Swords to plowshares: Shock wave applications to advanced lithography

xtreme ltra iolet ithography (EUVL) seeks to apply radiation in a wavelength region centered near 13 nm to produce microcircuits having feature sizes 0.1 micron or less. A critical requirement for the commercial application of this technology is the development of an economical, compact source of this radiation which is suitable for lithographic applications. A good candidate is a laser-plasma source, which is generated by the interaction of an intermediate intensity laser pulse (up to 10¹² W/cm²) with a metallic target. While such a source has radiative characteristics which satisfy the needs of an EUVL source, the debris generated during the laser-target interaction strikes at the economy of the source. Here, we review the use of concepts and computer modeling, originally developed for hypervelocity impact analysis, to study this problem.     

New Tractable Classes From Old

The constraint satisfaction problem is known to be NP-hard in general, but a number of restrictions of the problem have been identified over the years which ensure tractability. This paper introduces two simple methods of combining two or more tractable classes over disjoint domains, in order to synthesise larger, more expressive tractable classes. We demonstrate that the classes so obtained are genuinely novel, and have not been previously identified. In addition, we use algebraic techniques to extend the tractable classes which we identify, and to show that the algorithms for solving these extended classes can be less than obvious.     

Effect of molecular architecture on microstructural characteristics in some polysiloxaneimide multiblock copolymers

Efforts to correlate molecular characteristics with microstructural dimensions in microphase-separated diblock and triblock copolymers have been very successful, resulting in relationships that can be utilized to design materials with a specific microstructure and, consequently, with particular thermomechanical properties. However, similar efforts in the arena of multiblock copolymers have not been nearly as extensive, despite the increasing interest and diversity of this class of materials. In the present work, energy-filtered electron microscopy (EFEM) and small-angle neutron scattering (SANS) are used in a complementary fashion to probe the phase behavior of a series of three polysiloxaneimide (PSI) multiblock copolymers with different molecular architectures. Despite their relatively short segment lengths, all three materials exhibit signs of microphase separation at ambient temperature. SANS data are obtained from chemically unaltered materials and are subsequently interpreted with the Teubner-Strey model for microemulsions. Resultant microstructural dimensions are in good agreement with those measured from EFEM micrographs. Additional insight into the intramolecular sequencing of each copolymer is obtained from scaling relationships.     

Individual differences in anterior brain asymmetry and fundamental dimensions of emotion.

Assessed whether individual differences in anterior brain asymmetry are linked to differences in basic dimensions of emotion. In each of 2 experimental sessions, separated by 3 wks, resting EEG activity was recorded from female adults during 8 60-sec baselines. Mean alpha power asymmetry across both sessions was extracted in mid-frontal and anterior temporal sites. Across both regions, groups demonstrating stable and extreme relative left anterior activation reported increased generalized positive affect (PAF) and decreased generalized negative affect (NAF) compared with groups demonstrating stable and extreme relative right anterior activation. Additional correlational analyses revealed robust relations between anterior asymmetry and PAF and NAF, particularly among Ss who demonstrated stable patterns of EEG activation over time. Anterior asymmetry was unrelated to individual differences in generalized reactivity. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Densification of plasma deposited silicon nitride films by hydrogen dilution

The effects of hydrogen dilution on the bonding characteristics, composition, and properties of SiN films deposited from a SiH₄/NH₃ mixture by r.f. plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition were studied. The addition of relatively small amounts of hydrogen increased the Si/N ratio resulting in a corresponding increase in the Si---H/N---H bonding ratio. At higher hydrogen dilutions, the Si/N ratio decreased towards stoichiometric with significant changes in the hydrogen bonding characteristics. Changes in the physical properties are discussed in terms of the measured changes in bonding structure. Changes normally associated with changes in bulk film density were found to be well correlated to the Si---N bond density. The effects of substrate temperature and NH₃/SiH₄ ratio on films deposited under conditions of high hydrogen dilution were similar to those widely reported in the literature for plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition films deposited without hydrogen. Films deposited by remote plasma using hydrogen as the excitation exhibited high Si---N bond densities and low hydrogen. Experiments are planned to clarify the mechanism responsible for the observed changes in film properties.