Mold deformation in soft UV-nanoimprint lithography

UV-nanoimprint lithography (UV-NIL) using a soft mold is a promising technique with low cost and high throughput for producing the submicron scale large-area patterns. However, the deformations of the soft mold during imprinting process which can cause serious consequences have to be understood for the practical application of the process. This paper investigated the deformation of the soft mold by theoretical analyses, numerical simulations, and experimental studies. We simulated the mold deformation using a simplified model and finite element method. The simulation and the related experimental results agree well with each other. Through the investigation, the mechanism and affected factors of the mold deformation are revealed, and some useful conclusions have been achieved. These results will be valuable in optimizing the imprinting process conditions and mold design for improving the quality of transferred patterns.     

Introduction of fluorin into PBO polymer chains: Toward higher thermal stability and lower dielectric constant

A series of novel fluorinated benzoxazole polymers (6FPBO's) with high thermal stability and low dielectric constant were synthesized by copolymerization of 1,3-diamino-4, 6-dihydroxybenzene dihy-drochloride (DAR), 1,4-benzenedicarboxylic acid (PTA) and various amount of 4'4- (hexafluoroisopro-pylidene) bis (benzoic acid) (BIS-B-AF) in the medium of polyphosphoric acid (PPA). 6FPBO fibers were then obtained via dry-jet wet-spinning technique and characterized by means of Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectra, thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), single fiber tensile testing machine and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). FTIR spectrum of 6FPBO fibers indicated that the fluorine groups had been incorporated into PBO molecular chains successfully. TGA curves revealed that 6FPBO fibers possessed high thermal stability just as pure PBO fibers. Moreover, dielectric constant spectrum of 6FPBO exhibited that the polymers had low dielectric constant, especially in the range of high- frequency.     

Experimental investigation and analysis on flexural performance of functionally graded composite beam crack-controlled by ultrahigh toughness cementitious composites

Based on the concept of functionally graded concrete, UHTCC (ultrahigh toughness cementitious composites) material with excellent crack-controlling ability is strategically substituted for part of the concrete, which surrounds the main longitudinal reinforcement in a reinforced concrete member. Investigations on bending behavior of such a functionally graded composite beam crack-controlled by UHTCC (abbreviated as UHTCC-FGC beam) have been carried out. After establishing a theoretical calculation model, the paper discusses the results of four-point bending experiment on long composite beams without web reinforcement, and validates the theoretical formulae through experimental results of UHTCC-FGC beams with different thicknesses of UHTCC layer. Besides improving bearing capacity and saving steel reinforcements, the results indicate that UHTCC-FGC beams can also effectively control the deformation and enhance the ductility of members. At last, the optimal thickness of UHTCC layer in UHTCC-FGC beams has been confirmed, which can not only save materials and improve mechanical performance of members, but also be very effective in preventing corrosion-induced damage and enhancing the durability of members by controlling crack width below 0.05 mm under service conditions. Supported by the Key Program of the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 50438010) and the Research and Application Programs of Key Technologies for Major Constructions in the South-North Water Transfer Project Construction in China (Grant No. JGZXJJ2006-13)     

Effect of acetic acid on electrochemical deposition of carbon-nitride thin film

Electrochemical deposition method was employed to prepare CNx thin film from methanol-urea solution,and it was shown that adding a little acetic acid in the solution significantly affected the deposition process.After optimizing the experiment conditions,we obtained polycrystalline grains with sizes of about 3―7μm on the faces of single crystal silicon.X-ray diffraction spectrua indicate that the grains are mainly composed of cubic phase mixed with a small amount of β and α phases.     

Asynchronous rotation scan for synthetic aperture interferometric radiometer

Synthetic aperture interferometric technique has wide applications in optics, radio astronomy and microwave remote sensing areas. With the increasing demands of high resolution imaging observation, a new time-sharing sampling scheme of asynchronous rotation scan is proposed to meet the technical challenge of achieving a large equivalent aperture and overcome the operating barriers of space borne application. This configuration is basically composed by two asynchronously and concentrically rotating antenna groups, whose revolving radii and speeds are different. The synthetic aperture system with asynchronous rotation scanning scheme can effectively solve the trade-off problem of system complexity, and greatly simplify the system hardware at the cost of sacrificing a certain time resolution. The basic rules and design methods of asynchronous rotation scan are investigated The Gridding method is introduced to inverse the spiral sampling data for image reconstruction. The potential applications of geostationary orbit (GEO) earth observation and solar polar orbit (SPO) plasma cloud observation are explored with numerical simulations to validate the significance and feasibility of this new imaging configuration. Supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 40574070, 40671121, 40701100 and 40801136) and the National High-Tech Research Program of China (“863” Program) (Grant No. 2006AA12Z141)     

Experiments and reaction characteristics of liquid phase simultaneous removal of SO<Subscript>2</Subscript> and NO

Experiments of simultaneous removal of SO₂ and NO from simulated flue gas, using NaClO₂ solution as the absorbent, were carried out in a self-designed bubble reactor, and high simultaneous removal efficiencies of SO₂ and NO were obtained under the optimal experimental conditions. The mechanism of simultaneous removal based on NaClO₂ acid solutions was proposed by analyzing the removal products. Possibility and limitation of the desulfurization and denitrification using NaClO₂ acid solutions were calculated by thermodynamic methods. Experimental results of reaction kinetics for simultaneous desulfurization and denitrification indicated that the oxidation-absorption processes of SO₂ and NO were divided into two zones, namely the fast and slow reaction zones. In the slow reaction zones both were zero order reactions, and in the fast reaction zones, the reaction order, rate constant and activation energy of SO₂ reaction with absorbent were 1.4, 1.22 (mol·L⁻¹)^−0.4·s⁻¹ and 66.25 kJ·mol⁻¹, respectively, and 2, 3.15×10³ (mol·L⁻¹) ⁻¹·s⁻¹, and 42.50 kJ·mol⁻¹ for NO reaction, respectively. Supported by the National High-Tech Research and Development Program of China (“863” Project) (Grant No. 2007AA061803)     

A process study of electron beam nano-lithography and deep etching with an ICP system

A systemic process study on an electron beam nanolithography system operating at 100 kV was present. The exposure conditions were optimized for resist ZEP520A. Grating structures with line/space of 50 nm/50 nm were obtained in a reasonably thick resist which is beneficial to the subsequent pattern transfer technique. The ICP etching process conditions was optimized. The role of etching parameters such as source power, gas pressure, and gas flow rate on the etching result was also discussed. A grating structure with line widths as small as 100 nm, duty cycles of 0.5, depth of 900 nm, and the side-wall scalloping as small as 5 nm on a silicon substrate was obtained. The silicon deep etching technique for structure sizes smaller than 100 nm is very important for the fabrication of nano-optical devices working in the visible regime. Supported by the National Basic Research Program of China (“973” Program) (Grant No. 2007CB935301)     

Multi-channel micro neural probe fabricated with SOI

Silicon-on-insulator(SOI) substrate is widely used in micro-electro-mechanical systems(MEMS).With the buried oxide layer of SOI acting as an etching stop,silicon based micro neural probe can be fabri-cated with improved uniformity and manufacturability.A seven-record-site neural probe was formed by inductive-coupled plasma(ICP) dry etching of an SOI substrate.The thickness of the probe is 15 μm.The shaft of the probe has dimensions of 3 mm×100 μm×15 μm with typical area of the record site of 78.5 μm2.The im...     

Emergency aero-photo survey after the 5.12 Wenchuan Earthquake,China

After the 5.12 Wenchuan Earthquake which took place on May 12, 2008, aerial remote sensing has rapidly covered all the influence sites of the earthquake, emergency aero-photo interpretation has revealed the disaster distribution limitation, and captured the information of location, dimension of the destroyed houses, roads and other structures, blocked rivers, etc, which provided destroying conditions of the time for rescuing lives, rebuilding traffic lines and estimating disaster situation. The further interpretation and analysis indicate that large scale second growth geological disasters mainly distribute in the distance of 0–300 km and 45°–50° orientation from the epicenter. About 137 latent large-scale landslides and debris-flows will occur in this rain season and coming several years, so how to avoid current geological disasters as well as the latent large disasters should be considered in making rebuilding and developing plan.     

The effect of hydrogen on the electronic structure of kink in bcc iron

The electronic structures of kinks in the [100](010) and 1/2[111](−110) edge dislocations in bcc iron containing hydrogen are investigated by means of the first-principles DMol method and the discrete variational method. The effects of hydrogen on the kinks are discussed. The results show that hydrogen forms weak bonding states with its neighboring host atoms, and since hydrogen draws charge from its neighboring host atoms, the interactions between most of the host atoms are weakened compared with those of the corresponding atomic pairs in the clean kinks. This indicates that the migration of kink, i.e. the motion of dislocation, is easier in the doping hydrogen kink than in the clean kink, which may be the solid solution softening effect resulting from the impurity hydrogen. Supported by the National Basic Research Program of China (Grant No. 2006CB605102) and Science Foundation of Central South University of Forestry & Technology (Grant No. 06y016)