Multifunctional Freestanding Microprobes for Potential Biological Applications.

Deep-level sensors for detecting the local temperatures of inner organs and tissues of an animal are rarely reported. In this paper, we present a method to fabricate multifunctional micro-probes with standard cleanroom procedures, using a piece of stainless-steel foil as the substrate. On each of the as-fabricated micro-probes, arrays of thermocouples made of Pd-Cr thin-film stripes with reliable thermal sensing functions were built, together with Pd electrode openings for detecting electrical signals. The as-fabricated sword-shaped freestanding microprobes with length up to 30 mm showed excellent mechanical strength and elastic properties when they were inserted into the brain and muscle tissues of live rats, as well as suitable electrochemical properties and, therefore, are promising for potential biological applications.

Measurement and Evaluation of Local Surface Temperature Induced by Irradiation of Nanoscaled or Microscaled Electron Beams.

Electron beams (e-beams) have been applied as detecting probes and clean energy sources in many applications. In this work, we investigated several approaches for measurement and estimation of the range and distribution of local temperatures on a subject surface under irradiation of nano-microscale e-beams. We showed that a high-intensity e-beam with current density of 105-6 A/cm2 could result in vaporization of solid Si and Au materials in seconds, with a local surface temperature higher than 3000 K. With a lower beam intensity to 103-4 A/cm2, e-beams could introduce local surface temperature in the range of 1000-2000 K shortly, causing local melting in metallic nanowires and Cr, Pt, and Pd thin films, and phase transition in metallic Mg-B films. We demonstrated that thin film thermocouples on a freestanding Si3N4 window were capable of detecting peaked local surface temperatures up to 2000 K and stable, and temperatures in a lower range with a high precision. We discussed the distribution of surface temperatures under e-beams, thermal dissipation of thick substrate, and a small converting ratio from the high kinetic energy of e-beam to the surface heat. The results may offer some clues for novel applications of e-beams.

Dissolution, diffusion and permeation behavior of hydrogen in vanadium: a first-principles investigation.

Employing a first-principles method, we have studied the stability, diffusivity, and permeation properties of hydrogen (H) and its isotopes in bcc vanadium (V). A single H atom is found to favor the tetrahedral interstitial site (TIS) in V. The charge density distribution exhibits a strong interaction between H and its neighbor V atoms. Analysis of DOS and Bader charge reveals that the occupation number of H-induced low energy states is directly associated with the stability of H in V. Further, H is shown to diffuse between the neighboring TISs with a diffusion barrier of 0.07 eV. Diffusion coefficients and permeabilities of H isotopes in V are estimated with empirical theory. At a typical temperature of 800 K, the diffusion coefficient and the permeability of H are 2.48 × 10(-4) cm(2) s(-1) and 2.19 × 10(-9) mol m(-1) s(-1) Pa(- 1/2), respectively.