Is the Ne operation of the helium ion microscope suitable for electron backscatter diffraction sample preparation?

Electron backscatter diffraction (EBSD) is a powerful characterization technique which allows the study of microstructure, grain size, and orientation as well as strain of a crystallographic sample. In addition, the technique can be used for phase analysis. A mirror-flat sample surface is required for this analysis technique and different polishing approaches have been used over the years. A commonly used approach is the focused ion beam (FIB) polishing. Unfortunately, artefacts that can be easily induced by Ga FIB polishing approaches are seldom published. This work aims to provide a better understanding of the underlying causes for artefact formation and to assess if the helium ion microscope is better suited to achieve the required mirror-flat sample surface when operating the ion source with Ne instead of He. Copper was chosen as a test material and polished using Ga and Ne ions with different ion energies as well as incident angles. The results show that crystal structure alterations and, in some instances, phase transformation of Cu to Cu3Ga occurred when polishing with Ga ions. Polishing with high-energy Ne ions at a glancing angle maintains the crystal structure and significantly improves indexing in EBSD measurements. By milling down to a depth equaling the depth of the interaction volume, a steady-state condition of ion impurity concentration and number of induced defects is reached. The EBSD measurements and Monte Carlo simulations indicate that when this steady-state condition is reached more quickly, which can be achieved using high-energy Ne ions at a glancing incidence, then the overall damage to the specimen is reduced.

Modelling And Simulation of Topical Drug Diffusion in The Dermal Layer of Human Body

We consider the problem of drug diffusion in the dermal layer of human body. Two existing mathematical models of the drug diffusion problem are recalled. We obtain that the existing models lead to inconsistent equations for the steady state condition. We also obtain that solutions to the existing models are unrealistic for some cases of the unsteady state condition, because negative drug concentrations occur due to the inappropriate assumption of the model. Therefore, in this paper, we propose a modified mathematical model, so that the model is consistent, and the solution is nonnegative for both steady and unsteady state conditions of the drug diffusion problem in the dermal layer of human body. For the steady state condition, the exact solution to the proposed model is given. For unsteady state condition, we use a finite difference method for solving the models numerically, where the discretisation is centred in space and forward in time. Simulation results confirm that our proposed model and method preserve the non-negativity of the solution to the problem, so the solution is more realistic than that of the old model.

Evaluating the Steady-state Performance of the Synthetic Coefficient of Variation Chart

The synthetic coefficient of variation (CV) chart is attractive to practitioners as it allows for a second point to fall outside the control limits before deciding whether the process is out-of-control. The existing synthetic CV chart is designed with a head-start feature, which shows an advantage under the zero-state assumption where shifts happen immediately after process monitoring has started. However, this assumption may not be valid as shifts may happen quite some time after process monitoring has started. This is called the steady-state condition. This paper evaluates the performance of the chart under the steady-state condition. It is shown that the steady-state out-of-control average run length (ARL1) is substantially larger than the zero-state ARL1, hence larger number of samples are needed to detect the out-of-control condition. From the comparison with other CV charts, the steady-state synthetic CV chart does not show better performance, especially for small sample sizes and shift sizes. Hence, the synthetic CV chart is not recommended to be adopted under the steady-state condition, and its good performance is only applicable under the zero-state assumption. The results of this paper enable practitioners to be aware that the performance of the synthetic CV chart may be inferior under actual application (when shifts do not happen at the beginning of process monitoring) compared to its zero-state performance.

An Identification of Magnetizing Current Phenomenon in Steady State Condition

This document is basically based on the magnetizing current phenomenon of transformer. In this paper we will see how the magnetizing current behave when the core material has linear and non-linear characteristics.

Estimation of Lithium-Ion Batteries State-Condition in Electric Vehicle Applications: Issues and State of the Art

Lithium-ion batteries are the most used these days for charging electric vehicles (EV). It is important to study the aging of batteries because the deterioration of their characteristics largely determines the cost, efficiency, and environmental impact of electric vehicles, especially full-electric ones. The estimation of batteries’ state-condition is also very important for improving energy efficiency, lengthening the life cycle, minimizing costs and ensuring safe implementation of batteries in electric vehicles. However, batteries with large temporal variables and non-linear characteristics are often affected by random factors affecting the equivalent internal resistance (EIR), battery state of charge (SoC), and state of health (SoH) in EV applications. The estimation of batteries’ parameters is a complex process, due to its dependence on various factors such as batteries age and ambient temperature, among others. A good estimate of SoC and internal resistance leads to long battery life and disaster prevention in the event of a battery failure. The classification of estimation methodologies for internal parameters and the charging status of batteries will be very helpful in choosing the appropriate method for the development of a reliable and secure battery management system (BMS) and an energy management strategy for electric vehicles.

The effect of congenital blindness on resting-state functional connectivity revisited

Lower resting-state functional connectivity (RSFC) between ‘visual’ and non-‘visual’ neural circuits has been reported as a hallmark of congenital blindness. In sighted individuals, RSFC between visual and non-visual brain regions has been shown to increase during rest with eyes closed relative to rest with eyes open. To determine the role of visual experience on the modulation of RSFC by resting state condition—as well as to evaluate the effect of resting state condition on group differences in RSFC—, we compared RSFC between visual and somatosensory/auditory regions in congenitally blind individuals (n = 9) and sighted participants (n = 9) during eyes open and eyes closed conditions. In the sighted group, we replicated the increase of RSFC between visual and non-visual areas during rest with eyes closed relative to rest with eyes open. This was not the case in the congenitally blind group, resulting in a lower RSFC between ‘visual’ and non-‘visual’ circuits relative to sighted controls only in the eyes closed condition. These results indicate that visual experience is necessary for the modulation of RSFC by resting state condition and highlight the importance of considering whether sighted controls should be tested with eyes open or closed in studies of functional brain reorganization as a consequence of blindness.