A surface-tensioned sapphire plate and a corresponding manufacturing process. The plate may include a planar sapphire substrate and at least one layer disposed on the surface of the substrate for tensing the substrate. The layer may include at least 50 wt.-% of aluminum oxide (Al2O3). The manufacturing process for producing of a sapphire plate may include providing a planar sapphire substrate, and coating at least one surface of the substrate with a layer tensing the substrate. The layer may include at least 50 wt.-% of aluminum oxide (Al2O3).

Methods are provided for modifying a transparent and electrically conductive metal-oxide coating deposited on a plastic substrate. At least one surface region of the metal oxide coating is impinged by a pulse-driven electron beam. The impingement of the surface region of the metal oxide coating by the pulse-driven electron beam occurs inside a vacuum chamber into which hydrogen, argon, nitrogen, or oxygen, or a gas mixture of at least two of the above-mentioned gasses has been introduced.

Methods and systems that enable growing a SiGe film at relative high temperature resulting in single crystalline properties and imparting twin crystal structures and/or dislocation to the SiGe film through either in-situ or ex-situ electron-beam irradiation. The various embodiments may maintain (or increase) the Seeback coefficient and electrical conductivity of thermoelectric materials and simultaneously decrease the thermal conductivity of the thermoelectric materials.

The present invention relates to an information storage medium and a method for long-term storage of information comprising the steps of: providing a ceramic substrate; coating the ceramic substrate with a layer of a second material different from the material of the ceramic substrate, the layer having a thickness no greater than 10 m; tempering the coated ceramic substrate to form a writable plate or disc; encoding information on the writable plate or disc by using a laser and/or a focused particle beam to manipulate localized areas of the writable plate or disc.