Monitoring the Air Quality in an HVAC System via an Energy Harvesting Device.

The energy consumption of a heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) system represents a large amount of the total for a commercial or civic building. In order to optimize the system performance and to increase the comfort of people living or working in a building, it is necessary to monitor the relevant parameters of the circulating air flux. To this end, an array of sensors (i.

HOLMES: The electron capture decay of [Formula: see text]Ho to measure the electron neutrino mass with sub-eV sensitivity.

The European Research Council has recently funded HOLMES, a new experiment to directly measure the neutrino mass. HOLMES will perform a calorimetric measurement of the energy released in the decay of [Formula: see text]Ho. The calorimetric measurement eliminates systematic uncertainties arising from the use of external beta sources, as in experiments with beta spectrometers.

Nanofriction of neon films on superconducting lead.

With a quartz crystal microbalance technique we have studied the nanofriction of neon monolayers deposited on a lead surface at a temperature around 7 K. Unlike heavier adsorbates, Ne is found to systematically slide at such low temperatures without any evidence of pinning. The crossing of the Pb superconducting-metal transition is not accompanied by any change in dissipation, suggesting that the electronic contribution to friction is negligible for this system.

Synchrotron x-ray scattering from metal surfaces nanostructured by IBS.

Ion beam sputtering (IBS) can induce the formation of ordered nanostructures, whose properties depend on ion flux, sputtering angle, sample temperature, sample structure, surface symmetry, etc. For the comprehension of the time evolution of the formed nanostructure morphology it is necessary to perform in situ real time studies. In this review we shall describe results obtained using x-ray based techniques at synchrotron facilities to study in situ the time and temperature evolution of metal surfaces nanopatterned by ion sputtering.

Friction laws for lubricated nanocontacts.

We have used friction force microscopy to probe friction laws for nanoasperities sliding on atomically flat substrates under controlled atmosphere and liquid environment, respectively. A power law relates friction force and normal load in dry air, whereas a linear relationship, i.e.

Structural depinning of Ne monolayers on Pb at T < 6/5 K.

We have studied the nanofriction of Ne monolayers with a quartz-crystal microbalance technique at temperatures below 6.5 K and in ultrahigh-vacuum conditions. Very homogeneous and smooth lead electrodes have been physically deposited on a quartz blank at 150 K and then annealed at room temperatures.

Self-organized formation of rhomboidal nanopyramids on fcc(110) metal surfaces.

We report on the far from equilibrium self-organized morphologies obtained after Xe ion irradiation of the Rh(110) and Cu(110) surfaces. Here we experimentally identify by means of high resolution LEED a novel interfacial state characterized by a rhomboidal pyramid islanding with majority steps oriented along nonequilibrium low-symmetry directions. The formation of the novel rhomboidal pyramid state and the transition to the well-known rippled phases results from a delicate interplay of kinetic processes which are controlled by acting on temperature, ion flux, and impact energy.

Experimental investigation of the contact mechanics of rough fractal surfaces.

The nonstationary character of roughness is a widely recognized property of surface morphology and suggests modeling several solid surfaces by fractal geometry. In the field of contact mechanics, this demands novel investigations attempting to clarify the role of multiscale roughness during physical contact. Here we review the results we recently obtained in the characterization of the contact mechanics of fractal surfaces by depth-sensing indentation.

Uniaxial magnetic anisotropy in nanostructured Co/Cu(001): from surface ripples to nanowires.

We have investigated the correlation between morphology and magnetic anisotropy in nanostructured Co films on Cu(001). The formation of nanoscale ripples by ion erosion is found to deeply affect the magnetic properties of the Co film. A surface-type uniaxial magnetic anisotropy with easy axis parallel to the ripples is observed.

Nanocrystal formation and faceting instability in Al(110) homoepitaxy: true upward adatom diffusion at step edges and island corners.

Using atomic force microscopy and spot-profile analyzing low energy electron diffraction, we have observed the existence of a striking faceting instability in Al(110) homoepitaxy, characterized by the formation of nanocrystals with well-defined facets. These hut-shaped nanocrystals are over tenfold higher than the total film coverage, and coexist in a bimodal growth mode with much shallower and more populous surface mounds. We further use density functional theory calculations to elucidate the microscopic origin of the faceting instability, induced by surprisingly low activation barriers for adatom ascent at step edges and island corners.

The contact mechanics of fractal surfaces.

The role of surface roughness in contact mechanics is relevant to processes ranging from adhesion to friction, wear and lubrication. It also promises to have a deep impact on applied science, including coatings technology and design of microelectromechanical systems. Despite the considerable results achieved by indentation experiments, particularly in the measurement of bulk hardness on nanometre scales, the contact behaviour of realistic surfaces, showing random multiscale roughness, remains largely unknown.

Is ion sputtering always a "negative homoepitaxial deposition"?

We present a scanning tunneling microscopy study of the direct comparison between homoepitaxial deposition and surface ion sputtering on the Ag(001) system. At a temperature of 200 K, sputtering results in mound formation similar to the epitaxy case, while at higher temperatures an erosive regime sets in with the appearance of regular square pits. Contrary to the conventional wisdom, which considers ion sputtering as a deposition of vacancies, the analysis of single ion impact events reveals that the process produces both adatom and vacancy clusters.

Ripple rotation in multilayer homoepitaxy.

We have investigated the homoepitaxial growth of Ag(110) in the multilayer regime. After deposition of 30 monolayers of Ag at a temperature of 210 K a ripplelike surface instability is produced and the ridges of the ripples, as well as the majority steps, are found to be parallel to <11;0> which is the thermodynamically favored orientation. As the deposition temperature is decreased to 130 K, an unexpected 90 degrees switch of the ripple orientation is observed.