Investigation of the Surface Removal Process of Silicon Carbide in Elastic Emission Machining

Elastic emission machining (EEM) is a precise surface preparation technique, which uses chemical reactions between the surfaces of the workpiece and fine powder particles. The purpose of this study is to clarify the surface removal process of silicon carbide (SiC) in EEM. A SiC sample with a periodic step-bunched structure was prepared as the initial surface and was flattened by EEM. Optical interferometer and atomic force microscopy (AFM) observations show that the topmost areas on the periodic step-bunched structure in contact with the powder particles are preferentially removed and surface protrusion is gradually reduced as removal depth increases. Moreover, power spectral density analyses reveal that the surface is smoothed in the spatial wavelength range from 0.07 μm to 10 μm.     

Catalyst-referred etching of silicon

A Si wafer and polysilicon deposited on a Si wafer were planarized using catalyst-referred etching (CARE). Two apparatuses were produced for local etching and for planarization. The local etching apparatus was used to planarize polysilicon and the planarization apparatus was used to planarize Si wafers. Platinum and hydrofluoric acid were used as the catalytic plate and the source of reactive species, respectively. The processed surfaces were observed by optical interferometry, atomic force microscopy (AFM) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The results indicate that the CARE-processed surface is flat and undamaged.     

Scanning electron microscopy subsequent to a combined treatment of NaOCl and EDTA in some non-collagenous calcified matrixes

Using backscattered electron (BSE) imaging and scanning electron microscopy, subsequent to a combined treatment of sodium hypochlorite (NaOCl) and ethylenediamine tetra-acetic acid (EDTA) or only with EDTA etching, we observed some structures of non-collagenous calcified matrixes with the aim of revealing the correlation of deposition between calcification degree and organic amount. In human tooth enamel, the NaOCl-EDTA method eroded more intensively the hypocalcified prisms of enamel tufts containing a relatively large amount of EDTA-insoluble organic matter than the hypercalcified normal prismatic enamel containing a small amount of the organic matter. Afibrillar cementum, one of the non-collagenous calcified tissues similar to the enamel, has been reported to consist of organic-rich and poor incremental lamellae. The BSE imaging showed an alternation pattern of hypocalcification and hypercalcification. The hypocalcified lamellae were retained by EDTA etching, while the hypercalcified lamellae showed a resistance against the NaOCl-EDTA method. In the non-collagenous calcareous concretions of human pineal body, organic-rich and poor, and hyper- and hypocalcified incremental lamellae have been reported. The deposition pattern of calcification degree and organic amount was similar to that in afibrillar cementum, and the hypercalcified lamellae showed a resistance against the NaOCl-EDTA method. In conclusion, the high and the lower calcified regions of non-collagenous calcified matrixes contained smaller and larger amounts of EDTA-insoluble organic matter respectively. Moreover, scanning electron microscopy subsequent to the NaOCl-EDTA method corresponding to the BSE imaging clearly showed fine calcified structures compared with the BSE imaging.     

Supramolecular Chiral Nanoarchitectonics

Exploration of molecular functions and material properties based on the control of chirality would be a scientifically elegant approach. Here, the fabrication and function of chiral-featured materials from both chiral and achiral components using a supramolecular nanoarchitectonics concept are discussed. The contents are classified in to three topics: i) chiral nanoarchitectonics of rather general molecular assemblies; ii) chiral nanoarchitectonics of metal–organic frameworks (MOFs); iii) chiral nanoarchitectonics in liquid crystals. MOF structures are based on nanoscopically well-defined coordinations, while mesoscopic orientations of liquid-crystalline phases are often flexibly altered. Discussion on the effects and features in these representative materials systems with totally different natures reveals the universal importance of supramolecular chiral nanoarchitectonics. Amplification of chiral molecular information from molecules to materials-level structures and the creation of chirality from achiral components upon temporal statistic fluctuations are universal, regardless of the nature of the assemblies. These features are thus surely advantageous characteristics for a wide range of applications.     

Impacts of surface sulfurization on Cu(In1−x,Gax)Se2 thin‐film solar cells

In this work, the impacts of surface sulfurization of high‐quality Cu(In_1−x,Ga_x)Se₂ (CIGS) thin films deposited by three‐stage process on the film properties and the cell performance were investigated. The CIGS thin films were sulfurized at 550 °C for 30 min using H₂S gas. The X‐ray photoelectron spectroscopy analysis revealed that sulfur atoms diffused into the CIGS surface layer and that the valence band minimum was lowered by the film sulfurization. The open circuit voltage (V_oc) drastically increased from 0.590 to 0.674 V as a result of the sulfurization process. Temperature‐dependent current–voltage and capacitance–frequency measurements also revealed that interface recombination was drastically decreased by the lowering of the defect's activation energy level at the vicinity of the buffer/CIGS interface after the sulfurization. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Fabrication, characterization, and application of boron-doped diamond microelectrodes for in vivo dopamine detection

Highly boron-doped diamond (BDD) was deposited on chemically etched micrometer-sized tungsten wires using microwave plasma assisted chemical vapor deposition (MPCVD), and these were used to fabricate BDD microelectrodes. BDD microelectrodes with very small diameter (about 5 microm) and 250 microm in length could be made successfully. In addition to the unique properties of BDD electrodes, such as a very low background current, high stability, and selective oxidation of dopamine (DA) in the presence of ascorbic acid (AA), other superior properties of the microelectrodes, including a constant current response, an increase in the mass transport, and the ability for use in high resistance media were also shown. An application study was conducted for in vivo detection of DA in mouse brain, where the BDD microelectrode was inserted into the corpus striatum of the mouse brain. A clear signal current response following medial forebrain bundle (MFB) stimulation could be obtained with high sensitivity. Excellent stability was achieved, indicating that the BDD microelectrodes are very promising for future in vivo electroanalysis.     

The role of pH on the acute toxicity of sulfite in water

The toxicity of sulfite to fish decreases with increasing pH value, because the HSO⁻₃ ion is more toxic than the SO²⁻₃ ion. An effective sulfite concentration S_eff which is proportional to the toxicity on fish, is expressed by the following equation: S_eff=[HSO⁻₃]+ƒ[SO²⁻₃]where ƒ is a coefficient which expresses the change of toxicity of sulfite depending on the pH of the water, and varies for each species of fish. For goldfish, owing to the very small toxic contribution of SO²⁻₃ ion (ƒ = 0·07), the pH dependence of the toxicity of sulfite on pH was so strong that sulfite seemed almost non-toxic in basic solution. However, ƒ for guppy is somewhat larger (ƒ = 0·20) so that the toxicity of sulfite weakly depends on the pH value of water.     

Effects of combined heat and light soaking on device performance of Cu(In,Ga)Se2 solar cells with ZnS(O,OH) buffer layer

The impacts of air annealing, light soaking (LS), and heat–light soaking (HLS) on cell performances were investigated for ZnS(O,OH)/Cu(In,Ga)Se₂ (CIGS) thin‐film solar cells. It was found that the HLS post‐treatment, a combination of LS and air annealing at 130 °C, is the most effective process for improving the cell performances of ZnS(O,OH)/CIGS devices. The best solar cell yielded a total area efficiency of 18.4% after the HLS post‐treatment. X‐ray photoelectron spectroscopy showed that the improved cell performance was attributable to the decreased S/(S + O) atomic ratio, not only in the surface region but also the interface region between the ZnS(O,OH) and CIGS layers, implying the shift to an adequate conduction‐band offset at the ZnS(O,OH)/CIGS interface. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

A carbon nanotube–enhanced SiC coating for the oxidation protection of C/C composite materials

A carbon nanotube–enhanced SiC (CNT–SiC) coating was deposited on C/C composites to improve the oxidation resistance of C/C. The CNT–SiC coating was prepared by direct growth of CNTs on C/C surface at 700 °C followed by deposition of SiC using chemical vapor deposition at 1150 °C for 1 h. SiC was deposited on the CNTs as well as the interface between CNTs and C/C, making CNTs strongly rooted on C/C surface. The final CNT–SiC coating consisted of two layers: the CNT–SiC layer and SiC layer. In comparison to the SiC coating, the CNT–SiC coating showed fewer cracks and a better oxidation resistance because the CNTs reduce the stress in the coating caused by the mismatch of the coefficient of thermal expansion between C/C and SiC.