Epitaxial Cu films were grown on H-terminated Si(100), Si(110) and Si(111) substrates by magnetron sputtering. The epitaxial orientation relationships and microstructural characteristics of the Cu films were studied by x-ray diffraction (XRD) including the conventional θ-2θ mode, rocking curve and pole figures, as well as by transmission electron microscopy. The results of both pole figure and electron diffraction reveal the epitaxial orientation relationship of the Cu/Si epitaxial system is as follows: Cu(100)/Si(100) with Cu[010]//Si[011]; Cu(111)//Si(110) with Cu[1̄10]//Si[001] and Cu[11̄0]//Si[001] which are twin related; and for the Cu/Si(111) system the Cu film grows primarily in the epitaxial relationship of Cu(111)/Si(111) with Cu[11̄0]//Si[2̄11]. It is shown by XRD that Si(110) is a more favorable substrate than Si(111) for the epitaxial growth of Cu(111). An ultrathin Cu(111) film (up to 2.5 nm) with high epitaxial quality can be grown on Si(110). The epitaxial relationships of the Cu/Si are discussed on the basis of geometrical lattice matching, including the invariant-line criterion and the superlattice area mismatch rule.

The effect of interface roughness on exchange bias for NiFe/FeMn bilayers is investigated for polycrystalline films and epitaxial films. Three different systems were investigated: polycrystalline Ta (10 nm)/Ni80Fe20 (10nm)/Fe50Mn50 (20 nm) films on oxygen plasma-etched Si(100) or Cu/H–Si(100) and epitaxial Ni80Fe20 (10nm)/Fe60Mn40 (20 nm) films on Cu/H–Si(110). For films grown on plasma-etched substrates, as the etching time is increased, film roughness increases up to 12 nm. For the polycrystalline films grown on ultrathin Cu underlayers, x-ray diffraction shows the fcc (111) texture is greatly reduced as the thickness is increased. The epitaxial Cu/Si(110) buffer layer induces fcc (111) epitaxial growth and modifies the interface morphology. The dependence of exchange bias on roughness for each set of samples is explained in terms of a competition between the interfacial exchange coupling and the af uniaxial anisotropy.

Background Coprinus comatus is a novel cultivated edible fungus, hailed as a new preeminent breed of mushroom. However, C. comatus is difficult to keep fresh at room temperature after harvest due to high respiration, browning, self-dissolve and lack of physical protection. Methods In order to extend the shelf life of C. comatus and reduce its loss in storage, changes in quality, biochemical content, cell wall metabolism and ultrastructure of C. comatus (C.c77) under 4 °C and 90% RH storage regimes were investigated in this study. Results The results showed that: (1) After 10 days of storage, mushrooms appeared acutely browning, cap opening and flowing black juice, rendering the mushrooms commercially unacceptable. (2) The activity of SOD, CAT, POD gradually increased, peaked at the day 10, up to 31.62 U g−1 FW, 16.51 U g−1 FW, 0.33 U g−1 FW, respectively. High SOD, CAT, POD activity could be beneficial in protecting cells from ROS-induced injuries, alleviating lipid peroxidation and stabilizing membrane integrity. (3) The activities of chitinase, β-1,3-glucanase were significantly increased. Higher degrees of cell wall degradation observed during storage might be due to those enzymes’ high activities. (4) The fresh C. comatus had dense tissue and every single cell had the number of intracellular organelles which structure can be observed clearly. After 10 d storage, the number of intracellular organelles was declined and the structure was fuzzy, the nucleus disappeared. After 20 d storage, C. comatus’s organization was completely lost, many cells were stacked together and the cell wall was badly damaged.

A circuit with two long parallel micron size wires was fabricated by photolithography to calibrate magnetic force microscopy (MFM) tips. The tip phase shift increased as the tip scan height decreased. With the tip scan height kept constant, a linear relationship was found between the current amplitude and the phase shift of the tip at the center position of the two wires separation. The estimated magnetic moment of the tip was one order larger than its nominal value. The results imply that with better control over the fabrication process, the micron size straight wires can be used to calibrate MFM tips.

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