Smooth poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) films without any droplets were pulsed laser deposited at a wavelength of 248 nm and a laser fluence of 125 mJ/cm 2 . After deposition at room temperature, the films possess low universal hardness of only 3 N/mm 2 . Thermal treatments up to 200°C, either during deposition or afterwards, lead to film hardening up to values of 200 N/mm 2 . Using a combination of complementary methods, two main mechanisms could be made responsible for this temperature induced hardening effect well above the glass transition temperature of 102°C. The first process is induced by the evaporation of chain fragments and low molecular mass material, which are present in the film due to the ablation process, leading to an increase of the average molecular mass and thus to hardening. The second mechanism can be seen in partial cross-linking of the polymer film as soon as chain scission occurs at higher temperatures and the mobility and reactivity of the polymer material is high enough.
Grazing incidence Xe + ion sputtering was used to create a nanoscale ripple pattern on a thin Fe film, epitaxially grown on MgO(001). The Fe film has a thickness gradient of 0-20 nm and a ripple height of about 3 nm, giving rise to a transition from a continuous film to separated nanorods with decreasing film thickness. This allowed the investigation of the competition between the uniaxial and biaxial anisotropy of the irradiated sample as a function of thickness. From magneto-optical Kerr effect measurements, we determine accurately the cubic magnetocrystalline anisotropy and the uniaxial anisotropy that originates from the ripple pattern using a coherent rotation model. Our results show that the uniaxial anisotropy strength increases, whereas the contribution of the biaxial crystal anisotropy decreases, when going from the continuous film to the nanorod structures.
Triangular and quadratic Cu pyramids were epitaxially grown on Si(111) and Si(100) substrates, respectively, by pulsed laser deposition at elevated substrate temperatures above 200°C as well as by post-annealing of closed Cu layers prepared at room temperature. In both cases, three-dimensional pyramids with edge lengths of up to 9 µm were obtained, as observed by scanning electron microscopy and atomic force microscopy. Although the macroscopic shape is a pyramid, microscopically the islands consist of columnar grains (with lateral sizes of only about 50 nm at 260°C). The size and shape of the pyramids can be controlled by the substrate used, the amount of material deposited, and the temperature during deposition or annealing. Additionally, first hints were found that the pyramids can be aligned by structuring the substrate. The formation of such large pyramids is explained by a fast diffusion of Cu atoms on Si over distances of some µm and a high jump probability to higher pyramid layers.
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