Studies on spray pyrolyzed molybdenum trioxide thin films

Semiconducting molybdenum trioxide thin films have been prepared by employing simple and inexpensive spray pyrolysis technique. Films are found to be polycrystalline in nature with hexagonal phase. Optical band gap energy (direct) and room temperature electrical resistivity are of the order of 2·9 eV and 10⁸ ohm-cm, respectively. These films exhibit cathodic electrochromism.     

Crystallite growth characteristics in superfine zirconia powders and compacts

Crystallite growth characteristics of coprecipitated superfine zirconia powders have been investigated. It was found that the crystallite growth in powders follows a cubic law at 800 and 1000°C; however, the crystallite size data for compacts of both Y-TZP and YSZ cannot be fitted with a traditional parabolic or cubic law, but with a linear relation between crystallite size and the logarithm of time. In addition, it was also found that the degree of agglomeration of the powders can affect the crystallite growth.     

A reliable and manufacturable method to induce a stress of >1 GPa on a P-channel MOSFET in high volume manufacturing

This letter discusses a reliable and manufacturable integration technique to induce greater than 1 GPa of stress into a p-channel MOSFET, which will be required to increase the drive current beyond 1 mA//spl mu/m at the sub-90-nm process generation. Uniaxial compressive stress is introduced into the p-channel by both a selective deposition of SiGe in the source/drain and an engineered 2.5-GPa compressively stressed nitride. The highest to date compressively stressed SiN film is obtained by heavy ion bombardment during the deposition of the film.     

Self-aligning planarization and passivation for integration applications in III-V semiconductor devices

This work reports an easy planarization and passivation approach for the integration of III-V semiconductor devices. Vertically etched III-V semiconductor devices typically require sidewall passivation to suppress leakage currents and planarization of the passivation material for metal interconnection and device integration. It is, however, challenging to planarize all devices at once. This technique offers wafer-scale passivation and planarization that is automatically leveled to the device top in the 1-3-/spl mu/m vicinity surrounding each device. In this method, a dielectric hard mask is used to define the device area. An undercut structure is intentionally created below the hard mask, which is retained during the subsequent polymer spinning and anisotropic polymer etch back. The spin-on polymer that fills in the undercut seals the sidewalls for all the devices across the wafer. After the polymer etch back, the dielectric mask is removed leaving the polymer surrounding each device level with its device top to atomic scale flatness. This integration method is robust and is insensitive to spin-on polymer thickness, polymer etch nonuniformity, and device height difference. It prevents the polymer under the hard mask from etch-induced damage and creates a polymer-free device surface for metallization upon removal of the dielectric mask. We applied this integration technique in fabricating an InP-based photonic switch that consists of a mesa photodiode and a quantum-well waveguide modulator using benzocyclobutene (BCB) polymer. We demonstrated functional integrated photonic switches with high process yield of >90%, high breakdown voltage of >25 V, and low ohmic contact resistance of /spl sim/10 /spl Omega/. To the best of our knowledge, such an integration of a surface-normal photodiode and a lumped electroabsorption modulator with the use of BCB is the first to be implemented on a single substrate.     

Total and acid-soluble fluoride content of infant cereals, beverages and biscuits from Brazil

Total fluoride (TF) and HCl 0.01 M ('gastric juice')-soluble fluoride (SF) were analysed in infant foods, beverages and calcium-rich biscuits. Samples were divided into seven categories: children cereals (A), chocolate-flavoured milk (B), soy beverages (C), filled biscuits (D), non-filled biscuits (E), wafer biscuits (F) and corn starch biscuits (G). Mean TF concentrations ± SD (amplitude, unit µg F ml^-1 or µg F g^-1) were: (A) 4.25 ± 3.04 (0.20 - 7.84, n = 6); (B) 0.34 ± 0.47 (0.05-1.27, n = 6); (C) 0.15 ± 0.07 (0.09-0.29, n = 8); (D) 8.44 ± 1.76 (7.65-10.47, n = 4); (E) 12.41 ± 1.15 (10.69-13.68, n = 4); (F) 0.35 ± 0 (0.34-0.36, n = 4) and (G) 7.77 ± 1.12 (6.86-8.68, n = 2). Five samples of cereals, one sample of chocolate-flavoured milk and 10 samples of biscuits were analysed for SF. In cereals analysed for SF, all fluoride was soluble, while for the chocolate-flavoured milk, approximately 50% of TF was soluble. Regarding the biscuits analysed for SF approximately 20% of TF was soluble. It was observed that some of the cereals and beverages, and most of the biscuits analysed, might be important contributors to total daily fluoride intake. When consumed just once per day, cereals and beverages might supply up to 25% of the maximum recommended daily fluoride intake (0.07 mg F kg^-1 body weight) for a 2-year-old child (12 kg). For the filled, non-filled and corn starch biscuits, when 3, 32 or 20 units of them, respectively, are consumed just once per day, they may supply up to 16% of the maximum recommended daily fluoride intake. However, only approximately 25% of fluoride absorption occurs from the stomach and 75% from the small intestine. Therefore, a higher fluoride bioavailability is possible.     

High-T/sub c/ superconducting planar filter with pseudo-Chebyshev characteristic

This paper presents design and measurement results of a high-T/sub c/ superconducting planar filter based on a pair of coupled modified hairpin resonators considered to be a key constituent of the filter structure. This provides the filter characteristics, which are very close to the Chebyshev prototype of the same order.     

Deterministic Chaos during First-Order Phase Transitions in a Liquid–Vapor System

A model is developed in which the theory of deterministic chaos for the interface layer is used to treat both homophase and heterophase fluctuations of density (volume) and the fluctuations of pressure, whose duration increases as the critical point is approached. This approach, based on the transition from continuous differential equations to mappings, leads to a number of important consequences in theoretical analysis of high-temperature processes of evaporation and condensation, including the loss of information on the initial conditions, the alternation, and the presence of branching points on bifurcation diagrams.