Funded OA publications

Herein, magnetoelectric microelectromechanical system (MEMS) cantilevers are investigated on basis of a TiN/AlN/Ni laminate derived from experimental sensors using finite-element simulations. With the anisotropic ΔE effect as an implication of the magnetocrystalline anisotropy, the lateral sensitivity of the sensor is studied for different nickel layer thicknesses and boundary conditions. It is found that above 60% of the cantilever length, the nickel is effectively not contributing to the sensor sensitivity anymore which is supported by the investigation of sensors with partial nickel coverage. The boundary condition of the magnetostrictive layer is found to affect the sensitivity of thick layers while it is negligible for thinning layers. Further investigations on basis of polycrystalline untextured nickel with slightly preferred orientations reveal a stronger effect on thin layers than on thicker ones. It is found to arise from relatively large crystals in the high-sensitivity region near the clamping of the sensor. For thicker polycrystalline layers, the ΔE effect reproduces a characteristic based mainly on the (110) and (111) orientations while the (100) orientation appears to be underrepresented.

Plasmonic nanostructures have attracted tremendous interest due to their special capability to trap light, which is of great significance for many applications such as solar steam generation and desalination, electric power generation, photodetection, sensing, catalysis, cancer therapy, and photoacoustic imaging. However, the noble metal-based (Au, Ag, Pd) plasmonic nanostructures with expensive costs and limitations to large-scale fabrication restrict their practical applications. Here, a novel and noble-metal-free Al/AlN plasmonic nanostructure fabricated by a reactive magnetron sputtering at the elevated temperature of 200 ˚C is presented. The unique 3D Al/AlN plasmonic nanostructures show a highly efficient (96.8%) and broadband (full solar spectrum) absorption and a strong photothermal conversion effect on its surface, demonstrating the potential in applications in light-induced thermal imaging and photo-thermoelectric power generation. This simple fabrication method and the developed Al/AlN plasmonic nanostructure combine excellent light trapping performance, abundant and low-cost Al and N elements, good heat localization effect, and scalable fabrication method, suggesting a promising alternative to noble-metal plasmonic nanostructures for photonic applications.

There is substantial intersubject variability of behavioral and neurophysiological responses to transcranial electrical stimulation (tES), which represents one of the most important limitations of tES. Many tES protocols utilize a fixed experimental parameter set disregarding individual anatomical and physiological properties. This one-size-fits-all approach might be one reason for the observed interindividual response variability. Simulation of current flow applying head models based on available anatomical data can help to individualize stimulation parameters and contribute to the understanding of the causes of this response variability. Current flow modeling can be used to retrospectively investigate the characteristics of tES effectivity. Previous studies examined, for example, the impact of skull defects and lesions on the modulation of current flow and demonstrated effective stimulation intensities in different age groups. Furthermore, uncertainty analysis of electrical conductivities in current flow modeling indicated the most influential tissue compartments. Current flow modeling, when used in prospective study planning, can potentially guide stimulation configurations resulting in individually effective tES. Specifically, current flow modeling using individual or matched head models can be employed by clinicians and scientists to, for example, plan dosage in tES protocols for individuals or groups of participants. We review studies that show a relationship between the presence of behavioral/neurophysiological responses and features derived from individualized current flow models. We highlight the potential benefits of individualized current flow modeling.

Ongoing developments in nanotechnology demand higher spatial resolution and thus, higher amplitude sensitivity in Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM). In this work, active cantilevers with integrated sensor and actuator systems are parametrically excited using a novel, analog feedback circuit. With that it is possible to adapt the strength and sign of a cubic nonlinearity which provides a bound to the amplitudes in resonance operation. The system response shows steeper resonance curves and therefore higher amplitude sensitivities compared to forced excited cantilevers. Theoretical findings are validated experimentally.

We study Hamiltonicity in graphs obtained as the union of a deterministic n-vertex graph H with linear degrees and a d-dimensional random geometric graph G d (n, r) for any d ≥ 1. We obtain an asymptotically optimal bound on the minimum r for which a.a.s. H ∪ G d (n, r) is Hamiltonian. Our proof provides a linear time algorithm to find a Hamilton cycle in such graphs.