens antennas mostly suffer from high profile, low aperture efficiency as well as complex design. In this paper, we propose an ultra-thin CP lens antenna based on the designed single- layered Pancharatnam-Berry （PB） transparent metasurface with focusing property. The PB metasurface exhibits a high transmissivity, which ensures a high efficiency of the focusing property. Launched the metasurface with a CP patch antenna at its focal point, a low-profile lens antenna is simulated and measured. The experimental results show that our lens antenna exhibits a series of advantages including high radiation gain of 20.7 dB, aperture efficiency better than 41.3%, and also narrow half power beam width （HPBW） of 13°at about 14GHz. Our finding opens a door to realize ultra-thin transparent metasurface with other functionalities or at other working frequencies.

The conduction mechanism of stress induced leakage current through ultra-thin gate oxide under constant voltage stresses

The conduction mechanism of stress induced leakage current （SILC） through 2nm gate oxide is studied over a gate voltage range between 1.7V and stress voltage under constant voltage stress （CVS）. The simulation results show that the SILC is formed by trap-assisted tunnelling （TAT） process which is dominated by oxide traps induced by high field stresses. Their energy levels obtained by this work are approximately 1.9eV from the oxide conduction band, and the traps are believed to be the oxygen-related donor-like defects induced by high field stresses. The dependence of the trap density on stress time and oxide electric field is also investigated.

K_(x)C_(y) phase induced expanded interlayer in ultra-thin carbon toward full potassium-ion capacitors

Carbonaceous materials have been regarded as highly promising anode candidates for potassium storage with their cost-effectiveness and environmental benignity.However,low specific capacity and difficulty in large-scale synthesis largely hinder their further development.Herein,a thermal-induced potassium–carbon alloy phase(K_(x)C_(y))with the expanded interlayer spacing strategy is first put forward.Through in situ high-temperature X-ray diffraction,a K_(2)C_(2) phase is evoked by thermal energy during the in-situ carbonization process of carbon quantum dots intermediate derived from potassium-containing precursors,whereas no lithium or sodium–carbon alloy phase is observed from lithium/sodium-containing precursors.The asobtained ultra-thin carbon nanosheets achieve adjustable layer spacing,preparation in bulk,delivering reversible potassium storage of 403.4 mAh g^(−1) at 100 mA g^(−1) and 161.2 mAh g^(−1) even at 5.0 A g^(−1),which is one of the most impressive K-storage performances reported so far with great potential application.Furthermore,the assembled potassium-ion hybrid capacitor by combining the impressive CFMs-900 anode with the three-dimensional framework-activated carbon delivers a high energy-power density of 251.7 Wh kg^(−1) at 250Wkg^(−1) with long-term stability.This study opens a scalable avenue to realize the expanded interlayer spacing,which can be extended to other multicarboxyl potassium salts and can provide approach for the design of high-performance carbon anode materials for potassium storage.

Electrically Tunable Energy Bandgap in Dual-Gated Ultra-Thin Black Phosphorus Field Effect Transistors

The energy bandgap is an intrinsic character of semiconductors, which largely determines their properties. The ability to continuously and reversibly tune the bandgap of a single device during real time operation is of great importance not only to device physics but also to technological applications. Here we demonstrate a widely tunable bandgap of few-layer black phosphorus （BP） by the application of vertical electric field in dual-gated BP field-effect transistors. A total bandgap reduction of 124 meV is observed when the electrical displacement field is increased from 0.10 V/nm to 0.83 V/nm. Our results suggest appealing potential for few-layer BP as a tunable bandgap material in infrared optoelectronies, thermoelectric power generation and thermal imaging.

COVALENTLY ATTACHED MULTILAYER ULTRA-THIN FILMS FROM DIAZORESIN AND CALIXARENES

A kind of photosensitive ultra-thin film was fabricated from diazoresin (DR) and various calixarenes by using theself-assembly technique. Under UV irradiation both the ionic- and hydrogen bonds between the layers of the film will convert into covalent bonds. As a result, the stability of the film toward polar solvents increases dramatically.

Low voltage substrate current： a monitor for interface states generation in ultra-thin oxide n-MOSFETs under constant voltage stresses

The low voltage substrate current （Ib） has been studied based on generation kinetics and used as a monitor of interface states （Nit） generation for ultra-thin oxide n-MOSFETs under constant voltage stress. It is found that the low voltage Ib is formed by electrons tunnelling through interface states, and the variations of Ib（△Ib） are proportional to variations of Nit （△Nit）. The Nit energy distributions were determined by differentiating Nit（Vg）. The results have been compared with that measured by using gate diode technique.

Ultra-thin a-SiN_x protective overcoats for hard disks and read/write heads

This paper reports that amorphous silicon nitride （a-SiNx） overcoats were deposited at room temperature by microwave ECR plasma enhanced unbalanced magnetron sputtering. The 2 nm a-SiNs overcoat has better anti-corrosion properties than that of reference a-CNx overcoats （2 4.5 nm）. The superior anti-corrosion performance is attributed to its stoichiometric bond structure, where 94.8% Si atoms form Si-N asymmetric stretching vibration bonds. The N/Si ratio is 1.33 as in the stoichiometry of Si3N4 and corresponds to the highest hardness of 25.0 GPa. The surface is atomically smooth with RMS 〈 0.2 nm. The ultra-thin a-SiNx overcoats are promising for hard disks and read/write heads protective coatings.

Linear instability of ultra-thin liquid films flowing down cylindrical fibre

The stability characteristics of an ultra-thin layer of a viscous liquid flowing down a cylindrical fibre are investigated by a linear theory. The film with the thickness less than 100 nm is driven by an external force and under the influence of the van der Waals forces. The results show that, when the relative film thickness decreases, the curvature of the fibre depresses the development of the linear perturbations, whereas the van der Waals forces promote the instabilities. This competition results in a non-monotonous dependence of the growth rate on the relative film thickness. The critical curves are also obtained to describe the transition from the absolute instability to the convective instability, indicating that the van der Waals forces can enlarge the absolutely unstable region. Furthermore, the surface tension can cause the development of the absolute instability, whereas the external force has an opposite effect.

Optical properties of ultra-thin InN layer embedded in InGaN matrix for light emitters

We theoretically investigate the optical properties of an ultra-thin InN layer embedded in InGaN matrix for light emitters. The peak emission wavelength extends from ultraviolet （374 nm） to green （536 nm） with InN quantum well thickness increasing from 1 monolayer to 2 monolayers, while the overlap of electron–hole wave function remains at a high level （larger than 90%）. Increase of In content in InGaN matrix provides a better approach to longer wavelength emission, which only reduces the spontaneous emission rate slightly compared with the case of increasing In content of the conventional InGaN quantum well. Also, the transparency carrier density derived from gain spectrum is of the same order as that in the conventional blue laser diode. Our study provides skillful design on the development of novel structure InN-based light emitting diodes as well as laser diodes.

Molecular Dynamics of Ultra-thin Lubricating Films under Confined Shear

The molecular dynamics simulation of ultra-thin films under confined shear was performed to investigate the relation between dynamic properties of ultra-thin films and their microstructure. The solid walls were modelled using an Au crystal and the fluid molecules were modeled using decane. The simulation results indicate that the microstructure of ultra-thin films is a kind of solid-like layering structure. The density and velocity profiles of the fluid molecules are symmetric. The slip and shear thinning behavior was founded and interpreted.A mathematic model was set up according to the results of the simulation and experiments.

Ultra-thin and light-weight spoof surface plasmon polariton coupler achieved by broadside coupled split ring resonators

Low profile and light weight are very important for practical applications of a spoof surface plasmon polariton（SSPP）coupler, especially at low frequencies. In this paper, we propose and design an ultra-thin, light-weight SSPP coupler based on broadside coupled split ring resonators（BC-SRRs）. The size of BC-SRR can be far less than λ/100 and can extremely well control the reflective phases within a subwavelength thickness. Due to the broadside capacitive coupling, the electrical size of BC-SRR is dramatically reduced to guarantee the ultra-thin thickness of the SSPP coupler. The weight of the SSPP coupler is reduced by a low occupation ratio of BC-SRR in the unit cell volume. As an example, a C-band SSPP coupler composed of phase gradient BC-SRRs is designed, fabricated, and measured. Due to the ultra-small size and low occupation ratio of BC-SRRs, the thickness of the coupler is λ/12 and the surface density is only 0.98 kg/m^2. Both simulation and experiment results verify that the coupler can achieve high-efficiency SPP coupling at 5.27 GHz under normal incidence.

Molecular dynamics of dewetting of ultra-thin water films on solid substrate

Molecular dynamics simulation is applied to study the instability and rupture process of ultra-thin water films on a solid substrate. Results show the small disturbance of the film will develop linearly due to the spinodal instability, whereas the interaction between solid and liquid has less influences on the initial growth. Then the rupture occurs and the rim recedes with a dynamic contact angle. The radius of the rim. varies with time as the square root of t, which is consistent with the macroscopic theory available. Stronger interaction between solid and liquid will postpone rupture time decline the dynamic contact angle and raise the density of water near the interface between solid and liquid.