Pixel‐Structured Scintillator with Polymeric Microstructures for X‐Ray Image Sensors

We introduce a pixel‐structured scintillator realized on a flexible polymeric substrate and demonstrate its feasibility as an X‐ray converter when it is coupled to photosensitive elements. The sample was prepared by filling Gd₂O₂S:Tb scintillation material into a square‐pore‐shape cavity array fabricated with polyethylene. For comparison, a sample with the conventional continuous geometry was also prepared. Although the pixelated geometry showed X‐ray sensitivity of about 58% compared with the conventional geometry, the resolving power was improved by about 70% above a spatial frequency of 3 mm^?1. The spatial frequency at 10% of the modulation‐transfer function was about 6 mm^?1.     

Fairness-Aware Adaptive Resource Allocation Scheme in Multihop OFDMA Systems

We investigate a fairness-aware adaptive resource allocation scheme for the downlink of multihop OFDMA systems. Assuming that the base station has all the channel information, we formulate an optimization problem for an adaptive subchannel-, path- and power-allocation scheme that maximizes system capacity while guaranteeing minimum resources for each user. Since the optimization should be performed in real time, we propose an efficient heuristic algorithm composed of subchannel-allocation, load-balancing and power-distribution steps. The proposed algorithm is simple in that the iterative computations are removed, and accurate in that it performs similarly to the optimum solution     

Complementary Absorbing Star‐Shaped Small Molecules for the Preparation of Ternary Cascade Energy Structures in Organic Photovoltaic Cells

Two anthracene‐based star‐shaped conjugated small molecules, 5′,5″‐(9,10‐bis((4‐hexylphenyl)ethynyl)anthracene‐2,6‐diyl)bis(5‐hexyl‐2,2′‐bithiophene), HBantHBT, and 5′,5″‐(9,10‐bis(phenylethynyl)anthracene‐2,6‐diyl)bis(5‐hexyl‐2,2′‐bithiophene), BantHBT, are used as electron‐cascade donor materials by incorporating them into organic photovoltaic cells prepared using a poly((5,5‐E‐alpha‐((2‐thienyl)methylene)‐2‐thiopheneacetonitrile)‐alt‐2,6‐[(1,5‐didecyloxy)naphthalene])) (PBTADN):[6,6]‐phenyl‐C71‐butyric acid methyl ester (PC₇₁BM) blend. The small molecules penetrate the PBTADN:PC₇₁BM blend layer to yield complementary absorption spectra through appropriate energy level alignment and optimal domain sizes for charge carrier transfer. A high short‐circuit current (J_SC) and fill factor (FF) are obtained using solar cells prepared with the ternary blend. The highest photovoltaic performance of the PBTADN: BantHBT :PC₇₁BM blend solar cells is characterized by a J_SC of 11.0 mA cm^?2, an open circuit voltage (V_OC) of 0.91 V, a FF of 56.4%, and a power conversion efficiency (PCE) of 5.6% under AM1.5G illumination (with a high intensity of 100 mW^?2). The effects of the small molecules on the ternary blend are investigated by comparison with the traditional poly(3‐hexylthiophene) (P3HT):[6,6]‐phenyl‐C61‐butyric acid methyl ester (PC₆₁BM) system.     

Hierarchical Metamaterials for Multispectral Camouflage of Infrared and Microwaves

Camouflage is an emerging application of metamaterials owing to their exotic electromagnetic radiative properties. Based on the use of a selective emitter and an absorber as the metamaterials, most reported articles have suggested the use of single‐band camouflage, however, multispectral camouflage is a challenging issue owing to a difference of several orders of magnitude in the unit cell structure. Herein, hierarchical metamaterials (HMMs) for multispectral signal control when dissipating the absorbed energy of microwaves through the selective emission of infrared (IR) waves from the unit cell structure of the HMM are demonstrated. Integrating an IR selective emitter (IRE) with a microwave selective absorber, multispectral signal control with the large‐sized unit cell structures of up to 10 cm are realized. With an IRE, the emissive power from the HMM toward 5–8 µm is 1570% higher than the Au surface, which is preventing the occurrence of thermal instability. Furthermore, we determine that the signature levels of targeted IR waves (8–12 µm) and microwaves (2.5–3.8 cm) are reduced by up to 95% and 99%, respectively, when applying the HMM.     

Conductive adhesive with transient liquid‐phase sintering technology for high‐power device applications

A highly reliable conductive adhesive obtained by transient liquid‐phase sintering (TLPS) technologies is studied for use in high‐power device packaging. TLPS involves the low‐temperature reaction of a low‐melting metal or alloy with a high‐melting metal or alloy to form a reacted metal matrix. For a TLPS material (consisting of Ag‐coated Cu, a Sn96.5‐Ag3.0‐Cu0.5 solder, and a volatile fluxing resin) used herein, the melting temperature of the metal matrix exceeds the bonding temperature. After bonding of the TLPS material, a unique melting peak of TLPS is observed at 356 °C, consistent with the transient behavior of Ag₃Sn + Cu₆Sn₅ → liquid + Cu₃Sn reported by the National Institute of Standards and Technology. The TLPS material shows superior thermal conductivity as compared with other commercially available Ag pastes under the same specimen preparation conditions. In conclusion, the TLPS material can be a promising candidate for a highly reliable conductive adhesive in power device packaging because remelting of the SAC305 solder, which is widely used in conventional power modules, is not observed.     

Representations of finite fields and the Naini-Seberry partitioning problem

Safavi-Naini and Seberry suggested a subliminal channel based on partitioning a set /spl Gamma/ of the generator matrices of error-correcting codes. We give a systematic procedure to partition /spl Gamma/ into E/sub i/'s with |E/sub i/|=2/sup m/ for any m, which is more efficient than the method in Yang, C-N et al., (1997).     

Enhanced Optical Properties and Stability of CsPbBr3 Nanocrystals Through Nickel Doping

To improve the quantum efficiency and stability of perovskite quantum dots, the structural and optical properties are optimized by varying the concentration of Ni doping in CsPbBr₃ perovskite nanocrystals (PNCs). As Ni doping is gradually added, a blue shift is observed at the photoluminescence (PL) spectra. Ni-doped PNCs exhibit stronger light emission, higher quantum efficiency, and longer lifetimes than undoped PNCs. The doped divalent element acts as a defect in the perovskite structure, reducing the recombination rate of electrons and holes. A stability test is used to assess the susceptibility of the perovskite to light and moisture. For ultra-violet light irradiation, the PL intensity of undoped PNCs decreases by 70%, whereas that of Ni-doped PNCs decreases by 18%. In the water addition experiment, the PL intensity of Ni-doped PNCs is three times that of undoped PNCs. For CsPbBr₃ and Ni:CsPbBr₃ PNCs, a light emitting diode is fabricated by spin-coating. The efficiency of Ni:CsPbBr₃ exceeds that of CsPbBr₃ PNCs, and the results significantly differ based on the ratio. A maximum luminance of 833 cd m^–2 is obtained at optimum efficiency (0.3 cd A^–1). Therefore, Ni-doped PNCs are expected to contribute to future performance improvements in display devices.     

Immunoregulation of Macrophages by Controlling Winding and Unwinding of Nanohelical Ligands

Developing materials with the capability of changing their innate features can help to unravel direct interactions between cells and ligand-displaying features. This study demonstrates the grafting of magnetic nanohelices displaying cell-adhesive Arg-Gly-Asp (RGD) ligand partly to a material surface. These enable nanoscale control of rapid winding (“W”) and unwinding (“UW”) of their nongrafted portion, such as directional changes in nanohelix unwinding (lower, middle, and upper directions) by changing the position of a permanent magnet while keeping the ligand-conjugated nanohelix surface area constant. The unwinding (“UW”) setting cytocompatibility facilitates direct integrin recruitment onto the ligand-conjugated nanohelix to mediate the development of paxillin adhesion assemblies of macrophages that stimulate M2 polarization using glass and silicon substrates for in vitro and in vivo settings, respectively, at a single cell level. Real time and in vivo imaging are demonstrated that nanohelices exhibit reversible unwinding, winding, and unwinding settings, which modulate time-resolved adhesion and polarization of macrophages. It is envisaged that this remote, reversible, and cytocompatible control can help to elucidate molecular-level cell–material interactions that modulate regenerative/anti-inflammatory immune responses to implants.     

HV‐SoP Technology for Maskless Fine‐Pitch Bumping Process

Recently, we have witnessed the gradual miniaturization of electronic devices. In miniaturized devices, flip‐chip bonding has become a necessity over other bonding methods. For the electrical connections in miniaturized devices, fine‐pitch solder bumping has been widely studied. In this study, high‐volume solder‐on‐pad (HV‐SoP) technology was developed using a novel maskless printing method. For the new SoP process, we used a special material called a solder bump maker (SBM). Using an SBM, which consists of resin and solder powder, uniform bumps can easily be made without a mask. To optimize the height of solder bumps, various conditions such as the mask design, oxygen concentration, and processing method are controlled. In this study, a double printing method, which is a modification of a general single printing method, is suggested. The average, maximum, and minimum obtained heights of solder bumps are 28.3 μm, 31.7 μm, and 26.3 μm, respectively. It is expected that the HV‐SoP process will reduce the costs for solder bumping and will be used for electrical interconnections in fine‐pitch flip‐chip bonding.     

Automatic Contrast Enhancement by Transfer Function Modification

In this study, we propose an automatic contrast enhancement method based on transfer function modification (TFM) by histogram equalization. Previous histogram‐based global contrast enhancement techniques employ histogram modification, whereas we propose a direct TFM technique that considers the mean brightness of an image during contrast enhancement. The mean point shifting method using a transfer function is proposed to preserve the mean brightness of an image. In addition, the linearization of transfer function technique, which has a histogram flattening effect, is designed to reduce visual artifacts. An attenuation factor is automatically determined using the maximum value of the probability density function in an image to control its rate of contrast. A new quantitative measurement method called sparsity of a histogram is proposed to obtain a better objective comparison relative to previous global contrast enhancement methods. According to our experimental results, we demonstrated the performance of our proposed method based on generalized measures and the newly proposed measurement.