Glass Structure Changes in CO$_{2}$ -Laser Writing of Long-Period Fiber Gratings in Boron-Doped Single-Mode Fibers

We investigate in detail the process of CO₂-laser writing of long-period fiber gratings (LPFGs) in unannealed and annealed boron-doped fiber samples by using repeated scanning of CO₂-laser pulses. We find that the writing dynamics depends strongly on the CO₂-laser energy density and the annealing temperature of the fiber. Our results from analyzing the writing dynamics reveal the relative importance of various physical effects arising from glass structure changes due to different writing conditions and thus provide a better understanding of the formation and the properties of CO₂-laser written LPFGs.     

Interfacial Reactions and Microstructures of Sn-0.7Cu-<Emphasis Type="Italic">x</Emphasis>Zn Solders with Ni-P UBM During Thermal Aging

The effects of the addition of Zn to Sn-0.7Cu solders are investigated. The study is focused on the interfacial reactions, microstructures, and mechanical properties after reaction with Ni-P under bump metallurgies (UBMs). The Zn contents in Sn-0.7Cu-xZn are varied as 0.2, 0.4, and 0.8 (in wt.% unless otherwise specified). In the reaction with Ni-P UBM during thermal aging at 150°C for 1000 h, (Cu,Ni)₆Sn₅ intermetallic compounds (IMCs) are formed at the Sn-0.7Cu/UBM interface, whereas Zn is incorporated into IMCs to form (Cu,Ni,Zn)₆Sn₅ in the Zn-doped solders. As the Zn content increases, the interfacial IMC thickness is reduced. A total reduction of about 40% in IMC thickness was observed for the 0.8% Zn-doped Sn-Cu. The same IMC particles are also observed in the matrix of each solder. In Sn-0.7Cu, (Cu,Ni)₆Sn₅ particles are coarsened during aging, while (Cu,Ni,Zn)₆Sn₅ particles in the Zn-added solders are less coarsened and remain much smaller than (Cu,Ni)₆Sn₅. The growth rate of (Cu,Ni)₆Sn₅ during thermal aging is significantly suppressed by the addition of Zn. Consequently, after reaction with Ni-P UBM, the Zn-doped solders exhibit a thermally stable microstructure as measured by hardness and shear strength.     

A study of electrical characteristic changes in MOSFET by electron beam irradiation

Mechanisms for electrical characteristic changes in MOSFET caused by electron beam irradiation were studied using a SEM-based nano-probing system. A shift in V_th occurs when a hole is trapped in a defect (oxygen vacancy) in the gate dielectric layer. Holes are generated when the plasmon is excited by electron beam irradiation. Further, an electric field is created by the positive charge-up resulting from electron beam irradiation of the ILD, causing an increase in leakage between gate and drain leading to an increase in I_off. This study shows that advanced devices can be measured using a SEM-based nano-probing system without inducing electrical characteristic changes by optimizing the measurement conditions such as acceleration voltage, electron beam current, image magnification, ILD thickness, and electron beam irradiation time.     

Understanding interference and carrier sensing in wireless mesh networks [Accepted from Open Call]

Wireless mesh networks aim to provide high-speed Internet service without costly network infrastructure deployment and maintenance. The main obstacle in achieving high-capacity wireless mesh networks is interference between the mesh links. In this article, we analyze the carrier sensing and interference relations between two wireless links and measure the impact of these relations on link capacity on an indoor 802.11a mesh network testbed. We show that asymmetric carrier sensing and/or interference relations commonly exist in wireless mesh networks, and we study their impact on the link capacity and fair-channel access. In addition, we investigate the effect of traffic rate on link capacity in the presence of interference.     

UV nanoimprint using flexible polymer template and substrate

Nano to micro-sized patterns were formed on a flexible polymer substrate using a flexible UV imprint stamp. A 6 in. diameter flexible UV nanoimprint template was fabricated using PVC hot embossing and DLC coating. Using the UV nanoimprint process with the DLC coated PVC template, nano to micro-sized patterns were clearly formed on the flexible PET substrate without a residual layer, due to the antistiction properties and high mechanical hardness of the DLC coating. By depositing a Cr layer on the imprinted resist pattern and lifting it off, Cr metal patterns were fabricated on the PET substrate.     

The fabrication of efficiency-improved W-series interconnect type of module by balancing the performance of single cells

Large dye-sensitized solar cells (DSCs) are usually fabricated as module types instead of single cell types, because the overall efficiency of an area-expanded single DSC is decreased by its large surface resistances and low fill factor (FF). The general DSC module designs are the parallel grid, series interconnect, and series monolithic types. The W-series interconnect type of module has some advantages, such as its easy fabrication and simple structure. Moreover, it also avoids the reduction in the FF. However, it has an efficiency imbalance between the single cells, because of the discrepancy in their luminous intensity. Therefore, the fabrication of the W-series interconnect type of module will be cost-effective only if the problem of its efficiency imbalance is solved. In this study, the thickness of the Pt layer, which has a very high reflection rate, and that of the electrolyte layer are minimized and the transmitted light is reflected by a metallic thin film in order to increase the number of photons absorbed by the dye molecules in the module. As a result, the performance of the efficiency-balanced W-module is improved by approximately 1% as compared to that of the conventional module.     

Hydriding behavior in Zr-based AB2 alloy by gas atomization process

The hydriding characteristics of Zr-based AB₂ alloy produced by gas atomization have been investigated during its absorption–desorption reaction with hydrogen gas. Its gas-phase hydrogenation properties are different from those of specimens prepared by conventional methods. For the particle morphology of the as-cast and gas-atomized powders, it can be seen that the mechanically crushed powders are irregular, while the atomized powder particles are spherical. In PCT (Pressure–Composition–Temperature) measurements, for the gas-atomized particles smaller than 50 μm, the hydrogen storage capacity is dramatically decreased and the hysteresis loop becomes larger than that of the gas-atomized particles larger than 50 μm. In addition, the increase of jet pressure of gas atomization results in the decrease of hydrogen storage capacity and the slope of plateau pressure significantly increases. TEM and EDS studies showed the increase of jet pressure in the atomization process accelerated the phase separation within grain of the gas-atomized alloy, which brought about a poor hydrogenation property. In the measurements of hydrogen absorption–desorption kinetics, the improvement of desorption kinetics of gas-atomized AB₂ alloys was mainly caused by the higher plateau pressure, which is attributed to the smaller grain size and higher site energy for hydrogen in the gas-atomized alloys.     

Dynamic Session Control Over IMS for Cross-Layer Optimization of Multi-Stream Video

Cross-layer optimization is an evolutional approach via optimal source and channel resource combinations. It is generally understood that bitstreams can be constructed according to visual importance using multi-stream video in which the base and enhancement layers simultaneously contain visual information of varying importance. In accordance with their importance, radio resources are allocated to each layer for maximal perceptual visual quality using unequal error protection. Nevertheless, a framework for network signalling, which configures each layer using Quality-of-Service (QoS) parameters, has not been presented. This paper proposes a dynamic session control protocol over the IP Multimedia Subsystem (IMS) for network adaptation of multi-stream video where the coding mode can be dynamically changed during the duration of service according to the wireless channel dynamics.     

Distributed Borrowing Addressing Scheme for ZigBee/IEEE 802.15.4 Wireless Sensor Networks

This paper proposes a distributed borrowing addressing (DIBA) scheme to solve problems of failure in address assignments resulting from limited tree depth and width when the distributed address assignment mechanism is used in a ZigBee/IEEE 802.15.4 wireless sensor network. DIBA is a method of borrowing addresses from neighbor nodes for newly entering nodes and assigning the borrowed addresses. Its network or sensing coverage can increase with almost the same overhead as the existing method. DIBA is a simple and lightweight means of addressing and routing, making it suitable for wireless sensor networks. Simulations showed that DIBA is a distributed addressing scheme with consistently excellent performance.