The influence of dopant species on thermal stability of NiSi film

We investigated the relationship between thermal stability of NiSi films and the implanted dopant species on Si substrates. The most stable NiSi layer appeared on Boron-implanted Si substrate, where the formation of pseudo-epitaxial transrotational structure was observed, just in case that the dose of boron is more than 5e15 atoms/cm². This unique crystallographic orientation of NiSi film on Boron-implanted substrate is a key role of thermal stability because thermal stress at grain boundary can be diminished by peculiar arrangement of transrotational domains, owing to the anisotropy in coefficient of thermal expansion (CTE) of NiSi.     

Vacuum seal for a rectangular flange

A new vacuum seal for a rectangular flange used in r.f. equipments, was developed. The vacuum seal consists of a recess with a flat surface, machined into a rectangular flange, a rectangular metal gasket with a raised projection on one face, and a mating flange with a recess and raised projection. No leak greater than 1 × 10⁻¹⁰ Pa m³/s was found in leak tests, before and after baking cycles (100 °C, 12 h).     

Examination of the Mode II fracture behaviour of wood with a short crack in an asymmetric four-point bending test

Asymmetric four-point bending tests of agathis specimens with a short crack along the neutral axis in a tangential–longitudinal system were conducted onto analyse the failure behaviour of wood with a short crack. The nominal shear strength and Mode II critical stress intensity factors of the specimens with various crack lengths were measured, and the influence of crack length on these properties was examined. The nominal shear strength of the cracked specimens was significantly lower than the strength of a crack-free specimen, even when the crack was extremely short. This finding suggests that the fracture mechanics theory is effective for analysing the failure behaviour of wood with a very short crack in this loading condition. However, the Mode II critical stress intensity factor still depends on the crack length. When the crack length was corrected with considering the formation of fracture process zone ahead of the crack tip, the critical intensity factor could be predicted effectively as well as the nominal shear strength.     

Effect of different copper fillers on the electrical resistivity of conductive adhesives

The effects of different copper fillers with different morphology and particle size have been studied in terms of electrical resistivity and thermal stability on the electrically conductive adhesives. The copper fillers used in this study were prepared by wet chemical reduction, electrolytic and gas atomization method, respectively. The as cured ECAs filled with different type of Cu fillers showed significant difference in electrical resistivity. Cu filler with smaller particle size showed higher packing density and larger surface area, which would enhance formation of conductive channels and increased conductive network in the ECAs, leading to a lower electrical resistivity. In addition, thermal stability of the ECAs were investigated under high temperature exposure at 125 °C and high humidity aging at 85 °C/85% RH for 1,000 h. Results showed that ECAs with Cu fillers of relatively small particle size and rough particle surface have excellent thermal stability due to enhanced adhesion and contact area between Cu fillers and the polymer matrix. A very low resistivity at an order of magnitude of 10^?4 ?? cm could be maintained for these ECAs after 1,000 h at 125 and 85 °C/85% RH.     

New technique for bonding hydroxyapatite ceramics and magnesium alloy by hydrothermal hot-pressing method

The solidification of hydroxyapatite (HA:Ca₁₀(PO₄)₆(OH)₂) and its bonding with Magnesium (Mg) alloys (AZ31; Mg–3Al–1Zn) were achieved simultaneously by using a hydrothermal hot-pressing method at a low temperature as low as 150 °C with no special surface treatment of Mg alloy. A mixture of calcium hydrogen phosphate dihydrate and calcium hydroxide was used as a starting powder material for solidifying HA. 3-point bending tests were conducted to obtain an estimate of the fracture toughness for the HA/Mg interface as well as for the HA ceramics only. The fracture toughness tests showed that the induced crack from the pre-crack tip deviated from the HA/Mg interface and propagated into the HA. The fracture toughness determined on the bonded HA/Mg specimen was close to that of the HA ceramics only (0.30 MPam^1/2).     

Investigation report of geotechnical disaster on river area due to typhoon landfall three times on Okhotsk region,Hokkaido, Japan

For one week from August 17 to 23, 2016, three consecutive typhoons made landfall in Hokkaido for the first time on record. These typhoons and the front they stimulated brought record-breaking torrential rain over the eastern part of Hokkaido. To investigate the damage to grounds and rivers resulting from this rainfall, the Japan Society of Civil Engineers (JSCE) and the Japanese Geotechnical Society (JGS) formed a disaster research group to conduct an investigation. This report provides the results of the investigation into damage to the grounds of areas along the Tokoro River of the Okhotsk region, Hokkaido, that suffered from this tremendous and diverse disaster. Specifically, the report describes the situation of the levees which were broken and eroded by the overflowing water, the shape of the levee bodies, the levee body soil properties examined by observation of the sections, as well as the occurrence of sand boiling and air blows. The washout of road embankments as well as damage to road bridge mounting fills and abutment backfills were also investigated. The investigation has demonstrated the need to clarify the resistance of the abutment backfills and levee bodies to flowing water as well as the geotechnical predominant factors in order to clarify the mechanisms behind erosion and washout, the need to review new measures that allow for the scale of sand boiling and resultant changes in levee body stability, and the fact that the existing embankments were able to temporarily suppress the flooding water which had spilled over from the river. Furthermore, although it has been identified that the findings of a study on an embankment washout associated with a tsunami can be applied to measures taken against the overflowing water, it has also been found necessary to clarify the predominant geotechnical factors using model tests and to use a more sophisticated analytical approach to establish a geotechnical stability review as soon as possible in order to prevent the levees and embankments from being eroded and washed out due to overflowing water.     

A spreadsheet-based fuzzy retrieval system

Under the downsizing boom and cost decrease in computer-related industries, both business and individual computer users have been greatly influenced. For instance, the users will come up against the chance to handle imprecise data in real life with their computers more than ever. Therefore, solutions for easily developing fuzzy systems are strongly needed. In response to this need, many studies have been done in the fuzzy database area because fuzzy retrieval is one of the suitable ways to deal with those kind of data. In this article, the development of a fuzzy retrieval system which can be used on a personal computer is described, especially from an industrial point of view. Additionally, the effects of fuzzy retrieval are proposed and its thinkable applications are introduced. © 1996 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

Development of a new heterojunction structure (ACJ -HIT) and its application to polycrystalline silicon solar cells

A new solar cell structure named HIT (Heterojunction with Intrinsic Thin layer) has been developed based on new artificially constructed junction (ACJ) technology. In this structure a non-doped a-Si thin layer was inserted between the p(a-Si)/n(c-Si) heterojunction, improving the output characteristics and achieving a conversion efficiency of 18.1%. This structure was applied to cast polycrystalline silicon solar cells of a practical size. A high conversion efficeincy of 13.6% was obtained with a cell size of 10 cm × 10 cm using various technologies, including hydrogen plasma passivation.     

Effects of Aliphatic Alcohols on Formation of Cyclodextrin from Soluble Starch by Bacillus macerans Cyclodextrin Glucanotransferase

Effects of aliphatic alcohols such as ethanol, n-butanol and n-decanol on the formation of cyclodextrin (CD) from soluble starch by Bacillus macerans cyclodextrin glucanotransferase (CGTase) were experimentally studied at 50°C and pH 6.0. The addition of such aliphatic alcohols caused an increase in α-CD yield, which extent was remarkable in n-butanol. From the incubation of α-CD with CGTase, such an increase was found to be due to a restriction on further transglycosylation of α-CD into β-CD by CGTase imposed by the aliphatic alcohols.