An insertable electron beam ionizer into a quadrupole-based secondary ion mass spectrometer instrument has been designed and installed to analyze sputtered neutrals. The optimum design conditions of the ionizer have been obtained by modeling various configurations of the system using a simulation program developed by us. The program has allowed us to compute the potentials and ion trajectories inside the system to test the performance of the ion optics design. We have investigated the advantages of using a large ionization volume with low electron current to minimize the space charge effect in the ionizer, as this is the major problem in this type of instrument. In addition, we have used the simulations to obtain all electrodes voltages which provide an efficient suppression of residual gas and secondary ions. A good useful yield was obtained, even with low electron densities, thanks to the high geometrical acceptance of the ionizer and its large active volume. This configuration implies less thermal radiation in the ionizer and, in addition, a longer life time of the filament. Although the signal of residual gas not suppressed (i.e. in residual gas mode) is two orders of magnitude higher than the signal of sputtered neutrals, we have achieved a good background suppression.

This article deals with the cold plasma treatment of atactic polystyrene (aPS) and isotactic polystyrene (iPS) thin films with oxygen, oxygen-nitrogen mixture or nitrogen. Experimental results showed that the use of a DC pulsed plasma discharge at low pressure can considerably increase surface hydrophilicity. Variations in macroscopic surface properties were studied by water drop contact angle measurements. It was found that treatment of aPS resulted in a greater change in wettability than that for iPS. This initial observation of the effect of tacticity, and thus polymer microstructure, on surface properties is discussed with regards to the crystalline and helical nature of iPS.

A mathematical model is described and applied to simulate sudden total one-dimensional dam-break flow over wetted bed. The dam collapse takes place in a rough sloping non-prismatic channel of various cross-sections. The water parameters to be instantaneously calculated are the height h, the discharge Q, the mean velocity u and the pressure force P. The mentioned flow is governed by the Saint-Venant shallow water equations and the computation process, on the basis of rectangular grid of points, consists of two complementary solutions: (a) at the first instant after the collapse, an analytical procedure is considered. The calculated parameters are taken as initial values in the water stream embraced by the flood wave. Outside this zone, initial conditions are those which preexist before the rupture. (b) Beyond this time, a numerical computation is carried out by using an iterative explicit method of characteristics. (c) Every time stage of calculation starts by determining the discontinuity (wave front) parameters namely its abscissa xδ, height hδ, celerity cδ and alert delay tδ. The former is the discontinuity arrival time at considered station. Typical results are obtained and compared with similar ones already published by others in the literature.

This paper presents a novel design of superconducting coils able to generate a micro-gravity environment for protein crystal growth in aqueous solution. The structures have been calculated thanks to a method for “inverse source synthesis problem” developed at the GREEN Choice of the angular offset between the directions of magnetic force field and magnetic field in the working area as well as convection phenomena are also studied.

We describe an optical fiber based interferometer to measure velocity profiles in sheared complex fluids using dynamic light scattering (DLS). After a review of the theoretical problem of DLS under shear, a detailed description of the setup is given. We outline the various experimental difficulties induced by refraction when using a Couette cell. We also show that homodyne DLS is not well suited to measure quantitative velocity profiles in narrow-gap Couette geometries. On the other hand, the heterodyne technique allows us to determine the velocity field inside the gap of a Couette cell. All the technical features of the setup, namely its spatial resolution (≈ 50 − 100 µm) and its temporal resolution (≈ 1 s per point, ≈ 1 min per profile) are discussed, as well as the calibration procedure with a Newtonian fluid. As briefly shown on oil-in-water emulsions, such a setup permits one to record both velocity profiles and rheological data simultaneously.

Shear viscosity measurements with dilute suspensions of red blood cells are interpreted using a microrheological model that relates the bulk measurements to the physical properties of the suspended cells. It is thus possible to quantify the average deformability of a RBC population in terms of a mean value of the membrane shear elastic modulus Es. The values obtained for normal cells are in good agreement with those given in the literature. The method allows to discriminate between normal and altered (diamide or glutaraldehyde treated) cells or pathological cells (scleroderma). The predictions of the microrheological model, based on analytic calculations, are also compared with the numerical results of Ramanujan and Pozrikidis (JFM 361, 1998) for dilute suspensions of capsules in simple shear flow.