We used Raman spectroscopy to characterize indentations on silicon. We focused our attention on the strain field around several indentations made on an (001) oriented silicon wafer with loads ranging from 100 mN to 10 N. Micro-Raman spectroscopy was used for the analysis of the indentation strain field. By multiplying the frequency shift of the optical phonon of silicon by the distance from the center of the fingerprint to the point under investigation, we were able to determine the strained zone extension accurately with the boundary between the strained area and the unperturbed area, which becomes clearly visible. This method allowed us to propose an equation valid over a large range of loads (0.1–10 N), which allowed us to estimate the size of the strained zone. We show that even in the absence of visible defects, the strain field extended to a region relatively far from the imprint in between cracks. The analysis of the radial and lateral cracks gives information where the proposed equations are valid.

The effects of conversion parameters on transport properties of YBa2Cu3O7-δ (YBCO) films on rolling assisted biaxially textured substrates (RABiTS) in the BaF2 ex situ process were investigated for total pressures Ptotal between 0.1 and 1.3 atm, water vapor pressures PH2O between approximately 7 and 70 Torr and processing temperatures TS between 700 and 790 °C. For this study, a 0.3-μm-thick Y–BaF2–Cu–O precursor film was deposited on a 1-cm-wide Ni=3 at.% W RABiTS with a buffer layer architecture of CeO2/YSZ/Y2O3/Ni deposited in single passes in various reel-to-reel systems for each layer. Under the conditions of Ptotal = 0.1 atm, TS = 740 °C and PO2 approximately 150 mTorr, JC > 2 MA/cm2 was obtained at 77 K and self field for PH2O ≤ 20 Torr. At higher PH2O (=70 Torr), however, the maximum attainable JC decreased. In addition, the JC at these higher PH2O dropped rapidly with increased dwell time. The highest JC, 2.5 MA/cm2, was achieved at 730 °C with Ptotal = 0.1 atm and PH2O approximately 7 Torr. Finally, the variation of IC with wet conversion time was performed at each processing temperature.

The nanostructure, stoichiometry and sensing performance of SnO2 films grown by pulsed laser deposition (PLD) have been shown to be highly sensitive to the deposition conditions. In particular, PLD deposition under vacuum is known to produce films that are composed of both a polycrystalline SnO2 phase and an amorphous SnO phase, for deposition temperatures in the 20–600 °C range. The presence of such an amorphous SnO phase in the films greatly limits their practical use as gas-sensing devices.

In the two papers listed above, the conversion of the Seebeck coefficient (relative to copper) to the absolute thermoelectric power was done by using the wrong sign of the absolute thermoelectric power of copper (2.34 μV/°C). The corrected tables are shown below for both papers. The correction means that plain cement paste is slightly p-type rather than slightly n-type. In addition, it means that cement pastes with carbon fibers are more p-type and those with steel fibers are less n-type than reported. Note in Table III of Paper 2 that all cement pastes are p-type except for paste (ii). Note in Table IV of Paper 2 that all cement junctions are pn-junctions (rather than some being nn+-junctions).