Over time, ferroelectric materials are subjected to repeated mechanical and electrical loading, leading to a progressive decrease in their functionality, ultimately resulting in failure. This process is referred to as ‘ferroelectric fatigue’.

It is a main cause of the failure of a range of electronic devices, with discarded electronics a leading contributor to e-waste. Globally, tens of millions of tonnes of failed electronic devices go to landfill every year.

Using advanced in-situ electron microscopy, the School of Aerospace, Mechanical and Mechatronic Engineering researchers were able to observe ferroelectric fatigue as it occurred. This technique uses an advanced microscope to ‘see’, in real-time, down to the nanoscale and atomic levels.

The researchers hope this new observation, described in a paper published in Nature Communications, will help better inform the future design of ferroelectric nanodevices.

“Our discovery is a significant scientific breakthrough as it shows a clear picture of how the ferroelectric degradation process is present at the nanoscale,” said co-author Professor Xiaozhou Liao, also from the University of Sydney Nano Institute.

Dr Qianwei Huang, the study’s lead researcher, said: “Although it has long been known that ferroelectric fatigue can shorten the lifespan of electronic devices, how it occurs has previously not been well understood, due to a lack of suitable technology to observe it.”

Co-author Dr Zibin Chen said: “With this, we hope to better inform the engineering of devices with longer lifespans.”

Observational findings spark new debate

Nobel laureate Herbert Kroemer once famously asserted “The interface is the device.” The observations by the Sydney researchers could therefore spark a new debate on whether interfaces — which are physical boundaries separating different regions in materials — are a viable solution to the unreliability of next-generation devices.

“Our discovery has indicated that interfaces could actually speed up ferroelectric degradation. Therefore, better understanding of these processes is needed to achieve the best performance of devices,” Dr Chen said.

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But the men in this study — highly educated and from dual-earner couples — combined those stereotypically masculine traits with the belief that they should be nurturing, highly involved fathers.

The researchers were surprised that traits often seen as old-fashioned male stereotypes were linked to more positive parenting behaviors, said study lead author Sarah Schoppe-Sullivan, professor of psychology at The Ohio State University.

It suggests that some men are looking for new ways to be fathers, Schoppe-Sullivan said.

“These men are combining traditional aspects of masculinity with new nurturing ideals to create new fathering identities. They may be in the midst of transforming fatherhood.”

The study was published this week in the journal Psychology of Men and Masculinities.

The seven stereotypical masculine characteristics linked to positive parenting in this study — competitive, daring, adventurous, dominant, aggressive, courageous and stands up to pressure — are generally seen as positive traits, Schoppe-Sullivan noted.

But a negative masculine attitude that the researchers also measured in this study — hostile sexism — was not linked to positive parenting. In addition, the quality of fathers’ parenting of their infants was unrelated to the belief that men should be primary economic providers in the family.

The men in the study were participating in the New Parents Project, a long-term study led by Schoppe-Sullivan that is investigating how dual-earner couples adjust to becoming parents for the first time.

In the third trimester of their partners’ pregnancy, the expectant fathers completed a variety of questionnaires. They were asked to rate themselves on a four-point scale (not at all like me to very much like me) on the seven stereotypically masculine characteristics.

Hostile sexism was rated by asking male participants how much they agreed with 11 statements like “Feminists are making unreasonable demands of men.” Participants were also asked whether men or women should provide the majority of income for the family.

Their nurturing father role beliefs were measured by asking men to rate how much they agreed with nine statements like “Men should share with child care such as bathing, feeding and dressing the child.”

Nine months after the child was born, the researchers watched the fathers interact with their infants by themselves and with the mother. The researchers rated the fathers on their positive parenting behavior and on how well they co-parented together with mothers.

Results showed, as the researchers had predicted, that men who believed they should have a nurturing father role had higher-quality interactions with their child and were better at co-parenting with their partner.

But the researchers were surprised to find that the more men said they fit the stereotypical definition of “real men,” the more they were also rated as showing good parenting behavior.

“The fathers who see themselves as competitive and adventurous and the other masculine traits tended to be really engaged with their kids. They were not checked out,” Schoppe-Sullivan said.

It may be that men who used these traditionally masculine characteristics to succeed in their careers are trying to find ways to apply them to their jobs as parents.

“These dads may be saying that being a father is an important job, too, and I’m going to use the same traits that help me succeed at work to make me a successful father,” she said.

Schoppe-Sullivan emphasized that the fathers in this sample were highly educated and had partners who also worked. The findings here may not apply to all fathers.

But the results are encouraging, she said.

“If fathers can preserve the best of these stereotypically masculine characteristics, without the negatives like hostile sexism, that would be good for families.”

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Materials provided by Ohio State University. Original written by Jeff Grabmeier. Note: Content may be edited for style and length.

But now, researchers from Tohoku University have revealed an anomaly in this phenomenon. Through the analysis of data before and after the 2018 Northern Osaka Earthquake, they discovered that the atmospheric radon concentration decreased.

The results of their research were published online in Scientific Reports on April 2, 2021.

“For the first time, we found a decrease in the atmospheric radon associated with seismic quiescence before the mainshock of an inland earthquake,” said professor Jun Muto of the Graduate School of Science at Tohoku University. Muto, who led the research group with professor Hiroyuki Nagahama, collaborated with Osaka Medical and Pharmaceutical University and Kobe Pharmaceutical University.

Observation in atmospheric radon concentration levels from the Osaka Medical and Pharmaceutical University showed a decline about one year before the earthquake, a trend that continued until June 2020. Seismic activity in the vicinity of the monitoring site also declined prior to the earthquake along with a reduced seismic activity after the mainshock for the entire Kansai region, excluding the aftershock area.

All of this suggests that radon levels did not increase after the earthquake. It also paints a more complicated picture of the radon and fluid movements that cause radon exhalation in the subsurface when large earthquakes occur.

“The discovery revealed that more processes are occurring before earthquakes than previously thought,” said Muto. “Further analysis of other earthquakes will lead to a better understanding of the physiochemical processes at play and help us use atmospheric radon concentrations to clarify various crustal movements correlated with major earthquakes.”

The research group has established atmospheric radon concentration measurement monitoring networks at radioisotope facilities across Japan. Monitoring is also expected be carried out at nuclear power plants.

Expansion of the monitoring network will help clarify the area and timing of radon anomalies, the geological characteristics that cause such anomalies, and the relationship with the different earthquake types. All of this will help realize a radon-based earthquake prediction system.

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Materials provided by Tohoku University. Note: Content may be edited for style and length.