Fabrication of submicron La2−x_{2-x}Srx_{x}CuO4_{4} intrinsic Josephson junction stacks

Intrinsic Josephson junction (IJJ) stacks of cuprate superconductors have potential to be implemented as intrinsic phase qubits working at relatively high temperatures. We report success in fabricating submicron La$_{2-x}$Sr$_{x}$CuO$_{4}$ (LSCO) IJJ stacks carved out of single crystals. We also show a new fabrication method in which argon ion etching is performed after focused ion beam etching. As a result, we obtained an LSCO IJJ stack in which resistive multi-branches appeared. It may be possible to control the number of stacked IJJs with an accuracy of a single IJJ by developing this method.Comment: 5 pages, 6 figure

Low/Hard State Spectra of GRO J1655-40 Observed with Suzaku

The Galactic black-hole binary GRO J1655$-$40 was observed with Suzaku on 2005 September 22--23, for a net exposure of 35 ks with the X-ray Imaging Spectrometer (XIS) and 20 ks with the Hard X-ray Detector (HXD). The source was detected over a broad and continuous energy range of 0.7--300 keV, with an intensity of $\sim$50 mCrab at 20 keV. At a distance of 3.2 kpc, the 0.7--300 keV luminosity is $\sim 5.1 \times 10^{36}$ erg s$^{-1}$ ($\sim 0.7$ % of the Eddington luminosity for a 6 $M_{\odot}$ black hole). The source was in a typical low/hard state, exhibiting a power-law shaped continuum with a photon index of $\sim 1.6$. During the observation, the source intensity gradually decreased by 25% at energies above $\sim 3$ keV, and by 35% below 2 keV. This, together with the soft X-ray spectra taken with the XIS, suggests the presence of an independent soft component that can be represented by emission from a cool ($\sim 0.2$ keV) disk. The hard X-ray spectra obtained with the HXD reveal a high-energy spectral cutoff, with an e-folding energy of $\sim 200$ keV. Since the spectral photon index above 10 keV is harder by $\sim 0.4$ than that observed in the softer energy band, and the e-folding energy is higher than those of typical reflection humps, the entire 0.7--300 keV spectrum cannot be reproduced by a single thermal Comptonization model, even considering reflection effects. Instead, the spectrum (except the soft excess) can be successfully explained by invoking two thermal-Comptonization components with different $y$-parameters. In contrast to the high/soft state spectra of this object in which narrow iron absorption lines are detected with equivalent widths of 60--100 eV, the present XIS spectra bear no such features beyond an upper-limit equivalent width of 25 eV.Comment: 32 pages, 12 figures; accepted for publication in Publications of the Astronomical Society of Japan (PASJ

Using HAADF-STEM for atomic-scale evaluation of incorporation of antibacterial Ag atoms in a ß-tricalcium phosphate structure

Structural evaluation of ionic additions in calcium phosphates that enhance their performance is a long-lasting area of research in the field of biomedical materials. Ionic incorporation in ß-tricalcium phosphate (ß-TCP) structures is indispensable for obtaining desirable properties for specific functions and applications. Owing to its complex structure and beam-sensitive nature, determining the extent of ion incorporation and its corresponding location in the ß-TCP structure is challenging. Further, very few experimental studies have been able to estimate the location of Ag atoms incorporated in a ß-TCP structure while considering the associated changes in lattice parameters. Although the incorporation alters the lattice parameters, the alteration is not significant enough for estimating the location of the incorporated Ag atoms. Here, Ag incorporation in a ß-TCP structure was evaluated on atomic scale using scanning transmission electron microscopy (STEM). To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report to unambiguously determine the location of the incorporated Ag atoms in the ß-TCP structure by comparing z-contrast profiles of the Ag and Ca atoms by combining the state-of-art STEM observations and STEM image simulations. The Ag incorporation in the Ca(4) sites of ß-TCP, as estimated by the Rietveld refinement, was in good agreement with the high-angle annular dark-field STEM observations and the simulations of the location of Ag atoms for [001] and [010] zone axes.Gokcekaya O., Ueda K., Narushima T., et al. Using HAADF-STEM for atomic-scale evaluation of incorporation of antibacterial Ag atoms in a ß-tricalcium phosphate structure. Nanoscale, 12, 31, 16596. https://doi.org/10.1039/d0nr04208k

Design of Titanium Alloys Insensitive to Thermal History for Additive Manufacturing

Powder bed fusion is the most common technology used for 3D printing, where thermal energy is used to selectively melt/sinter granular materials into solid shapes. The build platform is then lowered, more powder is added, and the process is repeated for the next layer to fully print the design. As a result, the built-up part is repeatedly heated. Therefore, materials that are not sensitive to thermal history are preferred for this process. The Ti–Zr system forms a continuous solid solution for both β- and α-phases. The presence of Fe in Ti alloys is inevitable; however, it provides some beneficial effects. The purpose of this work was to prepare Ti–Zr–Fe alloys and investigate their heat treatment behaviour. Ti-xmass%Zr-1mass%Fe alloys (x = 0, 5, 10) were prepared with arc melting. The formation of a solid solution of Zr in Ti was confirmed on the basis of X-ray diffraction peak shifts and hardening effects. A small amount of β-phase precipitation was suggested by the change in electrical resistivity after isothermal ageing at 673 and 773 K. However, no obvious phase or microstructural changes were observed. The laser scanning increased the volume of the precipitates and also coarsened them, but the effect was limited.Ueda M., Ting Hsuan C., Ikeda M., et al. Design of Titanium Alloys Insensitive to Thermal History for Additive Manufacturing. Crystals 13, 568 (2023); https://doi.org/10.3390/cryst13040568

Spectral evolution of GRB 060904A observed with Swift and Suzaku -- Possibility of Inefficient Electron Acceleration

We observed an X-ray afterglow of GRB 060904A with the Swift and Suzaku satellites. We found rapid spectral softening during both the prompt tail phase and the decline phase of an X-ray flare in the BAT and XRT data. The observed spectra were fit by power-law photon indices which rapidly changed from $\Gamma = 1.51^{+0.04}_{-0.03}$ to $\Gamma = 5.30^{+0.69}_{-0.59}$ within a few hundred seconds in the prompt tail. This is one of the steepest X-ray spectra ever observed, making it quite difficult to explain by simple electron acceleration and synchrotron radiation. Then, we applied an alternative spectral fitting using a broken power-law with exponential cutoff (BPEC) model. It is valid to consider the situation that the cutoff energy is equivalent to the synchrotron frequency of the maximum energy electrons in their energy distribution. Since the spectral cutoff appears in the soft X-ray band, we conclude the electron acceleration has been inefficient in the internal shocks of GRB 060904A. These cutoff spectra suddenly disappeared at the transition time from the prompt tail phase to the shallow decay one. After that, typical afterglow spectra with the photon indices of 2.0 are continuously and preciously monitored by both XRT and Suzaku/XIS up to 1 day since the burst trigger time. We could successfully trace the temporal history of two characteristic break energies (peak energy and cutoff energy) and they show the time dependence of $\propto t^{-3} \sim t^{-4}$ while the following afterglow spectra are quite stable. This fact indicates that the emitting material of prompt tail is due to completely different dynamics from the shallow decay component. Therefore we conclude the emission sites of two distinct phenomena obviously differ from each other.Comment: 19 pages, 9 figures, accepted for publication in PASJ (Suzaku 2nd Special Issue

Overcoming the strength-ductility trade-off by the combination of static recrystallization and low-temperature heat-treatment in Co-Cr-W-Ni alloy for stent application

A process combining swaging, static recrystallization, and heat treatment at 873 K (low-temperature heat-treatment, LTHT) was developed for achieving both high ultimate strength and high ductility in Co-20Cr-15W-10Ni (mass%, CCWN) alloy for stent application. The alloys swaged to a sectional area reduction rate of 58.3% were annealed at 1373–1473 K for 30–300 s. Under annealing at 1373 K for 300 s, a fine grain structure with an average grain size of ~6 μm formed, while under annealing at 1473 K, a structure with an average grain size of 12 μm formed after 120 s. In the alloys annealed at 1373–1448 K, the formation of η-phase precipitates (M6X-M12X type, M: metallic elements, X: C and/or N) was observed, while no precipitates were observed in the alloys annealed at 1473 K. The improvement in ultimate strength by grain refinement was confirmed. Alloys annealed at 1473 K showed higher ductility compared to those annealed at 1373–1448 K even if the grain size was similar. It is considered that the η-phase precipitates deteriorated the ductility of the annealed alloys. LTHT suppressed the strain-induced martensitic γ-to-ε transformation to improve the ductility of the fine-grained as well as coarse-grained alloys. Thus, regardless of the grain size, it is newly evidenced that LTHT effectively improves ductility in CCWN alloy. By combining high-temperature short-time annealing and LTHT, both the ultimate strength and ductility of Co-20Cr-15W-10Ni (mass%) alloy improved, and it was possible to provide properties suitable for next-generation balloon-expandable stents with Co-20Cr-15W-10Ni (mass%) alloy.Ueki K., Yanagihara S., Ueda K., et al. Overcoming the strength-ductility trade-off by the combination of static recrystallization and low-temperature heat-treatment in Co-Cr-W-Ni alloy for stent application. Materials Science and Engineering A, 766, 138400. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.msea.2019.138400

Development of Low-Yield Stress Co–Cr–W–Ni Alloy by Adding 6 Mass Pct Mn for Balloon-Expandable Stents

This is the first report presenting the development of a Co–Cr–W–Ni–Mn alloy by adding 6 mass pct Mn to ASTM F90 Co–20Cr–15W–10Ni (CCWN, mass pct) alloy for use as balloon-expandable stents with an excellent balance of mechanical properties and corrosion resistance. The effects of Mn addition on the microstructures as well as the mechanical and corrosion properties were investigated after hot forging, solution treatment, swaging, and static recrystallization. The Mn-added alloy with a grain size of ~ 20 µm (recrystallization condition: 1523 K, 150 seconds) exhibited an ultimate tensile strength of 1131 MPa, 0.2 pct proof stress of 535 MPa, and plastic elongation of 66 pct. Additionally, it exhibited higher ductility and lower yield stress while maintaining high strength compared to the ASTM F90 CCWN alloy. The formation of intersecting stacking faults was suppressed by increasing the stacking fault energy (SFE) with Mn addition, resulting in a lower yield stress. The low-yield stress is effective in suppressing stent recoil. In addition, strain-induced martensitic transformation during plastic deformation was suppressed by increasing the SFE, thereby improving the ductility. The Mn-added alloys also exhibited good corrosion resistance, similar to the ASTM F90 CCWN alloy. Mn-added Co–Cr–W–Ni alloys are suitable for use as balloon-expandable stents.Yanagihara S., Ueki K., Ueda K., et al. Development of Low-Yield Stress Co–Cr–W–Ni Alloy by Adding 6 Mass Pct Mn for Balloon-Expandable Stents. Metallurgical and Materials Transactions A: Physical Metallurgy and Materials Science, 52, 9, 4137. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11661-021-06374-7

Synchronous improvement in strength and ductility of biomedical Co–Cr–Mo alloys by unique low-temperature heat treatment

The microstructure and tensile properties of Co–27Cr–6Mo (mass%) alloys heat-treated at 673–1373 K were studied. Lower elongation was observed after heat treatment at 1073 K due to formation of carbonitride precipitates. In contrast, when low-temperature heat treatment (LTHT) was applied at 673–873 K, both the ultimate tensile strength and elongation synchronously improved compared with the solution-treated alloy. Electron backscatter diffraction analysis for plastic-strained alloys and in situ X-ray diffraction analysis under stress-induced conditions revealed that the strain-induced martensitic transformation (SIMT) of the γ(fcc)-phase to ε(hcp)-phase during plastic deformation was suppressed by the LTHT. Stacking faults (thin ε-phase) were observed to collide in the LTHT alloys. The following mechanisms for the synchronous improvement in the tensile strength and elongation after LHTH are proposed. First, stacking faults with multiple variants were formed during LTHT. Then, the ε-phase of a single variant formed by SIMT during plastic deformation collides with preexisting multi-variant stacking faults formed during LTHT, increasing the tensile strength. In addition, the SIMT during plastic deformation is suppressed in the high-plastic-strain region by the collision. This decreases the total amount of ε-phase formed during plastic deformation, which improves the ductility. We demonstrated that LTHT of Co–Cr–Mo alloys effectively improves the performance and mechanical safety of spinal fixation implants, which often fracture because of fatigue cracking.Ueki K., Abe M., Ueda K., et al. Synchronous improvement in strength and ductility of biomedical Co–Cr–Mo alloys by unique low-temperature heat treatment. Materials Science and Engineering A, 739, 53. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.msea.2018.10.016