Improvement of Heater Surface Flatness and Uniformity of TiN Film Deposition

The deposition rate and the thickness uniformity of chemical vapor deposition (CVD) titanium nitride films depend on wafer temperatures. The heater surface conditions, such as flatness, roughness, and surface imperfections, can greatly affect heat transfer efficiency from the heater surface to the wafer, and the process performance. Because heater surface imperfections or “hot spots” that caused poor uniformity had to be eliminated, the origin of “hot spots” was identified by a detailed study of heater surface profiles. A better visualization of “hot spots” could be obtained by comparing wafer-chucking patterns with deposition patterns. Thus, the time needed to locate “hot spots” could be shortened. The manufacturing process was revised to prevent “hot spots” and improve heater performance.     

Non-Newtonian Fluids in Spout-Fluid Beds: Mass Transfer Coefficient at Low Reynolds Numbers

Following on from the work of Anabtawi et al. (2003), this study examined how the volumetric liquid-phase mass transfer coefficient, k_La, of oxygen in air in three-phase spout-fluid beds was affected by varying the system parameters of bed height, bed diameter, gas velocity, and liquid velocity. The liquid used was 0.1% CMC solution, displaying a pseudo-plastic rheology, with 1.75 mm glass spheres as packing. The values of the Sherwood number were lower than in previous studies (Anabtawi et al., 2003), in the range 9,000-186,000. Gas velocity had a similar effect on k_La as in a bubble column, with results also giving good agreement with previous work on two-phase and three-phase spouted bed systems. The correlation obtained for the effect of liquid velocity on k_La compared well with that of Schumpe et al. (1989). An increase in the height of packing increased k_La to the power of 0.319, with an increase in column diameter also causing an increase in k_La, which is in agreement with the results of Akita and Yoshida (1973).     

Second harmonic generation in self-assembled ZnO microcrystallite thin films

The second-order non-linear susceptibility components were measured using 1.064 μm incident light for ZnO thin films of various thicknesses from 24.4 to 283 nm self-assembled on sapphire substrates by laser molecular beam epitaxy. It was found that the values of the non-linear susceptibility for the films are almost the same as those of bulk material, except the samples with thicknesses ranging from 35 to 64.8 nm, which show a large enhancement effect. For the sample with a thickness of 44.4 nm, the second-order non-linear susceptibility components were found to be approximately 14.7 pm/v for d₃₁, 15.2 pm/v for d₁₅, and −83.7 pm/v, a value approximately 14 times that of the bulk material, for d₃₃. The second-order non-linear coefficient enhancement in the thin films may be resulted from the microcrystallite structures.     

Thermomechanical modelling the fire properties of fibre–polymer composites

Simple-to-use models are presented in this paper for determining the residual tension, compression and flexural properties of burnt fibre reinforced polymer composite materials following a fire. The post-fire mechanical properties are calculated using analytical equations that combine the properties of the fire-damaged (i.e. char) and undamaged regions of a composite. Fire tests were performed on composites containing carbon, glass or Kevlar fibres with an epoxy, polyester, vinyl ester or phenolic resin matrix to assess the accuracy of the models. The composites were tested to a wide range of fire conditions with temperatures from 525 to 850 °C for times up to 30 min. It is found that the post-fire properties drop rapidly with increasing heat flux and duration of a fire due to the thermal degradation of the polymer matrix. It is shown that the reduction to the post-fire properties of the burnt composites can be accurately determined using the models. In almost all test cases, the agreement between the calculated and measured residual mechanical properties is within 10%.     

Determination of phenomenological constants of shear-induced particle migration model

Particles in initially well-mixed suspensions subject to inhomogeneous shear flows will migrate and establish a particle concentration gradient and a non-Newtonian velocity profile. In this study, a phenomenological diffusive flux model coupled with flow equations was employed to describe the shear-induced particle migration in a concentrated suspension. The focus of the paper is on the determination of the two phenomenological constants in the diffusive flux model k_c and k_η. They were determined inversely by employing a least square analysis on the experimental pressure data with different capillary die ratios of length to diameter of the die. The pressures and the flow patterns of the non-Newtonian concentrated suspension were predicted in terms of these two phenomenological constants. The results indicated that particle migration should be accounted for to properly characterize the rheological behaviour of concentrated suspensions.     

A study of internal friction in polypropylene (PP) filled with nanometer-scale CaCO3 particles

The internal friction and relative elastic modulus of polypropylene (PP) filled with nanometer-scale calcium carbonate (nm-CaCO₃) particles in different contents (0, 4, 7, and 15 vol.%) are measured in the temperature range 150–400 K with a torsion pendulum. The peak associated with the glass transition and a small peak (′ peak) associated with the pre-melting process in crystalline parts of PP was observed around 290 and 370 K, respectively. At temperatures lower than 270 K, no peaks were observed. With increasing content of nm-CaCO₃ particles, the apparent activation energy of the peak decreases, and after passing a minimum of 4.7 eV at 4 vol.% of nm-CaCO₃, it increases. In contrary to this behavior, the peak temperature has a maximum of 289 K at the same filler fraction. Correspondingly, the highest tensile and flexural strength of PP were obtained around this content. These observations may be understood through the influences of fillers on the degree of crystallization of PP and on the mobility of molecules of PP.     

Influence of the common varistor dopants (CoO, Cr2O3 and Nb2O5) on the structural properties of SnO2 ceramics

The influence of dopants commonly used in SnO₂ varistor ceramics, such as CoO, Cr₂O₃ or Nb₂O₅, on the structural properties of SnO₂ was investigated. Several SnO₂-based ceramics containing only one of the dopants were prepared and characterized. Spectroscopic investigations [visible, near infrared (IR) and IR region] were performed to obtain information about dopants valence states inside the ceramics, as well as about their influence on electronic structure of the material. Structural properties were investigated by X-ray diffraction analysis and mechanisms of dopant incorporation were proposed. Obtained results were confirmed with results of the electrical measurements. Microstructural changes in doped ceramics were investigated by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) analysis that showed great differences in densities, grain size, and morphology of the SnO₂ ceramics depending on type of dopants and their distribution.     

Ultra-fast optical spectrum analyzer for DWDM applications

Dense wavelength division multiplexing optical networks use tunable devices such as distributed Bragg reflector laser diodes. These optical sources require a precise wavelength calibration according to the ITU grid, even with aged components. Some specific optical spectrum analyzers are commercially available. Unfortunately, measurements using those systems are generally relatively slow. We present and discuss in this paper a fast spectral measurement system that can easily be implemented in a laser diode package.     

Dynamic characteristics of vibratory gyroscopes

Although there have been test results on microgyroscope dynamic characteristics, quantitative results relating the dynamic properties to microgyro design and operating parameters are not yet available. In this paper, we study the dynamic characteristics of a vibrating wheel microgyroscope. In vibratory microgyroscopes, the mechanical structure is driven into oscillatory motion. Consequently, the angular velocity input to the sensor is multiplied by the periodic driven motion. In order to recover the angular velocity input from the sensor responses, a demodulation must by carried out. Therefore, the differential equation governing the gyro input and output is not time invariant. The frequency response for the time-variant linear system is obtained through the demodulated and low-pass filtered steady-state output to sinusoidal excitations. With further assumptions of large Q value and close frequency match between the driven mode and sense mode, we obtain a time invariant model for the microgyroscope which is much simpler to use in the design of the microgyroscopes.     

The Heat Transfer of Streams of Finely Divided Media in Channels Separated by a Permeable Partition

A mathematical model is suggested of convective heat transfer between streams of finely divided media under conditions of flow in the channels of a valve-type pulsating-flow heat exchanger, which are separated by a permeable partition. The heat and mass transfer occurs by way of multiple transverse exchanges of continuous phases between streams when developing sign-variable pressure differences between these streams. The interphase heat transfer in dispersed flows is taken into account, assuming that the particles are isothermal and their temperature is defined by external heat transfer on the particle surface.