Inorganic Polymer Micropillar‐Based Solution Shearing of Large‐Area Organic Semiconductor Thin Films with Pillar‐Size‐Dependent Crystal Size

It is demonstrated that the crystal size of small‐molecule organic semiconductors can be controlled during solution shearing by tuning the shape and dimensions of the micropillars on the blade. Increasing the size and spacing of the rectangular pillars increases the crystal size, resulting in higher thin‐film mobility. This phenomenon is attributed as the microstructure changing the degree and density of the meniscus line curvature, thereby controlling the nucleation process. The use of allylhybridpolycarbosilane (AHPCS), an inorganic polymer, is also demonstrated as the microstructured blade for solution shearing, which has high resistance to organic solvents, can easily be microstructured via molding, and is flexible and durable. Finally, it is shown that solution shearing can be performed on a curved surface using a curved blade. These demonstrations bring solution shearing closer to industrial applications and expand its applicability to various printed flexible electronics.     

Mechanical property of magnesium alloy sheet with hardening deterioration at warm temperatures and its application for failure analysis: Part I - property characterization

The mechanical property of a thin AZ31B Mg alloy sheet (with the thickness of 0.5 mm) was characterized for its anisotropy, temperature-dependent hardening (including its deterioration) and strain rate sensitivity based on simple tension test data measured at 100 °C, 150 °C, 200 °C, 250 °C, respectively, in Part I. As for anisotropy, simple tension tests were performed along three (rolling, transverse and in-between) directions to calibrate the Hill1948 yield function. As for temperature-dependent hardening, the common practice is to characterize hardening only up to the uniform elongation limit and to extrapolate the data to cover the range beyond its limit. In this work, hardening as well as its deterioration (or softening) behavior observed beyond the uniform elongation limit was numerically characterized based on the inverse calibration method, in which strain rate sensitivity was also considered. The mechanical properties were confirmed to properly predict failure by strain localization for all the simple tension tests involved in the characterization procedure. Ultimately, the mechanical properties characterized in Part I were applied in Part II to analyze the failure by strain localization in the cross-shaped cup drawing tests developed as the benchmark problem for the NUMISHEET2011 conference [1].     

Crystallization of amorphous‐Si using nanosecond laser interference method

Laser crystallization of a 50‐nm thick amorphous‐Si (a‐Si) thin film on glass substrate was examined by a Nd:YAG (λ = 1064 nm) nanosecond laser and a two‐beam laser interference method. In spite of the low absorption rate of the laser wavelength in the a‐Si, crystallized Si ripple patterns were observed following a single laser pulse irradiation. The atomic force microscope (AFM) measurement revealed that surface ripple arrays are protruded as high as 120 nm at the positions corresponding to the maximum laser intensity and the ripples are composed of narrow double peaks with a separation of 1 μm. Raman image mapping was used to plot the spatial distribution of the crystallized Si phase. It was found that a 1064‐nm‐wavelength nanosecond laser could crystallize an a‐Si thin film into polycrystalline‐Si (poly‐Si) by nonlinear absorption under high laser energy irradiation.     

Integrated gate driver circuit technology with IGZO TFT for sensing operation

In this paper, we propose a new integrated gate driver circuit for random sensing operation of external compensated organic light‐emitting diode (OLED) display using oxide thin‐film transistor (TFT). Using this technology, we successfully launched 55‐inch and 65‐inch ultrahigh definition OLED TVs with gate in panel (GIP) circuit. The structure of the existing OLED TVs implemented gate signals through the gate integrated circuits (ICs) attached to the left and right sides of the panel. The structure using the gate IC was inferior to the panel structure using the GIP in terms of process and product design and cost. Thus, we propose a new oxide GIP circuit for OLED TV. Like the previous gate IC model, the proposed GIP circuit successfully implemented the random sensing function during the display operation. This GIP circuit is also designed to overcome the problems caused by the negative Vth characteristics of the oxide device.     

Three Birds,One‐Stone Strategy for Hybrid Microwave Synthesis of Ta and Sn Codoped Fe2O3@FeTaO4 Nanorods for Photo‐Electrochemical Water Oxidation

A “three birds, one stone” strategy is proposed to enhance the performance of hematite photoanode for photoelectrochemical water splitting. One‐pot hybrid microwave synthesis of Ta and Sn codoped Fe₂O₃@FeTaO₄ core–shell nanorods on F:SnO₂ substrate achieves three synergetic effects simultaneously: i) core–shell heterojunction formation to alleviate the significant electron–hole recombination; ii) preserved morphology of small‐diameter nanorods to provide a short hole diffusion distance; and iii) Ta and Sn codoping to enhance the electrical conductivity. These effects are not possible with conventional high temperature thermal synthesis in a furnace. As a result, core–shell Fe₂O₃@FeTaO₄ electrode with FeOOH cocatalyst achieves a photocurrent density of 2.86 mA cm^?2 at 1.23 V_RHE under AM 1.5 G simulated sunlight (100 mW cm^?2), which is ≈2.4 times higher than that of bare hematite (1.17 mA cm^?2). In addition, the FeOOH/Fe₂O₃@FeTaO₄ electrode exhibits a high surface charge separation efficiency of ≈85% and a modest bulk charge separation efficiency of ≈24%.     

Real‐Time Human Shadow Removal in a Front Projection System

When a person is located between a display and an operating projector, a shadow is cast on the display. The shadow on the display may eliminate important visual information and therefore adversely affect the viewing experiences. There have been various attempts to remove the human shadow cast on a projection display by using multiple projectors. While previous approaches successfully removed the shadow region when a person moderately moves around or stands stationary in front of the display, there is still an afterimage effect due to the lack of consideration of the limb motion of the person. We propose a new real‐time approach to removing the shadow cast by a person who dynamically interacts with the display, making limb motions in a front projection system. The proposed method utilizes a human skeleton obtained from a depth camera to track the posture of the person which changes over time. A model that consists of spheres and conical frustums is constructed based on the skeleton information in order to represent volumetric information of the person being tracked. Our method precisely estimates the shadow region by projecting the volumetric model onto the display. In addition, employment of intensity masks that are built based on a distance field helps suppress the afterimage of the shadow that appears when the person moves abruptly. It also helps blend the projected overlapping images from different projectors and show one smoothly combined display. The experiment results verify that our approach removes the shadow of a person effectively in a front projection environment and is fast enough to achieve real‐time performance.     

Preparation of high‐molecular‐weight poly(N‐vinylcarbazole) by the photoinduced low‐temperature solution polymerization of N‐vinylcarbazole in 1,1,2,2‐tetrachloroethane

For the preparation of high‐molecular‐weight (HMW) poly(N‐vinylcarbazole) (PVCZ) with a narrow molecular weight distribution, N‐vinylcarbazole (VCZ) was solution‐polymerized in 1,1,2,2‐tetrachloroethane (TCE) at ?20, 0, and 20°C with photoinitiation. The effects of the polymerization temperature and the concentrations of the polymerization solvent and photoinitiator on the polymerization behavior and molecular parameters of PVCZ were investigated. A low polymerization temperature with photoirradiation was successful in obtaining HMW PVCZ with a smaller temperature rise during polymerization than that for thermal free‐radical polymerization by azobisisobutyronitrile (AIBN). The photo‐solution‐polymerization rate of VCZ in TCE was proportional to [AIBN]^0.45. The molecular weight was higher and the molecular weight distribution was narrower for PVCZ made at lower temperatures. For PVCZ prepared in TCE at ?20°C with a photoinitiator concentration of 0.00003 mol/mol of VCZ, a weight‐average molecular weight of 920,000 was obtained, with a polydispersity index of 1.46, and the degree of transparency converged to about 99%. © 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 89: 2391–2396, 2003     

Surface modification with waterborne fluorinated anionic polyurethane dispersions

Waterborne fluorinated anionic polyurethane dispersions (FAPUDs) were synthesized from tris(6‐isocyanatohexyl) isocyanurate, N‐ethyl‐N‐2‐hydroxyethyl‐perfluorooctanesulfonamide, poly(oxytetramethylene glycol) (PTMG), dimethylolpropionic acid (DMPA), hexamethylene diisocyanate, 1,4‐butanediol, and two different neutralizing agents (triethylamine and sodium carbonate). Waterborne polyurethane dispersions (PUDs) were synthesized from isophorone diisocyanate, PTMG, DMPA, and ethylenediamine as chain extenders. The particle size of the FAPUDs, based on the fluorine content and degree of neutralization (DN), was measured with dynamic light scattering. So that the surface modification and morphology variations of the PUDs through the addition of the FAPUDs could be observed, the surface energy and thermal properties of the blending films [fluorine PUD mixtures (FPMs)] were measured with contact‐angle analysis and differential scanning calorimetry. The particle size of the FAPUDs increased as the fluorine content in the FAPUDs increased and decreased as the DN increased. The surface energy of the FPM films made from the blending of the FAPUD T series (neutralization with triethylamine) gradually decreased above the critical fluorine concentration (0.02797 wt %). However, for the blending of the FAPUD 25Na series (neutralization with sodium carbonate), the surface energy increased above the critical fluorine concentration (0.02797 wt %) because of the increase in Na salts. The FAPUDs showed the native thermal behavior of the fluorine. However, the thermal properties of the blending films were like those of pure PUDs. This showed that the morphology of the PUDs was rarely unchanged when the FAPUDs were added. © 2002 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 86: 3322–3330, 2002