The effect of barrier layers on the distribution function of interconnect electromigration failures

Electromigration data after stressing narrow lines with or without a TiW layer underneath have been analysed. The difference between the failure morphology and the failure time distributions is explained and a new statistical failure model is derived to explain the differences in electromigration observations.     

Principal component transform — Outer product analysis in the PCA context

Outer product analysis is a method that permits the combination of two spectral domains with the aim of emphasizing co-evolutions of spectral regions. This data fusion technique consists in the product of all combinations of the variables that define each spectral domain. The main issue concerning the application of this technique is the very wide data matrix obtained which can be very hard to handle with multivariate techniques such as PCA or PLS, due to computer resources constraints. The present work presents an alternative way to perform outer product analysis in the PCA context without incurring into high demands on computational resources. This works shows that by decomposing each spectral domain with PCA and performing the outer product on the recovered scores, one can obtain the same results as if one calculated the outer product in the original variable space, but using much less computational resources. The results show that this approach will make possible to apply outer product analysis to very wide domains.     

Synthesis of spherical core‐shell poly(vinyl acetate)/poly(vinyl alcohol) particles for use in vascular embolization: Study of morphological and molecular modifications during shell formation

Transarterial vascular embolization and chemoembolization has become common medical procedures, where partially hydrolyzed poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA) beads remains as one of the most used embolic agent materials. Although synthetic, PVA cannot be synthesized by direct polymerization and must be obtained by chemical modification of another polymer, usually poly(vinyl acetate) (PVAc). The aim of the present work is to synthesize spherical core‐shell PVAc/PVA particles and study the morphological and molecular modifications during shell formation. The polymer particles where produced in two stages, where first the PVAc core was obtained by suspension polymerization of vinyl acetate (VAc) and then the PVA shell synthesized through hydrolysis. Spherical PVAc particles were successfully produced and isolated using an optimized suspension polymerization process. During the shell formation, it was shown that none of the conditions used affected the overall morphology of the particles although changes in the final size distribution could be observed. However, it was possible to identify the process variables and reaction condition that affect the molecular weight averages and polydispersities of the final copolymer. POLYM. ENG. SCI., 55:2237–2244, 2015. © 2015 Society of Plastics Engineers     

Improvement of mechanical performance of epoxy resins filled with cobalt and chromium powders

Epoxy/ powder metal composites have interesting electrical properties, becoming conductors above the percolation threshold. To complete this study, mechanical investigations have been carried out to show the influence of the fillers on the mechanical performance of these composites. In this framework, different epoxy/metallic powders (Cobalt, Chromium) composites were prepared. Scanning Electron Microscopy showed that the dispersion of the metallic fillers in the matrix is almost homogeneous. The dynamic mechanical thermal analysis (DMTA) measurements showed the dependence of the viscoelastic parameters with the frequency, temperature, nature, and content of fillers. The main relaxations observed are the primary α relaxation (associated to the glass transition, T_g) and a secondary β relaxation. A second DMTA run on the same samples showed a slight increase of the T_g. It clearly showed that the used metallic fillers improve the mechanical properties of the obtained composites. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci, 2010     

Comparison of real‐time methods for maximizing power output in microbial fuel cells

Microbial fuel cells (MFCs) constitute a novel power generation technology that converts organic waste to electrical energy using microbially catalyzed electrochemical reactions. Since the power output of MFCs changes considerably with varying operating conditions, the online optimization of electrical load (i.e., external resistance) is extremely important for maintaining a stable MFC performance. The application of several real‐time optimization methods is presented, such as the perturbation and observation method, the gradient method, and the recently proposed multiunit method, for maximizing power output of MFCs by varying the external resistance. Experiments were carried out in two similar MFCs fed with acetate. Variations in substrate concentration and temperature were introduced to study the performance of each optimization method in the face of disturbances unknown to the algorithms. Experimental results were used to discuss advantages and limitations of each optimization method. © 2010 American Institute of Chemical Engineers AIChE J, 2010     

Physicochemical Properties of Garden Cress (<Emphasis Type="Italic">Lepidium sativum</Emphasis> L.) Seed Oil

Garden cress (Lepidium sativum L.) is an edible, underutilised herb, grown mainly for its seeds in India. Physicochemical properties, minor components (unsaponifiable matter, tocopherols, carotenoids), fatty acid composition and storage stability of garden cress seed oil (GCO) were studied. Cold press, solvent and supercritical CO₂ extraction methods were employed to extract the oil. The total oil content of garden cress (GC) seeds was 21.54, 18.15 and 12.60% respectively by solvent, supercritical CO₂ and cold press methods. The physical properties of GCO extracted by the above methods were similar in terms of refractive index, specific gravity and viscosity. However, cold pressed oil showed low PV and FFA compared to the oil extracted by other methods. α-Linolenic acid (34%) was the major fatty acid in GCO followed by oleic (22%), linoleic (11.8%), eicosanoic (12%), palmitic (10.1%) erucic (4.4%), arachidic (3.4%) and stearic acids (2.9%). Oleic acid (39.9%) and α-linolenic acid (42.1%) were the predominant fatty acids at the sn-2 position. The total tocopherol and carotenoid content of GCO was 327.42 and 1.0 μmol/100 g oil, respectively. The oil was stable up to 4 months at 4 °C. Tocopherol and BHT offered the least protection, while ascorbyl palmitate (200 ppm) offered the maximum protection to the oil, when subjected to the accelerated oxidative stability test. Thus GCO can be considered as a fairly stable oil with a high content of α-linolenic acid.     

Passive behavior of magnesium alloys (Mg-Zr) containing rare-earth elements in alkaline media

The passive behavior of magnesium alloys ZK31, EZ33 and WE54 was studied in alkaline media (NaOH - pH 13) in the presence and absence of chloride ions. The electrochemical properties were investigated by potentiodynamic polarization, electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) and capacitance measurements.X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and atomic force microscopy (AFM) were employed for the study of the chemical composition and surface morphology of the surface films, respectively.The electrochemical impedance results revealed that the film formed on the surface of the three alloys is characterized by an increasing resistance, which stabilized with time. In the absence of chloride the film resistance was identical for all the three alloys. However, in the presence of chloride, the resistance of the film formed on the EZ33 alloy dropped nearly one order of magnitude comparatively to the other alloys. Generally, in the presence of chloride there was a decrease of the conductive character of the film.The films are homogeneous and, according to the XPS results, the outer layer seemed mainly composed of Mg(OH)₂ and the internal layer composed of MgO, independently of the presence of chloride. The AFM study revealed that the presence of chloride affected film morphology, namely nano-crystallites dimensions and aggregates size that increased.     

Sensory acceptability of raw and extruded bovine rumen protein in processed meat products

The use of bovine rumen protein (raw and extruded) as a replacement for extruded soy protein concentrate in three meat products (pork sausage, chicken hamburger, and kibbe) was investigated. Similarity between rumen and soy protein meat products was assessed using triangle tests and sensory acceptability evaluated by consumer panelists using a nine-point hedonic scale. The addition of raw rumen protein was detected in all meat product types tested, while extruded rumen protein was only detected in kibbe. The addition of raw rumen protein decreased the acceptability of pork sausage aroma and flavor, but improved kibbe appearance, texture and overall acceptability. The addition of extruded rumen protein reduced the acceptability of chicken hamburger texture, but improved pork sausage flavor. Replacement of soy protein by bovine rumen protein is feasible based upon sensory results, but depended upon its form and the type of meat product to which it was added.