A statistical model is developed to study the loading-rate dependent mechanical response of biopolymer arrays. Using the kinetic Monte Carlo method, bundles of fibers are studied under load-controlled and displacement-controlled conditions.

Ion beam synthesis of nanoclusters is studied via both kinetic Monte Carlo simulations and the self-consistent mean-field solution to a set of coupled rate equations. Both approaches predict a steady-state shape for the cluster size distribution that depends only on a characteristic length determined by the ratio of the effective diffusion coefficient times the effective solubility to the ion flux. The average cluster size in the steady state regime is determined by the implanted species/matrix interface energy.

GeSn alloy nanocrystals were formed by implantation of Ge and Sn ions into an amorphous SiO2 matrix and subsequent thermal annealing. High resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM) and scanning transmission electron microscopy (STEM) with a high angle annular dark field (HAADF) detector were used to show that phase-segregated crystalline bi-lobe nanocrystals were formed. Rapid melting and solidification using a single excimer laser pulse transformed the bi-lobe structure into a homogeneously mixed amorphous structure. Raman spectroscopy was used to monitor the crystalline nature and approximate grain size of the Ge portion of the nanocrystals after each heat treatment, and the Raman spectra were compared with the TEM images.

Although particle coarsening has been studied for over a century, it remains an active area of materials science research. The current work presents a theoretical analysis of the degradation of regular arrays of spherical particles through diffusional interaction. In order to understand the onset of coarsening, a linear stability analysis is performed on a simple square lattice of particles. It is predicted that particles will dissolve in a spatially ordered manner. The active transport mechanism plays a strong role in the selection of the coherent growth modes.