Nanoscale Crystallization in Amorphous Fe–P–Mn Alloys

Mössbauer effect measurements and physicochemical analysis demonstrate that annealing of amorphous Fe–P–Mn alloys leads to the formation of a nanocrystalline structure.     

Fabrication, assembly, and characterization of molecular electronic components

One of the ultimate miniaturizations in nanotechnology is molecular electronics, where devices will consist of individual molecules. There are many complications associated with the use of molecules in electronic devices, such as the electronic perturbations in the molecule associated with being bonded to an electrode, how electrons traverse the metal-molecule junction, and the difficulty of macroscopically addressing single to very few molecules. Whether fabricating a test structure or a usable device, the use of self-assembly is fundamental to the fabrication of molecular electronic devices. We will discuss how to fabricate self-assembled monolayers into test assemblies and how to use intermolecular interactions to direct molecules into desired positions to create nanostructures and to connect functional molecules to the outside world. These assemblies serve as test structures for measurements on single or bundled molecules. The development of several experimental techniques, including various scanning probes, mercury drop junctions, break junctions, nanopores, crossed wires, and other techniques using nanoparticles have enabled the ability to test these structures and make reproducible measurements on single molecules. Many of these methods have been developed to test molecules with potential for integration into devices such as oligo (phenylene-ethynylene) molecules and other /spl pi/-conjugated molecules, in ensemble or single-molecule measurements.     

TEM Studies of High Temperature Corrosion Behaviour of TiAl Intermetallics with Surface Modifications

The oxidation/sulphidation behaviour of a Ti‐46.7Al‐1.9W‐0.5Si alloy with a TiAl₃ diffusion coating was studied in an environment of H₂/H₂S/H₂O at 850^oC. The kinetic results demonstrate that the TiAl₃ coating significantly increased the high temperature corrosion resistance of Ti‐46.7Al‐1.9W‐0.5Si. The SEM, EDX, XRD and TEM analysis reveals that the formation of an Al₂O₃ scale on the surface of the TiAl₃‐coated sample was responsible for the enhancement of the corroison resistance. The Ti‐46.7Al‐1.9W‐0.5Si alloy was also modified by Nb ion implantation. The Nb ion implanted and as received sampels were subjected to cyclic oxidation in an open air at 800^oC. The Nb ion implantation not only increased the oxidation resistance but also substantially improved the adhesion of scale to the substrate.     

Reciprocal Relationships Between Collective Efficacy and Team Performance in Women's Ice Hockey.

This study examined reciprocal relationships between collective efficacy and team performance over a season of competition in women's intercollegiate ice hockey within weekends where the opponent was constant for 2 games. Collective efficacy beliefs within 12 teams were assessed prior to both games for at least 7 weekends. Team performance indexes produced an overall measure of performance for each game. The average influence of Saturday collective efficacy on Saturday performance was moderate and positive after controlling for Friday performance. The average influence of Friday performance on Saturday collective efficacy was small and positive after removing the influence of Friday collective efficacy from Friday performance. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Heterogeneity in Youth Symptom Trajectories Following Psychiatric Crisis: Predictors and Placement Outcome.

The authors examined heterogeneity in symptom trajectories among youths following psychiatric crises as well as the psychosocial correlates and placement outcomes associated with identified trajectories. Using semiparametric mixture modeling with 156 youths approved for psychiatric hospitalization, the authors identified 5 trajectories based on symptoms over the 16 months following crisis: high improved, high unimproved, borderline improved, borderline unimproved, and subclinical. Membership in unimproved symptom groups was associated with less suicidality, younger age, more youth hopelessness, and more caregiver empowerment. Improved symptom group membership predicted long-term decreases in days in out-of-home placements. More important, and in contrast with general impressions from the existing literature, findings suggest that a substantive proportion of youths with serious emotional disturbance sustain high levels of symptomatology following intensive mental health services. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Extracting Light from Polymer Light‐Emitting Diodes Using Stamped Bragg Gratings

In this paper, we describe a method for increasing the external efficiency of polymer light‐emitting diodes (LEDs) by coupling out waveguided light with Bragg gratings. We numerically model the waveguide modes in a typical LED structure and demonstrate how optimizing layer thicknesses and reducing waveguide absorption can enhance the grating outcoupling. The gratings were created by a soft‐lithography technique that minimizes changes to the conventional LED structure. Using one‐dimensional and two‐dimensional gratings, we were able to increase the forward‐directed emission by 47 % and 70 %, respectively, and the external quantum efficiency by 15 % and 25 %.     

Surface effects in nanocrystalline silicon

Exposure to ammonia (NH₃) increases the dark current (DC) in nanocrystalline silicon. Light soaking (LS) for short periods also enhances the dark current, which remains at a high value for a long time. Pumping alone is unable to restore the initial annealed state, but annealing brings it back. The final state obtained by LS and NH₃ exposure depends on the order in which they are performed. Evaporated selenium (Se) deposited on nanocrystalline silicon decreases the DC. These effects cannot be explained entirely by the presence of a-Si : H alone, in our sample. DC and photoluminescence (PL) measurements indicate the presence of two types of center in our sample, which behave differently when exposed to NH₃.     

Blind feedforward cyclostationarity-based timing estimation for linear modulations

By exploiting a general cyclostationary (CS) statistics-based framework, this letter develops a rigorous and unified asymptotic (large sample) performance analysis setup for a class of blind feedforward timing epoch estimators for linear modulations transmitted through time nonselective flat-fading channels. Within the proposed CS framework, it is shown that several estimators proposed in the literature can be asymptotically interpreted as maximum likelihood (ML) estimators applied on a (sub)set of the second- (and/or higher) order statistics of the received signal. The asymptotic variance of these ML estimators is established in closed-form expression and compared with the modified Crame/spl acute/r-Rao bound. It is shown that the timing estimator proposed by Oerder and Meyr achieves asymptotically the best performance in the class of estimators which exploit all the second-order statistics of the received signal, and its performance is insensitive to oversampling rates P as long as P/spl ges/3. Further, an asymptotically best consistent estimator, which achieves the lowest asymptotic variance among all the possible estimators that can be derived by exploiting jointly the second- and fourth-order statistics of the received signal, is also proposed.     

Reliability studies of MOCVD TiSiN and EnCoRe Ta(N)/Ta

Passivated single damascene copper SiO₂ damascene lines were evaluated in combination with TiSiN and Ta(N)/Ta diffusion barriers. Leakage current, breakdown and time-dependent dielectric breakdown properties were investigated on a wafer level basis for temperatures ranging between room temperature and 150 °C. It is found that the leakage performance of the wafers with a TiSiN barrier is better at room temperature, but at 150 °C the performance levels out with Ta(N)/Ta. Time-dependent dielectric breakdown measurements at 150 °C show that the lifetime of the interconnect is higher with the selected Ta(N)/Ta barrier than for TiSiN.