Strain-softening behavior of an Fe-6.5 wt%Si alloy during warm deformation and its applications

An Fe-6.5 wt%Si alloy with columnar grains was compressed at a temperature below its recrystallization temperature. The Vickers hardness and structure of the alloy before and after deformation were investigated. The results showed that with an increase in the degree of deformation, Vickers hardness of the alloy initially increased rapidly and then decreased slowly, indicating that the alloy had a strain-softening behavior after a large deformation. Meanwhile, the work-hardening exponent of the alloy decreased significantly. Transmission electron microscopy confirmed that the decrease of the order degree was responsible for the strain-softening behavior of the deformed alloy. Applying its softening behavior, the Fe-6.5 wt%Si alloy with columnar grains was rolled at 400 °C and then at room temperature. An Fe-6.5 wt%Si thin strip with thickness of 0.20 mm was fabricated. The surface of the strip was bright and had no obvious edge cracks.     

Subtle gate oxide defect elimination to improve the reliability of a 32M-bit SRAM product

Tiny defects may escape from in-line defect scan and pass WAT (Wafer Acceptance Test), CP (Chip Probing), FT (Final Test) and SLT (System Level Test). Chips with such kind of defects will cause reliability problem and impact revenue significantly. It is important to catch the defects and derive the prevention strategy earlier in the technology development stage. In this paper, we investigate an SRAM with tiny defects which passed in-line defect scan, WAT, CP and FT but failed in HTOL (High Temperature Operation Life) test, one of the product reliability qualification items. FA (Failure Analysis) reveals gate oxide missing defect is the root cause. The goal is to pass reliability qualification and release product into production on schedule. The failure mechanism, optimization of gate oxide process, enhancement of defect scan and testing methodology will be introduced. Experiment results show very good HTOL performance by the combination of process and testing optimization.     

Actively Q-switched fiber lasers: Switching dynamics and nonlinear processes

The Q-switching characteristics of actively Q-switched fiber lasers, especially the inconsistency of experimental observations with traditional Q-switching theory, are reviewed first in this paper. Based on a few typical high-power Q-switched rare-earth-doped fiber lasers, the switching dynamics in the linear and ring fiber cavities is then systematically illustrated under different fiber, pumping and switching conditions by using the traveling wave method, which leads to a new understanding of Q-switched fiber lasers. In particular, the switching-induced perturbation and its influence on the Q-switched outputs are emphasized, and some experimental demonstrations are shown for the purpose of comparison. Nonlinearity is an important concern in these lasers due to the high-power optical pulses confined in small fiber cores. In the second part of this paper, some nonlinear effects, such as self-phase modulation (SPM), four-wave mixing (FWM), stimulated Raman scattering (SRS) and stimulated Brillouin scattering (SBS), in Q-switched fiber lasers are discussed. In particular, their temporal and spectral influences on the Q-switched outputs are analyzed experimentally and theoretically. These theoretical analyses and experimental demonstrations provide a complete picture of the switching dynamics and optical nonlinear processes in Q-switched fiber lasers, and are hence important for laser optimization and control.     

Effect of highly dispersed sputtered silver nanoparticles on structural properties of multiwalled carbon nanotubes

A simple method to decorate mutliwalled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) with silver nanoparticles (Ag NPs) to enhance the structural properties is reported in the present study. The Ag NPs of average size 9 nm were deposited uniformly on MWCNTs network by RF sputtering technique. X-ray diffraction (XRD), Raman spectroscopy and Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) are used to compare the structural properties of Ag NPs sputtered nanotubes with those containing functionalized tubes. In addition, effect of these Ag NPs on the surface of nanotubes and optimization of the experimental parameter for uniform deposition of Ag NPs are also discussed.     

Band offsets at interfaces of (1 0 0)InxGa1−xAs (0 ⩽ x ⩽ 0.53) with Al2O3 and HfO2

The electron energy band alignment at interfaces of In_xGa_1?xAs (0 ? x ? 0.53) with atomic-layer deposited insulators Al₂O₃ and HfO₂ is characterized using combined measurements of internal photoemission of electrons and photoconductivity. The measured energy of the In_xGa_1?xAs valence band top is found to be only marginally influenced by the semiconductor composition. This result suggests that the observed bandgap narrowing from 1.42 to 0.75 eV when the In content increases from 0 to 0.53 occurs mostly through downshift of the semiconductor conduction band bottom. Electron states originating from the interfacial oxidation of In_xGa_1?xAs lead to reduction of the electron barrier at the semiconductor/oxide interface.     

Atomistic tight-binding computations of the electronic properties of ZnSe/ZnS core/shell nanocrystals under applied electric field

The effect of applied electric field on the electronic properties of spherical ZnSe/ZnS core/shell nanocrystals of experimentally relevant size is investigated by the atomistic tight-binding theory. Using this model, the calculations show that a range of electronic properties, including the single-particle spectra, atomistic characters, charge densities, excitonic energies, ground-state coulomb energies, overlaps of the electron and hole wave functions and oscillation strengths, all depend on the strengths of the applied electric field. The spatial distributions of the electron and hole wave functions are induced by the applied electric field. The analysis demonstrates a clear manipulation of the electronic properties of ZnSe/ZnS core/shell nanocrystals by introducing and varying the applied electric field strengths. According to the comprehensive investigations, I suppose that these atomistic computations will be of prospective help for experimental works concentrated on the new optoelectronic devices based on the applied electric field.     

The effect of pore necking on Knudsen diffusivity and collision frequency of gas molecules with pore walls

Straight pores whose walls were concave (for “Swiss cheese” type solids), convex (for “cannonball” type), or cylindrical (for capillary type) were simulated by computer. The pores having concave and convex walls were represented as an assemblage of spherical elements since any pore could be described merely by listing the radii and coordinates of the elements. Using a Monte Carlo method, molecular trajectories of gas molecules inside the pores were computed in the Knudsen regime to obtain the diffusivities, collision numbers and collision densities. These parameters were strongly dependent on the pore wall configuration. An equation was presented which enabled the prediction of Knudsen diffusivity from the mean pore size d̄ and (d_n/d_w)² (where d_n and d_w are the diameters of narrow and wide sections inside the pores, respectively). The average number of collisions per molecule J̄ was also correlated quite well with the ratio of geometric diffusion length to mean pore size L₀/d̄ for each type and was in the order capillary type > Swiss cheese type > cannonball type. It was found that the pore of capillary type had the preferred wall configuration among these three types from the view point of diffusivity and collision numbers of molecules. The results obtained here will have application to the design of micro- and macro-pore structures of supported catalysts.     

等离子合成与雾化制粉技术及其应用

等离子体做为一种极端参数技术在粉体材料的球化处理与合成制备方面的研究和应用日益引起人们的关注。本文概述了等离子技术的主要特点及应用领域,综述了国内外有关射频等离子体对不同金属粉末、陶瓷粉末的球化处理及纳米粉末的合成方面的研究成果;介绍了北京科技大学在射频等离子体粉体处理系统开发、制备球形钨粉和钛粉方面的研究成果,在此基础上对等离子体粉体球化处理技术的应用前景进行了展望。     

A finite element study of microstructure-sensitive plasticity and crack nucleation in fretting

This paper is concerned with finite element modelling of microstructure-sensitive plasticity and crack initiation in fretting. The approach adopted is based on an existing method for microstructure-sensitive (uniaxial) fatigue life prediction, which proposes the use of a unit cell crystal plasticity model to identify the critical value of accumulated plastic slip associated with crack initiation. This approach is successfully implemented here, using a FCC unit cell crystal plasticity model, to predict the plain low-cycle fatigue behaviour of a stainless steel. A crystal plasticity frictional contact model for stainless steel is developed for microstructure-sensitive fretting analyses. A methodology for microstructure-sensitive fretting crack initiation is presented, based on identification of the number of cycles in the fretting contact at which the identified critical value of accumulated plastic slip is achieved. Significant polycrystal plasticity effects in fretting are predicted, leading to significant effects on contact pressure, fatigue indicator parameters and microstructural accumulated slip. The crystal plasticity fretting predictions are compared with J₂ continuum plasticity predictions. It is argued that the microstructural accumulated plastic slip parameter has the potential to unify the prediction of wear and fatigue crack initiation, leading in some cases, e.g. gross slip, to wear, via a non-localised distribution of critical crystallographic slip, and in other cases, e.g. partial slip, to fatigue crack initiation, via a highly-localised distribution of critical crystallographic slip with preferred orientation (cracking locations and directions).