Effect of Sb implantation on copper silicides formation and morphology after annealing of Cu/Si structures

In this work, the solid state reaction between a thin film of copper and silicon has been studied using Rutherford backscattering spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy and microprobe analysis. Cu films of 400 and 900 Å thicknesses are thermally evaporated on Si(1 1 1) substrates, part of them had previously been implanted with antimony ions of 5×10¹⁴ or 5×10¹⁵ at. cm⁻² doses. The samples are heat-treated in vacuum at temperatures in the range 200–700 °C for various times. The results show the growth and formation of Cu₃Si and Cu₄Si silicides under crystallites shape dispatched on the sample surface, independently of the implantation dose. On the other hand, it is established that the copper layer is less and less consumed as the antimony dose increases, resulting in the accumulation of Sb⁺ ions at silicide/Si interface and in the silicide layer close to surface. The exposure of samples to air at room temperature shows the stability of Cu₄Si phase whereas the Cu₃Si silicide disappears to the benefit of the silicon dioxide formation. The observed phenomena are discussed.     

Evolution and structure of drying material bridges of pharmaceutical excipients: studies on a microscope slide

An experimental procedure was developed to study directly the process by which liquid bridges between small particles in a granule form and solidify. The evolution of saturated solutions of such pharmaceutical excipients as lactose and mannitol in a liquid bridge was studied on a system situated on a microscope slide. Solidification and crystallization kinetics and phase composition during and immediately following bridge formation were observed directly. It was shown that bridges on the microscope slide and in the granule behave very much the same regardless of the different length and diffusion-scales of the two systems.We found that solid bridge formation takes place in several consecutive but distinct steps. In the case of lactose, considerable shrinkage of the initial liquid bridge takes place prior to the onset of crystallization. Further bridge solidification at ambient conditions occurs via simultaneous crystallization and vitrification within minutes. As a result, a “solid” bridge usually contains both a crystalline and a non-crystalline phase, the crystalline phase being predominately α-lactose monohydrate. Most of the non-crystalline phase eventually converts to crystalline β-lactose but the process may take many hours or even days. Results for this process are compared for samples obtained from different manufacturers of commercially available lactose. In the case of mannitol, different polymorphic forms crystallize as the drying/crystallization process progresses. A formed “solid” bridge usually contains several polymorphs of mannitol. The relevance of the behavior of the two model systems (pure lactose and pure mannitol) to a real granulation and tabletting process is discussed.     

Damage Development in Gray Cast Iron under Static Deformation

The authors discuss the results of experimental investigation of structural degradation of gray cast iron at various stages of static tensile deformation. Analysis of the deformation process has revealed that damageability of a material under loading can be assessed by both a special strain parameter and scatter of hardness characteristics or a ratio of the modulus deviation to the current value of the elastic modulus. A correlation between these parameters has been established.     

Effect of the Distribution of Manganese Ions on the Properties of Mn-Doped (Ba,Y)TiO3 PTCR Ceramics

The electrical properties and microstructure of (Ba,Y)TiO₃ PTCR ceramics were studied. The results indicate that the Mn ions increase the intergranular barrier height and produce a high-resistance layer on the grain surface. The temperature-dependent resistances of the grain bulk, surface layer, and grain boundaries, the temperature coefficient of resistance, and the magnitude of the varistor effect were assessed as a function of Mn content.     

Structural Changes Induced in Nonstoichiometric Titanium Carbide by High-Temperature Deformation

The microstructure evolution in nonstoichiometric titanium carbide is studied during high-temperature deformation at high strain rates and low strains (shock compression) and at slow strain rates and high strains (superplastic regime). The results demonstrate that high-temperature deformation in a broad range of strain rates offers a means of controlling the microstructure of titanium carbide. By varying deformation conditions, one can obtain materials differing in microstructure and chemical composition, in particular, with equilibrium and nonequilibrium microstructures. Accordingly, the physicochemical properties of such materials also differ.     

On the physical and logical topology design of large-scale optical networks

We consider the problem of designing a network of optical cross-connects (OXCs) to provide end-to-end lightpath services to large numbers of label switched routers (LSRs). We present a set of heuristic algorithms to address the combined problem of physical topology design (i.e., determine the number of OXCs required and the fiber links among them) and logical topology design (i.e., determine the routing and wavelength assignment for the lightpaths among the LSRs). Unlike previous studies which were limited to small topologies with a handful of nodes and a few tens of lightpaths, we have applied our algorithms to networks with hundreds or thousands of LSRs and with a number of lightpaths that is an order of magnitude larger than the number of LSRs. In order to characterize the performance of our algorithms, we have developed lower bounds which can be computed efficiently. We present numerical results for up to 1000 LSRs and for a wide range of system parameters such as the number of wavelengths per fiber, the number of transceivers per LSR, and the number of ports per OXC. The results indicate that it is possible to build large-scale optical networks with rich connectivity in a cost-effective manner, using relatively few but properly dimensioned OXCs.     

Effect of anisotropy of tin on thermomechanical behavior of solder joints

Properties of body centered tetragonal tin are highly anisotropic. As a consequence large stresses can develop at the tin grain boundaries due to coefficient of thermal expansion mismatch during temperature excursions. A modeling approach to evaluate the 3D stress states that develop at grain boundaries during thermomechanical fatigue in tin-based solder is presented. Development of significant amounts of stresses in the plane of the grain boundary can cause grain-boundary sliding and surface-relief effects, while those normal to the grain boundary can cause grain-boundary decohesion and cracking.     

Mechanism of the inhibiting effect of diphenylamine in the oxidation of hydraulic oils

The mechanism of the inhibiting effect of diphenylamine during the oxidation of two base stocks of hydraulic oils were studied at 120, 130, and 140°C. The key reactions in the mechanism of the action of the inhibitor were identified, and the values of the kinetic parameters and their activation energies were determined. The kinetic parameters were calculated, and the salient kinetic features of the inhibited oxidation of the two specimens were compared at 70°C, the temperature of accelerated testing of hydraulic oils. The results of this prediction were analyzed, and the reasons for differences in the oxidation stability of the samples examined were established.     

An application of chemometric techniques to analyze the effects of the wave function modifications on the intermolecular stretching frequencies of the hydrogen-bonded complexes

Factorial design and principal component models are used to determine how ab initio H-bond stretching frequencies depend on characteristics of the molecular orbital wave functions of acetylene–HX, ethylene–HX and cyclopropane–HX π-type hydrogen complexes with X=F, Cl, CN, NC and CCH. The results obtained for the three sets of complexes show that factorial design and principal component analyses complement each other. Factorial design calculations clearly show that these frequencies are affected mostly by inclusion of electron correlation on the calculation level. On average, their values are increased by about 25 cm⁻¹ due to a change from the Hartree–Fock (HF) to Möller–Plesset 2 (MP2) level. Valence, diffuse and polarization main effects as well as valence–diffuse, diffuse–correlation and polarization–correlation interaction effects are also important to better describe a factorial model to the H-bond stretching frequencies of these hydrogen complexes. This simplified model has been successful in reproducing the complete ab initio results, which correspond to two hundred and forty calculations. Principal component analyses applied only to hydrogen-bonded complexes whose experimental frequencies are known, has revealed that the six-dimensional original space can be accurately represented by a bidimensional space defined by two principal components. Its graphical representation reveals that the experimental intermolecular stretching frequencies are in closest agreement with the MP2/6–31+G and MP2/6–311+G ab initio results.