Search

In this letter, an electrowetting fabrication technique for the production of lenses is proposed. The unique capability of controlling the lens profile during the electrowetting fabrication processes is successfully demonstrated. The electrowetting fabrication technique involves the use of an electrically conductive ultraviolet (UV)-curable polymer and the electrowetting phenomenon. The control of the lens profile is achieved by adjusting the voltage across a hydrophobic dielectric layer sandwiched between an electrically conductive UV-curable polymer (the liquid) and an electrically conductive substrate (the electrode), and thereby introducing different degrees of the electrowetting phenomenon. For a lens fabricated on a hydrophobic Teflon layer, it is found that when the applied voltage is increased, the focal length increases, and the curvature decreases. Due to its unique ability of controlling the lens profile during fabrication, the electrowetting fabrication technique can be easily adopted for the production of lenses, microlenses, lens or microlens arrays with elements of different focal lengths, and mandrels for lenses or microlenses.

A new statistical model for cleavage fracture of the low alloy steel is proposed. This model is based on a recently suggested physical model and takes account of the effect of the preceding loading processes. This statistical model satisfactorily describes the failure probability distribution of 42 precracked specimens fractured at various loads at a test temperature of − 100°C. The micromechanisms of cleavage fracture of low alloy steel are also further discussed.

The purpose of this study is to clarify the mechanical behaviour of spinal motion segments through a proper numerical model. The model constructed can give correct information and provide medical fields with valuble guidance in solving clinical problems occurring in the spine. A three-dimensional poroelastic finite element model of spinal motion segments is constructed and a mixed formulation is introduced. The geometry of the model is automatically formed from a series of CT-scanning images. Vertebral column, intervertebral joint, facet joints and ligaments are all included in the model. The contact surface of facet joints is considered as the inclined boundary. Such inclination is imposed when the contact surface is under compression. Ligaments surrounding the vertebral body and the intervertebral disc are put into the model when they are under tension. Iteration is implemented in the computing process to meet such boundary characteristics of facet joints and ligaments. Prediction of the mechanical behaviour in the segment under long term creep loading, is demonstrated using the current algorithm. Results show that the model and corresponding numerical procedures developed here can simulate the mechanical behaviour of the spinal motion segments properly.

Formation of Ge nanocrystals embedded in HfAlO high-k dielectric by co-sputtering of HfO2, Al2O3, and Ge, followed by rapid thermal annealing was demonstrated. Analysis by transmission electron microscopy and x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy confirmed the formation of nonoxidized Ge nanocrystals with a minimum size of about 5nm embedded in HfAlO dielectric. We also demonstrated the application of such nanocrystals in nonvolatile memory devices, achieving a 2.2V memory window as obtained from the C–V characterization of the memory device.

This letter presents a low-temperature process to fabricate Schottky-barrier silicide source/drain transistors (SSDTs) with high-/spl kappa/ gate dielectric and metal gate. For p-channel SSDTs (P-SSDT) using PtSi sourece/drain (S/D) , excellent electrical performance of I/sub on//I/sub off//spl sim/10/sup 7/-10/sup 8/ and subthreshold slope of 66 mV/dec have been achieved. For n-channel SSDTs (N-SSDTs) using DySi/sub 2-x/ S/D , I/sub on//I/sub off/ can reach /spl sim/10/sup 5/ at V/sub ds/ of 0.2 V with two subthreshold slopes of 80 and 340 mV/dec. The low-temperature process relaxes the thermal budget of high-/spl kappa/ dielectric and metal-gate materials to be used in the future generation CMOS technology.

The information on the hyperon-hyperon interaction is crucial for our understanding of baryon-baryon interactions in hot and dense medium from high-energy nuclear collisions. In this proceeding we discuss the measurement of the ˄˄ correlation function from the STAR experiment and the status of an H-dibaryon search based on this measurement.

In this letter, the physical and electrical properties of physical vapor deposited (PVD) hafnium nitride (HfN) is studied for the first time as the metal gate electrode for advanced MOS devices applications. It is found that HfN possesses a midgap work function in tantalum nitride (TaN)/HfN/SiO/sub 2//Si MOS structures. TaN/HfN stacked metal-gated MOS capacitors exhibit negligible variations on equivalent oxide thickness (EOT), leakage current, and work function upon high-temperature treatments (up to 1000 /spl deg/C), demonstrating the excellent thermal stability of HfN metal gate on SiO/sub 2/. Our results suggest that HfN metal electrode is an ideal candidate for the fully depleted SOI and/or symmetric double gate MOS devices application.

A micro grid consists of several distributed generation resources and local loads, which provide the solution to supply premium power to remote or specific areas. To the design of a micro grid, it is necessary to perform computer simulation for the planning and study. Before the actual system is built, all potential responses of the system should be known and then the design can be modified to avoid negative impacts to the system. This paper presents experiences of modeling and simulations for observing the impacts of connected ac grid faults on a dc micro grid. Results for the study system are also reported.

The redistribution and primary migration of hydrocarbons has been investigated within two mudstone-sandstone sequences and a clayey dolomite core sample collected from Biyang Basin, China. Migration within these cores is controlled by internal properties of the bitumen such as molecular polarity and size, as well as other factors such as organic matter content in the source rock. As a result of the geochromatographic separations, a wide range of geochemical parameters, including sterane and terpane parameters, are affected to different extents. The degree of geochromatographic effects on the geochemical parameters decreases with the quality of source rocks from which the bitumens migrate.

A gas-liquid chromatographic procedure for determination of SCH 39304 at low nanogram concentrations in serum, cerebrospinal fluid, and urine is presented. The methodology combines a high selectivity and sensitivity nitrogen-specific detector, a gas chromatograph equipped with a capillary "megabore" column, and an internal standard that is very similar in chemical structure to the drug being assayed. This method is suitable for both pharmacokinetic studies as well as for monitoring drug levels in patients receiving SCH 39304 for antifungal treatment.

The distribution of the composition of electrodeposited CdTe is established by a plot of quasi-rest potential vs. deposition potential. This graph indicates not only the boundary potential for separate deposition of n-type or p-type CdTe, but also shows the individual deposition potential region for the production of deposits of four types such as a mixture of p-type CdTe + Te, p-type CdTe, and a mixture of n-type CdTe + Cd. With the aid of the graph of quasi-rest potential vs. deposition potential, the effects of temperature, concentrations of CdSO4 and TeO2, and pH of solution on the distribution of composition as a function of potential are discussed. Increased temperature promotes the location of the p/n-type boundary potential on CdTe electrodeposition and clearly defines the regions of deposition potential responsible for four deposits. In a solution of H2SO4 (0.0025 M) + saturated TeO2 + CdSO4 (0.25 M), the p/n boundary potential (about −0.57 V vs. saturated calomel electrode (SCE)) remains constant up to a temperature over 90 °C. The pH of the solution has a great influence on the distribution. In electrolyte without addition of H2SO4, the plot of quasi-rest potential vs. deposition potential is linear and shows no p/n boundary potential. The reason is that all deposits obtained at various potentials are a mixture of Te in a major fraction and CdTe in a minor fraction. A smaller pH shifts the p/n boundary potential to a more positive value in association with an increased region of n-type CdTe and causes a shoulder-shaped increase around −0.6 V (SCE) in the curve of quasi-rest potential vs. deposition potential. The increase is due to the evolution and adsorption of H2 on the deposit. For electrolytes containing H2SO4 (0.025 M) + CdSO4 (0.25 M) and various amounts of TeO2, an increased concentration of TeO2 from 0.2 mM to 1.2 mM initially extends slightly the region of n-type CdTe, then decreases it, at the same time increasing the region of p-type CdTe. Alteration of the concentration of CdSO4 has no effect on the curve of quasi-rest potential vs. deposition potential.

The dynamic equations for integral quantities relevant to turbulent flames are developed based on atheorem of geometric measure theory. The total area of level surfaces is considered in detail using mixture fraction, a quantity which is important for non-premixed combustion, to define the level surfaces. The level surface corresponding to its stoichiometric value is defined as the flame surface. It is shown that the rate of strain generated by the motion of the fluid, coupled with molecular diffusion and source terms of the scalar variable defining the level surface, determines the evolution of the surface properties. Direct numerical simulation (DNS) results obtained for a low-Reynolds-number turbulent non-premixed flame are used to evaluate the effects of strain rate and scalar dynamics on the surface area of level surfaces, including the flame surface.

The effects of chromium (Cr) on the hydration process of β - dicalcium silicate (β -C 2 S) were investigated using the 29 Si solid state magic-angle spinning/nuclear magnetic resonance (MAS/NMR) technique. We found that soluble Cr 3+ ions inhibit the hydration process of β -C 2 S. Furthermore, Cr(NO 3 ) 3 has the least impact on the hydration of β -C 2 S, followed by CrCl 3 and Cr(CH 3 COO) 3 . However, insoluble Cr(OH) 3 does not show any interaction with β -C 2 S.

The reactions of bis(dialkylamino)magnesium [Mg(NR 2 ) 2 ; R = C 2 H 5 , C i 3 H 7 ] with either diethylaluminum chloride or aluminum bromide yielded the following compounds: Me 4 Al 2 [μ-N(C i 3 H 7 ) 2 ] 2 ( 1 , Et 4 Al 2 [μ-N(Et) 2 ] 2 ( 2 ), Et 4 Al 2 [μ-N(C i 3 H 7 ) 2 ] 2 ( 3 ) and Br 4 Al 2 [μ-N(Et) 2 ] 2 ( 4 ). The products were characterized on the basis of their elemental analyses, mass spectra, IR spectra and 1 H, 13 C and 27 Al nuclear magnetic resonance spectra. The X-ray crystal structures of compounds 3 and 4 were also determined. In addition, 1 H NMR studies of the solvent effect on the dialuminum complexes were explored and a spectroscopic investigation of benzene interaction with these dialuminum complexes was undertaken.

Late Quaternary coral reefs have developed on the southwestern Australian margin, which has otherwise been characterised by cool-water carbonates since the Eocene. The Houtman Abrolhos coral reefs are at the limits of existence, extending, with the assistance of the Leeuwin Current, a poleward-flowing, warm water stream, into a region dominated by more temperate communities. Coring in the Easter Group reefs, supported by high precision dating, by both View the MathML source TIMS and ^(14)C methods, has shown vigorous coral growth, with reefs over 26 m thick in the Holocene and over 15 m thick in the Last Interglacial. Each of the three Abrolhos platforms consists of a central platform composed of Last Interglacial reefs, about which windward and leeward Holocene reefs developed asymmetrically. Reef, peritidal and eolian facies comprise the emergent Last Interglacial limestones which are extensively calcretized, with reef facies up to 5 m above MSL. The Last Interglacial high stand lasted for at least 10 ka from 130 to 120 ka, and possibly 15 ka, from 132 to 117 ka. Holocene reef facies are also emergent by 0.5 m, and are overlain by peritidal and storm ridge facies in an upward-shallowing sequence. Windward (10 m thick) and leeward (26 m thick) Holocene reefs in the Easter Group show contrasting lithofacies. The wave-exposed windward reefs consist of a slow-growing association of coralline algal bindstones and coral framestones, whereas fast-growing coral framestones dominate the more protected leeward reefs. The leeward reefs commenced growth 10,000 years ago and grew to the present sea level by 6500 years ago, generating Holocene constructional topography consisting of ‘blue-hole’ terrain in the leeward parts of the platforms.

A high performance 22/20nm CMOS bulk FinFET achieves the best in-class N/P I on values of 1200/1100 µA/µm for I off =100nA/µm at 1V. Excellent device electrostatic control is demonstrated for gate length (L gate ) down to 20nm. Dual-Epitaxy and multiple stressors are essential to boost the device performance. Dual workfunction (WF) with an advanced High-K/Metal gate (HK/MG) stack is deployed in an integration-friendly CMOS process flow. This dual-WF approach provides excellent V th roll-off immunity in the short-channel regime that allows properly positioning the long-channel device V th . Enhanced 193nm immersion lithography has enabled the stringent requirements of the 22/20nm ground rules. Reliability of our advanced HK/MG stack is promising. Excellent SRAM static noise margin at 0.45V is reported.

A novel benzoxazine containing maleimide and carboxylic moieties, 1-[3-(4-carboxylphenyl)-3,4-dihydro-2H-benzo[e][1,3]-oxazin-6-yl]maleimide (Mal-Bz-Co), was synthesized and the structure was identified by 1H-NMR and FTIR. Mal-Bz-Co exhibited good solubility in common organic solvents. The cure behavior of Mal-Bz-Co and cocure behavior of Mal-Bz-Co with o-cresol formaldehyde epoxy resin were investigated by differential scanning calorimetry. Results indicated that Mal-Bz-Co showed a single curing exothermic peak at about 238.3°C. However, the maximum curing temperature (Tp) decreased to 146.1°C when Mal-Bz-Co cocured with o-cresol formaldehyde epoxy resin in the molar ratio of 1 : 1. The Tp was about 92°C lower than that of Mal-Bz-Co. Thermogravimetric analysis showed that high-decomposition temperature and char yield were observed for the cured resins of Mal-Bz-Co and Mal-Bz-Co/o-CFER. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci, 2010

The purpose of this paper was to determine the impact of the clinical condition of the patient at the restart of dialysis on long-term survival after renal graft loss.We performed an analysis of 110 patients with renal allograft failure compared with 115 hemodialysis patients without kidney transplantation.There was a relatively high glomerular filtration rate, low serum albumin, and greater prevalence of infection among graft loss patients compared with the never-transplanted patients. Patient survival after allograft loss was significantly lower than that of never-transplanted patients (P = .024) with 63.4% patients succumbing in the first 3 months. Serum hepatitis B virus (HBV) positivity, cardiovascular disease (CVD) and malnutrition were independent risk factors for graft loss patient upon COX regression analysis.Serum HBV positive, complicated with CVD and malnutrition were independent risk factors for the graft loss among patients who restarted hemodialysis. More attention should be paid to treat complications of transplant recipients in K/DOQI 4 and 5 stages.

A number of oils, tar sands and extracts of suspected source rocks from the Jianghan and Biyang basins of China have been studied to investigate their porphyrin content. The results obtained suggest that these distributions are controlled to a large extent by the nature of the depositional environment and the maturity levels of the sediments. It is proposed that the predominance of Ni porphyrins in the sediments of these basins is caused mainly by the high Ni content of the groundwater. The relatively high content of a C32 porphyrin isomer with a five-membered ring with a methyl substituent, is indicative of environments with very high salinity. The porphyrin distributions have been affected through thermal maturation with the major changes being dealkylation/alkylation within ETIO porphyrins. The instability of Ni-DPEP porphyrins is suggested as a major reason for the rarity of DPEP porphyrins in Chinese oils. The ratios of DPEP/ETIO (or % DPEP ETIO + DPEP ), C 31 ETIO-A C 28 ETIO-B and ETIO-A C 31 C 30 are useful as thermal maturity parameters and the results also indicate that the percentage of DPEP porphyrins decreases through migration.

We propose and experimentally demonstrate a novel bidirectional add/drop module for single-fiber bidirectional self-healing wavelength-division-multiplexed (WDM) ring networks. The key components of this module are waveguide grating routers (WGRs) and fiber gratings. Using two circulators, the bidirectional fiber link is transformed into two separated unidirectional transmission paths within the module. The module can operate in two different WDM schemes: nonoverlapping scheme and overlapping scheme. The feasibility of these operation schemes has been confirmed by the experimental results.

By accurately measuring the distances of the points of cleavage initiation from the roots of notches, using the results of finite elements calculation of Griffiths-Owen, the local fracture stresses σ f ∗ were measured for CMn base metal and three types of weld metal. It was discovered that (1) it was not necessary for the cleavage crack to be initiated at the point of the maximum stress intensification; (2) the scattering of σ f ∗ was caused by the distribution of grain sizes in group of largest grains; (3) the scatter of the fracture loads was related not only to the scatter of σ f ∗ , but also to the position of the weakest grain relative to the roots of the notch, so it was larger than the scatter of σ f ∗ ; (4) the parameters of toughness based on energy absorbed fluctuated in the largest scale due to the added change of the displacement of the loaded point accompanying the scattering of fracture load. The σ f ∗ is suggested as a potential engineering parameter for toughness assessment. Models for explaining the scatters of fracture stresses and loads were proposed.

Background We sought investigate the relationship between serum level of sCD30 and recipient/graft survival rates, rejection types, as well as other prognostic factors among Chinese kidney transplant patients. Materials and methods We performed enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays of serum sCD30 levels in duplicate among retrospective cohort of 707 renal transplant patients. Results The incidences of rejection increased in relation to the pretransplant sCD30 level. The reversal rates of rejection were 100%, 90.6%, and 78.6% for the low, intermediate, and high sCD30 groups. This observation suggested that high levels of sCD30 and pretransplant panel-reactive antibody (PRA) -positive patients are risk factors for acute rejection with odds ratios of 6.862 and 1.756. High sCD30 was an independent risk factor for functional graft survival. The 5-year graft survival rates were 99.39% ± 6.1%, 93.11% ± 1.93%, and 82.07% ± 3.97% among the low, intermediate, and high sCD30 groups, while the 5-year recipient survival rates were 89.25% ± 2.41%, 91.82% ± 1.64%, and 88.85% ± 2.36%, respectively. Increased sCD30 levels were observed among patients who were PRA-positive, cytomegalovirus antigens or antibodies positive, on long-term dialysis, and ≤ 20 years old. Conclusions Pretransplant sCD30 serum levels reflect immune status.

Three packaging technologies are evaluated for application to next-generation RF products, particularly the Radio and MAC/Baseband components for WLAN cards. The trends for WLAN card packaging point to a need for ever-increasing pin counts in smaller form factors at an affordable cost. The three technologies considered are leadframe, patternable leadframe and ball grid array (BGA). These technologies are evaluated based upon performance (thermal, mechanical and electrical), manufacturability and design attributes. Data from modeling and assembly builds are presented. The key point of the paper is that increasing on-die integration for functional-rich, multiple-input / multiple output (MIMO)/multi-mode RF products is driving a need to investigate emerging package technologies. This paper presents a data based evaluation of three front-runner technologies: leadframe body-size extensions, patternable leadframe technologies and BGA. The key unique contributions of this paper are a demonstration of the manufacturability of higher pin count (150+), larger leadframe and patternable leadframe packages than have been previously been demonstrated and a test-vehicle, design-of-experiments comparison of the three leading technologies considered for next-generation RF product packaging.

A highly scaled, high performance 45 nm CMOS technology utilizing extensive immersion lithography to achieve the industry's highest scaling factor with ELK (k=2.55) BEOL is presented. A record gate density 2.4X higher than that of 65 nm is achieved. Refined strained-CMOS demonstrated 1200/750 μA/μm Idsat at 100 nA/μm Ioff, Vdd=1 V, which has the best Ion-Lg performance reported for bulk CMOS device. The proposed 45 nm technology is not only manufacturing friendly but also has well-controlled leakage and mismatch evidenced by a functional 32 Mb 0.242 μm2 SRAM.

Experiments are conducted to investigate the starting characteristics of metal halide lamps ballasted with a controllable low-frequency square-wave current. Several starting scenarios are examined to learn the different acceleration schemes of the start-up transient. Experimental evidence shows that the starting time of a metal halide lamp can be effectively shortened by increasing the lamp current during the glow-to-arc transition stage. More importantly, a specifically-regulated operating power enables the lamp to further enhance the producing of luminance, and hence greatly reduce the starting transient period.

We demonstrate electrical properties of an advanced memory structure with high-k dielectric stack of HfAlO/HfSiO/HfXIO and p-type metal gate IrO2. Combining advantages of high-k HfAlO, good trapping capability of HfSiO, and high work function of the IrO2 gate, we were able to attain much better retention with 10-year DeltaVth decay ratio within 18%, higher erasing speed with DeltaVth of 3V within 0.5ms at Vg equiv -12V, and lower operation voltage as well as lower reading voltage, compared to other contending device structures

For the severe requirements of BEPCII injecting kicker magnets, the two schemes of low impedance kicker magnets used in other accelerator labs in the world are not adaptive to the BEPCII storage ring. A new scheme of kicker magnets proposed in this article solves the difficult problem of BEPCII kicker magnet design. And the successful construction of a prototype has demonstrated that the new scheme of kicker magnets is viable and the design of the kicker magnet structure is reasonable.

Sensitization in kidney transplantation is associated with more acute rejections, inferior graft survival, and an increase in delayed graft function. This study was designed to evaluate the efficacy and safety of preoperative single bolus antithymocyte globulin (ATG) induction therapy in sensitized renal transplant recipients. Methods Fifty-six cadaveric donor kidney transplant recipients were divided into two groups: Group I (nonsensitized group, n = 30) and group II (sensitized group, PRA>10%, n = 26). ATG was given as a single preoperative bolus induction therapy to group II (ATG IV; 9 mg/kg). The group I patients were treated with mycophenolate mofetil preoperatively as induction therapy. The basic immunosuppressive regimen included tacrolimus (FK-506) or cyclosporine, mycophenolate mofetil, and prednisolone. After hospital discharge, patients were followed on a routine outpatient basis for 12 months. Results Acute rejection episodes (ARE) occurred in 20% (6/30) of group I and 15.38% (4/26) of group II patients (P = NS). Infections occurred in eight patients (26.7%) as 11 episodes (36.7%), averaging 1.4 episodes per infected patient in group 1, and 6 patients (23.1%) for a total of 10 episodes (38.5%), averaging 1.7 episodes per infected patient, in group II (P = NS). Occurrence of side effects and hospital stay were almost comparable in the two groups. No delayed graft function was observed in either group. The 12-month actuarial patient and graft survival were 100% in Group I and II. Conclusion A preoperative single bolus ATG induction therapy was an effective and safe therapeutic measure, yielding an acceptable acute rejection rate in presensitized renal transplant recipients.

An electrowetting technique for the fabrication of lenses is proposed in this work. The electrowetting technique provides a unique capability of controlling the lens profile during fabrication processes. An electrically-conductive, UV-curable polymer and the electrowetting mechanism are employed in this technique. In this work, the control of the lens profile is achieved by adjusting the voltage across a hydrophobic dielectric layer sandwiched between an electrically-conductive, UV-curable polymer (the liquid) and an electrically-conductive substrate (the electrode). The curvature and the focal length of the lens are controlled by the applied voltage. As the applied voltage increases, the curvature of the lens decreases and the focal length increases. The advantages of the electrowetting technique involve the quick and easy fabrication of lens with required profiles. The technique can also control the profile of individual lens in fabricating lens arrays.

Bulk Schottky silicide source/drain n- and p-MOS transistors (SSDTs) with EOT=2.0 /spl sim/ 2.5nm HfO/sub 2/ gate dielectric and HfN/TaN metal gate have been successfully demonstrated using a low temperature process. P-SSDTs with PtSi silicide show excellent electrical performance of I/sub on//I/sub off//spl sim/ 10/sup 7/ - 10/sup 8/ and subthreshold slop of 66 mV/dec. N-SSDTs with YbSi/sub 2-x/ silicide have also demonstrated a very promising characteristic with a recorded high I/sub on//I/sub off/ radio of /spl sim/ 10/sup 7/ and subthreshold slope of 75mV/dec. To the best of our knowledge, these are the best SSDTs data reported so far. The implant free low temperature process relaxes the thermal budget of high-K dielectric and metal gate materials. Our results are expected to be further improved when using ultra-thin-body (UTB) SOI structures, showing great potential of this low temperature process SSDTs for future sub-tenth micron CMOS technology.

A shearing interferometer based on a Michelson interferometer is proposed for collimation testing of a CO 2 laser beam. The shear and tilt between the interfering wavefronts is obtained by replacing one or both mirrors of the Michelson interferometer with double mirrors arranged to act as 90 ° or near 90 ° prisms in retroreflecting mode. Detailed analysis for two experimental configurations of this system are presented.

Association analysis of genetic polymorphisms has been mostly performed in a case-control setting with unrelated affected subjects compared with unrelated unaffected subjects. In this paper, we present a Bayesian method for analyzing such case-control data when the population is in Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium. Our Bayesian method depends on the informative prior which is the retrospective likelihood based on historical data, raised to a power a. By modeling the retrospective likelihood properly, different prior information about the studied population can be incorporated into the specification of the prior. The scalar a is a precision parameter quantifying the heterogeneity between current and historical data. A guide value for a is discussed in this paper. The informative prior and posterior distributions are proper under very general conditions. Therefore, our method can be applied in most case-control studies. Further, for assessing gene-environment interactions, our approach will naturally lead to a Bayesian model depending only on the case data, when genotype and environmental factors are independent in the population. Thus our approach can be applied to case-only studies. A real example is used to show the applications of our method.

In this paper, we demonstrate a bulk SSDTs (Schottky barrier S/D) with CVD HfO/sub 2/ high-k dielectric, PVD HfN/TaN metal gate and PtSi (for PMOS) and DySi/sub 2-x/ (for NMOS) silicide source/drain using a low temperature process. Surface removing, cleaning, dipping and silicidation processes are carried out at highest temperature of 420/spl deg/C for 1h after a high-k gate stack formation. The process can be easily extended to UTB-SOI structures. The P-SSDT shows a excellent electrical properties like hole mobility and S/D series resistance.

In this paper, a high performance ALD HfO/sub 2/-Al/sub 2/O/sub 3/ laminate metal-insulator-metal (MIM) capacitor is demonstrated for the first time with high capacitance density of 12.8 fF//spl mu/m/sup 2/ from 10 kHz to 20 GHz, low leakage current of 7.45/spl times/10/sup -9/ A/cm/sup 2/ at 2 V, low VCC (voltage coefficients of capacitance), and excellent reliability. The superior electrical properties and reliability suggest that the ALD HfO/sub 2/-Al/sub 2/O/sub 3/ laminate is a very promising material for MIM capacitors for Si RF and mixed signal IC applications.

A comprehensive study of HfN metal gate electrode for advanced MOS devices application is presented for the first time. It is found that HfN is an excellent barrier against oxygen diffusion, has a midgap work function (4.65 eV) on SiO/sub 2/, and exhibits superior thermal stability with underlying gate dielectric. Negligible degradation in EOT, work function, leakage current, and TDDB upon high-temperature treatments (up to 1000/spl deg/C) has been observed in HfN gated MOS devices. These results suggest that HfN metal electrode is an ideal candidate for ultra thin body fully depleted SOI (FD-SOI) and symmetric double gate (SDG) MOS applications.

In this paper, we investigate the chemical vapor deposition (CVD) of Ge nanocrystals (NCs) directly on hafnium oxide HfO2 dielectric for non-volatile memory applications. Germane GeH4 was used as a precursor. Atomic force microscopy (AFM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) were used to characterize the Ge NCs. The dependence of the Ge NC size and density on the deposition temperature, deposition time, and flow rate was explored. A high Ge NC density of 1011 cm-2 was obtained at a deposition temperature of 600°C, with a mean diameter of about 16 nm. MOS capacitors with CVD Ge NCs embedded in the HfO2 gate dielectric were fabricated. Hysteresis of capacitance-voltage (C-V) characteristics of capacitors with Ge NCs was observed, demonstrating memory effect.

We propose and demonstrate experimentally a novel bidirectional add/drop module by using two waveguide grating routers and fiber gratings. The results conform its feasibility for the development of single fiber bidirectional self-healing wavelength-division multiplexed (WDM) ring networks.

Summary form only given. The wavelength division multiplexing (WDM) technology will play an important role in next generation optical fiber communications. Optical demultiplexers and filters are key components in a WDM system to select the required optical channels. Crosstalk from adjacent channels occurs because of the imperfect nature of a demultiplexer. Active optical filters have the advantage of providing insertion gain instead of loss and are potentially good candidates for WDM demultiplexing. With its capability of tuning, locking, and gain control, the active filter is also possible to eliminate the problem of the band-narrowing effect caused by cascading mis-aligned passive optical 10 (de)multiplexer in all-optical networks. In the paper, the performance of DBR active filters used as demultiplexers in very dense WDM system is experimentally studied. Penalty-free transmission was achieved with channel spacing of 25 GHz at 2.5 Gb/s.

A new back channel etched hydrogenated thin film transistor (TFT) device with an island metal masking structure has been proposed and fabricated. The TFT structure contained a continuous layer deposition process of SiN/sub x//a-Si/n+a-Si/metal, and finally resulted in an additional metal layer between source/drain metals and islands. The channel metal was etched in the S/D metal mask patterning simultaneously. Results showed the newly designed TFT device exhibiting some characteristics: (i) good S/D metal/n+a-Si contact, (ii) prevention of plasma damage during processing especially for oxygen plasma ashing and (iii) without additional mask. These advantages will be helpful for a wider range of process window in large area mass production a-Si TFT fabrications.

The implementation of a magnetic resonance imaging pulse sequence that is capable of giving true diffusion images is reported. The approach is based on the fact that diffusion processes are not reversible but that perfusion processes are. It uses a flow-compensated pulse sequence that is capable of rephasing the moving spins at the point of the spin echo. At the same time it provides an attenuation of the echo due to spin diffusion only on the order of 40%. >

Early-stage precipitates in the Al-Si-Mg based 6xxx alloys include solute clusters, GP-zones (including the pre-β″ phase), the β″ phase as well as the so called Q particles (if a small amount of Cu is added in the alloys). Using high-resolution transmission electron microscopy and quantitative electron diffraction, these precipitates are studied in details. The β″ phase has a monoclinic structure with the composition Mg5Si6. The structure of the pre-β″ phase is quite similar to that of the β″ phase but the atom positions are more close to that of the Al lattice. It is pointed out that Al poorly-develops many of the structures of the precipitates, due to the presence of defects and substitutions of Mg and Si.