Change of internal/pore structure in alumina green body during initial sintering

A novel characterization method was applied to study the morphological changes of large pores in a ceramic green body during the early stage of densification at 1100°C for 1–64 h. Large processing pores were present in the green body. They were preserved after densification up to a relative density of 83.9% with their shape and size unchanged significantly. The pore size distribution determined by mercury porosimetry showed the growth of matrix pores of small size, but failed to show the change of large processing pores with densification.     

Probabilistic Characteristics of Drought Propagation from Meteorological to Hydrological Drought in South Korea

Water Resources Management - A reliable understanding of propagation from meteorological to hydrological drought is necessary for accurate forecasting of hydrological droughts. Our current...     

Effect of a critical percolation threshold in purified short carbon nanotube-polymer/ZnS:Cu,Cl composite on electroluminescence

AC driven inorganic electroluminescence (EL) of the carbon nanotube (CNT)-polymer/phosphor composite was fabricated to investigate the effect of the critical percolation threshold by CNT concentration on EL performance. In order to control the appropriate CNT condition in EL device, CNTs were shortened by cryogenic crushing and purified by thermal treatment. Among various CNT concentrations in the composite film, the critical percolation threshold can be found to be 0.0925 wt.% by fitting conductivity data of the composite film. Near the critical percolation threshold of a CNT concentration, the EL performances of the composite EL were greatly increased compared to the reference EL. The tunneling barrier thickness at the ZnS–Cu_xS contact could become thin to induce more charge carrier tunneling into ZnS host lattice by the local field enhancement of CNTs, resulting in increased electron–hole recombination to produce more light emission.     

Electroless copper electrolytes and its surface characteristics for semiconductor interconnects

In this research, to develop proper electroless copper electrolytes for semiconductor interconnects, the concentration and amount of additives are varied. Then, the stability, reactivity, deposition rate, leveling effect, and surface structure are examined. After a virgin makeup solution with suitable deposition characteristics is obtained, an electroless copper coating layer of high uniformity and adhesion strength was achieved using the stabilizer, catalyst, buffer, and pH adjuster as additives and surfactant on Ru diffusion barriers. Through annealing, resistance characteristics could be enhanced. Moreover, by measuring the cyclic voltammetry stripping and mixed potential of the electroless Cu electrolyte, its surface reactivity is electrochemically evaluated, and the result is in agreement with the deposition reaction. When the electrolyte developed in this study is applied on a trench pattern wafer with A/R 3.5 and a line width of 30 nm, it is possible to observe immaculate filling with improved leveling.     

Comments on “The Model Checker SPIN”

The paper by G.J. Holzmann (see ibid., vol.23, no.5, p.279-95, 1997) describes how to apply SPIN to the verification of a synchronization algorithm (L.M. Ruane, 1990) in process scheduling of an operating system. We report an error in the verification model presented by G.J. Holzmann and present a revised model with verification result. Our result explains the reason why SPIN found the race condition in the synchronization algorithm. We also show that the suggested fix by G.J. Holzmann is incorrect     

Chemical model for the solvent extraction of GdCl3 from a chloride solution with saponified PC88A

Solvent extraction experiments of Gd with 40% saponified PC88A have been conducted from a chloride solution under different extraction conditions. The effect of saponification of an acidic extractant on the extraction of Gd was investigated. To analyze the ionic equilibria of a GdCl₃ solution, we estimated the necessary thermodynamic properties from reported values. Moreover, when applying the chemical model developed in this study, we used experimental data to estimate the equilibrium constant for the extraction of Gd with partially saponified PC88A.     

Passive vibration damping enhancement of piezoelectric shunt damping system using optimization approach

Piezoelectric materials can be used for structural damping because of their ability to efficiently transform mechanical energy to electrical energy and vice versa. The electrical energy may be dissipated through a connected load resistance. In this paper, a new optimization technique for the optimal piezoelectric shunt damping system is investigated in order to search for the optimal shunt electrical components of the shunt damping circuit connected to the piezoelectric patch on a vibrating structure for the structural vibration suppression of several modes. The vibration suppression optimization technique is based on the idea of using the piezoelectric shunt damping system, the integrated p-version finite element method (p-version FEM), and the particle swarm optimization algorithm (PSOA). The optimal shunt electrical components for the piezoelectric shunt damping system are then determined by wholly minimizing the objective function, which is defined as the sum of the average vibration velocity over a frequency range of interest. Moreover, the optimization technique is performed by also taking into account the inherent mechanical damping of the controlled structure with the piezoelectric patch. To numerically evaluate the multiple-mode damping capability by the optimal shunting damper, an integrated p-version FEM for the beam with the shunt damping system is modeled and developed by MATLAB. Finally, the structural damping performance of the optimal shunt damping system is demonstrated numerically and experimentally with respect to the beam. The simulated result shows a good agreement with that of the experimental result. This paper was recommended for publication in revised form by Associate Editor Eung-Soo Shin Jin-Young Jeon received his Ph.D. degree in Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering from Tokyo Institute of Technology in 2005. Dr. Jeon is currently a senior engineer at Digital Printing Division, Digital Media & Communications Business at Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd., Korea. His research interests are the areas of structural-acoustic optimization, sound quality, motion quality, and vibration control.     

Effect of Pd Thickness on the Interfacial Reaction and Shear Strength in Solder Joints Between Sn-3.0Ag-0.5Cu Solder and Electroless Nickel/Electroless Palladium/Immersion Gold (ENEPIG) Surface Finish

Intermetallic compound formation at the interface between Sn-3.0Ag-0.5Cu (SAC) solders and electroless nickel/electroless palladium/immersion gold (ENEPIG) surface finish and the mechanical strength of the solder joints were investigated at various Pd thicknesses (0 μm to 0.5 μm). The solder joints were fabricated on the ENEPIG surface finish with SAC solder via reflow soldering under various conditions. The (Cu,Ni)₆Sn₅ phase formed at the SAC/ENEPIG interface after reflow in all samples. When samples were reflowed at 260°C for 5 s, only (Cu,Ni)₆Sn₅ was observed at the solder interfaces in samples with Pd thicknesses of 0.05 μm or less. However, the (Pd,Ni)Sn₄ phase formed on (Cu,Ni)₆Sn₅ when the Pd thickness increased to 0.1 μm or greater. A thick and continuous (Pd,Ni)Sn₄ layer formed over the (Cu,Ni)₆Sn₅ layer, especially when the Pd thickness was 0.3 μm or greater. High-speed ball shear test results showed that the interfacial strengths of the SAC/ENEPIG solder joints decreased under high strain rate due to weak interfacial fracture between (Pd,Ni)Sn₄ and (Cu,Ni)₆Sn₅ interfaces when the Pd thickness was greater than 0.3 μm. In the samples reflowed at 260°C for 20 s, only (Cu,Ni)₆Sn₅ formed at the solder interfaces and the (Pd,Ni)Sn₄ phase was not observed in the solder interfaces, regardless of Pd thickness. The shear strength of the SAC/ENIG solder joints was the lowest of the joints, and the mechanical strength of the SAC/ENEPIG solder joints was enhanced as the Pd thickness increased to 0.1 μm and maintained a nearly constant value when the Pd thickness was greater than 0.1 μm. No adverse effect on the shear strength values was observed due to the interfacial fracture between (Pd,Ni)Sn₄ and (Cu,Ni)₆Sn₅ since the (Pd,Ni)Sn₄ phase was already separated from the (Cu,Ni)₆Sn₅ interface. These results indicate that the interfacial microstructures and mechanical strength of solder joints strongly depend on the Pd thickness and reflow conditions.