•The method of nanosecond laser micro and nanotexturing of metal surfaces is developed.•The nanosecond laser treatment is used for fabricating a superhydrophobic coating.•The coating shows extreme ...water repellency under long continuous contact with water.•The coating shows excellent durability under long abrasive wear and cavitation loads.•The coating shows self-healing properties during atmospheric storage.
Existing and emerging applications of laser-driven methods make an important contribution to advancement in nanotechnological approaches for the design of superhydrophobic surfaces. In this study, we describe a superhydrophobic coating on stainless steel, designed by nanosecond IR laser treatment with subsequent chemisorption of fluorooxysilane for use in heavily loaded hydraulic systems. Coating characterization reveals extreme water repellency, chemical stability on long-term contact with water, and excellent durability of functional properties under prolonged abrasive wear and cavitation loads. The coating also demonstrates self-healing properties after mechanical damage.
The capabilities of quantum computers, such as the number of supported qubits and maximum circuit depth, have grown exponentially in recent years. Commercially relevant applications that take ...advantage of quantum computing are expected to be available soon. In this paper, we shed light on the possibilities of accelerating database tasks using quantum computing with examples of optimizing queries and transaction schedules and present some open challenges for future studies in the field.
The continuous scaling of semiconductor-based technologies to micron and sub-micron regimes has resulted in higher device density and lower power dissipation. Many physical phenomena such as ...self-heating or current leakage become significant at such scales, and mapping current densities to reveal these features is decisive for the development of modern electronics. However, advanced non-invasive technologies either offer low sensitivity or poor spatial resolution and are limited to two-dimensional spatial mapping. Here we use near-surface nitrogen-vacancy centres in diamond to probe Oersted fields created by current flowing within a multi-layered integrated circuit in pre-development. We show the reconstruction of the three-dimensional components of the current density with a magnitude down to about \(\approx 10 \,\rm \mu A / \mu m^2\) and sub-micron spatial resolution at room temperature. We also report the localisation of currents in different layers and observe anomalous current flow in an electronic chip. Our method provides, therefore a decisive step toward three-dimensional current mapping in technologically relevant nanoscale electronics chips.
We measure diffusion of organic molecules located a few nanometers from the diamond surface. To study molecular diffusion, we perform local detection of nuclear magnetic resonance, based on single ...shallow Nitrogen-Vacancy (NV) centers in diamond. Specifically, we demonstrate measurements of translational diffusion coefficient of phospholipids in an artificial cell membrane by employing correlation spectroscopy. An analysis of correlation decay curves using different diffusion models shows, that a simple 2D diffusion model gives satisfactory diffusion coefficients, although the choice of the model affects the extracted numbers. We find significant differences among the diffusion coefficients measured by different single NV centers, which we attribute to local heterogeneities of the lipid layers, likely caused by the supporting diamond substrate.
Nitrogen vacancy (NV) centers in diamond have developed into a powerful solid-state platform for compact quantum sensors. However, high sensitivity measurements usually come with additional ...constraints on the pumping intensity of the laser and the pulse control applied. Here, we demonstrate high sensitivity NV ensemble based magnetic field measurements with low-intensity optical excitation. DC magnetometry methods like, e.g., continuous-wave optically detected magnetic resonance and continuously excited Ramsey measurements combined with lock-in detection, are compared to get an optimization. Gradiometry is also investigated as a step towards unshielded measurements of unknown gradients. The magnetometer demonstrates a minimum detectable field of 0.3-0.7 pT in a 73 s measurement by further applying a flux guide with a sensing dimension of 2 mm, corresponding to a magnetic field sensitivity of 2.6-6 pT/Hz^0.5. Combined with our previous efforts on the diamond AC magnetometry, the diamond magnetometer is promising to perform wide bandwidth magnetometry with picotesla sensitivity and a cubic-millimeter sensing volume under ambient conditions.
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