Growth mechanism of epitaxial YSZ on Si by Pulsed Laser Deposition.

The epitaxial growth of yttria-stabilized zirconia (YSZ) on silicon with native oxide was investigated in order to gain more insight in the growth mechanism. Specifically, attention was paid to the possibilities to control the chemical interactions between YSZ, silicon and oxygen during initial growth. The sources of oxygen during growth proved to play an important role in the growth process, as shown by individual manipulation of all sources present during Pulsed Laser Deposition.

Modulating the External Facets of Functional Nanocrystals Enabled by Two-Dimensional Oxide Crystal Templates.

The nature of the external crystal facets is critical to control the (photo)catalytic properties. Two-dimensional materials can expose only one type of crystal facet among zero-dimensional (0D), one-dimensional (1D), and two-dimensional (2D) materials. Controllable tuning of the nature of the external crystal facets of 2D materials is highly desirable but very challenging.

The Rapid Exfoliation and Subsequent Restacking of Layered Titanates Driven by an Acid-Base Reaction.

Two-dimensional (2D) (hydro)oxide materials, that is, nanosheets, enable the preparation of advanced 2D materials and devices. The general synthesis route of nanosheets involves exfoliating layered metal (hydro)oxide crystals. This exfoliation process is considered to be time-consuming, hindering their industrial-scale production.

Atomically defined templates for epitaxial growth of complex oxide thin films.

Atomically defined substrate surfaces are prerequisite for the epitaxial growth of complex oxide thin films. In this protocol, two approaches to obtain such surfaces are described. The first approach is the preparation of single terminated perovskite SrTiO3 (001) and DyScO3 (110) substrates.

Interscalene block for shoulder surgery in physician-owned community ambulatory surgery centers.

Purpose: To retrospectively report on a series of patients who had interscalene block regional anesthesia performed for outpatient open and arthroscopic shoulder surgical procedures in a community-based ambulatory surgery center setting.

Methods: We reviewed the cases of 1,945 patients who had interscalene block regional anesthesia performed during an 8-year period.

Results: The complication rate was 0.