Oxygen radical density measurement in O2–N2 gas mixture plasma by means of a thin platinum wire

The oxygen radical density was measured in a weakly ionized plasma in an O₂–N₂ gas mixture by using a simple platinum thin‐wire sensor. The increased temperatures of the platinum wire caused by the energy released in the recombination of two oxygen radicals on the platinum surface were measured by varying the nitrogen gas mixture ratio and were compared with the oxygen radical densities theoretically calculated under the same plasma conditions. The relation between the wire temperature and the oxygen radical densities was cross‐checked by quantitative measurement of oxygen radical densities with a quadrupole mass spectrometer. All of these results made it possible to determine the oxygen radical density experimentally from the platinum wire temperature alone. The influence of the ambient gas temperature on the radical density measurement is also discussed. © 2004 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Electr Eng Jpn, 149(4): 14–20, 2004; Published online in Wiley InterScience ( www.interscience.wiley.com ). DOI 10.1002/eej.20018     

Surface evaluation of LiNbO3 and LiTaO3 crystals etched using fluorine system gas plasma reactive ion etching

The etching characteristics of LiNbO₃ and LiTaO₃ single crystals have been investigated by performing plasma reactive ion etching (RIE) with CF₄/Ar, CF₄/H₂, and CF₂/Ar/H₂ gas mixtures. The etched surface was evaluated by atomic force microscopy and X‐ray diffraction. The in situ surface temperature of the sample was measured during RIE. F atoms exist in the contamination layer on the surface etched using mixtures of CF₄, Ar, and H₂ gases. The etch rate was dependent on the crystal orientation. The etch rate of LiTaO₃ was less than that of LiNbO₃. © 2004 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Electr Eng Jpn, 149(2): 18–24, 2004; Published online in Wiley InterScience ( www.interscience.wiley.com ). DOI 10.1002/eej.10365     

An Investigation Demonstrating the Feasibility of Microwave Sintering of Base-Metal-Electrode Multilayer Capacitors

A microwave sintering technique has been developed for base-metal electrode (BME) multilayer ceramic capacitors (MLCCs). Commercial green chips of size 0603 MLC with nickel electrodes were sintered in a microwave field. With a specially designed susceptor/insulation package to optimize coupling and uniformity of heating, a number of sintering experiments were conducted in the temperature range of 1200 to 1250∘C in a multimode microwave cavity operating at 2.45 GHz under a partially reducing atmosphere. Microstructure of the microwave processed MLCCs was investigated with both SEM and TEM techniques. The dielectric properties of the microwave sintered MLCCs were measured and compared with those sintered using conventional process at 1320∘C and lower pO₂’s ≈ 10^{− 9} atms. The results demonstrate that nickel electrodes remain metallic after microwave sintering even though the pO₂’s were relatively high and would thermodynamically favor NiO. The microwave sintered samples showed a dense, fine and uniform microstructure. The properties of the microwave-sintered samples were comparable to the conventionally sintered samples. The microwave processing was found to have enhanced sintering kinetics of the BME MLCCs, lowering sintering temperature by about 100∘C and also the processing time by about 90%.     

A highly accurate algorithm for SF6 leakage detection

Sulfur hexafluoride (SF₆) is widely used in high‐voltage applications such as gas‐insulated switchgear (GIS) because of its excellent arc‐quenching properties. The main drawback of SF₆ is that it is a strong greenhouse gas. Detecting small SF₆ leakages in GIS is very important to protect the environment and to prevent the failure of aged GIS. To detect SF₆ leakage, the gas pressure is measured and compensated by gas temperature. Usually, the temperature of the container surface is measured instead of the actual gas temperature. However, the temperature of the container surface is affected by ohmic heating of the internal components and by ambient temperature changes. These factors lead to a difference in temperature between the container surface and the gas inside the container, causing significant fluctuations in the compensated gas pressure. To remove such fluctuations, we have developed a computational fluid dynamics (CFD) transient model that simulates the correlation between the mean gas temperature inside the container and the container's surface temperature. The CFD simulation factors in the load current and ambient temperature to estimate the true temperature of the gas inside the container as accurately as possible. The mean gas temperature inside the container is obtained using CFD simulation and by measuring the surface temperature. The fluctuations in the compensated gas pressure were reduced from 2.4 to 0.48% by using the proposed algorithm based on pressure compensation with the mean gas temperature. © 2016 Institute of Electrical Engineers of Japan. Published by John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

Refractive index properties of SiN thin films and fabrication of SiN optical waveguide

SiN thin films having excellent surface morphology for the optical device application were synthesized using a plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD) method at low temperature (350^°C) using silane (SiH₄) and nitrogen (N₂). The effects of the SiH₄/N₂ flow ratio, rf power and annealing on the SiN films were investigated. The optical and structural properties of SiN films were characterized using an ellipsometry, a fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), and an atomic force microscope (AFM). The refractive index increased from 1.6 to 2.3 as the SiH₄/N₂ ratio was increased from 0.17 to 1.67. The rms surface roughness decreased from 14.1 to 3.6Å after post-deposition annealing process performed at 800^°C for 1hr in an air ambient. We could fabricate straight waveguides based on a three layer structure and have no problems with step coverage.     

Characterization of low refractive index SiOCF:H films designed to enhance the efficiency of light emission

An anti-reflection (AR) coating was deposited on the surface of flat panel displays to increase the efficiency of the light emission. The use of low reflective index material can decrease the thickness of the optical coating layer. In this work, low refractive index SiOCF:H films were deposited on P-type (100) Si and glass substrates by the plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD) method using an SiH₄, CF₄ and N₂O gas mixture. The refractive index of the SiOCF:H film continuously decreased with increasing deposition temperature and rf power, exhibiting a minimum value of 1.3854. As the rf power was increased, the fluorine content of the film increased linearly to 5.41% at an rf power of 180 W. The rms surface roughness decreased to 1.0 nm with increasing rf power, with the optimum conditions being observed for the film deposited at an rf power of 140 W.     

基于混合气体热特性的GIL氮气使用配比研究

SF₆/N₂混合气体具有绝缘性能良好、环境效益好等优点,被认为是能替代SF₆的最具发展前景的气体之一,但SF₆/N₂混合气体在不同场景下的混合比问题尚缺乏研究。文中在保证气体绝缘输电线路(GIL)绝缘水平的前提下,建立多物理场耦合计算模型,从混合气体热特性的角度出发,分析不同绝缘气体压强、负载电流和环境温度下SF₆/N₂混合比与GIL温升之间的关系,为GIL在不同场景下选择合适的SF₆/N₂混合比提供依据。结果表明：绝缘气体压强和相同压强下SF₆含量均与GIL温升呈负相关关系;设备的负载电流长期超过3 kA时,建议SF₆含量为40%～60%;设备运行在中低纬度地区时,建议SF₆含量为40%～70%,运行在高纬度地区时,建议SF₆含量为30%～40%。此外,由于设计GIL设备时考虑了安全裕度,因此通常SF<...     

Sterilization efficacy of a coaxial microwave plasma flow at atmospheric pressure

A coaxial cable for microwave transmission type of atmospheric low-temperature plasma source was developed. The plasma source has the advantages of portability, simple configuration, and ability to operate with a wide range of gases and mixtures of such gases. It mainly consists of a cavity, a quartz discharge tube, a coaxial cable, a microwave power source, and a gas supply system. Using this plasma source, the authors tried to clarify its sterilization efficacy against Geobacillus stearothermophilus. A log reduction number of G. stearothermophilus of at least 5 (10/sup -5/) was obtained under the following operating conditions: gas flow rate of argon of 14 SL/min, input power is 400 W, and substrate surface temperature of 353 K. Distributions of temperature and velocities of gas were also measured two-dimensionally by using an E-type thermocouple and a Pitot tube, respectively. The temperature distributions and the peak value of temperature were found to be influenced by the gas flow rate and the kinds of gas mixtures.     

Impurities in SiO2 films deposited by plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition using tetraethoxysilane

SiO₂ films were prepared by plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD) using tetraethoxysilane (TEOS) and N₂O. The Si(SINGLE BOND)OH concentrations in the films deposited at a low temperature (200 °C) were found to be below the detection limit of Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) with an RF power of more than 80 W. Optical emission spectroscopic study for SiO₂ deposition in the gas phase showed that emission intensities of both atomic oxygen and atomic hydrogen depended strongly on RF power. Further mass spectrometric study in N₂O plasma indicated that atomic oxygen increased with RF power due to decomposition of N₂O to N₂ and O. In addition, we tried to prepare SiO₂ films using TEOS and He in order to study the role of oxidants. It was found that low-impurity SiO₂ films can be obtained at temperatures lower than 200 °C with higher RF power through the effects of oxidation by atomic oxygen and electron impact decomposition. © 1998 Scripta Technica. Electr Eng Jpn, 121(4): 11–17, 1997     

Improvement of Dielectric and Interface Properties of CeO2 Buffer Layer by Using the Metal Seed Layer and N2 Plasma Treatment

In this paper, we investigated the feasibility of cerium oxide (CeO₂) films as buffers layer of MFIS (metal ferroelectric insulator semiconductor) type capacitors. CeO₂ layer were prepared by a two-step process of a low temperature film growth and subsequent RTA (rapid thermal annealing) treatment. By applying a cerium (Ce) metal seed layer of 4 nm, unwanted SiO₂ layer generation was successfully suppressed at the interface between the buffer layer and the Si substrate. After N₂ plasma treatment, the leakage current was reduced by about 2-orders. By employing a N₂ plasma treatment, we were able to successfully obtain good properties at the interface between the buffer layer and the Si substrate.     

Dielectric Properties of Yttrium Vanadate Crystals from 15 K to 295 K

Yttrium Vanadate (YVO₄) is a birefringent crystal, which has similar dielectric constant as that of Sapphire. In this paper we have reported the measurement of the real part of permittivity and loss tangent of YVO₄ crystal in the temperature range 15–295 K at a frequency of 16.3 GHz. We have used the dielectric post resonator technique for the microwave characterisation of the YVO₄ dielectric rod. The multifrequency Transmission Mode Q-Factor (TMQF) technique has been used for data processing and hence precise values of permittivity and loss tangent are achieved. Easily machineable YVO₄ is characterized by low losses at microwave frequencies. At temperature of 15 K and frequency of 16.3 GHz the permittivity was 9.23 and loss tangent was 2 × 10^{− 5}. YVO₄ is identified as a potential candidate to replace expensive Sapphire in many microwave applications.     

Temperature rise in a birefringent substrate caused by RF discharge plasma

Temperature rises of a birefringent substrate (LiNbO₃) have been measured in an argon RF discharge plasma. The measurement method is based on monitoring the variation of natural birefringence with temperature by laser interferometry. Using this method, the dependence of substrate temperature rise on applied RF power and gas pressure has been investigated. The evaluation of the temperature curves shows that heat flux from the plasma toward the substrate is independent of time and temperature. The magnitude of the flux differs largely from the applied power, and is approximately 0.4% of the power. By measuring the electron density, electron temperature, and plasma potential with a Langmuir probe, the energy of the ions incident on the substrate is estimated. The ion flux toward the substrate is calculated from the energy of ions and is compared with the measured heat flux. The dependence on the applied power is in approximate agreement between those fluxes. The temperature distribution over the substrate thickness is simulated numerically using the finite difference method. © 1999 Scripta Technica, Electr Eng Jpn, 127(4): 9–17, 1999     

Fabrication and evaluation of LaCrO3 thin film heaters

Lanthanum chromium oxide (LaCrO₃) has excellent high‐temperature properties. LaCrO₃ doped with alkaline earth metals also has high electric conductivity. The purpose of this study is to fabricate thin film heaters using LaCrO₃ doped with Ca by RF magnetron sputtering method. The crystal structure of thin films was evaluated and the surface form was studied. The results show that the thin film deposited on Si(100) single crystal and quartz glass substrates in Ar gas had a strong orientation and that its surface form was comparatively smooth. The crystal structure of the thin films deposited on Si(100) and quartz glass substrate at temperatures of 700 and 800 °C by sputtering in a mixture of Ar and O₂ gases was the same as the crystal structure of LaCrO₃. The heating characteristics of a thin film heater on Si(100) substrate with Pt electrodes were evaluated by measurement of the equilibrium temperature‐current (T–I) and resistance‐equilibrium temperature (R–T) characteristics. The maximum equilibrium heating temperature was about 1100 °C. © 2002 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Electr Eng Jpn, 139(3): 18–25, 2002; Published online in Wiley InterScience ( www.interscience.wiley.com ). DOI 10.1002/eej.1156     

Problems of the application of N2/SF6 mixtures to gas‐insulated bus

In designing a gas‐insulated bus (GIB) using N₂/SF₆ mixtures, there are many application problems, such as the mixture pressure needed in order to maintain the required dielectric and heat transfer performance. Problems of recycling SF₆ are also essential in applying N₂/SF₆ mixtures. This paper presents the minimum breakdown field strength at lightning impulse and the temperature rise of the conductor and enclosure as measured for N₂/SF₆ mixtures. Considering the dielectric and heat transfer properties, we clarify the problems of application of mixtures to a GIB and discuss the appropriate mixture ratio of SF₆ in designing a GIB comparable to the present dimensions. In addition, the lowest limit of SF₆ content in a liquefied recovering method is theoretically estimated for reference in practical SF₆ recovery from mixtures. It is important for design to consider both breakdown phenomena, including the area effect of electrode, and the heat transfer properties of mixtures. © 2001 Scripta Technica, Electr Eng Jpn, 137(4): 25–31, 2001     

Dielectric properties of Bi2O3–ZnO–Ta2O5 ceramics sintered by microwave

Here we report dielectric studies carried out on a Bi₂Zn_2/3Ta_4/3O₇ (abbreviated as β-BZT) composition. The material was synthesized by conventional ceramic method and microwave sintering processing. The dielectric properties were studied as a function of frequency and temperature. Dielectric constant of Bi₂Zn_2/3Ta_4/3O₇ ceramics prepared from microwave is slightly smaller than that of the conventional sintered ones. The dissipation factor and temperature coefficient of dielectric constant are low for microwave-sintered samples. Microwave sintering of Bi₂Zn_2/3Ta_4/3O₇ ceramics led to higher densification and the fine microstructure in much shorter time duration compared to conventional procedures, improved microstructure and dielectric properties. To achieve the same densification, it requires 4 h of soaking at the same temperature in conventional sintering process. Microwave sintering method may lead to energy savings because of rapid kinetics of synthesis.     

Insulation properties of a CO2/N2 50% SF6 gas mixture in a nonuniform field

This paper describes partial discharge (PD) inception and breakdown voltage characteristics of a CO₂/N₂/SF₆ gas mixture in a nonuniform field. These voltage characteristics were investigated with ac high voltage by changing the mixture rate of each gas of CO₂, N₂, and SF₆ gas and the gas pressure from 0.1 MPa to 0.6 MPa. It was found that adding a small amount of CO₂ gas into a N₂/SF₆ mixture causes a drastic increase in the breakdown voltage. For instance, when the mixture rate of SF₆ in N₂/SF₆ gas mixture is 50%, with the addition of 1% CO₂ the maximum breakdown voltage becomes 1.31 and 1.15 times higher than that of a 50% N₂/50% SF₆ gas mixture and pure SF₆ gas, respectively. Moreover, those voltage characteristics of a CO₂/N₂/SF₆ gas mixture were also investigated by changing the electric field utilization factor as well as by applying positive and negative standard lightning impulse voltages in order to discuss the corona stabilization effect, which seems to be one reason for the drastic increase in the breakdown voltage. These results and breakdown mechanism of the CO₂/N₂/SF₆ gas mixture are discussed on the basis of the corona stabilization effect and the dissociation energies of the component gases by observing PD light images, PD light intensities through a blue and red filter, and PD current waveforms. © 2002 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Electr Eng Jpn, 140(3): 34–43, 2002; Published online in Wiley InterScience ( www.interscience.wiley.com ). DOI 10.1002/eej.10019     

Fabrication of microinductor using Nanocrystalline NiCuZn ferrites

The nanocrystalline Ni_0.53Cu_0.12Zn_0.35Fe₂O₄ was prepared using microwave hydrothermal (M-H) method at a low temperature of 160 °C/30 min. As synthesized powders were characterized using XRD and TEM. The powders were sintered using microwave sintering methods at different sintering temperatures i.e. 750 °C/30 min, 800 °C/30 min, 850 °C/30 min 900 °C/30 min and 950 °C/30 min respectively. The sintered samples were characterized using XRD and SEM. The complex permittivity (ε*) and permeability (μ*) have been measured in the frequency range of 100 kHz to 1.8 GHz. The micro inductors were fabricated with the help of microwave sintered sample by using screen-printing method and co-firing. The electrical properties such as inductance and Quality factor of the prepared inductors were measured over a wide frequency range.     

The effect of sintering atmosphere on V2O5 substituted BiNbO4 microwave ceramics

In multiplayer passive devices, low sintering temperature dielectric materials were needed to co-fire with low melting point inner electrode such as copper or silver, a major problem of base metal electrode (BME) was that the devices must be fired under low oxygen partial pressure atmosphere to protect Cu from oxidation. In this paper, dielectric properties of Bi(V_xNb_1?x)O₄ (x?=?0.001, 0.004, 0.008, 0.016, 0.048) microwave ceramics sintered under air and N₂ atmosphere have been investigated. The densification temperature sintered in different atmosphere decreased from 1010 to 830°C with the amount of V₂O₅ increasing from 0.001 to 0.048. Due to the increasing vacancy defects, the density of ceramics sintered in N₂ was smaller than that sintered in air. The ceramics sintered under N₂ have similar dielectric constant, and its Qf values are higher while x?<?0.016.     

Creeping flashover characteristics in (N2/SF6) gas mixture under pulse voltage

The effect of a barrier between a needle electrode and a plane one in an (N₂/SF₆) gas mixture on creeping flashover was investigated using a microsecond pulse voltage. The SF₆ gas content was varied from 0% to 100%, and the gas pressure from 0.1 MPa to 0.3 MPa. The flashover voltage increased with increasing SF₆ gas content for a positive needle electrode. For a negative needle electrode, excepting the total pressure of 0.1 MPa, at which similar flashover characteristics were obtained to the positive case, a considerable decrease in flashover voltage was found in the case of a mixture of a few percent SF₆ in (N₂/SF₆) gas mixture at elevated total pressures. The corona behavior on the barrier in (N₂/SF₆) gas mixture was investigated by means of a high‐speed digital framing camera. © 2000 Scripta Technica, Electr Eng Jpn, 131(1): 1–9, 2000     

DESIGN,FABRICATION AND MATERIAL PROPERTIES OF TEMPERATURE STABLE PERFORMANCE CONSISTENT TUNABLE DEVICES

ABSTRACT

The premier candidate active material for tunable microwave phase shifter devices is single composition, paraelectric BaSrTiO₃ (BST). However, there is concern that in practical applications the device performance will be compromised due to the temperature dependence of the BST based device capacitance. We report a device design which controls the magnitude and the sign of the temperature coefficient of capacitance (TCC) via a multilayer paraelectric BST/buffer layer/ferroelectric BST coplanar device structure. To realize this multilayer device structure we have designed, fabricated, and optimized a 10 mol% Al doped Ta₂O₅ barrier layer with low loss (tan δ = 0.004), moderate permittivity (?_r = 42.8), low TCC (?20 ppm/°C), and a low bias stability of capacitance (0.4%). The thin film integration of the barrier layer with the BST layers was optimized for structure, microstructure, interfacial/surface morphology, and dielectric properties as a function of Al doping concentration, annealing temperature, material growth and integration process parameters.