Microscopic scale | EPFL Graph Search

The microscopic scale () is the scale of objects and events smaller than those that can easily be seen by the naked eye, requiring a lens or microscope to see them clearly. In physics, the microscopic scale is sometimes regarded as the scale between the macroscopic scale and the quantum scale. Microscopic units and measurements are used to classify and describe very small objects. One common microscopic length scale unit is the micrometre (also called a micron) (symbol: μm), which is one millionth of a metre. History Whilst compound microscopes were first developed in the 1590s, the significance of the microscopic scale was only truly established in the 1600s when Marcello Malphigi and Antonie van Leeuwenhoek microscopically observed frog lungs and microorganisms. As microbiology was established, the significance of making scientific observations at a microscopic level increased. Published in 1665, Robert Hooke’s book Micrographia details his microscopic observations incl

Studies on the Effect of Strain on the Electronic Properties of Ultra Thin Films of Superconducting Cuprates

Nathaniel Wooding

High Tc superconductivity in cuprates is still an unresolved topic, and one particular challenge is why in-plane compressive strain enhances Tc in ultra thin LSCO-214 films (< 40nm), whilst tensile strain diminishes it. Especially intriguing is whether altering this strain at a given doping has an effect on T* (pseudogap) or Tc (condensation/phase coherence). As the ratio between T* and Tc is so high, we systematically grew a series of BSCCO-2201 films by in house pulsed laser deposition (PLD), and then thoroughly analysed these films with X-Rays, four point resistivity measurements and XPS. We succeeded to induce strain into the films; however, the strain was lost in the annealing process necessary for superconductivity. Subsequently, we focused on LSCO-214 films, and grew a series of strained ultra thin films of this compound. While the films were superconducting, none of our samples showed enhanced superconduc- tivity, probably due to growth disorder.Therefore, we eventually studied high quality films grown by MBE from BNL. We used the low energy muon beamline at PSI to perform μSR studies on two different com- pressive strain states. The successful measurements of the penetration depth and Ginzburg- Landau parameter κ on ultra thin films of this type using low energy muons showed the benefits of this technique. As the 2 films were of different thicknesses, further studies need to be done to disentangle which observed effects are due to strain and/or variation in c-axis, and which are due solely to thickness. Our accumulated results and those of other groups, (notably Naito et. al. at NTT) on strain in LSCO-214 films, and the ensemble of data, including our study, indicate that most likely it is a phase coherence enhancement due to the in-plane compressive strain that raises the Tc. In summary, in addition to the succesful implementation of PLD heteroepitaxy, XRD analysis and ρ(T) studies of LSCO-214 films we were able to establish that: 1. Phase coherence is improved by in plane compressive strain, hence Tc enhancement 2. Tc also seems to scale with apical oxygen, as previously reported by H. Keller et. al., and local distortions around the copper-oxygen tetrahedra 3. Last but not least, we were even able to induce strain into BSCCO-2201 films, yet at present the full electronic properties of this system are neither measured nor under- stood. Finally, further systematic studies on μSR are proposed, and are indeed underway at PSI, to further elucidate the microscopic role of strain in the mechanism of high Tc superconductivity.

EPFL2013

Cardiac ablation, How Contact Force influences lesion quality

Olivier Frémont

Cardiac ablation is a worldwide accepted minimally invasive procedure to treat Atrial Fibrillation (AF). It consists in creating lesions with a catheter in the cardiac tissue in order to cut off specific electrical pathways. During this project, based on preclinical studies, we investigated and modeled the lesion formation process. This led first to identify and quantify the different mechanisms which take place in the heating process. The model developed gave rise to a Lesion Depth Index to quantify the lesion depth based on clinical parameters used to treat patient: Force Power and Duration. Another part of this project was the analysis of the clinical study EFFICAS 1 focused on the local outcome of the Pulmonary Veins Isolation (PVI). Combining the lesion depth model with the clinical analysis permitted to upgrade the analysis and confirmed that the model developed was relevant for clinical analysis. Moreover, this clinical study, allowed us to discover that the smallest lesion performed in a given microscopic area is a key predictor for isolation defect in PVI. Therefore, we showed that performing transmural ablation at the first shot is essential for a good PVI.

2010

Grain Boundary Relaxation in 18-carat Gold Alloys

Ann-Kathrin Audren

Grain boundaries (GBs) play an important role for the mechanical properties of metals. In addition to dislocation motion inside the grains, some metal alloys deform along the GBs at high temperatures. GBs can also be the cause of a brittle behaviour of some metallic alloys, where crack propagation along the GBs is observed. This thesis aims to understand the role of GBs on the thermo-mechanical behaviour of metals and especially to define the microscopic mechanism, which leads to a deformation at the GBs. In this thesis, polycrystals, single crystals and bi-crystals of a yellow gold alloy are studied in detail, primarily by mechanical spectroscopy. The analysis and interpretation of the experimental data identifies different anelastic relaxations (internal energy dissipation processes), that produce peaks in the mechanical loss spectrum. The mechanical loss spectrum of polycrystals shows a relaxation peak P2 at about 780K, which is absent in single crystals made from the same alloy. Stepwise deformation of a single crystal causes an increase of the high temperature mechanical loss background and the appearance of a high temperature peak (P3). Above a critical deformation, P3 disappears and the peak P2, which is normally observed in polycrystals, appears. The increase of the exponential background is interpreted as due to the introduction of new dislocations whereas the peak P3 is attributed to a dislocation relaxation mechanism in the sub-grain boundaries. The peak P2 located at intermediate temperatures depends on the grain size: with grain growth, the peak position shifts to higher temperatures. It is shown that the relaxation time is proportional to the grain size d. Such a grains size dependence is in agreement with the Zener model based on geometrical considerations of an assembly of elastic grains, which can slide against each other. The investigations on bi-crystals containing a single GB with a specific misorientation between crystal lattices and a specific boundary plane orientation show that the relaxation peak P2 is closely related to a mechanism taking place at the boundary. The peak height is proportional to the GB density in a bi-crystal, whereas a single crystalline part cut from a bi-crystal does not show a relaxation peak. Molecular dynamics simulations are performed in order to illustrate the potential microscopic mechanisms responsible for the stress relaxation peak P2 in polycrystals. A Sigma5 grain boundary is submitted to a shear deformation parallel to the boundary plane. The grain boundary shows a migration perpendicular to the boundary plane coupled to shear for temperatures below 700K. Above 1000K, only grain boundary sliding is observed. Two models are developed that provide expressions for the relaxation strength and the relaxation time that are compared to experimental measurements performed on polycrystals. The observed grain size dependence favours the sliding model over the migration model. Measurements as a function of stress allow a refinement of the sliding model. The stress amplitude dependence of the peak P2 indicates a depinning mechanism, which is interpreted as due to GB dislocations between zones where sliding of different amount occurred. Obstacles to the sliding movement like steps or extended coincidence sites in the GB plane act as pinning points. The pinning points can be overcome at high temperatures close to the melting point, which results in the onset of local microscopic creep.