Low‐Energy Electron Beam Induced Charging and Secondary Electron Emission Properties of FEP Film Used on Satellite Surfaces

Many kinds of insulating materials are used outside a spacecraft. They include FEP films, polyimide films, and so on, and are used as thermal control materials. These materials are exposed to a charged‐particle environment around the spacecraft. Thus then become charged due to charged particles, especially electrons. It has been pointed out that charging of these materials is likely to cause discharges on the surfaces. From this viewpoint, we investigated the charging potential characteristics of 127‐μm‐thick FEP film, a typical thermal control material, by exposing it to electron irradiation at various energies below 20 keV. In the dependence of the charging potential on the electron energy, we found that the electron energy at which no charge‐up occurs is about 2.7 keV. This appears to be the energy at the which secondary electron emission yield becomes unity. This indicates that electron irradiation of FEP film with energies lower than 2.7 keV induces positive charging. From the charge decay characteristics after electron irradiation, the volume resistivity of the film was also obtained as a function of the electric fields in the bulk of the FEP film.     

Electron‐beam‐pumped light sources using graphite nanoneedle field emitters and Si electron‐transparent films

Sputter‐induced carbon nanoneedle field emitters and Si electron‐transparent films have been developed for electron‐beam‐pumped light sources. The sputter‐induced carbon nanoneedle field emitters exhibited a stable electron emission of 0.1 mA at an average field of 13 V/µm. The 1.5‐µm thick Si electron‐transparent films achieved an electron transmittance of about 60% at an acceleration voltage of 27 kV. An electron‐beam‐pumped light source was demonstrated from the excitation of N₂ gas, and a N₂ gas spectrum was clearly observed. The increase of the beam current is important for increasing the light intensity. Copyright © 2007 Institute of Electrical Engineers of Japan© 2007 Institute of Electrical Engineers of Japan. Published by John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

Mode‐matching analysis of a spit‐circular cavity resonator for measurement of the dielectric constant for film on a substrate

In this paper, we apply the mode‐matching technique (eigenmode expansion) to formulate an analytical model for a split cylindrical cavity resonator with a thick ceramic film layer sandwiched between two‐layer alumina substrates. We then compute the resonant frequencies with the TE₀₁₁ mode with an eigenvalue problem approach using the model formula. The quality factor (Q ‐factor) of the resonator is also calculated by applying the perturbation method to the analytical model. The validity of the proposed analytical technique is confirmed by applying this method to the estimation of permittivity of thick films as an inverse problem. Ceramic films (2 µm thickness) were synthesized using a chemical solution method onto 200‐µm‐thick, 50‐mm‐diameter alumina substrates. The complex permittivity of the films was then determined using the TE₀₁₁ mode split cylindrical cavity resonator in the 10‐GHz band. The extent of the edge effect at a sample insertion space was evaluated by comparing the estimated results through TE wave analysis using the mode‐matching method when the transverse resonance technique and the perturbation method were applied to calculate the resonant frequency and the dielectric Q ‐factor. The results obtained indicate that a difference of 0.153% in the permittivity of the alumina substrate causes differences of 6.10 and 3.75% in the measured permittivity and loss tangent, respectively, of 2‐µm‐thick ceramic film with a permittivity of ∼50. Differences in permittivity and loss tangent were more pronounced with thinner films. It was also confirmed that the estimated results for permittivity and the loss tangent values of these ceramic films were affected by the estimated permittivity value of the alumina substrate. © 2017 Institute of Electrical Engineers of Japan. Published by John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

Charging characteristics of construction materials of spacecraft irradiated by an electron beam

Composite materials like carbon fiber‐reinforced plastics (CFRP) or fiber‐reinforced plastics (FRP) are used for construction materials of spacecraft. When FRP are used for construction materials of spacecraft, germanium (Ge)‐sputtered FRP is used because of its thermal control ability. In an orbit at high altitude, charging of polymer materials can hinder measurements on spacecraft. To investigate the charging of these kinds of materials in a vacuum, electron beams were used to irradiate test pieces of FRP, Ge‐sputtered FRP, and CFRP. The experiments were conducted in a high‐vacuum chamber with an electron beam gun. The results show that the absolute surface potential of Ge‐sputtered FRP remains lower than that of FRP. The irradiation of negatively charged Ge‐sputtered FRP decreases the surface potential. Ge‐sputtered FRP with a thicker layer of Ge shows a similar and pronounced tendency. Irradiation with higher current density also causes more rapid decrease of the potential. The results for CFRP also show low values of the saturated surface potential. These characteristics are different from those of simple polymer test pieces such as fluoroethylenepropylene (FEP) film. Although the penetration depth of electrons is confined to the Ge layer, the surface potential of Ge‐sputtered FRP is lower than the potential expected for single materials. The mechanism of this phenomenon seems to be related to secondary electron emission. © 1999 Scripta Technica, Electr Eng Jpn, 127(2): 1–7, 1999     

Influence of Gas Flow Ratio in PE‐CVD Process on Mechanical Properties of Silicon Nitride Film

This paper investigates the influence of gas flow ratio in the preparation of submicron‐thick silicon nitride (SiN_x) films on their elastic properties. SiN_x films with a thickness ranging from 0.14 to 0.69 µm were deposited by plasma‐enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PE‐CVD) onto 10‐µm‐thick single‐crystal silicon (SCS) specimens by changing the gas flow ratio of monosilane (SiH₄) to ammonia (NH₃) to nitrogen (N₂). A uniaxial tensile tester operated under an atomic force microscope (AFM) characterized the Young's modulus of SiN_x films and the fracture strength of SiN_x/SCS laminated specimens. The Young's modulus of SiN_x films ranged from 99.5 to 144.3 GPa, which increased with the gas flow ratio but was independent of the film thickness. Nano‐indentation tests were also carried out to examine the Poisson's ratio of SiN_x films in addition to the tensile tests. The Poisson's ratio was found to be 0.19 to 0.27, on average. Auger spectroscopy revealed that an increase of the atomic content ratio of nitrogen (N) to silicon (Si) in SiN_x films yielded higher elastic constants of the films. © 2008 Institute of Electrical Engineers of Japan. Published by John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

Fabrication and characteristics of PZT thick films on Pt/Ti foil substrates for piezoelectric vibrators

Crack free perovskite PbZr_0.53Ti_0.47O₃ (PZT (53/47)) thick films up to 30 μm were prepared on flexible platinum-coated titanium foil substrates (Pt/Ti) by a metal organic decomposition (MOD) process. The dielectric, ferroelectric and piezoelectric properties of the films were examined and discussed. A well-saturated hysteresis loop of the thick film was present in almost rectangular shape (Pr?=?35 μC/cm²; Ec?=?32 kV/cm). The efficient piezoelectric coefficient d _{33, f} of the thick film is about 448 (1 kHz). PZT piezoelectric vibrators were made in bimorph mode. The displacements of the vibrators were investigated as the functions of the applied electric field and the substrate thickness. Under the same condition, the vibrator made from the thinnest Pt/Ti substrate gives the largest displacement.     

Metal‐bonding‐based hermetic wafer‐level MEMS packaging technology using in‐plane feedthrough: Hermeticity and high frequency characteristics of thick gold film feedthrough

Au–Au‐bonding‐based wafer‐level vacuum packaging technology using in‐plane feedthrough of thick Au signal lines was developed for high‐frequency micro electromechanical system (RF MEMS). Compared with conventional technology based on glass frit bonding, the developed technology is advantageous in terms of smaller width of sealing frames, lower process temperature, and smaller amount of degas. To guarantee the hermetic sealing, the adhesion between the thick Au lines and a SiOx dielectric frame is improved by an Al₂O₃ interlayer by atomic layer deposition. The steps of the dielectric frame above the thick Au lines are absorbed by an electroplated Au seal ring planarized by fly cutting. The thermocompression bonding of the Au seal rings of 20‐100 μm width was done at 300 ºC. A cavity pressure of about 500 Pa or lower was measured by “zero balance method” using Si diaphragms. Vacuum sealing was maintained for more than 19 months, and the leak rate is less than 8×10‐16 Pa m3/s. The isolation of open signal lines was measured up to 10 GHz for different designs of the sealing ring and SiOx dielectric frame. The influence of the in‐plane feed through to the isolation is as low as 2‐3 dB, if the width of the sealing ring is 20 μm and the thickness of SiOx dielectric frame is larger than 10 μm. The developed wafer‐level packaging technology is ready for applications to an radio frequency (RF) MEMS switch.     

Piezoelectric PZT films for MEMS and their characterization by interferometry

Piezoelectric films can be used in micro-electro-mechanical system (MEMS) devices because the piezoelectric effect can provide high forces with relatively low energy losses. The energy output by a piezoelectric film per unit area is proportional to the film thickness, so it is desirable to have relatively thick films. Chemical solution deposition (CSD) techniques were used to prepare lead zirconate titanate (PZT) thin films with Zr/Ti ratios of 30/70 and 52/48. Usually CSD processing is restricted to making crack-free single layer films of ca 70 nm thick, but modifications to the sol-gel process have permitted the fabrication of dense, crack-free single layers up to 200–300 nm thick, which can be built-up into layers up to 3 μm thick. Thicker PZT films (> 2 μm single layer) can be produced by using a composite sol-gel/ceramic process. Knowledge of the electro-active properties of these materials is essential for modeling and design of novel MEMS devices and accurate measurement of these properties is by no means straightforward. A novel double beam common path laser interferometer has been developed to measure the piezoelectric coefficient in films and the results were compared with the values obtained by Berlincourt method. A laser scanning vibrometer was also used to measuring the longitudinal (d ₃₃) and transverse (d ₃₁) piezoelectric coefficients for PZT films and ceramics and the results were compared to those obtained by the other methods. It was found that for thin film samples, the d _33,f values obtained from the Belincourt method is usually larger than those obtained from the interferometer method but smaller than those from the vibrometer method and the reasons for this are discussed.     

Strain tensor effects on SrTiO3 incipient ferroelectric phase transition

Structural distortion of ferroelectric thin films caused by film strain has a strong impact on the microwave dielectric properties. SrTiO₃ thin films epitaxially grown on (110) DyScO₃ substrates using molecular beam epitaxy (MBE) are extremely strained (i.e., ～1% in-plane tensional strain) from 3.905 Å of bulk SrTiO₃. The room temperature dielectric constant and its tuning of the films are observed to be 6000 and 75% with an electric field of 1 V/μm, respectively. The control of strain in SrTiO₃ provides a basis for room temperature tunable microwave applications by elevating its phase transition peak to room temperature. Also, a significant in-plane anisotropy in dielectric constant and tuning was observed in these SrTiO₃ films. The observed in-plane anisotropic dielectric properties have been interpreted based on the phenomenological thermodynamics of film strain.     

Degradation of direct‐tunneling gate oxide under hot hole injection

The degradation of ultrathin SiO₂ films accompanied by the hole direct tunneling is investigated using a substrate hot hole (SHH) injection technique. Hot holes from the substrate as well as cold holes in the inversion layer are injected into the gate oxides in p‐channel MOSFETs with p⁺ poly‐Si gates, while the gate bias is kept low enough to avoid simultaneous electron injection from the gate. During the SHH stress, in contrast to the case of thicker oxide films, a strong correlation is observed between the oxide film degradation and the injected hole energy, whereas no degradation occurs due to the hole direct tunneling from the inversion layer. These experimental findings indicate the existence of threshold energy for trap creation process, which has been predicted by the theoretical study of hole‐injection‐induced structural transformation of oxygen vacancy in SiO₂. © 2002 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Electr Eng Jpn, 140(4): 54–61, 2002; Published online in Wiley InterScience ( www.interscience.wiley.com ). DOI 10.1002/eej.2008     

A wave‐front‐time dependent corona model for transmission‐line surge calculations

For transmission‐line surge studies, the inclusion of corona discharge due to high voltage surges is important as well as the inclusion of frequency‐dependent effects. Because the charge‐voltage (q‐v) curve of a lightning surge is different from that of a switching surge, a corona model should reproduce different q‐v curves for different wave‐front times. The present paper proposes a wave‐front time dependent corona model which can express the dependence by a simple calculation procedure as accurately as a rigorous finite‐difference method which requires an enormous calculation time. The simplicity enhances the incorporation of the corona model into a line model, because a large number of models are to be inserted into the line model by discretization. The q‐v curves calculated by the proposed method agrees well with field tests. This paper also proposes an efficient method to deal with nonlinear corona branches in distributed‐parameter line model using the trapezoidal rule of integration and the predictor‐corrector method. © 1999 Scripta Technica, Electr Eng Jpn, 129(1): 29–38, 1999     

A 0.1 to 2.7‐GHz SOI SP8T antenna switch adopting body self‐adapting bias technique for low‐loss high‐power applications

A low‐loss high‐power single‐pole 8‐throw antenna switch adopting body self‐adapting bias technique in a 0.18‐μm thick‐film partially depleted silicon‐on‐insulator complementary metal‐oxide‐semiconductor process is implemented for multimode multiband cellular applications. A topology with symmetric port design is developed. We employ the body‐contacted field‐effect transistor to handle high power level and obtain low harmonic distortion. However, the conventional bias method for body‐contacted field‐effect transistor leads to poor insertion loss (IL), serious imbalanced voltage division, and large die size. Therefore, a new body self‐adapting bias scheme is adopted to improve the IL and power handling capability with die area reward by removing the employment of extra biasing resistor and voltage supply at the body. The presented silicon‐on‐insulator antenna switch utilizing the new body bias strategy reveals similar harmonic performance as a conventional switch version, thanks to the analogous DC bias to the gate and body, while it exhibits effectively lower IL, imbalanced voltage division, and die area. The measured IL and 0.1‐dB compression point (P_?0.1dB), at 1.9/2.7 GHz, are roughly 0.52/0.82 dB and 39.2/36.9 dBm, respectively. The overall IL and P_?0.1dB are apparently improved by approximately 0.05 to 0.13 dB and 0.5 to 0.8 dBm compared with the conventional version.     

Ni-Zn ferrite films synthesized from aqueous solution usable for sheet-type conducted noise suppressors in GHz range

Ni_0.2Zn_0.3Fe_2.5O₄ films (1–5 μm thick) were deposited by spin spray ferrite plating from an aqueous solutions onto polyimide sheets at 90^∘C. Their peel test and high-frequency permeability as well as noise suppression effects were investigated. The oxygen plasma treatment on polyimide sheet surface improved the film adhesion. There was not visible crack on the bended film surface for the Ni-Zn ferrite film thinner than 2 μm and was not peeled off even after the bending test of a million times. The films exhibited excellent high-frequency permeability profile and a natural resonance frequency (where the imaginary permeability reaches a maximum) f _r was 370 ± 30 MHz. The transmission loss increased with the film thickness, reaching the maximum Δ P _loss = 70% at 8 GHz for the 5 μm-thick film. The reflection loss in the measured frequency range was S ₁₁ < 10 % which is small enough for films to be used as the conducted noise suppressors. The value of Δ P _loss obtained for the 5-μm thick film was about 15% higher than that (Δ P _loss = 55 %) attained by the commercialized 50-μm thick noise suppressing sheet.     

Fabrication and electrical properties of barium strontium titanate thick films by modified sol–gel method

A modified sol–gel method has been developed to prepare for the barium strontium titanate (Ba_0.6Sr_0.4TiO₃, BST) thick films. The films were deposited on either Pd–Ag electroded alumina substrates (Pd–Ag/Al₂O₃) or silver electroded alumina (Ag/Al₂O₃) substrates by spin coating technique or screen printing technique. The thickness of the film was in the range of 2–10 μm. The key point of the process is to disperse fine-grained BST ceramic powders prepared by high energy ball mill into BST sol solution to form a slurry for spin coating and screen printing. In order to enhance the stability of the slurry and to avoid crack formation of the thick film, organic macromolecular poly-vinylpyrrolidone (PVP) was added to the sol solution. The structure and surface morphology of the films were studied by X-ray diffraction and Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) techniques. It is revealed that the thick films exhibit pure perovskite phase and are crack-free, dense and homogeneous. The dielectric constant and loss tangent of the thick films are about 1200 and 0.01, at 10 °C and 1 KHz, respectively.     

X射线激励下的油间隙放电现象

目前变压器局部放电位广泛采用超声波定位方法。由于变压器局部放电信号同弱以及现场干扰强烈等原因,使这一方法的有效性受到限制。本文实验研究了X射线激励下油间隙局部放电现象。实验发现,在X射线照射下,油／纸绝缘中的某些局部缺陷部位会因此发生局部放电,其效应与X射线光子对金属导体表面产生的光电效应以及油介质状态有关。在封闭型间隙中,导体表面受激产生了大量的电子并注入油间隙中,由于油的流动性受到极大限制,其间聚积的带电粒子可能在油和固体绝缘界面形成空间电荷层,在外加电压作用下,油间隙局部电场明显加强,从而导致油间隙的放电起始电压降低,局部放电加强,利用这一特性有可能为变压器局部放电的检测和定位提供一种新方法。     

Interfacial electrostatic phenomena and capacitance–voltage characteristics of ultrathin polyimide Langmuir–Blodgett films

Capacitance–voltage (C–V) characteristic of ultrathin polyimide (PI) Langmuir–Blodgett (LB) films is discussed theoretically and experimentally taking into account the interfacial electrostatic phenomena and interfacial electronic states at the metal/PI LB film interface. It was found that the apparent film thickness decreases due to the charge exchange phenomena at the metal/film interface. It was also found that electrical insulating properties of the Au/PI LB film/Al device depended on the polarity of external voltage, probably due to the formation of the electrostatic interfacial electric field of 10⁸ to 10⁹ V/m. © 2000 Scripta Technica, Electr Eng Jpn 134(3): 9–15, 2001     

PZT Thin Film Bi-Layer Devices for Phase Controlled Actuation in MEMS

A potential application for ferroelectric thin films is micro positioning and actuation. For using PZT films as micro-actuators it is desirable to have film thicknesses of comparable size to the underlying structure. The amount of actuation possible is determined by a number of factors: the piezoelectric coefficient d ₃₁, geometric factors and the compliance of both the actuator and cantilever and the electric field across the film. Using a bi-layer should therefore increase the amount of actuation for a given drive voltage. Bi-layer devices can also be driven at constant voltage, and their actuation varied by the phase difference of the drive voltage between the two layers. PZT films of thickness 0.5 m have been deposited as a bi-layer. Micro-actuators have been fabricated using these structures, their electric properties measured and their electro-mechanical properties characterised and evaluated using optical beam deflection.     

Rf Sputtered Na0.5K0.5NbO3 Films on Oxide Substrates as Optical Waveguiding Material

Highly crystalline Na_0.5K_0.5NbO₃ (NKN) thin films of 1–2 μm thickness were deposited by rf-magnetron sputtering of a stoichiometric, ceramic target on single crystal LaAlO₃(001) and Al₂O₃(0112) substrates. X-ray diffraction measurements revealed epitaxial quality of NKN/LaAlO₃ film structures, whereas NKN films on sapphire substrates were found to be preferentially c-axis oriented. A prism-coupling technique was used to characterize optical and waveguiding properties. A bright-line spectrum at λ = 632.8 nm, revealed sharp peaks, corresponding to transverse magnetic (TM) and electric (TE) waveguide propagation modes in NKN/LaAlO₃ and NKN/Al₂O₃ thin films. Using a least mean square fit the refractive index for the films and film thickness were calculated. The extraordinary and ordinary refractive indices were determined to n _e = 2.207 ± 0.002 and n _o = 2.261 ± 0.002, and n _e = 2.216 ± 0.002 and n _o = 2.247 ± 0.002 at λ = 632.8 nm for 2.0 μm thick NKN films on LaAlO₃ and Al₂O₃, respectively. This corresponds to a birefringence Δn = n _e ? n _o = ?0.054 ± 0.003 and Δn = ?0.031 ± 0.003 in the films, where the larger Δn for the NKN/LaAlO₃ structure can be explained by the superior crystalline quality compared to NKN/Al₂O₃. Atomic force microscopy images of the film surfaces revealed rms roughnesses of 2.5 nm and 8.0 nm for 1.0-μm thick NKN/LaAlO₃ and NKN/Al₂O₃ films, respectively. We believe surface scattering is one of the main sources of waveguide losses in the thin films.     

Electrostatic fluctuation measurements in the periphery of reversed field pinch plasma

In this paper, the authors study the magnetic and electric properties of ferromagnetic substance/semimetal (Fe/Bi) system multilayered thin films prepared by ion beam sputtering. The multilayered thin film was prepared with 99.6% Fe and 99.99% Bi. The experimental results are summarized as follows. From XRD in the small‐degree region (2θ = 2 to 4^°), Fe/Bi system thin films for N = 3,4, and 5 Fe layers have formed multilayer structures. Coercive force H_c increased with increasing number of Fe layers. The maximum value was 4.522 kA/m at N = 6 Fe layers. The coercive force then decreased and its value was constant at more than 15 layers. Electrical resistivity, ρ, of Fe/Bi system multilayered thin films changed from conductivity to semiconductivity at temperatures in the range for T = 380 to 400 K. Magneto‐resistance (MR) ratio decreased with increasing applied field H when the current was parallel to an applied magnetic field (I‖H). MR ratio reached a maximum of 0.154% at N = 4 Fe layers at room temperature. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Electr Eng Jpn, 151(1): 1–8, 2005; Published online in Wiley InterScience ( www.interscience.wiley.com ). DOI 10.1002/eej.20068     

Morphology of PZT-PMN Films Grown from Airflow

Lead zirconate titanate-lead magnesium niobate (PZT-PMN) films with thicknesses in the range 5 to 200 μm were fabricated by deposition from airflow at room temperature. Precursor powders of PZT and PMN were mixed in a ball mill and entrained in an airflow generated by a commercial jet-mill (Micron-Master 02-506). Films were grown at a rate of 1 μm/minute onto the Ni and tungsten carbide substrates exposed to the air-powder mixture. Unfired, poled PZT-PMN films provided an audio acoustic response and form translucent 20–30 μm thick layers. Full density of the air-flow deposited materials has been achieved at temperatures 450°C lower than that typical for ball milled bulk PZT-PMN ceramics. After sintering for 2 hours at 850°C PZT-PMN ceramics with relative density of 99.5%, ? ～ 2170, tan δ ～ 0.009 @1 kHz and acceptable piezoelectric properties was obtained. Films sintered 2 hours at 1000°C showed remnant polarization P _r = 26 μC/cm², P _s = 36 μC/cm² @95 kV/cm, and 50 Hz ac electric breakdown field as high as 120–170 kV/cm. Unusual grain morphology governs improved sinterability and enhanced properties of ferroelectric ceramics. Optical and AFM micrographs revealed needle-like grains preferentially oriented parallel to the air-powder stream. As-deposited films were found to be very non-uniform across the thickness: glass-like and with tensile strain on the contact surface. This strain is released and film microcrystalline structure becomes uniform in annealed film.