Adhesion improvement of silicon/underfill/polyimide interfaces by UV/ozone treatment and sol–gel derived hybrid layers

Adhesion and mechanical reliability improvement is an important issue for flexible electronics due to weak bonds between silicon/underfill/polyimide interfaces. These interfaces are bonded with weak hydrogen and ester bonds which are vulnerable to humidity. Therefore, in this study, adhesion and reliability of silicon/underfill/polyimide interfaces are enhanced by using UV/Ozone treatment and sol–gel derived hybrid layers. In order to examine the effectiveness of those surface treatment methods, double cantilever beam (DCB) test and subcritical crack growth test were applied to accurately measure the adhesion energy and subcritical crack growth rate. The results showed that the adhesion and reliability against humidity were enhanced by more than 300% and 1000% when both surface treatment methods were applied. Also, the adhesive failure path was altered to mixed mode failure of both cohesive and adhesive failure paths.     

Effect of annealing on the microstructure and bonding interface properties of Ag–2Pd alloy wire

This study investigated the mechanical and electrical properties of Ag–2Pd wire after thermal annealing. The thermal stability of the tested wire was examined by separately imposing static annealing at 275 °C, 325 °C and 375 °C in a vacuum environment. It was found that annealing the Ag–2Pd wire at 275 °C promoted the formation of a fully annealed structure with equiaxed grains. Annealing Ag–2Pd wire had a shorter heat affect zone (HAZ) length than those of conventional wire, and offered outstanding mechanical properties. A long-term electrical test found Ag₃(Pd)Al and Ag₂(Pd)Al compounds between the Ag–Pd ball and Al pad. These results confirmed the high-reliability properties of annealed Ag–2Pd wires for the wire bonding process.     

Improvement of wider bandwidth using dual e–shaped antenna for wireless communications in 5G applications

Analog Integrated Circuits and Signal Processing - In this paper a dual E–shaped patch (ESP) antenna is proposed to enhance the wider impedance bandwidth to be use for wireless communications...     

Determination of the interface energy level alignment of a doped organic hetero-junction using capacitance–voltage measurements

A simple method based on capacitance–voltage (C–V) measurements is reported to determine the interface energy level alignment at the junction of 15 mol% Cs₂CO₃ doped 4,7-diphenyl-1,10-phenanthroline (BPhen) and 1,4,5,8,9,11-hexaazatriphenylene hexacarbonitrile (HATCN) fabricated under high vacuum. The junction properties, such as the depletion layer thickness, built-in potentials and vacuum level shift were calculated with simple Mott–Schottky and Poisson’s equations with the boundary condition of a continuous electric flux density using the information from the C–V data. The interface energy level alignment determined by this method is well matched with the one determined using the in situ ultraviolet photoemission spectroscopy (UPS) and X-ray photoemission spectroscopy (XPS) experiments performed under ultra-high vacuum. This method can be applied to other semiconductor junctions such as the organic p–n homojunctions and heterojunctions with known energy levels, as long as the metal/semiconductor contact is Ohmic without referring to the photoemission spectroscopies. Moreover, the energy level alignment determined by the C–V measurement gives a more realistic result since the films for the measurements are formed under high vacuum which is a normal device fabrication environment rather than under ultra high vacuum.     

Performance improvement of RoF transmission link by using 120° hybrid coupler in OSSB generation

This paper presents an analysis, simulation and comparison of the performance of Optical single sideband radio over fiber system based on a dual drive Mach Zehender modulator using 90° and 120° hybrid coupler including the effects of phase noise from RF signal oscillator and laser source, fiber dispersion. Signal to noise ratio (SNR) is significantly influenced by phase noise from RF signal oscillator. On comparison with conventional 90° hybrid coupler system, the performance of the considered system improves by 0.78 dB in terms of SNR, when RF and laser phase noises are increased.     

Surface trees – Representation of boundary surfaces using a tree descriptor

Many applications in fields as diverse as computer graphics, medical imaging or pattern recognition require the usage of the boundary of digital objects, or discrete surface. A discrete surface is a set of orthogonal quadrilaterals connected to each other that is typically represented either as a face adjacency graph or as a polygon mesh. In this work we propose a new method, named surface trees, to represent discrete surfaces. Surface trees allow the representation of any discrete surface by coding a tree structure contained in the face adjacency graph. This method uses an alphabet of nine symbols, in addition to the parenthesis notation, to codify trees of maximum degree four. Surface trees are a compact way of representing any discrete surface at the same time they preserve geometrical information and provide invariance under translation and rotation. We demonstrate our method on synthetic surfaces as well as others obtained from real data.     

Prediction of pad cratering fracture at the copper pad – Printed circuit board interface

Pad-crater fracture was characterized in terms of the critical strain energy release rate, J_ci, measured at various mode ratios, ψ. Specimens were prepared from lead-free chip scale package-PCB assemblies and fractured at low and high loading rates in various bending configurations to generate a range of mode ratios. The specimens tested at low loading rates all failed by pad cratering, while the ones tested at higher loading rates fractured in the brittle intermetallic layer of the solder. The J_ci of pad cratering increased with the phase angle, ψ, but was independent of surface finish (OSP and ENIG) and reflow profile (time above liquidius 60 s and 120 s). The generality of the J = J_ci(ψ) failure criterion to predict pad-cratering fracture was then demonstrated by predicting the fracture loads of single lap-shear specimens made from the same lead-free assemblies.     

Epitaxial growth of LaMnO3 buffer layers for YBa2Cu3O7-δ coated conductors using pulsed laser deposition

采用脉冲激光沉积技术在双轴织构的Ni95W5(Ni-5W)合金基底上外延生长了LaMnO3(LMO)薄膜作为涂层导体缓冲层,研究了沉积温度对LMO薄膜生长织构和表面形貌的影响.研究结果表明:沉积温度对LMO薄膜的表面形貌有一定的影响;在沉积温度为650℃时,LMO薄膜具有良好的(00l)取向,薄膜表面平整均匀,光滑致密,其均方根粗糙度在2 nm以下;而且,在此LMO缓冲层上外延生长的YBa2Cu3O7-δ超导层具有良好的双轴织构,超导转变温度Tc为92 K,转变宽度小于1K,临界电流密度Jc为5.3×105A/cm2(77 K,自场).     

Misfit strain induced tweed-twin transformation on composition modulation Zn1−xMgxSxSe1−y layers and the quality control of the ZnSe buffer/GaAs interface

[100] composition modulation as well as [101] and $$1$$ tweed strain contrast were observed in 0.72 μm thick Zn_1?xMg_xS Se_1?y epitaxial films grown on ZnSe buffer layers. The lattice distortion induced tweed strain contrast disappears in relaxed Zn_1?xMg_xS Se_1?y layers of thicknesses above ～ 0.8—1 μm even though the [100] composition modulation remains. Instead, the formation of microtwins takes place to relieve the strain in the distorted lattice of the quaternary films. The Zn_1?xMg_xS_ySe_1?y layers were obtained by growing a ZnSe buffer layer on Asstabilized GaAs substrates with Zn treatment of the substrate prior to the growth of the film. The samples with film thickness of ～0.72 μm were of very high quality with a defect density of less than 5 x lO⁴/cm². Some samples showed rough ZnSe/ GaAs interfaces and a high density of Frank partial dislocations originating at the ZnSe/GaAs interface. The interface roughness is believed to result from an As-rich GaAs surface after the oxide desorption.     

Conversion efficiency improvement mechanisms of polymer solar cells by balance electron–hole mobility using blended P3HT:PCBM:pentacene active layer

To improve the power conversion efficiency of polymer solar cells, the blended P3HT:PCBM:pentacene active layer was used to balance hole–electron mobility and roughen surface. Using space-charged-limited current model to analyze the hole-only devices and the electron-only devices, the P3HT:PCBM:pentacene (weight ratio = 1:0.8:0.09) active layer exhibited balance hole–electron mobility. Compared with the power conversion efficiency of 3.46% of the conventional polymer solar cells using P3HT:PCBM (1:0.8) active layer, the power conversion efficiency of 4.42% was obtained. In other words, the power conversion efficiency was improved about 27.5%.     

Modelling upper echelons’ behavioural drivers of Green IT/IS adoption using an integrated Interpretive Structural Modelling – Analytic Network Process approach

The purpose of this paper is to understand and identify various psychological drivers which motivate managers of organizations to adopt Green information technology (Green IT) and Green information system (Green IS) within their corporations. These psychological factors are modelled through the lens of Upper Echelon Theory (UET) to study their interrelationship and interdependency and further prioritize them to strategize appropriate managerial actions. The factors were identified through an exhaustive literature review and further confirmed by the experts in the field. A hybrid Interpretive Structural Modelling – Analytic Network Process (ISM-ANP) approach has been adopted to establish the complex interrelationship among the psychological drivers and further to cluster and prioritize them. The main contribution of this study is composing directions and dominance of various psychological drivers to enhance decision-making process of managers towards the adoption of Green IT/IS. As long as decisions are made by individuals within organizations, this paper forms the basis of identifying individual-level factors important in motivating managers towards Green IT/IS adoption. The results of this study would help organizations and policy makers to understand and develop strategies to target and select an individual for managerial position with mind-set more towards environmental sustainability and Green IT/IS concepts. By applying the proposed methodology, organizations can classify and prioritize their action plans such as several educational methods to reinforce, foster and incline psychological factors to motivate their individuals to behave proenvironmentally and practice Green IT/IS initiatives to enhance environmental sustainability of their corporations.