Men with low-risk Gleason 3 + 3 prostate cancer on active surveillance can forgo protocol biopsies in favour of MRI and PSA monitoring with selective re-biopsy.

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Silver nanoparticle films were deposited by sputtering at room temperature and were annealed while monitoring by real time spectroscopic ellipsometry (SE). The nanoparticle dielectric functions (0.75 eV–6.5 eV) obtained by SE were modeled using Lorentz and generalized oscillators for the nanoparticle plasmon polariton (NPP) and interband transitions, respectively. The nanoparticle melting point could be identified from variations in the oscillator parameters during annealing, and this identification was further confirmed after cooling through significant, irreversible changes in these parameters relative to the as-deposited film. The variation in melting point with physical thickness, and thus average nanoparticle diameter, as measured by SE enables calculation of the surface energy density.

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In situ and ex situ characterization methods have been applied to investigate the properties of (Ag,Cu)InSe 2 (ACIS) thin films. Data acquired from real time spectroscopic ellipsometry (RTSE) experiments were analyzed to extract the evolution of the nucleating, bulk, and surface roughness layer thicknesses. The evolution of these layer thicknesses suggests a transition from Volmer-Weber to Stranski-Krastanov type behavior when Cu is replaced by Ag. The complex dielectric functions of ACIS at both deposition and room temperature as a function of film composition were also extracted from the RTSE data, enabling parameterization of the alloy optical properties.

Articles you may be interested in Growth analysis of (Ag,Cu)InSe2 thin films via real time spectroscopic ellipsometry Appl.

Cu(In,Ga)Se 2 (CIGS) thin films co-evaporated by 1-stage, 2-stage, and 3-stage processes have been studied by spectroscopic ellipsometry (SE). The disappearance of a Cu 2-x Se optical signature, detected by real time SE during multistage CIGS, has enabled precise endpoint control. Band gap energies determined by SE as depth averages show little process variation for fixed [Ga]/([In] + [Ga]) atomic ratio, whereas their broadening parameters decrease with increasing number of stages, identifying successive grain size enhancements. Refined SE analysis has revealed band gap profiling only for 3-stage CIGS. Solar cells incorporating these absorbers have yielded increased efficiencies in correlation with phase control, grain size, and band gap profiling.