Microorganisms, such as spermatozoa, exhibit rich behaviours when in close proximity to each other. However, their locomotion is not fully understood when coupled mechanically and hydrodynamically. In this study, we develop hydrodynamic models to investigate the locomotion of paired spermatozoa, predicting the fine structure of their swimming. Experimentally, sperm pairs are observed to transition between different modes of flagellar synchronisation: in-phase, anti-phase and lagged synchronisation. Using our models, we assess their swimming performances in these synchronisation modes in terms of average swimming speed, average power consumption, and swimming efficiency. The swimming performances of paired spermatozoa are shown to depend on their flagellar phase lag, flagellar waveforms, and the mechanical coupling between their heads.

Characterization and quantitative analysis of stressed states of a series of W/C multilayers (10-40 periods prepared by pulsed laser deposition on Si (111) substrates of different thickness) were carried out by means of X-ray reflectometry, wide angle diffractometry and a novel laser mapping device. As the W/C multilayers were dedicated to technical applications as X-ray optics and subjected to optimization of stacking parameters (thickness and number of layers) for a long term (mechanical) stability also further investigations will be discussed. Comparison of wafer distortion as evaluated by laser scanning and strain of the W layer as deduced from X-ray diffraction let us conclude that W layers are under compressive and C layers under tensile stress. The investigation of the thermally stimulated relaxation behavior of the multilayers provided a confirmation of these results. Additional information could be obtained by comparative relaxation experiments under external mechanical constraints. Furthermore, we report on a self-organized process of structuring of the multilayers under investigation, which might be of interest also from a technical point of view. The entire surface area (diameter 2') could be converted from the smooth (as-deposited) to a structured (relaxed) state stable at room temperature. Investigations using optical and atomic force microscopy showed that the topology of the surface consists of a mountain range where the valleys are on the level of the as-deposited non-debonded surface and that long wrinkled ridges of about the same height run along arbitrary directions.