Strength and fracture analysis of silicon-based components for embedding

Single-crystalline silicon chips are widely employed in printed circuit boards (PCBs) as embedded components. Their design often requires one side patterned with metal contacts, whereas the opposite one is constituted by pure silicon. These components must possess a minimum strength to withstand the loads occurring during both production and operation of the board. In this work, the strength and fracture behaviour of miniaturised Si chips (dimensions: 2 mm × 2 mm × 0.125 mm) has been assessed under biaxial loading on both the pure silicon side and the metal-patterned side by means of a miniaturised ball-on-three-balls (B3B) fixture. Experimental results showed significant difference in the characteristic fracture load between the silicon-side (P₀ = 21.2 N, Weibull modulus m ≈ 2.6) and the metal-patterned side (P₀ = 8.6 N, m ≈ 12.3). Fracture mechanics and fractographic analyses, together with FE simulations of the loading process, helped clarifying the effect of the metal contacts on the overall fracture behaviour of the Si-chips.     

Specific Polyphenols and Tannins are Associated with Defense Against Insect Herbivores in the Tropical Oak Quercus oleoides

The role of plant polyphenols as defenses against insect herbivores is controversial. We combined correlative field studies across three geographic regions (Northern Mexico, Southern Mexico, and Costa Rica) with induction experiments under controlled conditions to search for candidate compounds that might play a defensive role in the foliage of the tropical oak, Quercus oleoides. We quantified leaf damage caused by four herbivore guilds (chewers, skeletonizers, leaf miners, and gall forming insects) and analyzed the content of 18 polyphenols (including hydrolyzable tannins, flavan-3-ols, and flavonol glycosides) in the same set of leaves using high performance liquid chromatography and mass spectrometry. Foliar damage ranged from two to eight percent per region, and nearly 90% of all the damage was caused by chewing herbivores. Damage due to chewing herbivores was positively correlated with acutissimin B, catechin, and catechin dimer, and damage by mining herbivores was positively correlated with mongolinin A. By contrast, gall presence was negatively correlated with vescalagin and acutissimin B. By using redundancy analysis, we searched for the combinations of polyphenols that were associated to natural herbivory: the combination of mongolinin A and acutissimin B had the highest association to herbivory. In a common garden experiment with oak saplings, artificial damage increased the content of acutissimin B, mongolinin A, and vescalagin, whereas the content of catechin decreased. Specific polyphenols, either individually or in combination, rather than total polyphenols, were associated with standing leaf damage in this tropical oak. Future studies aimed at understanding the ecological role of polyphenols can use similar correlative studies to identify candidate compounds that could be used individually and in biologically meaningful combinations in tests with herbivores and pathogens.     

Continuous salt precipitation and separation from supercritical water. Part 2. Type 2 salts and mixtures of two salts

Using a continuously operated laboratory plant for the catalytic hydrothermal gasification of biomass featuring a supercritical water salt separator we investigated the separation performance of three different binary type 2 salt-water mixtures and three ternary salt-water mixtures that consisted either of two type 1 salts or two type 2 salts dissolved in water. It turned out that a concentrated salt brine could not be recovered at the salt separator for the binary type 2 salt-water mixtures of Na₂CO₃, Na₂SO₄, and K₂SO₄. These salts precipitate as solids from supercritical water and thus lead to salt deposits inside the salt separator vessel.The ternary mixtures of two type 1 salts dissolved in water (KH₂PO₄-K₂HPO₄-H₂O and three different mixtures of NaNO₃-K₂CO₃-water) exhibited a separation performance similar to the binary solutions of type 1 salts that were discussed in Part 1 of this article. However, the mixtures showed separation performances that were different from the corresponding single salt solutions.It was also possible to recover a concentrated brine when feeding solutions containing the two type 2 salts Na₂CO₃ and K₂SO₄. For these mixtures a certain amount of the type 1 salt K₂CO₃ might form in supercritical water leading to salt separation efficiencies up to 95% for these mixtures.     

Pulsed flow for enhanced cleaning in food processing

The use of slow (～1 Hz) flow oscillation imposed on a stationary flow of liquid has been shown to enhance shear stresses imposed on a surface and to mitigate fouling or enhance cleaning. Examples of the application of pulsed flow are presented in this paper. A new measuring technique in combination with tailored CFD simulations was developed for monitoring the cleaning of complex piping equipment with pulsed flow. A time-independent and isotropic approach to model the wall shear stress is introduced. The optical monitoring procedure uses a model food soil consisting of starch as matrix material and phosphorescent zinc sulfide crystals as optical tracer. Investigations of pulsed flow cleaning published prior to this work focused on tests with straight pipes, whereas difficulties in industrial cleaning operations more often arise while operating piping systems and plant components with complex geometries. Therefore cleaning experiments were performed in a CIP test rig simulating industrial cleaning processes. The results with pulsed flow show an enhancement of cleaning efficiency at locations difficult to access using stationary flow.     

Influence of hydrogen contamination by mercury on the lifetime of the PEM-type fuel cell

The subject of this study is the influence of traces of mercury present in the hydrogen originating e.g. from the amalgam technology of brine electrolysis on the lifetime of PEM-type fuel cell. Accelerated tests were used in order to record deterioration of laboratory fuel cells’ performance. The power output decrease observed was only partly reversible. As was proven by XPS spectroscopy, the cell performance deterioration originates from the interaction between mercury and the platinum catalyst. The lifetime of the fuel cell was assessed on the basis of the experiments performed as 7000 h for an average mercury concentration in the hydrogen of 10 μg N m⁻³. This is a sufficient value to permit utilization of the hydrogen from this source as a fuel for the fuel cell. It should be kept in the mind, however, that this value was obtained on the basis of the accelerated durability tests.     

Marketing Netcoatings for Aquaculture

Unsustainable harvesting of natural fish stocks is driving an ever growing marine aquaculture industry. Part of the aquaculture support industry is net suppliers who provide producers with nets used in confining fish while they are grown to market size. Biofouling must be addressed in marine environments to ensure maximum product growth by maintaining water flow and waste removal through the nets. Biofouling is managed with copper and organic biocide based net coatings. The aquaculture industry provides a case study for business issues related to entry of improved fouling management technology into the marketplace. Several major hurdles hinder entry of improved novel technologies into the market. The first hurdle is due to the structure of business relationships. Net suppliers can actually cut their business profits dramatically by introducing improved technologies. A second major hurdle is financial costs of registration and demonstration of efficacy and quality product with a new technology. Costs of registration are prohibitive if only the net coatings market is involved. Demonstration of quality product requires collaboration and a team approach between formulators, net suppliers and farmers. An alternative solution is a vertically integrated business model in which the support business and product production business are part of the same company.     

Algebraic Coding and Digital Redundancy

The techniques of coding theory are used to improve the reliability of digital devices. Redundancy is added to the device by the addition of extra digits which are independently computed from the input digits. A decoding device examines the original outputs along with the redundant outputs. The decoder may correct any errors it detects, not correct but locate the defective logic gate or subsystem, or only issue a general error warning. Majority voting and parity bit checking are introduced, and computations are made for several binary addition circuits. A detailed summary of coding theory is presented. This includes a discussion of algebraic codes, binary group codes, nonbinary linear codes, and error locating codes.     

Ternary-Responsive Field-Effect Transistors and Multilevel Memories Based on Asymmetrically Functionalized Janus Few-Layer WSe2

Hybrids composed of 2D transition metal dichalcogenides with stimuli-responsive molecules are prototypical components for the development of multifunctional field-effect transistors (FETs), whose output currents can be remotely controlled by external inputs. Herein, ternary-responsive FETs based on a few-layer WSe₂ are realized by decorating the two opposite surfaces of the 2D semiconductor with different stimuli-responsive molecules in an asymmetric fashion: the bottom surface is interfaced with a photochromic diarylethene film and the top surface with a ferroelectric poly(vinylidene fluoride–trifluoroethylene) layer. This novel Janus ternary device architecture shows superior functional complexity compared with normal mono-stimuli-responsive FETs. The synergy between the two molecularly induced effects enables the devices to respond orthogonally to an electric field and light irradiation, with an enhanced output current modulation efficiency of 87%. The 9 ferroelectric and 84 photo-generated states ensure 756 current levels in a single device. The over 10 cycles of cyclic endurance and more than 1000 h of retention time confirm the reliability of each state, implementing the demand for high-density non-volatile memories, as well as enriching the diversification in “More than Moore” technologies.     

Reduced and selective integration techniques in the finite element analysis of plates

Efforts to develop effective plate bending finite elements by reduced integration techniques are described. The basis for the development is a ‘thick’ plate theory in which transverse shear strains are accounted for. The variables in the theory are all kinematic, namely, displacements and independent rotations. As only C⁰ continuity is required, isoparametric elements may be employed, which result in several advantages over thin plate elements. It is shown that the avoidance of shear ‘locking’ may be facilitated by reduced integration techniques. Both uniform and selective schemes are considered. Conditions under which selective schemes are invariant are identified, and they are found to have an advantage over uniform schemes in the present situation. It is pointed out that the present elements are not subject to the difficulties encountered by thin plate theory elements, concerning boundary conditions. For example, the polygonal approximation of curved, simply-supported edges is convergent. Other topics discussed are the equivalence with mixed methods, rank deficiency, convergence criteria and useful mass ‘lumping’ schemes for dynamics. Numerical results for several thin plate problems indicate the high degree of accuracy attainable by the present elements.     

Strategies for stereocontrol at C1 or C2 in syntheses of α-glucosaminides

The C1 and C2 stereocenters of α-glucosaminides can be prepared by establishing the stereocenters in either order. For the former, a C2-azido glucosyl donor is prepared first, and the restraining effect of a 4,6-O-benzylidene ring is used to induce α-coupling. For the latter, the C1 linkage is prepared first by use of an n-pentenyl-manno-1,2-orthoester donor which ensures (a) clean α-coupling and (b) a convenient C2-ester. The C2-ester is replaced with a triflate leaving group, and nucleophilic displacement is effected by use of a hypervalent silicon azide.