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This paper reports the heat dissipation ability of nanocrystalline diamond (NCD) film used as an insulator in interconnection layers. The thermal resistance is used as an evidence for evaluating particular ability. There are two points to measure, that is to say, the temperature in the active Si region and that of the nearest point at the top of the insulating film. We used a thin film Si resistor covered with NCD or silicon dioxide (SiO2) on a silicon on insulator substrate. The NCD film was deposited by microwave-plasma chemical vapor deposition at 400 °C, while the SiO2 film was deposited by plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition at 350 °C. The thickness of the NCD film was 600 nm, while that of the SiO2 film was 300 and 500 nm. The aluminium (Al) was deposited by sputtering and patterned on the top of the insulating-film. Heat was applied to the resistor by directly applying electricity to the resistor. The temperature of the Si resistor and Al was determined from the resistance change. It was found that the thermal resistance of NCD film was approximately 14 % less than that of SiO2 film, leading to the reduction of the thin-film Si temperature by 20 °C, even though it was thicker than 100 nm.

Cu2ZnSnS4 (CZTS) thin films were fabricated by using three RF co-sputtering continued with sulfurization method. The new type of thin film solar cells using CZTS as an absorber consists of buffer-layer and window-layer on CZTS films that were fabricated on a Mo-coated Soda Lime Glass (SLG) substrate. It was confirmed that CZTS solar cells with high conversion efficiency existed in a relatively narrow composition region. In this paper, the fabrication method of CZTS-based thin film solar cells in our laboratory was stated briefly and the influence of the composition ratio on the photovoltaic properties were presented. Furthermore, the properties of a genuine non-toxic solar cell using a Cd-free buffer-layer were introduced.

Some aspect of plitical participation in Japan is the subject of this paper. Three methods are used to analyse categorical data : D-systems analysis, path analysis using coded “values”, and odds ratios with hierarchical modeling. The first two construct causal systems and pretend no interaction. The last one does not assume causal order or does not mind interactions at all. Women in Japan have disadvantage in socio-economic status, which increases the inherently negative attitude toward political interest. Therefore, political participation is lower on the part of women. The interrelationship among political interest, electoral activities, and party support is shown. That questions posed and answered are of multivariate nature implies the effectiveness of the methods.