Blisters

About: Blisters is a research topic. Over the lifetime, 980 publications have been published within this topic receiving 16229 citations.

Silicon surface modifications produced by non-equilibrium He, Ne and Kr plasma jets

Abstract: In this publication the interaction of non-equilibrium plasma jets (N-APPJs) with silicon surfaces is studied. The N-APPJs are operated with He, Ne and Kr gas flows under atmospheric pressure conditions. Plasma bullets are produced by the He and Ne N-APPJs, while a filamentary discharge is ignited in the Kr flow. All these N-APPJs produce remarkable traces on silicon wafer surfaces treated in their effluents. Different types of etching tracks, blisters and crystals are observed on the treated surfaces. The observed traces and surface modifications of silicon wafers are analyzed with optical, atomic-force, scanning electron and Raman microscopes. Based on the material composition within the etching tracks and the position and dimension of blisters and crystals, the traces observed on the silicon wafer surfaces are interpreted as traces of micro-plasmoids. Amorphous silicon is found in the etching tracks. Blisters are produced through the formation of cracks inside the silicon crystal by the interaction with micro-plasmoids. The reason for these modifications is not clear now. The density of micro-plasmoids traces on the treated silicon surface and the depth and length of the etching tracks depends strongly on the type of the used carrier gas of the N-APPJ.

[Physical forces in blister formation. I. Direct measurement of blister fluid colloid osmotic pressure in suction blisters and in bullous diseases (author's transl)].

Abstract: The physical forces operative in the fluid migration from the interstitial spaces into the blister cleft have not been directly measured until now. The colloid osmotic pressure was determined in suction blister fluid after mild suction blister production by a modified "Dermovac" and in blister fluid of patients with dermatitis herpetiformis, bullous allergic contact dermatitis and pemphrigus vulgaris and in the sera of healthy persons. The colloid osmotic pressure was measured by means of a recently developed osmometer with a semipermeable membrane between two chambers, one of them filled with Ringer solution, the other with the blister fluid sample. The negative pressure in the first chamber was determined. The colloid osmotic pressure of suction blister fluid averages approximately 7 cm H2O, the values reach about 20 cm H2O in bullous diseases and about 38 cm H2O in the normal sera. The blister fluid colloid osmotic pressure has to rise to about 15 cm H2O or more to cause the fluid transport from the interstitial spaces of the surrounding tissue into the blister because of the negative interstitial fluid pressure and the colloid osmotic pressure of the interstitial fluid. Otherwise the blister fluid is reabsorbed back into the interstitial spaces.

About the internal pressure in cavities derived from implantation-induced blistering in semi-conductors

Abstract: Silicon and germanium wafers were implanted with hydrogen at high fluence and then submitted to thermal treatment at low temperature. By means of atomic force microscopy observations and finite elements simulations, the internal pressure under the resulting blisters appearing onto the surface has been determined. It is found that the internal pressure could be strongly overestimated from calculation if the internal compressive stresses in the implanted layers are neglected and/or incorrect boundary conditions are used.

Structural Changes in the Vanadium Sample Surface Induced by Pulsed High-Temperature Deuterium Plasma and Deuterium Ion Fluxes

Abstract: The structural changes in the vanadium sample surface are studied as functions of the conditions of irradiation by pulsed high-temperature deuterium plasma and deuterium ion fluxes in the Plasma Focus installation. It is found that processes of partial evaporation, melting, and crystallization of the surface layer of vanadium samples take place in the plasma flux power density range q = 108–1010 W/cm2 and the ion flux density range q = 1010–1012 W/cm2. The surface relief is wavelike. There are microcracks, gas-filled bubbles (blisters), and traces of fracture on the surface. The blisters are failed in the solid state. The character of blister fracture is similar to that observed during usual ion irradiation in accelerators. The samples irradiated at relatively low power density (q = 107–108 W/cm2) demonstrate the ejection of microparticles (surface fragments) on the side facing plasma. This process is assumed to be due to the fact that the unloading wave formed in the sample–target volume reaches its irradiated surface. Under certain irradiation conditions (sample–anode distance, the number of plasma pulses), a block microstructure with block sizes of several tens of microns forms on the sample surfaces. This structure is likely to form via directional crack propagation upon cooling of a thin melted surface layer.

On the blistering of thermo-sensitive hydrogel: the volume phase transition and mechanical instability.

Abstract: This paper explores the physical mechanisms responsible for the appearance of small blisters on the surface of temperature sensitive hydrogels as they deswell rapidly during their volume phase transition. For this, we develop a numerical model that couples the processes of hydrogel deswelling and blister growth due to the existence of a thin quasi-impermeable layer on its surface. The model points out that blister inflation originates at defects point under the gel's surface, under the effect of the increasing osmotic pressure in the gel as it undergoes its phase transition. Due to their large deformation, these blisters often experience a mechanical instability that triggers a sudden increase in their growth rate at the expense of their closest neighbors. Using a simple computational model, we then show that blisters are able to communicate via internal pressure and that these interactions are mediated by two characteristic time scales related to solvent transport within and between adjacent blisters. Our study finally indicates that these mechanisms can be controlled by temperature and the gel's cross-link density to achieve diversity of blister patterns on the gel's surface. The proposed analysis provides predictions that agree well with experimental observations of NiPAm gels which deswell in various conditions.