We have developed a technique for measuring thin film stress during growth by monitoring the wafer curvature. By measuring the deflection of multiple parallel laser beams with a CCD detector, the sensivity to vibration is reduced and a radius of curvature limit of 4 km has been obtained in situ. This technique also enables us to obtain a 2-dimensional profile of the surface curvature from the simultaneous reflection of a rectangular array of beams. Results from the growth of SiG alloy films are presented to demonstrate the unique information that can be obtained during growth.

A laboratory prototype system has been developed for the experimental evaluation of an explosives detection technique based on nuclear resonance absorption of gamma rays in nitrogen. Major subsystems include a radiofrequency quadrupole proton accelerator and associated beam transport system, a high-power gamma-ray production target, an airline-luggage tomographic inspection system, and an image- processing/detection-alarm subsystem. The detection system performance, based on a limited experimental test, is reported.

Nanoindentation is used for measuring mechanical properties of thin films. This paper addresses potential measurement errors caused by pile-up when soft films deposited on hard substrates are tested this way. Pile-up is exacerbated in soft film/hard substrate systems because of the constraint the substrate exerts on plastic deformation of the film. To examine pile-up effects, Al films 240 and 1700 nm thick were deposited on hard glass and tested by standard nanoindentation. In Al/glass, the film and substrate have similar elastic moduli; thus, any unusual behavior in nanoindentation results may be attributed to differences in plastic flow alone. SEM examination of nanoindentation hardness impressions in the film revealed that common methods for analyzing nanoindentation data underestimate the true contact areas by as much as 80%, which results in overestimations of the hardness and modulus by as much as 80 and 35%, respectively. Sources of these errors and their effect on measurement of hardness and elastic modulus are discussed, and a simple model for the composite hardness of the film/substrate system is developed. This model could prove useful when it is not possible to make indentations shallow enough to avoid substrate effects.

A tungsten-40 wt% Cu composite was consolidated by liquid-phase sintering and further processed to full density by a number of deformation methods. Fully dense materials were obtained by hot extrusion or cold rolling of the W-Cu composite. Subsequent processing by cold rolling, cold swaging, or hot swaging did not produce large changes in the aspect ratio of the W particles. The materials develop high hardness with small grain sizes of 5 {mu}m or less. The work-hardening, recrystallization, and grain growth of the material are characterized, and the hardness and tensile properties are related to processing parameters. Wire with tensile strengths up to 1120 MPa were produced. Further improvements in properties are anticipated with optimized processing parameters.

For direct drive ICF, a capsule is imploded by directly illuminating the surface with laser light. Beam smoothing and uniformity of illumination affect the seeding of instabilities at the ablation front. We have developed a technique for studying the imprint of a laser beam on a thin foil using an x-ray laser as an XUV backlighter. We use multilayer XUV optics to relay the x-ray laser onto the directly driven foil, and then to image the foil modulation onto a CCD camera. This technique allows us to measure small fractional variations in the foil thickness. We have measured the modulation due to imprint from a low intensity 0.35 pm drive beam incident on a 3 {mu}m Si foil using an yttrium x-ray laser on Nova. We present results from a similar technique to measure the imprinted modulation due to a low intensity 0.53 {mu}m drive beam incident on a 2 {mu}m Al foil using a germanium x-ray laser at the Vulcan facility.