In this article, we report formation of separation-by-implantation-of-oxygen (SIMOX) silicon-on-insulator (SOI) materials with doses ranging from (2.5 to 13.5) × 1017 cm−2 at acceleration energies of 70–160 keV and subsequent annealing at temperatures over 1300 °C in oxygen + argon atmosphere for 5 h. The microstructure evolution of SIMOX wafers was characterized by Rutherford backscattering spectroscopy, cross-sectional transmission electron microscopy, high-resolution transmission electron microscopy, Secco, and Cu-plating. This study revealed a series of good matches of dose-energy combination at acceleration energies of 70–160 keV with doses of (2.5–5.5) × 1017 cm−2, in which SIMOX wafers had good crystallinity of the top silicon, sharp Si/SiO2 interfaces, high-integrity buried oxide layers with low pinhole density, and low detectable silicon islands. Furthermore, the higher the oxygen dose, the higher the implanted energy required for the formation of a buried oxide free from Si islands. The mechanism of the optimum dose-energy match is discussed.

The present semiconductor cleaning technology is based upon RCA cleaning [W. Kern and D.A. Puotinen, Cleaning Solutions Based on Hydrogen Peroxide for use in Silicon Semiconductor Technology (RCA Rev., 1970) pp. 187–206], a high-temperature process that consumes vast amounts of chemicals and ultrapure water (UPW) [T. Futatsuki, T. Imaoka, Y. Yamashita, and K. Mitsumori, J. Electrochem. Soc., 142, 966 (1995)]. Therefore, this technology gives rise to many environmental issues, and some alternatives such as electrolyzed water (EW) are being studied. In this work, intentionally contaminated Si wafers were cleaned using electrolyzed water. The electrolyzed water was generated by an electrolysis system that consists of anode, cathode, and middle chambers. Oxidative water and reductive water were obtained in the anode and cathode chambers, respectively. When a NH4Cl electrolyte was supplied in the middle chamber, the oxidation–reduction potential and pH for anode water (AW) and cathode water (CW) were +1050 mV and 4.8, and −750 mV and 10.0, respectively. AW and CW deterioriated after electrolysis but maintained their characteristics for more than 40 min, which was sufficient for cleaning. Their deterioration was correlated with CO2 concentration changes dissolved from air. Contact angles of UPW, AW, and CW on DHF-treated Si wafer surfaces were 65.9°, 66.5°, and 56.8°, respectively, which characterizes clearly the electrolyzed water. To analyze the amount of metallic impurities on Si wafer surface, inductively coupled plasma, mass spectroscopy was introduced. AW was effective for Cu removal, while CW was more effective for Fe removal. To analyze the number of particles on Si wafer surfaces, we used the particle measurement Tencor 6220. The particle distributions after various particle removal processes maintained the same pattern. Overflow of EW during cleaning particles resulted in the same cleanness as that obtained with the RCA cleaning process. The roughness of patterned wafer surfaces after EW cleaning was similar to that of as-received wafers. Regardless of process sequence in this work, RCA consumed about 9 l of chemicals, while EW consumed only 400 ml HCl electrolyte or 600 ml NH4Cl electrolyte to clean 8-in. wafers. It was thus concluded that EW cleaning technology would be very effective for releasing environmental safety, and health issues in the next generation of semiconductor manufacturing.

We have examined electrochemical properties and thermal stability of the amorphous Mg67Ni28Pd5 alloy produced by melt-spinning subjected to electrochemical hydrogen charge. In the cyclic life test, the discharge capacity of the alloy increases significantly with increasing cycle number and reaches 411 mA h/g at the 15th cycle. Thehydrogen-absorbed amorphous alloy crystallizes through two stages of primarycrystallization of Mg2Ni, followed by precipitation of Mg2NiH4 at the second stage.The completed crystallization temperature of the hydrogen-absorbed alloy increases by 65 K as compared with the as-solidified one. It is thus concluded that stability of theMg-based amorphous alloy against crystallization increases by hydrogen absorption.

A simple approach has been developed for the synthesis of Au@CdS core-shell nanoparticles by a direct self-assembling process. Stable Au@CdS composite colloids were prepared by thiourea, as a double-functional reagent that acted as the linkage agent between Cd2+ ions and gold nanoparticles. The CdS-capped gold composite nanoparticles were successfully integrated into BaTiO3 films. A significant enhancement of third-order nonlinear optical susceptibility in the Au@CdS nanoparticles with core-shell structure is reported. To compare the effect of enhanced nonlinear response, single gold or CdS nanoparticles embedded in BaTiO3 films were also prepared.

Boron-phosphosilicate glass particles were deposited on Si wafer by flame hydrolysis deposition under controlled conditions. A few ten nanometer sized and spherical glass particles were synthesized in an oxy-hydrogen flame. The wafer surface temperature of 500 °C proved sufficient to form the Si–O–B framework while a higher temperature (approximately 730 °C) was required to produce Si–O–P formation. Gaussian bands at 3242 cm−1 provided evidence that the dissolved B2O3 concentration increased with the substrate temperature. In as-deposited porous films, a certain quantity of crystalline B2O3 remained, which was completely transformed into the noncrystalline phase after post deposition annealings. Film density measurements indicated that the B2O3 content in the doped silica films would be substantially lower than that in the precursor mixture.

Calcium aluminate scaffolds with controlled porosity were processed for bone-graft applications. Indirect fused deposition process was used to fabricate these structures. Phase analyses were done using x-ray diffraction technique on powdered samples of calcium aluminates at different compositions. Hg porosimetry was used to determine the pore sizes and the pore volumes present in these controlled porosity structures at different calcium aluminate compositions. Cylindrical samples were tested under uniaxial compressive loading as a function of composition and volume fraction porosity (VFP). Samples of 29% and 44% VFP (designed) with average pore size of 300 μm showed compressive strength between 2 and 24 MPa. Cytotoxicity and cell proliferation studies were conducted with a modified human osteoblast cell line (HOB). These materials showed good cell attachment and a steady cell growth behavior with HOB cells during the first three weeks of in vitro analyses.

Finite element simulations are performed to analyze the contact deformation regimes induced by a sharp indenter in elastic – power-law plastic solids. As the yield strength (σys) and strain hardening coefficient (n) decrease or, alternatively, as Young's modulus (E) increases, the contact regime evolves from (i) an elastic–plastic transition, to (ii) a fully plastic contact response, and to (iii) a fully plastic regime where piling-up of material at the contact area prevails. In accordance with preliminary analyses by Johnson, it is found that Tabor's equation, where hardness (H) = 2.7σr, applies within the fully plastic regime of elastic – power-law plastic materials. The results confirm the concept of the uniqueness of the characteristic strain, ∈r = 0.1, that is associated with the uniaxial stress, σr. A contact deformation map is constructed to provide bounds for the elastic–plastic transition and the fully plastic contact regimes for a wide range of values of σ ys, n, and E. Finally, the development of piling-up and sinking-in at the contact area is correlated with uniaxial mechanical properties. The present correlation holds exclusively within the fully plastic contact regime and provides a tool to estimate σ ys and n from indentation experiments.

We present the recent extensions of our stochastic microstructure evolution model including multiphase domain evolution and dislocation plasticity. The model was implemented by means of numerical simulations based on the velocity Monte Carlo algorithm. It describes the evolution of a two-dimensional microstructure by tracking the motion of triple junctions, i.e., the vertices where three grain boundaries (GBs) meet. GBs can be modeled as straight, curved, or discretized segments; the misorientation dependence of both grain-boundary energies and mobilities can be included to represent different textures.

We investigated the influence of a chemisorbed S template with c(2 × 2) structure on the epitaxial growth of different oxide buffer layers on {100}〈100〉 Ni. The sulfur superstructure spontaneously forms on the Ni surface during the texturing anneal as a consequence of segregation. However, depending on the initial S bulk concentration and/or specific annealing conditions, the S layer can cover less than the entire substrate's surface. We show that an incomplete c(2 × 2) coverage causes degradation of the seed buffer layer texture as compared to the substrate texture. A simple step consisting of an H2S predeposition anneal can be used to control the superstructure coverage and optimize the seed layer texture.

It is known that thin films of polycrystalline silicon, deposited under the right conditions, can be permeable to HF-based etching solutions. While these films offer unique capabilities for microfabrication, both the poor reproducibility of the permeable film properties and the lack of a detailed physical understanding of the material have limited their application. This work provides a methodical study of the relationship between process, microstructure, and properties of permeable polycrystalline silicon thin films. It is shown that the permeability is a result of small pores, on the order of 10 nm, between the 100–200-nm hemispherical grains characteristic of the permeable film morphology. This morphology occurs only in nearly stress-free films grown in a narrow temperature range corresponding to the transition between tensile and compressive film growth regimes. This result strongly suggests that the monitoring of residual film stress can provide the process control needed to reliably produce permeable films. A simple kinetic model is proposed to explain the evolution of the morphology of the permeable films.

Dense BaTiO3 ceramics consisting of fine grains were prepared using fine powder (average grain size of 0.06 μm; BT006) as a starting material and the spark plasma sintering (SPS) method. The powder was densified to >95% of theoretical x-ray density by the SPS process, and the average grain size of the resulting ceramics was <0.5 μm; the particle size of the initial powder significantly affects the grain size of the resulting SPS pellets. Fixed-frequency (100 kHz), room-temperature permittivity measurements of the BT006-SPS ceramics showed relatively low values (3000–3500) compared with those (typically 5000) for SPS ceramics consisting of larger grains (approximately 1 μm). Lower permittivity was attributed to poor development of ferroelectric domains in the ceramics, which originated from incomplete development of the tetragonal structure as well as the presence of a local orthorhombic structure.

Single-phase Al4SiC4 was successfully synthesized by heating the powder mixture of aluminum, silicon, and carbon black in the molar ratio corresponding to the chemical composition of Al4SiC4 with a small amount of triethanolamine (TEA) above 1200 °C in argon gas. Without TEA, two phases of Al4C3 and SiC were formed, irrespective of the heating temperature. The marked mass gain by oxidation of Al4SiC4 was observed with forming Al2O3 and SiO2 in the range of 850 to 1150 °C, which slightly increased above 1150 °C. At 1600 °C, mullite was formed by the reaction between Al2O3 and SiO2.

Highly textured zinc oxide films were produced on basal plane sapphire substrates by chemical solution deposition. Films with oriented growth were achieved by spin coating a 0.75 M precursor solution of zinc acetate dihydrate and ethanolamine in 2-methoxyethanol, heated at 300 °C/10 min, then at 500 °C/5 h, and finally at 850 °C/12 h. Films were characterized with x-ray diffraction (XRD) and scanning and transmission electron microscopy. The films exhibited only the (0002) ZnO line in XRD diagrams, proving a very well-developed out-of-plane texture. At temperatures above 700 °C the ZnAl2O4 spinel was observed, which formed as a reaction layer between sapphire and ZnO. Few specimens produced both in-plane and out-of-plane oriented growth of ZnO on basal plane sapphire. It was hypothesized that the substrate miscut, uncontrolled for the current experiments, could be the cause of the infrequent growth of epitaxial films.

Resistance measurement, P–E hysteresis measurement, and transmission electron microscope and energy dispersive analysis of x-rays (TEM-EDAX) analysis were used to study the resistance failure of lead magnesium niobate-based multilayer ceramic capacitors (MLCC) under dc voltage. It was found that the failure rate of MLCC with 1/9 Pd/Ag internal electrodes was 10 times that of MLCC with 3/7 Pd/Ag electrodes after the temperature–humidity–bias test (THB). Voltage shifts of hysteresis loops showed that an internal bias field between electrodes of MLCC was formed after THB test. Ag diffusion from electrodes into the ceramics during cofiring was examined through TEM-EDAX analysis. It was also found that the degraded specimens could be partially restored after storing under natural condition. On the basis of these results, the failure mechanism was established that oxygen vacancies induced by Ag diffusion accumulated under the external bias field, which increased the concentration of electronic defects, thereby resulting in the resistance failure of MLCC.

The widely observed secondary grain growth in electroplated Copper layers is shown to be incomplete after the sheet resistance and stress of the layer appear to have stabilized. Instead the layer is in an intermediate state with a grain size distribution that depends on the plating conditions. Further extensive annealing at high temperatures results in an additional considerable enlargement of the grain structure, accompanied by an additional decrease of the sheet resistance and desorption of impurities that were incorporated during plating.

Acrylic acid polymer thin films were deposited on the surfaces of nanoparticles of ZnO using a plasma polymerization treatment. The average size of nanoparticles was on the order of 50 nm in irregular shapes. High-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM) experiments showed that an extremely thin film of the acrylic acid layer (15 nm) was uniformly deposited on the surfaces of the nanoparticles. The HRTEM results were confirmed by time-of-flight secondary ion mass spectroscopy. The effect of plasma power on the polyacrylic thin film was studied by Fourier transform infrared experiments. The deposition mechanisms and the effects of plasma treatment parameters are discussed.

The effects of Mn and Fe contents on the mechanical properties of aluminum-based A206 alloys were investigated quantitatively. Results showed that the addition of Fe caused a loss in both ductility and yield strength. Further addition of Mn could recover the ductility, but it caused a further loss in yield strength. In low-Mn alloys (0.29 wt% Mn) the primary constituent was the needle shape of Cu2FeAl7. Upon further addition of Mn, the Chinese script configuration of Mn-bearing particles formed instead. The Cu2Mn3Al20 particles formed in high-Mn alloys during solution treatment and resulted in grain-growth inhibition. The needle, Mn-bearing, and Cu2Mn3Al20 particles caused the solid solution level of copper in the matrix to decrease; meanwhile, increasing the Mn solution level retarded the precipitation of the strengthening phase. Differential scanning calorimetry analyses showed the kinetics and amount of decrease in θ′ phase precipitation when the contents of Fe and/or Mn were increased. The smaller grain size induced by the Cu2Mn3Al20 particles and the θ′ phase were the factors that determined the hardness of A206 alloys under as-quenched and T7-treated conditions, respectively.

Semiconductive nanocrystals of stannic oxide (SnO2) were precipitated in silica (SiO2) glasses synthesized via a sol-gel route. Kayanuma's equation, which describes the quantum confinement of an electron–hole pair in a semiconductive particle, well explained the absorption-edge shift due to the SnO2 nanocrystals in the optical absorption spectra. The adequate anneal of the SnO2–SiO2 glass ceramics in H2 gas led to the decomposition of the SnO2 nanocrystals and concurrently the production of twofold-coordinated tin atoms (Sn20 ) that provided a violet photoluminescence. The thermal behavior was studied with the x-ray diffraction measurement and photoluminescence and photoluminescence excitation spectroscopy.

High-strain-rate superplastic behavior of powder-metallurgy processed 0%, 10%, 20%,and 30% SiC particulate reinforced 6061 Al composites was studied over a range of temperatures from 430 to 610 °C. The strength of the 6061 Al composites was lowerthan that of the 6061 Al matrix alloy in the temperature range where grain boundarysliding is believed to control the plastic flow. The difference in their strength was alsoobserved to be temperature dependent, increasing with increase in temperature.Abnormally high activation energy for superplastic flow was another important featureof the 6061 Al composites. These behaviors in particle weakening and activationenergy have strong resemblance to those noted in the high-strain-rate superplastic 2124Al composites studied previously. The observed particle weakening was attributed toliquid-enhanced superplastic flow and discussed by adopting the concept of effectivediffusivity considering mass flow through liquid phase formed at the solute-segregatedregion near SiC/Al interfaces.

The structure of [001] tilt boundaries in YBa2Cu3O7–x (YBCO) thin films deposited on [001] tilt SrTiO3 (STO) bicrystal substrates has been characterized by transmission electron microscopy (TEM). These boundaries are (100)/(210), (310)/(510), (410)/(310), (510)/(210), (210)/(410), and (210)/(310), with corresponding misorientation angles of 26°, 29°, 32°, 37°, 40°, and 44°. It was found that the YBCO film boundaries were meandering along the relatively straight substrate boundaries. High-resolution lattice images indicated that the microscopic meandering of the film boundary essentially consisted of many straight segments of facets at the atomic scale. On the basis of the observed facets, three competing factors controlling the formation of facets are discussed. First, the boundary plane is defined by Miller indices (hk0) in both crystals with sufficiently small h, k (i.e., h, k ≤ 5) and sufficiently large effective interplanar spacing (i.e., deff > 0.06 nm). Second, the closure failure defined by the difference between the local misorientation from the design misorientation is small, i.e., less than 2°. Third, the deviation of a local facet plane is observed to be less than 30° from the design boundary plane. Higher values of deffs are observed to give tolerance to higher deviation angles.