Current generation electron monochromators employed as attachments to scanning transmission electron microscopes (STEM) offer the ability to obtain vibrational information from materials using electron energy-loss spectroscopy (EELS). We show here that in crystals, long- and short-wavelength phonon modes can be probed simultaneously with on-axis vibrational STEM EELS. The long-wavelength phonons are probed via dipole scattering, while the short-wavelength modes are probed via impact scattering of the incident electrons. The localized character of the short-wavelength modes is demonstrated by scanning the electron beam across the edge of a hexagonal boron nitride nanoparticle. It is found that employing convergence angles that encompass multiple Brillouin zone boundaries enhances the short-wavelength phonon contribution to the vibrational energy-loss spectrum much more than that achieved by employing collection angles that encompass multiple Brillouin zone boundaries. Probing short-wavelength phonons at high spatial resolution with on-axis vibrational STEM EELS will help develop a fundamental connection between vibrational excitations and bonding arrangements at atomic-scale heterogeneities in materials.

The authors discuss the dipole vibrational modes that predominate in the energy-loss spectra of ionic materials below 1 eV, concentrating on thin-film specimens of typical transmission electron microscopy (TEM) thickness. The thickness dependence of the intensity is shown to be a useful guide to the bulk or surface character of vibrational peaks. The lateral and depth resolution of the energy-loss signal is investigated with the aid of finite-element calculations.

We study the influence of shock and boundary layer interactions in transonic flutter of an aeroelastic system using a Reynolds-averaged Navier–Stokes (RANS) solver together with the Spalart–Allmaras turbulence model. We show that the transonic flutter boundary computed using a viscous flow solver can be divided into three distinct regimes: a low transonic Mach number range wherein viscosity mimics increasing airfoil thickness thereby mildly influencing the flutter boundary; an intermediate region of drastic change in the flutter boundary due to shock-induced separation; and a high transonic Mach number zone of no viscous effects when the shock moves close to the trailing edge. Inviscid transonic flutter simulations are a very good approximation of the aeroelastic system in predicting flutter in the first and third regions: that is when the shock is not strong enough to cause separation, and in regions where the shock-induced separated region is confined to a small region near the trailing edge of the airfoil. However, in the second interval of intermediate transonic Mach numbers, the power distribution on the airfoil surface is significantly influenced by shock-induced flow separation on the upper and lower surfaces leading to oscillations about a new equilibrium position. Though power contribution by viscous forces are three orders of magnitude less than the power due to pressure forces, these viscous effects manipulate the flow by influencing the strength and location of the shock such that the power contribution by pressure forces change significantly. Multiple flutter points that were part of the inviscid solution in this regime are now eliminated by viscous effects. Shock motion on the airfoil, shock reversal due to separation, and separation and reattachment of flow on the airfoil upper surface, also lead to multiple aerodynamic forcing frequencies. These flow features make the flutter boundary quantitatively sensitive to the turbulence model and numerical method adopted, but qualitatively they capture the essence of the physical phenomena.