Neue Entwicklungen beim Hohlkatoden‐Gasflusssputtern. New Developments in Hollow Cathode Gas Flow Sputtering

The gas flow sputter technique was invented a few years ago particularly for the inexpensive fabrication of sophisticated ceramic layers. Meanwhile, it has matured and become increasingly powerful. Today it is on the verge of being applied in industrial fabrication processes. The present article gives an overview over the method, its characteristics and the numerous applications.     

共面转换液晶显示器中获得对比度高于1:600的新技术

薄膜晶体管液晶电视(TFT-LCD TV)因为具有薄、轻、紧凑和可随意放置的特点，已经占据了大部分电视机市场。除了这些物理特性以外，最重要的特性是已具有了良好像质的对比度。为了将对比度提高到1：600以上，对偏振片膜、背光源板、滤色片树脂、电极锥角和摩擦条件等都进行了研究。优化的背光板组合，光滑的电极锥角和摩擦方法的控制是提高对比度的主要控制因素。应用新开发的滤色片树脂，对获得高对比度最为有效。     

Cramer-Rao bounds for parametric shape estimation in inverse problems

We address the problem of computing fundamental performance bounds for estimation of object boundaries from noisy measurements in inverse problems, when the boundaries are parameterized by a finite number of unknown variables. Our model applies to multiple unknown objects, each with its own unknown gray level, or color, and boundary parameterization, on an arbitrary known background. While such fundamental bounds on the performance of shape estimation algorithms can in principle be derived from the Cramer-Rao lower bounds, very few results have been reported due to the difficulty of computing the derivatives of a functional with respect to shape deformation. We provide a general formula for computing Cramer-Rao lower bounds in inverse problems where the observations are related to the object by a general linear transform, followed by a possibly nonlinear and noisy measurement system. As an illustration, we derive explicit formulas for computed tomography, Fourier imaging, and deconvolution problems. The bounds reveal that highly accurate parametric reconstructions are possible in these examples, using severely limited and noisy data.     

Reliability of a k-out-of-n: G system with common-mode outages

This paper presents the model of a k-out-of-n: G system with common mode outages. The objective is to analytically derive the mean operating mode between failures for a non-repairable component system. The average system failure time and the system availability are also considered. Then, the model is extended to a system with repairable components and unrestricted repair, in which service times are exponentially distributed.     

Characteristics of nitrogen and phosphorus removal in SBR and SBBR with different ammonium loading rates

Laboratory scale experiments were conducted to study the deterioration of enhanced biological phosphorus removal (EBPR) due to influent ammonium concentration, and to compare the performance of two types of sequencing batch reactor (SBR) systems, a conventional SBR and sequencing batch biofilm reactor (SBBR). Both in SBR and SBBR, the total nitrogen removal efficiency decreased from 100% to 53% and from 87.5% to 54.4%, respectively, with the increase of influent ammonium concentration from 20 mg/l to 80 mg/l. When the influent ammonium concentration was as low as 20 mg/l (C: N: P=200: 20: 15), denitrifying glycogen-accumulating organisms (DGAOs) were successfully grown and activated by using glucose as a sole carbon source in a lab-scale anaerobic-oxic-anoxic (A₂O) SBR. In the SBR, due to the effect of incomplete denitrification and pH drop, the nitrogen and phosphorus removal efficiency decreased from 77% to 33.3% when the influent ammonium concentration increased from 20 mg/l to 80 mg/l. However, in the SBBR, simultaneous nitrification/denitrification (SND) occurred, and the nitrification rate in the aerobic phase did not change remarkably in spite of the increase in influent ammonium concentration. Phosphorus removal was not affected by the increase of influent ammonium concentration.     

A positive‐working photosensitive polyimide based on thermal cross‐linking and acidolytic cleavage

A novel positive‐working photosensitive polyimide (PSPI) based on a poly(hydroxyimide) (PHI), a crosslinking agent having vinyl ether groups, and a photoacid generator (PAG) was prepared. The PHI as a base resin of the three‐component PSPI was synthesized from 4,4′‐oxydiphthalic anhydride and 2,2′‐bis(3‐amino‐4‐hydroxyphenyl)hexafluoropropane through ring‐opening polymerization and subsequent thermal cyclization. 2,2′‐bis(4‐(2‐(vinyloxy)ethoxy)phenyl)propane (BPA‐DEVE) was used as a vinylether compound and diphenyliodonium 5‐hydroxynaphthalene‐1‐sulfonate was used as a PAG. The phenolic hydroxyl groups of the PHI and the vinyl ether groups of BPA‐DEVE are thermally crosslinked with acetal structures during prebake step, and the crosslinked PHI becomes completely insoluble in an aqueous basic solution. Upon exposure to UV light (365 nm) and subsequent postexposure bake (PEB), a strong acid generated from the PAG cleaves the crosslinked structures, and the exposed area is effectively solubilized in the alkaline developer. The dissolution behavior of the PSPI containing each 11.5 wt % of BPA‐DEVE and of the PAG was studied after UV exposure (365 nm) and PEB. It was found that the difference in dissolution rates between exposed and unexposed areas was enough to get high resolution. A fine positive pattern with a resolution of 5 μm in a 3.7‐μm‐thick film was obtained from the three‐component PSPI. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci, 2008