An overview of manufacturing yield and reliability modeling forsemiconductor products

This paper presents an overview of yield, reliability, burn-in, cost factors, and fault coverage as practiced in the semiconductor manufacturing industry. Reliability and yield modeling can be used as a foundation for developing effective stress burn-in, which in turn can warranty high-quality semiconductor products. Yield models are described and their advantages and disadvantages are discussed. Both yield reliability relationships and relation models between yield and reliability are thoroughly analyzed in regard to their importance to semiconductor products     

Pull-down transient-imposed extrinsic base consideration in BiNMOStransistors

A detailed two-dimensional numerical simulation study of the bipolar devices in the BiCMOS circuit environment during pull-down transients is presented. The charge buildup and removal phenomenon in the bipolar device determines the switching speed of the BiNMOS devices. The tradeoffs in designing the extrinsic base in terms of the switching behavior are also described. It is shown that the structure with the extrinsic base p⁺ area farthest from the intrinsic base area has the best switching speed owing to the largest initial overshoot in the base voltage and the lateral base effects     

OMVPE growth of InP and Ga0.47ln0.53as using ethyldimethylindium

We report the organometallic vapor phase epitaxial (OMVPE) growth of InP and Ga_0.47In_0.53As using a new organometallic indium source, ethyldimethylindium (EDMIn), rather than the traditional sources triethylindium (TEIn) or trimethylindium (TMIn). EDMIn is a liquid at room temperature and its vapor pressure at 17° C was found to be 0.85 Torr using thermal decomposition experiments. The growth results using EDMIn were compared to those using TMIn in the same atmospheric pressure reactor. For InP, use of EDMIn resulted in a high growth efficiency of 1.3 × 10⁴ μm/ mole, which was independent of the growth temperature and comparable to the growth efficiency obtained with TMIn. The high growth efficiency is consistent with the observation of no visible parasitic gas phase reactions upstream of the substrate. The 4K photoluminescence (PL) spectra consist of a peak due to bound excitons and an impurity related peak 38 meV lower in energy. This impurity peak is ascribed to conduction band to acceptor transitions from carbon, due to the decreasing relative intensity of this peak with increasing V/III ratio. The relative intensity of the C impurity peak decreases by five times when the growth temperature is increased from 575 to 675° C, with a corresponding increase in the room temperature electron mobility from 725 to 3875 cm²/ Vs. For GalnAs lattice-matched to InP, use of EDMIn also resulted in a temperatureindependent high growth efficiency of 1.0 x 10⁴ μm/mole, indicating negligible parasitic reactions with AsH₃. The In distribution coefficient was nearly constant at a value of 0.9, however the run to run composition variation was slightly higher for EDMIn than for TMIn. The 4K PL showed donor-acceptor pair transitions due to C and Zn. The C impurity peak intensity decreased dramatically with increasing growth temperature, accompanied by an increase in the room temperature electron mobility to 5200 cm²/Vs. Overall, the growth of both InP and GalnAs using EDMIn was qualitatively similar to that using TMIn, although the room temperature electron mobilities were lower for the new source than for our highest purity bottle of TMIn.     

Interface corners in piezoelectric materials

Through proper arrangement, the constitutive law, strain-displacement relation and equilibrium equation of piezoelectric materials can be written in the same mathematical form as those of elastic materials and hence Stroh formalism can be extended for piezoelectric analysis. Based on this viewpoint, the authors’ previous works for fracture analysis of anisotropic elastic materials, e.g. the eigen-relation for determining singular orders, the near-tip solutions, and the unified definition of stress intensity factors for interface corners, can also be applied to piezoelectric materials. In this paper, the theoretical framework of our previous works is briefly introduced, and then an efficient and accurate computing method (H-integral) and its required auxiliary solutions are derived for extracting the stress/electric intensity factors of interface corners made up of piezoelectric materials. This theoretical framework and H-integral form a universal solution technique that is valid for the fracture analysis of cracks, corners, interface cracks, and interface corners. Besides, the special cases that suggest how we simulate elastic insulators/conductors from piezoelectric materials are discussed. Several numerical examples are dealt with to display the feasibility and applicability of the proposed approaches, and finally, a numerical example which exhibits how the electric load influences the fracture behavior is also studied.     

Effect of red mold rice on blood coagulation and anticoagulation factors in a rat model of hyperlipidemia

The bioactive monacolin K found in red mold rice (RMR) is identical in structure to lovastatin, and has the effect of lowering the cholesterol level in human blood. Statins not only lower atherosclerosis caused by thrombus, but also reduce the death rate from coronary artery disease. This study was designed to evaluate the effects of Monascus purpureus NTU 803 fermented-RMR on blood coagulation and anticoagulation factors in hyperlipidemic rats. Rats were fed a high-lipid diet for 8 weeks to induce hyperlipidemia and fed various doses of RMR. The results showed that RMR prolonged the bleeding time of the rats, inhibited platelet coagulation, lowered the fibrinogen content in the blood, increased the antithrombin III and protein C content in the blood, and reduced lipid plaque in the aorta. RMR was effective for preventing the formation of thrombus and reducing the occurrence of atherosclerosis.     

Application of acetylacetone chelation solid-phase extraction to GFAAS measurements of trace amounts of beryllium in livers and muscles of poultry and livestock

Trace amounts (0.004–0.55 ng) of beryllium (Be) in a dried bovine liver sample (20 mg) can be accurately determined by graphite-furnace atomic absorption spectrophotometry (GFAAS) after treating with microwave digestion (HNO₃/H₂O₂) at 85 °C for 10 min and using acetylacetone as a chelating agent in the presence of an acetate buffer (pH 6.0). The method detection limit (MDL, 3σ) for Be was found to be 0.18 ng g⁻¹ and the limit of quantification (LOQ, 10σ) was found to be 0.60 ng g⁻¹; the calibration graph was linear up to 27 ng g⁻¹. The Be contents measured in four liver and four muscle samples (BCR CRM-185R bovine liver, BCR CRM-384 pork muscle, and six samples collected in Kaohsiung, Taiwan, ROC) were between 2.3 and 4.7 ng g⁻¹. Good spiked recoveries (96.0–103.0%) were obtained for these eight samples with a relative standard deviation (RSD, n = 3) ?3.0%. The method could be applied to measurements of Be in livers and muscles of poultry and livestock.     

Body weight management effect of burdock (Arctium lappa L.) root is associated with the activation of AMP-activated protein kinase in human HepG2 cells

Burdock (Arcticum lappa L.) root is used in folk medicine and also as a vegetable in Asian countries. In the present study, burdock root treatment significantly reduced body weight in rats. To evaluate the bioactive compounds, we successively extracted the burdock root with ethanol (AL-1), and fractionated it with n-hexane (AL-2), ethyl acetate (AL-3), n-butanol (AL-4), and water (AL-5). Among these fractions, AL-2 contained components with the most effective hypolipidemic potential in human hepatoma HepG2 cells. AL-2 decreased the expression of fatty acid synthase (FASN) and inhibited the activity of acetyl-coenzyme A carboxylase (ACC) by stimulating AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK) through the LKB1 pathway. Three active compounds were identified from the AL-2, namely α-linolenic acid, methyl α-linolenate, and methyl oleate. These results suggest that burdock root is expected to be useful for body weight management.     

Development of Tapioca Starch/Decolorized Hsian-Tsao Leaf Gum-Based Antimicrobial Films: Physical Characterization and Evaluation Against Listeria monocytogenes

The physical properties and antimicrobial activities against Listeria monocytogenes of the tapioca starch/decolorized hsian-tsao leaf gum (the polysaccharide gum extracted from hsian-tsao herb followed by removing the color matters, abbreviated as dHG hereafter)-based films incorporated with potassium sorbate (KS) or the ethanolic extract of thyme (TH) were investigated. It was found that the cross-sectional microstructure of starch/dHG films with KS showed some rough texture, and films with TH showed a relatively smooth microstructure with dispersed microparticles. The equilibrium moisture content and water vapor permeability of starch/dHG films with 20 % KS (based on the weight of starch/dHG) was higher than the others tested, possibly due to the plasticizing effect of KS. In general, the tensile strength and tensile modulus decreased with increasing antibacterial concentration. As compared with the KS solutions, the TH solutions showed a pronounced antimicrobial activity against L. monocytogenes as determined by the inhibition zone test. However, the antimicrobial migration of both KS and TH in the starch/dHG matrix was limited to a certain extent, as evidenced by the significantly lower antimicrobial activity in the film system. When applying the starch/dHG films with antimicrobials to the fresh beef slices, all samples showed detectable improvement against the growth of L. monocytogenes, implying that starch/dHG films incorporated with TH or KS were effective against L. monocytogenes in conjunction with some modification of the physical properties due to the interactions between the antimicrobials and the components of film matrix.     

The p38 and NFκB signaling protein activation involved in glycitein protective effects on isoproterenol-treated H9c2 cardiomyoblast cells

Heart disease (HD) is greatly associated with gender and clinical evidence shows that increased serum norepinephrine levels are found in patients with HD. This study investigates the cardio-protective effect of glycitein, a selective estrogen receptor modulator (SERM) from soy bean extract, on H9c2 cardiomyoblast cells treated with isoproterenol (ISO, a norepinephrine analog). The image data and results from western blotting showed that ISO treatment was capable of inducing cellular apoptosis, especially the mitochondrial dependent pathway. Glycitein treatment could suppress mitochondrial pro-apoptotic proteins expression including caspase-9 and caspase-3 in H9c2 treated with ISO. In contrast, several survival proteins were expressed in H9c2 cells treated with glycitein, such as phosphor (p)-Akt, p-Bad and Akt. We confirmed that the protective role of glycitein was partially mediated through the expression of p-38 and NFκB proteins by adding several pathway inhibitors.     

Rhubarb inhibits hepatocellular carcinoma cell metastasis via GSK-3-β activation to enhance protein degradation and attenuate nuclear translocation of β-catenin

The aim of our study was to investigate the mechanisms by which rhubarb regulates β-catenin as well as metastasis of hepatocellular carcinomas. Our results revealed that rhubarb extract inhibited HA22T cell migration ability in wound healing, migration and invasion assays in a dose-dependent manner. Rhubarb also reduced β-catenin protein level, downregulated its downstream proteins, cyclin D, Tbx3 and c-Myc, and attenuated the expression of MMP9 and contactin-1 metastatic factors. Additionally, rhubarb inhibited β-catenin nuclear accumulation and induced its degradation via proteasome-mediated pathway. Furthermore, we found that rhubarb suppressed the p-ser⁹ GSK-3-β protein level to inactivate Wnt signalling and reduce β-catenin protein level. Taken together; we found that rhubarb blocked the metastatic process of HA22T hepatocellular carcinoma cells mediated through GSK-3-β activation, and enhancement of protein degradation as well as reduction of the nuclear accumulation of β-catenin.