Silicon Carbide (SiC) is a semiconductor with a set of superior properties, including wide bandgap, high thermal conductivity, high critical electric field and high electron mobility. This makes it an excellent material for unipolar and bipolar electronic device applications that can operate under high temperature and high power conditions. Despite major advancements in SiC bulk growth technology, during last decade, the crystalline quality of bulk grown material is still not good enough to be used as the active device structure. Also, doping of the material through high temperature diffusion is not possible while ion implantation leads to severe damage to the crystalline quality of the material. Therefore, to exploit the superior quality of the material, epitaxial growth is a preferred technology for the active layers in SiC-based devices. Horizontal Hot-wall chemical vapor deposition is probably the best way to produce high quality epitaxial layers where complete device structure with different doping type or concentrations can be grown during a single growth run. SiC exists in many different polytypes and to maintain the polytype stability during epitaxial growth, off-cut substrates are required to utilize step-flow growth. The major disadvantage of growth on off-cut substrates is the replication of basal plane dislocations from the substrate into the epilayer. These are known to be the main source of degradation of bipolar devices during forward current injection. The bipolar degradation is caused by expanding stacking faults which increases the resistance and leads to fatal damage to the device. Structural defects replicated from the substrate are also important for the formation of defects in the epitaxial layer. In this thesis we have developed an epitaxial growth process to reduce the basal plane dislocations and the bipolar degradation. We have further studied the properties of the epitaxial layer with a focus on morphological defects and structural defects in the epitaxial layer. The approach to avoid basal plane dislocation penetration from the substrate is to grow on nominally on-axis substrate. The main obstacle with on-axis growth is to avoid the formation of parasitic 3C polytype inclusions. The first results (Paper 1) on epitaxial growth on nominally on-axis Si-face substrates showed that the 3C inclusions nucleated at the beginning of the growth and expand laterally without following any particular crystallographic direction. Also, the extended defects in the substrate like micropipes, clusters of threading screw and edge dislocations do not give rise to 3C inclusion. The substrate surface damage was instead found to be the main source. To improve the starting surface different in-situ etching conditions were studied (Paper 2) and Si-rich conditions were found to effectively remove the substrate surface damages with lowest roughness and more importantly uniform distribution of steps on the surface. Therefore, in-situ etching under Si-rich conditions was performed before epitaxial growth. Using this 100 % 4H polytype was obtained in the epilayer on full 2” wafer (Paper 3) using an improved set of growth parameters with Si-rich conditions at the beginning of the growth. Simple PiN diodes were processed on the on-axis material, and tested for bipolar degradation. More than 70 % of these (Paper 4) showed a stable forward voltage drop during constant high current injection. High voltage power devices require thick epitaxial layers with low doping. In addition, the high current needs large area devices with a reduced number of defects. Growth and properties of thick epilayers have been studied in details (Paper 5) and the process parameters in Horizontal Hotwall chemical vapor deposition reactor are found to be stable during the growth of over 100 µm thick epilayers. An extensive study of epitaxial defect known as the carrot defect has been conducted to investigate the structure of the defect and its probable relation to the extended defects in the substrate (Paper 6). Other epitaxial defects observed and studied were different in-grown stacking faults which frequently occur in as-grown epilayers (Paper 7) and also play an important role in the device performance. Minority carrier lifetime is an important property especially for high power bipolar devices. The influence of structural defects on minority carrier lifetime has been studied (Paper 8) in several epilayers, using a unique high resolution photoluminescence decay mapping. The technique has shown the influence on carrier lifetime from different structural defects, and also revealed the presence of non-visible structural defects such as dislocations and stacking faults, normally not observed with standard techniques. / Kiselkarbid (SiC) är en halvledare med överlägsna materialegenskaper, stort bandgap, hög termisk konduktivitet, hög kritisk fältstyrka och hög elektron mobilitet. Dessa gör den till ett utmärkt material för unipolära och bipolära komponenter som kan användas vid höga temperaturer, höga spänningar och höga strömmar. Trots stora framsteg under de senaste åren inom SiC bulk tillväxt, är material kvalitén hos bulk material fortfarande inte tillräckligt bra för att användas för aktiva skikt i komponenterna. Dessutom är dopning av materialet genom diffusion vid höga temperaturer inte möjligt, medan dopning via jonimplantation ger upphov till stora skador i kristallstrukturen. Därför behövs epitaxiell tillväxt av de aktive skikten i SiC baserade komponenter, för att fullt kunna utnyttja materialets egenskaper. Horisontell CVD (Hot-Wall Chemical Vapor Deposition) är en av de bästa tekniker att producera epitaxiella skikt med hög kvalité, där kompletta komponent strukturer med olika dopnings typ och koncentrationer kan växas i samma körning. SiC existerar i många polytyper och för att bibehålla polytype stabiliteten under tillväxt, används substrat med lutande kristallplan för använda s.k. step-flow tillväxt. En stor nackdel med substrat med lutande kristallplan är dock att dislokationer i basalplanet kommer att propagera från substratet in i det epitaxiella skiktet under tillväxten. Dessa dislokationer är den huvudsakliga orsaken till den degradering av bipolära komponenter som uppstår då höga strömmar går igenom komponenten. Den bipolära degraderingen orsakas av expanderade staplingsfel, som successivt ökar resistansen och slutligen förstörs komponenten. Strukturella defekter som replikeras från substratet är ofta även orsaken till kritiska defekter som skapas i det epitaxiella skiktet under tillväxt. I den här avhandlingen har vi utvecklat en epitaxiell som minskar problemet med basalplans dislokationer och bipolär degradering. Vi har även studerat egenskaper hos de epitaxiella skikten med fokus på morfologiska och strukturella defekter. Tekniken att hindra dislokationerna att replikeras in i de epitaxiella skikten bygger på att använda substrat utan lutning hos kristallplanen, s.k. on-axis substrat. Det hittills stora problemet med att växa på on-axis substrat har varit svårigheterna att bibehålla polytyp stabiliteten och undvika framförallt 3C polytyp inklusioner. Första försöken (Papper 1) försöken att växa epitaxi på on-axis substrat på Si sidan visade att 3C inklusionerna alltid startade i början av tillväxten för att sedan sprida sig lateralt under den fortsatta tillväxten. Vi kunde också visa att strukturella defekter som mikropipor, eller kluster av skruv- eller kant- dislokationer inte orsakade 3C inklusionerna. Den dominerande orsaken till 3C inklusionerna var istället skador eller repor på substratets yta. För att förbättra ytan innan den epitaxiella tillväxten studerade vi olika in-situ etsningar av ytan (Papper 2), och vi fann att etsning under Si dominerande förhållanden effektivast tog bort de flesta skador på substratets yta och gav en yta med minst ojämnheter. Dessutom skapades en homogen fördelning av atomära steg på ytan, och denna förbehandling användes sedan inför den epitaxiella tillväxten. Genom att dessutom optimera tillväxt förhållandena i inledningen av tillväxten kunde vi till 100% bibehålla samma polytyp från substratet in i det epitaxiella skiktet för hela 2” substrat (Papper 3). Enkla bipolära PiN dioder tillverkades och testades med avseende på bipolär degradering och mer än 70% av dioderna (Papper 4) visade ett stabilt framspänningsfall vid höga strömtätheter. Kraftkomponenter för höga spänningar kräver tjocka epitaxiella skikt med låg dopning. Dessutom, för höga strömmar krävs komponenter med stor aktiv area där kravet på lägre defekt täthet blir allt viktigare. Vi har i detalj studerat tillväxt och egenskaper av tjocka skikt (Papper 5), och funnit att de flesta material egenskaperna är stabila vid tillväxt av över 100 mm tjocka skikt i vår horisontella CVD reaktor. Vi har även i detalj studerat uppkomst och egenskaper av en av de mest kritiska epitaxiella defekterna, dem s.k. moroten (Papper 6). Speciellt har vi studerat dess uppkomst i relation till strukturella defekter i substratet. Vi har även studerat ända epitaxiella defekter i form av olika typer av staplingsfel (Papper 7), som även dessa har stor inverkan på komponenter. Livstiden för minoritetsladdningsbärarna är en viktig egenskap hos speciellt bipolära komponenter. I (Papper 8) har vi studerat hur denna påverkas av strukturella defekter i de epitaxiella skikten. Vi har använt en unik mätmetod för att optiskt kunna mäta över hela skivor, med hög upplösning. Mätningarna har lyckats påvisa hur olika strukturella defekter påverkar livstiden, och även kunnat visa på förekomsten av defekter som inte har upptäckts med andra mätmetoder.

The first and main part of this thesis is focused on the design and synthesis of photo-activableand metal chelating alkanethiols. Chelate associated photochemistry (CAP) is a novel conceptof combining two well-known protein (ligand) immobilization strategies to obtain a sensorsurface of covalently bound ligand with defined orientation. This includes nitrilotriacetic acid(NTA) which is used to capture and pre-orientate histidine-tagged proteins to the sensorsurface, followed by UV activation of a neighboring photo-crosslinking agent, benzophenone(BP), to covalently bind the ligand in this favorable orientation. Our results (paper 1) indicatethat up to 55% more activity of the ligand is achieved with the CAP concept compared to theactivity of the randomly oriented ligand (immobilized only by BP). This also yields a surfacethat is more robust compared to if only NTA is used. The photo cross-linking withbenzophenone (BP) adduct is limited to a distance range of 3Å, it is therefore favorable tocapture the ligand before reacting with surface bound BP-adduct. The surface consists of anexcess of ethylene glycols (known for its protein-repellent properties) to prevent non-specificprotein binding, thereby increase the specificity of the sensor surface. With this obtainedsurface chemistry we hope to contribute to the development of large-scale screening systemsand microarrays based on His-tagged labeled biomolecules. This will be used in a number ofapplications such as proteomics-related applications, including drug discovery, the discoveryof lead compounds and characterization of protein-protein interactions. The second part of this thesis describes the effect of the synthetic N-(3-oxododecanoyl)-Lhomoserinelactone (30-C12-HSL) on eukaryotic cells. 30-C12-HSL is a natural occurringsignal substance in the bacterium Pseudomonas aeruginosa, and this signal molecule isinvolved in the regulation of bacterial growth. Pseudomonas aeruginosa has been consideredas a common cause of infections in hospitals, especially in patients with compromisedimmune systems. Since the 30-C12-HSL can diffuse freely cross the cell membranes, it isexpected to have influence on the host cell behaviour. Herein, we study how the eukaryoticcells respond to the bacterial signal molecule, 30-C12-HSL. Our results (paper 2) indicatethat 30-C12-HSL disrupt the adherens junctions in human epithelial cells. The disruption iscaused by a hyperphosphorylation of the adherens junction proteins (protein complexbetween epithelial tissues). This suggests the bacterial signals are sensed by that the host cells.

Cathodic arc deposition is a powerful technique for thin film synthesis, associated with explosive phase transformations resulting in an energetic and highly ionized plasma. This Thesis presents film growth through arc deposition from compound cathodes of Ti3SiC2, providing source material for plasma and films rich in Si and C. The interest for the resulting Ti-Si-C-N films is inspired by the two ternaries Ti-Si-N and Ti-C-N, both successfully applied as corrosion  and wear resistant films, with a potential for synergistic effects in the quarternary system. When using a rotating substrate fixture setup, which is common in high capacity commercial deposition systems, the repeated passage though the plasma zone results in growth layers in the films. This effect has been observed in several coating systems, in deposition of various materials, but has not been explained in detail. The here investigated layers are characterized by a compositional modulation in Si and Ti content, which is attributed primarily to preferential resputtering in segments of rotation when the plasma has high incidence angle towards the substrate normal. For depositions in a non-reactive environment, the films consist of primarily understoichiometric TiCx, Ti, and silicide phases, and display a modest hardness (20-30 GPa) slightly improved by a decreasing layer thickness. Hence, the side effects of artificial layering from substrate rotation in deposition systems should be recognized. Adding N2 to the deposition process results in reactive growth of nitride material, formed in a wide range of compositions, and thereby enabling investigation of films in little explored parts of the Ti-Si-C-N system. The structure and properties of such films, comprising up to 12 at% Si and 16 at% C, is highly dependent on the supply of N2 during deposition. Superhard (45-50 GPa) cubic-phase (Ti,Si)(C,N) films with a nanocrystalline feathered structure is formed at N-content of 25-30 at%. At higher N2 deposition pressure, C and Si segregate to column and grain boundaries and the cubic phase assumes a more pronounced nitride character. This transformation is accompanied by substantially reduced film hardness to 20 GPa. Ti-Si-C-N films thus display a rich variety of structures with favorable mechanical properties, but in the regime of high Si and C content, the amount of N must be carefully controlled to avoid undesirable formation of weak grain boundary phases based on Si, C and N.

As the need for and usage of biomaterials in medicine constantly increase, so do the requirements for increased biocompatibility and hemocompatibility. Initially in blood-biomaterial interactions, the surface of an implanted biomaterial is enclosed with adsorbed host proteins and the composition of the adsorbed protein layer depends mainly on the physical-chemical properties of the biomaterial. It is known that the adsorption of proteins on the biomaterial surface may be followed by conformational changes of the adsorbed proteins and subsequent activation of the complement system. For example, binding of complement component C1q to IgG and IgM associated with biomaterial surfaces mediates complement classical pathway activation. The aim of this degree project work was to prepare and evaluate IgG and IgM free sera with functional complement activity for complement activation studies. Further complement studies necessitated IgG and IgM free sera, since two novel polymers with different compositions needed evaluation regarding their ability to induce antibody-independent complement classical pathway activation. Initially, immunoglobulin deficient fetal bovine serum was evaluated regarding complement activity, but no detectable complement activation was present. Different methods for depleting human serum of IgG and IgM were instead utilized and evaluated. From the results, it can be concluded that a close to complete IgG-depletion of human serum is achievable with serum maintaining low but functional complement activity. None of the applied methods for IgM-depletion were however successful and necessitate further optimization and evaluation.

No description available.

Rikkärr är en naturtyp med hög artrikedom, som återfinns i kalkrika våtmarker. Kända rikkärr upptar idag 2-3 % av myrarealen i Sverige (Sjörs & Gunnarsson 2002). Med snabbare och effektivare inventeringsmetoder skulle med all sannolikhet fler rikkärr återfinnas. Rikkärrens många arter har under lång tid anpassat sig till de speciella förhållandena men är idag starkt hotade då biotopen rikkärr minskar. Tillbakagången är ett resultat av dikning, upphörd hävd, övergödning, försurning och skogsbruk. I de svenska rikkärren finns många rödlistade och utrotningshotade arter inom grupperna snäckor, kärlväxter och mossor. För att bevara den biologiska mångfalden behöver vi ha säkra metoder för att identifiera rikkärr och på så vis ha möjlighet att skydda dem. Naturtypen rikkärr har många fysionomier som gör den svår att urskilja vid flygbildstolkning. Syftet med examensarbetet är att undersöka om det med hjälp av geologiska data hos Sveriges geologiska undersökning (SGU) är möjligt att finna kopplingar till rikkärren som kan användas för att på ett säkert sätt kunna identifiera potentiella rikkärrsområden snabbare i framtiden. Arbetet har genomförts genom att studera samband mellan utvalda element ur ett antal undersökningar utförda av SGU. Resultatet visar tydligt det starka samband rikkärren har till områden med kalkberggrund och på hur tydligt detta syns vid användandet av det geografiska informationsprogrammet ArcGIS. Resultaten i uppsatsen tydliggör även svårigheten med att använda befintliga data, ur SGU:s geodatabas, för att finna kompletterade komponenter med samband till biotopen rikkärr. Resultaten leder till rekommendationer om framtida undersökningar att utföra för att stärka vår kunskap om rikkärren. / Kan SGUs data användas för att förutsäga vegetationens sammansättning?

Celiaki är en kronisk autoimmun överkänslighetssjukdom mot proteinet gluten. Gluten förekommer i vete, korn, råg och havre. Sädesslagen innehåller olika prolaminer, vilka gemensamt benämns för gliadin. Autoantigenet utgörs av enzymet vävnadstransglutaminas (tTG). Genom deamidering medför enzymet att gliadinets immunogenitet ökar. Det är av största vikt att tidigt ställa korrekt diagnos och inleda glutenfri diet, eftersom celiakin i sig inte bara kan orsaka lidande utan även frambringa en rad följdsjukdomar. Symptomen vid celiaki kan vara väldigt varierande. Därför är behovet av säkra analysmetoder mycket stort. Idag sker diagnostiken vanligen med den serologiska markören immunoglobulin A (IgA) tTG. Analysprincipen bygger på en antigen-antikroppsreaktion mellan bundet antigen och eventuella antikroppar hos patienten, riktade mot antigenet. En sekundär antikropp konjugerad med enzym tillsätts och binder in till komplexet. Vid efterföljande enzymreaktion uppstår en mätbar produkt, vilken är direkt proportionell mot halten av de sökta antikropparna. Syftet med denna studie var att undersöka korrelationen mellan analysinstrumenten, Immulite® 2500 och Phadia® 250, med avseende på markören IgA tTG. Dessutom undersöka sambandet mellan markörerna IgA gliadin (Agl) samt deamiderat gliadin IgA (Agp) respektive deamiderat gliadin immunoglobulin G (Ggp). Korrelationen mellan analysinstrumenten beräknades till 0,85. Korrelationen var något lägre än förväntat, men trots det resulterade 80 % av analysresultaten i samma kliniska bedömning. Korrelationen mellan gliadinmarkörerna var följande: 0,79 mellan Agl och Agp, 0,57 mellan Agl och Ggp samt 0,67 mellan Agp och Ggp. Resultaten visade att 64 % av analysresultaten gav samma kliniska bedömning. Fortsatta studier med referensmaterial krävs för att bedöma markörernas sensitivitet och specificitet.

The purpose of this essay is to find an answer to whether the methodology used by the Naturskolan conduces to learning and also if the Naturskolan, as a method of its own, leads to an increased interest in natural science for the pupils participating in the classes at the Naturskolan. The method which has been used to reach the results of the study is a quantitative opinion poll. The results reached through the study has been compared to previous research in the subject. Deeper studies were made to examine however the interest of the pupils was influenced by their visit at the Naturskolan. The results of the study show an increase of interest in natural science after visiting the Naturskolan. It also shows that the teachers’ interest in natural science and outdoor pedagogy has increased by the visit at the Naturskolan. Through this study we came to the conclusion that the Naturskolan is a good method to learning.

The main topic of the thesis is characterisation and evaluation of volatile organic compounds emitted by packaging materials based on paperboard products. The properties and concentration of these compounds are critical to how well these materials perform when applied as a main component of food packaging. Specifically there is an interest for finding out whether the materials are neutral enough from a flavour and odour perspective. This means that the odour and flavour of the packed foodstuff must not be influenced in a nonacceptable way by the packaging. The studies may be seen as divided into two main parts complemented with an additional study. In the first part ”Electronic noses”, based on quite a number of gas sensors of different sensitivity profiles, conventional gas chromatography and to some extent also sensory analysis were applied for evaluating the volatile organic compounds emitted from paperboard products. The results obtained from the ”electronic nose” measurements were evaluated in the light of the detailed chemical information provided by the gas chromatography. First a large number of paperboard products were analysed followed by analysis of some thirty sequential jumbo reels of two different board products. The obtained results clarified what could be achieved when applying the gas sensor based analytical system to this type of materials. Furthermore the experiences gained by the experiments pointed out the importance of managing sample handling, headspace generation and gas flow distribution in a good way. These findings were useful for managing a third experimental series in which a commercial gas sensor based system was applied for differentiating aqueous thyme solutions regarding the thyme concentrations. The multivariate data analysis methodology used for evaluating the gas sensor responses was successfully applied also to the obtained gas chromatography data. The chosen approach was to treat the chromatograms as having been generated by a large number of sensors. The sensory analysis was applied for investigating whether the found differences were relevant from a taint perspective which was invaluable since the ”electronic nose” system and our human chemical senses work according to different principles. It was therefore especially interesting to find out that the “electronic nose” and off-flavour differentiation between sequential jumbo reels of one product agreed well. Furthermore it was clearly not just a matter of different humidity of the materials. In the second part the sensory analysis was the mainly applied evaluation technique. Gas chromatography was very valuable for supporting the experimental work and contributing to the understanding of the results whereas no gas sensor related evaluations were performed. In the first part a need for investigating a number of issues more carefully was pointed out. Topics such as sensory sensitivity, perception of mixtures in relation to the mixture components and calibration of sensory analysis were consequently investigated. For managing it was necessary to restrict the studies to simplified model systems that were arranged based on results and experiences obtained from studies of real packaging systems. The results pointed out the complexity of sensory related packaging issues and help in improving these type of sensory analysis e.g. by suggesting calibration procedures. The additional study is related to active packaging which means that the intention with the packaging is to influence the packed foodstuff in a way that is favourable and desired. In this study odorants were added to dispersion coatings that well could be used in the paperboard products. Headspace gas chromatography was successively applied for measuring the amounts and coating retention of the odorants upon drying. Furthermore multivariate data analysis was useful for overviewing the results and finding relations and structures that otherwise were hard to see. / Avhandlingens kärna är karaktärisering och utvärdering av flyktiga ämnen vilka emitteras från kartongmaterial. Sammansättning och halter av dessa ämnen är kritiska för hur väl materialen fungerar som huvudkomponenter i förpackningar vilka används till varor såsom mat, drycker, sötsaker och cigaretter. I synnerhet är man intresserad av sådana ämnen som kan inverka på de förpackade varornas lukt och smak. ”Elektroniska näsor”, uppbyggda av ett antal gassensorer med olika känslighetsprofiler, konventionell gaskromatografi och sensorisk analys användes för att utvärdera de emitterade ämnena från kartongprodukter. Genom att relatera de resultat som genererades av de ”elektoniska näsorna” till den detaljerade kemiska information som gaskromatografin gav fick man klarhet i vad som har varit möjligt att uppnå med den undersökta gassensortekniken för denna typ av tillämpning. Dessutom framgick mycket tydligt att prov- och gasflödeshanteringen är kritiska delar av analyssystemet och mycket avgörande för en god funktion. Den multivariata metodik som användes för att utvärdera sensorernas responser applicerades framgångsrikt även på gaskromatografiska data där kromatografin sågs som en alternativ sensorteknik. Man kunde bland annat visa att gasblandningens sammansättning bestående av de emitterade flyktiga ämnena hade tydliga samband med kartongtillverkningsprocessen och att man därigenom kunde följa processförändringar från produktionen. Den sensoriska utvärderingen gjorde det möjligt att undersöka huruvida de instrumentella mätningarna var relevanta ur lukt- och smaksynvinkel. Detta var helt nödvändigt på grund av de stora skillnader i funktion hos lukt- och smaksinnena å ena sidan och de instrumentella teknikerna å andra sidan. Detta innebar även att en djupare förståelse för den sensoriska analysen blev nödvändig. Frågor såsom hur sensoriska responser genereras, vilken mätnoggrannhet och känslighet som kan uppnås samt hur olika sensoriska responser interagerar undersöktes. Dessa kunskaper och insikter gav infallsvinklar till hur sensorisk analys av dessa typer av material kan förbättras. Exempel på detta är en bättre jämförbarhet mellan sensoriska resultat och större förståelse för hur man genom att välja analysparametrar bättre kan få en känsligare och mer tillförlitlig analys.

The Nobel Prize for Physics 1920 was awarded to C.-E. Guillaume for his discovery of properties of nickel steels. He had previously observed that certain iron-nickel alloys exhibit the Invar effect i.e. an extremely low thermal expansion coefficient over a wide range of temperature. The decades since then have seen the observation of similar phenomena in other iron-based materials such as iron-platinum and iron-palladium. Moreover, there has been a great deal of theoretical work on the mechanism behind the Invar anomaly in the above-mentioned systems. However, despite many years of intensive research, a widely accepted microscopic theory of the effects is still lacking. The present thesis aims at providing an insight into the physical nature of the thermal expansion of ferromagnetic random face-centered cubic iron-nickel, ironplatinum and iron-palladium bulk solids. First, the thermal expansion coefficient is modeled as a function of temperature. The theory relies on the disordered local moment (DLM) formalism. However, contrary to all the previous models, the mapping between equilibrium states and partially disordered local moment (PDLM) states involves the probability that an iron-iron nearest-neighbour pair shows anti-parallel local magnetic moments, and the average lattice constant of the system at a finite temperature is calculated by minimization of an energy. The approach is applied to iron-nickel alloys. The model qualitatively reproduces several experimentally observed properties of disordered fcc iron-nickel solids. This includes Guillaume’s famous plot of the thermal expansion coefficient at room temperature as a function of concentration. Second, for the purpose of studying the origin of the anomalous expansion, the anomalous and normal contributions to the thermal expansion coefficient are defined, then evaluated for iron-nickel alloys. The results support the idea that the peculiar behaviour of the expansivity, , originates solely from the anomalous contribution,αa. Subsequently, the anomalous contribution is modeled for iron-nickel systems. In formulating the model, the following observation is taken into account; the average lattice spacing of an Fe100−xNix alloy at temperature T in a partially disordered local moment state is strongly negatively correlated with the probability that a nearest-neighbour pair has each of its two sites occupied by an iron atom and exhibits anti-ferromagnetically aligned magnetic moments (XFFAP). The quantity αa(x, T ) is estimated for several couples of values of the parameters x and T . Model results are found to agree qualitatively and quantitatively well with data obtained from the definition of αa. Thus, the model can successfully explain the basic process leading to the anomalous thermal expansion. It is consistent with the theory that the coefficient αa is controlled by the temperature derivative of XFFAP. Finally, the anomalous contribution to the thermal expansion coefficient of Fe72Pt28 and Fe66Pd34 solids is modeled as that of Fe65Ni35. A good agreement between the model results and experimental data for the expansivity as a function of temperature is noted. In conclusion, the Invar effects in disordered fcc iron-nickel, iron-platinum and iron-palladium alloys may have a common origin.