Kinetics and Equilibrium of Age-Induced Precipitation in Cu-4 At. Pct Ti Binary Alloy

Transformation kinetics and phase equilibrium of metastable and stable precipitates in age-hardenable Cu-4 at. pct Ti binary alloy have been investigated by monitoring the microstructural evolution during isothermal aging at temperatures between 693 K (420 °C) and 973 K (700 °C). The microstructure of the supersaturated solid solution evolves in four stages: compositional modulation due to spinodal decomposition, continuous precipitation of the needle-shaped metastable β′-Cu₄Ti with a tetragonal structure, discontinuous precipitation of cellular components containing stable β-Cu₄Ti lamellae with an orthorhombic structure, and eventually precipitation saturation at equilibrium. In specimens aged below 923 K (650 °C), the stable β-Cu₄Ti phase is produced only due to the cellular reaction, whereas it can be also directly obtained from the intergranular needle-shaped β′-Cu₄Ti precipitates in specimens aged at 973 K (700 °C). The precipitation kinetics and phase equilibrium observed for the specimens aged between 693 K (420 °C) and 973 K (700 °C) were characterized in accordance with a time–temperature–transformation (TTT) diagram and a Cu-Ti partial phase diagram, which were utilized to determine the alloy microstructure, strength, and electrical conductivity.

     

Compositional effects on the high temperature ductility of 1 Cr-1.25 Mo-0.25 V Steel

This paper describes the results of slow strain rate (ε = 4.4 × 10^-5 s^-1) tensile tests performed at temperatures between 25 and 700 °C on a high purity CrMoV steel containing various dopants. The materials all had a bainitic microstructure, a hardness of R^C28, and a grain size of ASTM 0. Some samples were step cooled prior to tensile testing. Four different compositions were tested: undoped (HP), Mn + P doped (MnP), P doped (P), and Sn doped (Sn) materials. All four materials failed in a low ductility cleavage mode at low temperatures and by a low ductility grain boundary cavitation mode at high temperatures. At intermediate temperatures, around 500 °C, the MnP material showed the highest ductility, the HP and Sn materials showed the lowest, and the P material was intermediate. The beneficial effects of both Mn and P on the creep ductility are rationalized in terms of their control of the sulfur concentration on prior austenite boundaries. In addition, it is suggested that P on the grain boundaries can reduce the cavitation rate by reducing the grain boundary self diffusion rate.     

Temperature‐responsive properties of poly(acrylic acid‐co‐acrylamide)‐graft‐oligo(ethylene glycol) hydrogels

A series of temperature‐ and pH‐responsive hydrogels were prepared from acrylic acid (AAc), acrylamide (AAm), oligo(ethylene glycol)monoacrylate (OEGMA), and oligo(ethylene glycol)diacrylate by varying the AAc:AAm molar ratio and the OEGMA content. Phase‐transition temperatures and swelling ratios of the obtained poly(AAc‐co‐AAm)‐graft‐OEG gels were measured as a function of temperature and pH. At pH < 5, the obvious transition temperatures ranging from 5 to 35°C were obtained as the AAc : AAm molar ratio was varied. The highest transition temperature was obtained at the AAc : AAm ratios of 5 : 5 and 6 : 4, and the sharp transition curves were observed at the AAc : AAm ratios from 5 : 5 to 8 : 2. The transition temperature further increased with increasing OEGMA content. It was suggested that OEG graft chains with a large mobility played an important role for the formation of hydrogen bonding in the hydrogels. The gels prepared here showed obvious reproducibility of the phase transition in response to temperature changes, which suggests the feasibility of their practical applications. © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 80: 798–805, 2001     

Three-dimensional numerical analysis of mixed ionic and electronic conducting cathode reconstructed by focused ion beam scanning electron microscope

Three-dimensional microstructure of mixed ionic and electronic conducting cathode, La_0.6Sr_0.4Co_0.2Fe_0.8O_3−δ (LSCF6428), is obtained by a dual-beam focused ion beam-scanning electron microscope, and its overpotential is predicted by the lattice Boltzmann method. Gaseous, ionic and electronic transport equations coupled with electrochemical reaction at the gas/solid interface in the three-dimensional microstructure are solved with an assumption of local equilibrium in the solid oxide. The gas transport is modeled by the dusty gas model. The numerical simulation is conducted under the current density conditions of 0.01, 0.05, 0.1 and 0.2 A/cm². Predicted cathode overpotentials agreed well with the experimental results. However, predicted overpotential was very large at O₂ = 20%, T = 973 K and i = 0.2 A/cm² case due to the decline of ionic conductivity at low oxygen partial pressure. Three-dimensional chemical potential and current vector distributions inside LSCF microstructure are presented. Ionic and electronic current stream lines are uniform and smooth, which indicates good ionic and electronic conductions as well as wide electrochemically active areas inside the LSCF microstructure. Present method will be an effective tool for investigating local oxygen potential field which affects local reactions, diffusions and physical properties of the MIEC cathodes.     

A 2.6-ns wave-pipelined CMOS SRAM with dual-sensing-latch circuits

The dual-sensing-latch circuit proposed here can solve the synchronization problem of the conventional wave-pipelined SRAM and the proposed source-biased self-resetting circuit reduces both the cycle and access time of cache SRAM's. A 16-kb SRAM using these circuit techniques was designed, and was fabricated with 0.25-μm CMOS technology. Simulation results indicate that this SRAM has a typical clock access time of 2.6 ns at 2.5-V supply voltage and a worst minimum cycle time of 2.6 ns     

A 6-ns 4-Mb CMOS SRAM with offset-voltage-insensitive current senseamplifiers

A 4-Mb CMOS SRAM with 3.84 μm² TFT load cells is fabricated using 0.25-μm CMOS technology and achieves an address access time of 6 ns at a supply voltage of 2.7 V. The use of a current sense amplifier that is insensitive to its offset voltage enables the fast access time. A boosted cell array architecture allows low voltage operation of fast SRAM's using TFT load cells     

Thinned wafer multi-stack 3DI technology

Wafer scale 3DI technology, so-called wafer-on-a-wafer (WOW), characterized by thinned-wafer stacking and Cu multi-level interconnects, has been developed, and revealed that seven-level multi-wafer stacking is possible. The WOW process differs from the chip-on-a-chip and chip-on-a-wafer processes and can be used for wafer-scale bulk processes, enabling manufacturing from transistor to 3D stacking using wafers. Wafers are thinned down to 20-μm and bonded to the base wafer following back-to-face stacking. Through-silicon-via (TSV) holes with a diameter of 30 μm are formed and etched-off until the lower electrode of Au which is patterned on the underneath wafer. Titanium (Ti) and titanium-nitride (TiN) are formed on a TSV hole as a barrier metal and electrode for the electrochemically plated Cu (ECP-Cu). After ECP-Cu deposition, surface planarization is performed using Surface Planer™. Those wafers are used as a base wafer and multi-stacking is carried out repeatedly. The vertical connection between Cu of TSV and Au is therefore connected with a self-aligned contact and without a bump electrode. The electrical properties of the 242-chain contacts within the wafer were measured and no open failure was found. Adopting the thinned substrates eliminates deep silicon etching, and TSV filling which take a long process time, and reduces the residual stress on the Cu plug. Wafers can be stacked as much as possible in accordance with the degree of integration, and this is expected to be a low-cost and high-integration technology for post-scaling.     

A Thin Carbon‐Fiber Web as a Scaffold for Bone‐Tissue Regeneration

Due to the rapid progress being made in tissue regeneration therapy, biomaterials used as scaffolds are expected to play an important role in future clinical application. We report the development of a 3D web (sheet) consisting of high‐purity carbon fibers in a nanoscale structure. When the thin carbon‐fiber web (TCFW) and recombinant human bone morphogenetic protein 2 (rhBMP‐2) composite is implanted in the murine back muscle, new ectopic bone is formed, and the values of the bone mineral content and bone mineral density are significantly higher than those obtained with a collagen sheet. Observation of the interface between the carbon fibers and bone matrix reveal that the fibers are directly integrated into the bone matrix, indicating high bone‐tissue compatibility. Further, the rhBMP‐2/TCFW composite repairs a critical‐size bone defect within a short time period. These results suggest that the TCFW functions as an effective scaffold material and will play an important role in tissue regeneration in the future.     

Effect of combined plasma-carburizing and deep-rolling on notch fatigue property of Ti-6Al-4V alloy

This paper discusses the effects of a combination of plasma-carburizing and deep-rolling on notch fatigue properties of a Ti-6Al-4V alloy. Circumferentially V-notched cylindrical Ti-6Al-4V alloy specimens were plasma-carburized at a relatively low temperature for the improvement of wear resistance, and then, deep-rolled at the notch root for inducing compressive residual stress. Scanning electron microscopy, optical microscopy, laser scanning microscopy, surface roughness tester, and micro-hardness tester were used to characterize the modified surface layer at the notch root. Axial loading fatigue tests (R = 0.1) were performed using a servo-hydraulic testing machine in a laboratory atmosphere at an ambient temperature. The notch fatigue life of the specimen was reduced by plasma-carburizing due to the brittleness caused by the higher hardness in addition to the disappearance of compressive residual stress on the notched surface, but remarkably improved by the subsequent deep-rolling. The surface layer containing the compressive residual stress and the work hardening induced by deep-rolling effectively prevented and delayed the fatigue crack initiation and propagation of deep-rolled carburized specimen.