The dynamics of evolving fluid films in the viscous Stokes limit is relevant to various applications, such as the modelling of lipid bilayers in cells. While the governing equations were formulated by Scriven (1960), solving for the flow of a deformable viscous surface with arbitrary shape and topology has remained a challenge. In this study, we present a straightforward discrete model based on variational principles to address this long-standing problem. We replace the classical equations, which are expressed with tensor calculus in local coordinates, with a simple coordinate-free, differential-geometric formulation. The formulation provides a fundamental understanding of the underlying mechanics and translates directly to discretization. We construct a discrete analogue of the system using Onsager's variational principle, which, in a smooth context, governs the flow of a viscous medium. In the discrete setting, instead of term-wise discretizing the coordinate-based Stokes equations, we construct a discrete Rayleighian for the system and derive the discrete Stokes equations via the variational principle. This approach results in a stable, structure-preserving variational integrator that solves the system on general manifolds.

Thin lithium layers on oxygenated C(100) boron-doped diamond have been observed using x-ray photoemission spectroscopy. Conductive boron-doped diamond was oxygen-terminated using an ozone cleaner. Lithium was evaporated onto the oxygen-terminated C(100) surface and an as-grown hydrogen terminated surface to a thickness of approximately 50 nm. After washing with deionised water, significant lithium signal is still detected on oxygenated diamond, but not on hydrogenated diamond, indicating a strongly bound lithium-oxygen surface layer is formed, as predicted by recent theoretical modeling.

This paper presents density functional theory results for the Li-adsorbed C(100)-(1x1):O system. Previously it has been shown that at a single monolayer coverage, the binding energy for Li on oxygenated C(100) diamond is substantially higher than that of heavier alkali metals, while at the same time, the presence of the lithium generates a large shift in the diamond workfunction. The system is therefore promising for electronics applications involving diamond. Here, further calculations are presented showing that additional Li atoms above 1ML coverage are far less strongly bound, suggesting the 1ML surface is the most useful for vacuum microelectronic applications.

The density of threading dislocations in GaN/(0001)sapphire films grown by molecular beam epitaxy can be reduced to about 108 cm−2 by growing an intermediate nanorod layer. This paper examines the growth of the nanorods and proposes that threading defects in the overlayer arise either through grain boundaries formed when nanorods coalesce, or through the propagation of dislocation dipoles seen during nanorod growth. Results showing that the latter often terminate or develop into voids during growth are discussed.

The behavior of threading dislocations (TDs) in ZnO/(0001)sapphire heterostructures grown by a two-step method have been investigated. The initial template, grown by pulsed laser deposition, consisted of a continuous underlayer, which was O-polar and an overlayer comprising a high density of Zn-polar nanorods. High densities (∼7×1010 cm−2) of TDs were found to be restricted to the underlayer, whereas the nanorods were almost defect-free. Subsequent treatments by either hydrothermal growth or chemical vapour deposition (CVD) achieved epitaxial lateral overgrowth of nanorods and led to continuous Zn-polar films. The low TD density of nanorods remained until misoriented grain boundaries and boundary dislocations were generated when neighbouring nanorods become coalesced. The lateral migration of TDs in the overgrowth led to dislocation interactions and reduction of TDs. The total TD density at the top of the overlayer was estimated to be ∼1×109 cm−2 for hydrothermal growth and ∼7×109 cm−2 for CVD growth.

A series of Al0.47Ga0.53N/GaN heterostructures with different AlN interlayer thicknesses ranging from 1nm to 50nm has been examined. It was found that when the interlayer thickness is greater than ∼5nm, it becomes possible to grow 250nm of Al0.47Ga0.53N without cracking. The interlayers are then believed to be sufficiently relaxed to place the AlGaN under compressive strain. The mechanisms for this relaxation have been studied using high angle annular dark field (HAADF) imaging, conventional transmission electron microscopy (TEM), energy-filtered TEM (EFTEM) and electron energy loss spectroscopy (EELS). It is found that relaxation takes place through both the small-scale cracking of the interlayer and the generation of misfit dislocations at the GaN/AlN interface. EELS and EFTEM have been used to probe the Al and Ga content of both the material filling the interlayer cracks, and the interlayer itself. This chemical analysis suggests Ga-rich AlGaN areas inside the interlayer cracks and also significant compositional variations in defect-free interlayer regions. It is observed that relaxation by the generation of misfit dislocations results in an increase in the threading dislocation density of the AlGaN layer, in part due to the bending up of misfit dislocations at crack walls.

This paper examines the core structure and composition of threading dislocations in GaN grown by hydride vapour phase epitaxy. Transmission electron microscopy showed that screw dislocations have widely varying core structures from open cores (“nanopipes”) to closed cores, with irregular variations between the two observed along the length of many dislocations. New evidence was found demonstrating that the equilibrium structure of screw dislocations is a closed core configuration. Electron energy loss spectroscopy combined with high resolution imaging showed that 1.7±0.3 monolayers of nitrogen were substituted by oxygen at the surfaces of nanopipes. In contrast, closed core dislocations showed little evidence of oxygen segregation. It is argued that these results support a model where nanopipe formation is controlled by the segregation of oxygen to pits predominately associated with, albeit not exclusively, dislocations. The implication of the results in understanding the electronic behavior of dislocations in GaN is also discussed.

Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and atomic force microscopy (AFM) have been used to analyse the core structure of dislocations in GaN grown by molecular beam epitaxy (MBE) as a function of the gallium to nitrogen ratio. Ga-rich samples had a much smoother morphology; TEM observations showed that amorphous deposits decorated some dislocations and occasional surface pits, but weak beam and end-on imaging suggested that, away from the growth surface, dislocations of all types had closed core structures, in contrast to previous observations (Hsu et al, Appl. Phys. Lett. 78, 3980 (2001), Baines et al, Mat. Res. Soc. Symp. Proc. 743, L2.5 (2003)). Ga-poor samples were found to have much rougher surfaces; dislocations were often at the centers of deep surface pits but were observed to be undecorated and to have closed core structures. It is concluded that in growth under Ga-rich conditions, decoration of dislocation cores depends on the accumulation of Ga at surface pits, rather than being a fundamental property of dislocation formation.

Plan-view transmission electron microscopy was used to study the core structures of different dislocations in (0001) GaN layers grown under Ga-rich and Ga-lean conditions by molecular beam epitaxy. In Ga-rich samples at least one third of mixed type dislocations were open-core, and edge dislocations were observed to be closed-core. In contrast, under Ga-lean conditions, all dislocations were observed to be closed-core, and many were associated with pits at the sample surface. High resolution studies of the open core dislocations revealed that many were decorated with a disordered deposit, the origin of which is discussed.

Critical voltage phenemona seen in electron diffraction can be used to determine the local composition of ternary semiconductors to a few per cent. Applications to (CdHg)Te and (AlGa)As are reported. Composition sensitive images can be obtained in various ways; techniques are discussed and results are presented.