Characterization of polymer-adhesive interfaces on a nanometre scale by elemental mapping and image EELS using EFTEM

Energy-filtering transmission electron microscopy (EFTEM) was applied for investigating interfaces between a polymer and an adhesive. The sample employed in this work is polybutylene terephtharate (PBT) sheets laminated with an epoxy adhesive. It was found that heat aging of the PBT at 180 degrees C in air for > 9 h prior to adhesion decreases the adhesion strength drastically. To investigate this unfavourable aging effect on the adhesion strength, we performed elemental mapping and image EELS using EFTEM. A weak boundary layer with a thickness of < 50 nm was visualized at the PBT-adhesive interface by elemental mapping in the sample subjected to the heat aging and image EELS revealed the origin of this layer. Thus, we clearly correlated the nanoscale interfacial structure with the adhesion strength by EFTEM.     

A 150 ns 16-Mb CMOS SRAM with interdigitated bit-line architecture

Circuit techniques for a reduced-voltage-amplitude data bus, fast access 16-Mb CMOS SRAM are described. An interdigitated bit-line architecture reduces data bus line length, thus minimizing bus capacitance. A hierarchical sense amplifier consists of 32 local sense amplifiers and a current sense amplifier. The current sense amplifier is used to reduce the data bus voltage amplitude and the sensing of the 16-b data bus signals in parallel. Access time of 15 ns and an active power of 165 mW were achieved in a 16-Mb CMOS SRAM. A split-word-line layout memory cell with double-gate pMOS thin-film transistors (TFTs) keeps the transistor width stable while providing high-stability memory cell characteristics. The double-gate pMOS TFT also increases cell-storage node capacitance and soft-error immunity     

Real-Time Amplitude and Phase Imaging of Optically Opaque Objects by Combining Full-Field Off-Axis Terahertz Digital Holography with Angular Spectrum Reconstruction

Terahertz digital holography (THz-DH) has the potential to be used for non-destructive inspection of visibly opaque soft materials due to its good immunity to optical scattering and absorption. Although previous research on full-field off-axis THz-DH has usually been performed using Fresnel diffraction reconstruction, its minimum reconstruction distance occasionally prevents a sample from being placed near a THz imager to increase the signal-to-noise ratio in the hologram. In this article, we apply the angular spectrum method (ASM) for wavefront reconstruction in full-filed off-axis THz-DH because ASM is more accurate at short reconstruction distances. We demonstrate real-time phase imaging of a visibly opaque plastic sample with a phase resolution power of λ/49 at a frame rate of 3.5 Hz in addition to real-time amplitude imaging. We also perform digital focusing of the amplitude image for the same object with a depth selectivity of 447 μm. Furthermore, 3D imaging of visibly opaque silicon objects was achieved with a depth precision of 1.7 μm. The demonstrated results indicate the high potential of the proposed method for in-line or in-process non-destructive inspection of soft materials.     

Feasibility study on cellular network analysis with patterned cell culture microdevice

In order to realize cellular network analysis on a chip-based system, our group has been developing a patterned cell culture microdevice with pillars in an array for tapping cells into space surrounded by the pillars. The pillar structures has advantages to trap both adhesive and non-adhesive cells and to precisely control positions of cells and distances between cells for understanding effects of various cell patterns on functions of a cellular network such as cell proliferation, differentiation, and network formation. In this paper, HeLa cell cultivation with the patterned cell culture microdevice having a pillar array fabricated by dry film of thick negative photoresist SU-8 on a glass substrate was executed as a feasibility study on a cellular network analysis. The results revealed that the device performance was found to be enough to culture HeLa cells for more than 48 h. In addition, relative extensibility of blocks of multiple cells compared with single cells tapped on the device was observed. Thus, the patterned cell culture microdevice proposed here could be applicable to analysis of cellular functions.     

Timing-Error-Detecting Dual-Edge-Triggered Flip-Flop

This paper presents a construction of timing-error-detecting dual-edge-triggered flip-flops (DET-FFs). The proposed FF is based on a conventional DET-FF and a conventional timing error detection method. While the conventional timing error detection uses a transition detector with relatively large area, the proposed FF uses internal signals in a DET-FF as as an alternative to the transition detector. This paper also shows an evaluation result indicating that the proposed FF has smaller area overhead than the simple combination of the conventional DET-FF and timing error detection methods.     

Modification of physicochemical properties of actin filaments suppresses cell fragmentation in the execution phase of staurosporine-induced apoptotic processes

Effects of jasplakinolide (JSP), a stabilizer of F-actin, and latrunculin A (LTA), a destabilizer of F-actin, on a series of events occurring in the execution phase of staurosporine (STS)-induced apoptotic processes were studied using human osteosarcoma 143B cells. Time-dependent apparent increases of the population of cells with collapsed membrane potential of mitochondria (Delta Psi(m)) caused by STS treatment were not due to actual decreases in the Delta Psi(m) per cell, but due to the fragmentation of cells resulting in decreases in the number of active mitochondria per cell. Decreases in the Delta Psi(m) in fragmented cells occurred late in the execution phase. Both JSP and LAT failed to prevent STS-induced release of cytochrome c from mitochondria followed by the activation of caspases 3 and 9, the cleavage of poly (ADP-ribose) polymerase (PARP) and apoptotic nuclear fragmentation. However, both drugs prevented STS-induced apoptotic cell fragmentation and decreases in the Delta Psi(m). These results indicate that physicochemical states of actin filaments play a certain role in the execution phase of STS-induced apoptotic processes.     

BEOL工艺统合Integration--low-k Dual/Damascene的形成

1简介 当前,从成膜方法来讲,ILD loW-k材料大致上分为两类:一类是以SiCOH为代表的CVD(化学气相淀积)膜,另一类是SOD(旋转涂层)膜,它包括有机的、无机的和SiCOH.     

Contact-Barrier Free,High Mobility,Dual-Gated Junctionless Transistor Using Tellurium Nanowire

The gate-all-around nanowire transistor, due to its extremely tight electrostatic control and vertical integration capability, is a highly promising candidate for sub-5 nm technology nodes. In particular, the junctionless nanowire transistors are highly scalable with reduced variability due to avoidance of steep source/drain junction formation by ion implantation. Here a dual-gated junctionless nanowire p-type field effect transistor is demonstrated using tellurium nanowire as the channel. The dangling-bond-free surface due to the unique helical crystal structure of the nanowire, coupled with an integration of dangling-bond-free, high quality hBN gate dielectric, allows for a phonon-limited field effect hole mobility of 570 cm² V⁻¹ s⁻¹ at 270 K, which is well above state-of-the-art strained Si hole mobility. By lowering the temperature, the mobility increases to 1390 cm² V⁻¹ s⁻¹ and becomes primarily limited by Coulomb scattering. The combination of an electron affinity of ≈ 4 eV and a small bandgap of tellurium provides zero Schottky barrier height for hole injection at the metal-contact interface, which is remarkable for reduction of contact resistance in a highly scaled transistor. Exploiting these properties, coupled with the dual-gated operation, we achieve a high drive current of 216 μA μm⁻¹ while maintaining an on-off ratio in excess of 2 × 10⁴. The findings have intriguing prospects for alternate channel material based next-generation electronics.