Novel Maskless Bumping for 3D Integration

A novel, maskless, low‐volume bumping material, called solder bump maker, which is composed of a resin and low‐melting‐point solder powder, has been developed. The resin features no distinct chemical reactions preventing the rheological coalescence of the solder, a deoxidation of the oxide layer on the solder powder for wetting on the pad at the solder melting point, and no major weight loss caused by out‐gassing. With these characteristics, the solder was successfully wetted onto a metal pad and formed a uniform solder bump array with pitches of 120 µm and 150 µm.     

Metalorganic Chemical Vapor Deposition of CdTe(133) Epilayers on Si(211) Substrates

Single-crystalline CdTe(133) films have been grown by metalorganic chemical vapor deposition on Si(211) substrates. We studied the effect of various growth parameters on the surface morphology and structural quality of CdTe films. Proper oxide removal from the Si substrate is considered to be the principal factor that influences both the morphology and epitaxial quality of the CdTe films. In order to obtain single-crystalline CdTe(133) films, a two-stage growth method was used, i.e., a low-temperature buffer layer step and a high- temperature growth step. Even when the low-temperature buffer layer shows polycrystalline structure, the overgrown layer shows single-crystalline structure. During the subsequent high-temperature growth, two-dimensional crystallites grow faster than other, randomly distributed crystallites in the buffer layer. This is because the capturing of adatoms by steps occurs more easily due to increased adatom mobility. From the viewpoint of crystallographic orientation, it is assumed that the surface structure of Si(211) consists of (111) terrace and (100) step planes with an interplanar angle of 54.8°. This surface structure may provide many preferable nucleation sites for adatoms compared with nominally flat Si(100) or (111) surfaces. The surface morphology of the resulting films shows macroscopic rectangular-shaped terrace—step structures that are considered to be a (111) terrace with two {112} step planes directed toward 〈110〉.     

Demonstration of Time‐ and Wavelength‐Division Multiplexed Passive Optical Network Based on VCSEL Array

We demonstrate a time‐ and wavelength‐division multiplexed passive optical network system employing a vertical‐cavity surface‐emitting laser array–based optical line terminal transceiver and a tunable bidirectional optical subassembly–based optical network terminal transceiver. A packet error–free operation is achieved after a 40 km single‐mode fiber bidirectional transmission. We also discuss an arrayed waveguide grating, a photo detector array based on complementary metal–oxide–semiconductor photonics technologies, and low‐cost key devices for deployment in access networks.     

Moisture Sensitive Smart Yarns and Textiles from Self‐Balanced Silk Fiber Muscles

Smart textiles that sense, interact, and adapt to environmental stimuli have provided exciting new opportunities for a variety of applications. However, current advances have largely remained at the research stage due to the high cost, complexity of manufacturing, and uncomfortableness of environment‐sensitive materials. In contrast, natural textile materials are more attractive for smart textiles due to their merits in terms of low cost and comfortability. Here, water fog and humidity‐driven torsional and tensile actuation of thermally set twisted, coiled, plied silk fibers, and weave textiles from these silk fibers are reported. When exposed to water fog, the torsional silk fiber provides a fully reversible torsional stroke of 547° mm^?1. Coiled‐and‐thermoset silk yarns provide a 70% contraction when the relative humidity is changed from 20% to 80%. Such an excellent actuation behavior originates from water absorption‐induced loss of hydrogen bonds within the silk proteins and the associated structural transformation, which are corroborated by atomistic and macroscopic characterization of silk and molecular dynamics simulations. With its large abundance, cost‐effectiveness, and comfortability for wearing, the silk muscles will open up additional possibilities in industrial applications, such as smart textiles and soft robotics.     

Sludge thickening performance of mesh filtration process.

Small-scale wastewater treatment facilities play an important role in improving the aquatic environment in many countries. Although sludge treatment is essential for overall wastewater treatment, it is difficult for small-scale facilities to use mechanical equipment or other facilities. As the first step of the sludge treatment, it is important to develop a convenient sludge thickening process for small-scale facilities. In this work, we examined the sludge thickening performance of a mesh filtration system: the mesh opening sizes of 100-500 microm, and the sludge (3,000-9,000 mg-SS/L) was obtained from a domestic wastewater treatment facility. The filtration was carried out only under the hydraulic pressure between the water level and the effluent port connected to the mesh filter module. The sludge reduction rates were in the range of 85-95% for 6-7 h; the initial filtration rate was very high, but the rate decreased with a decrease in hydraulic pressure due to the reduction of the water level in the vessel. In addition, the effluents (passed through the mesh) contained very low SS and could be directly discharged into the environment.     

Treatment of taste and odor material by oxidation and adsorption.

Massive blooms of blue-green algae in reservoirs produce the musty-earthy taste and odor, which are caused by compounds such as 2-MIB and geosmin. 2-MIB and geosmin are rarely removed by conventional water treatment. Their presence in the drinking water, even at low levels (ng/L), can be detected and it creates consumer complaints. So those concentrations have to be controlled as low as possible in the drinking water. The removals by oxidation (O3, Cl2, ClO2) and adsorption (PAC, filter/adsorber) were studied at laboratory and pilot plant (50 m3/d) to select suitable 2-MIB and geosmin treatment processes. The following conclusions were derived from the study. Both of the threshold odor levels for 2-MIB and geosmin appeared to be 30 ng/L as a consequence of a lab test. For any given PAC dosage in a jar-test, removal efficiencies of 2-MIB and geosmin were increased in proportion to PAC dosage and were independent of their initial concentration in raw water for the tested PAC dosages. In comparison of geosmin with 2-MIB, the adsorption efficiency of geosmin by PAC was superior to that of 2-MIB. The required PAC dosages to control below the threshold odor level were 30 mg/L for geosmin and 50 mg/L for 2-MIB at 100 ng/L of initial concentration. Removal efficiencies of odor materials by Cl2, ClO2, and O3 were very weak under the limited dosage (1.5 mg/L), however increased ozone dosage (3.8 mg O3/L) showed high removal efficiency (84.8% for 2-MIB) at contact time 6.4 minutes. According to the initial concentrations of 2-MIB and geosmin, their removal efficiencies by filter/adsorber differed from 25.7% to 88.4%. For all those, however, remaining concentrations of target materials in finished waters were maintained below 30 ng/L. The longer run-time given for the filter/adsorber, the higher the effluent concentration generated. So it is necessary that the run-time of the filter/adsorber be decreased, when 2-MIB or geosmin occurs in raw water.     

The Characteristics of Cu2O Thin Films Deposited Using RF‐Magnetron Sputtering Method with Nitrogen‐Ambient

We investigate the characteristics of Cu₂O thin films deposited through the addition of N₂ gas. The addition of N₂ gas has remarkable effects on the phase changes, resulting in improved electrical and optical properties. An intermediate phase (6CuO·Cu₂O) appears at a N₂ flow rate of 1 sccm, and a Cu₂O (200) phase is then preferentially grown at a higher feeding amount of N₂. The optical and electrical properties of Cu₂O thin films are improved with a sufficient N₂ flow rate of more than 15 sccm, as confirmed through various analyses. Under this condition, a high bandgap energy of 2.58 eV and a conductivity of 1.5×10^?2 S/cm are obtained. These high‐quality Cu₂O thin films are expected to be applied to Cu₂O‐based heterojunction solar cells and optical functional films.     

Mobile Oriented Future Internet (MOFI):Architectural Design and Implementations

With the recent growth in smartphone services, the “mobile” environment has become a key factor to consider in the design of the future Internet. In this paper, we propose Mobile‐Oriented Future Internet (MOFI), which is a new architecture for the future Internet for mobile‐oriented environments. The MOFI architecture is designed with three functional features: global identifier and local locator in the identifier‐locator separation, query‐first data delivery for route optimization, and distributed control of identifier‐locator mapping. The proposed architecture and functional operations are implemented and tested using the Linux platform. From the experiment results, we see that the MOFI architecture performs better than the existing identifier‐locator separation schemes, such as Proxy Mobile IP and Host Identity Protocol, in terms of data throughout, mapping control overhead, and handover delay.     

Analytical prediction of pressure‐time curve for free inflation of superplastic sheet into hemispherical dome

Abstract

Blow forming is a commonly used production method to deform superplastic sheets. Several papers have appeared to analytically predict the pressurization sequence needed to control the inflation process at a desired strain rate. Some of them, however, are based on an over‐simplified assumption of uniform thickness reduction during the inflation, which often leads to non‐conservative prediction of pressure‐time path. Others have been more rigorous in the formulation, which on the other hand, results in more extensive equations requiring iterative method with a computer program. This paper presents a modified approach. Ignoring the assumption of uniform thinning, a set of physically sound yet easy‐to‐use equations for obtaining pressure‐time curves, heights of the deforming dome, and thickness variations both in space and time, are derived. The analytical results compare favorably with the experimental data and more elaborate finite element solutions.     

The POP Buffer: Rapid Progressive Clustering by Geometry Quantization

Within this paper, we present a novel, straightforward progressive encoding scheme for general triangle soups, which is particularly well‐suited for mobile and Web‐based environments due to its minimal requirements on the client's hardware and software. Our rapid encoding method uses a hierarchy of quantization to effectively reorder the original primitive data into several nested levels of detail. The resulting stateless buffer can progressively be transferred as‐is to the GPU, where clustering is efficiently performed in parallel during rendering. We combine our approach with a crack‐free mesh partitioning scheme to obtain a straightforward method for fast streaming and basic view‐dependent LOD control.