Numerical characterization and experimental verification of an in-plane MEMS-actuator with thin-film aluminum heater

In this paper, a novel concept of a thermo-mechanical MEMS actuator using aluminum thin-film heaters on a thermal oxide for electrical insulation is presented. The actuator is part of an universal tensile testing platform for thermo-mechanical material characterization of one dimensional materials on a micro- and nano-scopic scale under different environmental conditions, as varying temperatures, pressure, moisture or even vacuum and is realised in BDRIE technology. It is shown, that the actuator concept fulfills the requirements for the use in a tensile loading stage along with heterogeneously integrated nanofunctional elements, following a specimen centered approach in line with bottom-up self-assembly processes. Simulation and experiment agree very well in the thermal and mechanical domain and allow subsequent optimisation of the actuator performance.     

Impact of orthorectification and spatial sampling on maximum NDVI composite data in mountain regions

Topography and accuracy of image geometric registration significantly affect the quality of satellite data, since pixels are displaced depending on surface elevation and viewing geometry. This effect should be corrected for through the process of accurate image navigation and orthorectification in order to meet the geolocation accuracy for systematic observations specified by the Global Climate Observing System (GCOS) requirements for satellite climate data records. We investigated the impact of orthorectification on the accuracy of maximum Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) composite data for a mountain region in north-western Canada at various spatial resolutions (1 km, 4 km, 5 km, and 8 km). Data from AVHRR on board NOAA-11 (1989 and 1990) and NOAA-16 (2001, 2002, and 2003) processed using a system called CAPS (Canadian AVHRR Processing System) for the month of August were considered. Results demonstrate the significant impact of orthorectification on the quality of composite NDVI data in mountainous terrain. Differences between orthorectified and non-orthorectified NDVI composites (ΔNDVI) adopted both large positive and negative values, with the 1% and 99% percentiles of ΔNDVI at 1 km resolution spanning values between − 0.16 < ΔNDVI < 0.09. Differences were generally reduced to smaller numbers for coarser resolution data, but systematic positive biases for non-orthorectified composites were obtained at all spatial resolutions, ranging from 0.02 (1 km) to 0.004 (8 km). Analyzing the power spectra of maximum NDVI composites at 1 km resolution, large differences between orthorectified and non-orthorectified AVHRR data were identified at spatial scales between 4 km and 10 km. Validation of NOAA-16 AVHRR NDVI with MODIS NDVI composites revealed higher correlation coefficients (by up to 0.1) for orthorectified composites relative to the non-orthorectified case. Uncertainties due to the AVHRR Global Area Coverage (GAC) sampling scheme introduce an average positive bias of 0.02 ± 0.03 at maximum NDVI composite level that translates into an average relative bias of 10.6% ± 19.1 for sparsely vegetated mountain regions. This can at least partially explain the systematic average positive biases we observed relative to our results in AVHRR GAC-based composites from the Global Inventory Modeling and Mapping Studies (GIMMS) and Polar Pathfinder (PPF) datasets (0.19 and 0.05, respectively). With regard to the generation of AVHRR long-term climate data records, results suggest that orthorectification should be an integral part of AVHRR pre-processing, since neglecting the terrain displacement effect may lead to important biases and additional noise in time series at various spatial scales.     

Interlayer cooling potential in vertically integrated packages

The heat-removal capability of area-interconnect-compatible interlayer cooling in vertically integrated, high-performance chip stacks was characterized with de-ionized water as coolant. Correlation-based predictions and computational fluid dynamic modeling of cross-flow heat-removal structures show that the coolant temperature increase due to sensible heat absorption limits the cooling performance at hydraulic diameters ≤200 μm. An experimental investigation with uniform and double-side heat flux at Reynolds numbers ≤1,000 and heat transfer areas of 1 cm² was carried out to identify the most efficient interlayer heat-removal structure. The following structures were tested: parallel plate, microchannel, pin fin, and their combinations with pins using in-line and staggered configurations with round and drop-like shapes at pitches ranging from 50 to 200 μm and fluid structure heights of 100–200 μm. A hydrodynamic flow regime transition responsible for a local junction temperature minimum was observed for pin fin in-line structures. The experimental data was extrapolated to predict maximal heat flux in chip stacks having a 4-cm² heat transfer area. The performance of interlayer cooling strongly depends on this parameter, and drops from >200 W/cm² at 1 cm² and >50 μm interconnect pitch to <100 W/cm² at 4 cm². From experimental data, friction factor and Nusselt number correlations were derived for pin fin in-line and staggered structures.     

Progress in reliability research in the micro and nano region

Due to the rapid development of IC technology the traditional packaging concepts are making a transition into more complex system integration techniques in order to enable the constantly increasing demand for more functionality, performance and miniaturisation. These new concepts will have to combine smaller structures and layers made of new materials with even higher reliability. As these structures will more and more display nano-features, a coupled experimental and simulative approach has to account for this development to assure design for reliability in the future. A necessary “nano-reliability” approach as a scientific discipline has to encompass research on the properties and failure behaviour of materials and material interfaces under explicit consideration of their nano-structure and the effects hereby induced. It uses nano-analytical methods in simulation and experiment to consistently describe failure mechanisms on that length scale for more accurate and physically motivated lifetime prediction models for use on a larger (i.e. then the micro) scale. This paper deals with the thermo-mechanical reliability of microelectronic components and systems and methods to analyse and predict it. Various methods are presented to enable lifetime prediction on system, component and material level, the latter introducing the field of nano-reliability for nano-packaging in advanced electronics system integration.     

Comparative characterization of chip to epoxy interfaces by molecular modeling and contact angle determination

An investigation of interfacial interaction has been performed between three epoxy molding compound materials and a native silicon dioxide layer (SiO₂) usually found at chip surfaces. The epoxy materials were an industry oriented epoxy molding compound Epoxy Phenol Novolac (EPN), its filled variety EPN^F (with silica particles) and a model aromatic epoxy¹ (2 1 2). All systems are described in full in [1] and [2]. The free surfaces of the solid materials were experimentally analyzed by contact angle measurements of three different liquids (water, methylene-iodide (MI) and glycerol). Results are compared to interfacial energies obtained by analysis of the interfaces in bimaterial molecular models, yielding reasonable agreement. A qualitative prediction regarding the influence of water on the interfacial strength between chip and molding compound is attempted.     

Nanomechanical characterization of Sn–Ag–Cu/Cu joints—Part 2: Nanoindentation creep and its relationship with uniaxial creep as a function of temperature

In the first part of this study we reported the use of nanoindentation to evaluate the mechanical properties of microphases formed within Sn–Ag–Cu-based solder joints as a function of temperature. In this second part, the use of nanoindentation has been extended to study the creep behaviour of these phases in the temperature range 25–175 °C. The data for nanoindentation creep has been compared with that reported for bulk creep behaviour of similar alloys. A methodology has been developed based on finite-element analysis that accounts for (i) the increasing volume of creeping material beneath the indenter as indentation progresses; and (ii) the variation of indentation stress during indentation as the area of indentation increases. Using this approach, nanoindentation creep data is reconciled with bulk creep data.     

Molecular Subtyping of Invasive Breast Cancer Using a PAM50-Based Multigene Expression Test-Comparison with Molecular-Like Subtyping by Tumor Grade/Immunohistochemistry and Influence on Oncologist’s Decision on Systemic Therapy in a Real-World Setting

In intermediate risk hormone receptor (HR) positive, HER2 negative breast cancer (BC), the decision regarding adjuvant chemotherapy might be facilitated by multigene expression tests. In all, 142 intermediate risk BCs were investigated using the PAM50-based multigene expression test Prosigna® in a prospective multicentric study. In 119/142 cases, Prosigna® molecular subtyping was compared with local and two central (C1 and C6) molecular-like subtypes relying on both immunohistochemistry (IHC; HRs, HER2, Ki-67) and IHC + tumor grade (IHC+G) subtyping. According to local IHC, 35.4% were Luminal A-like and 64.6% Luminal B-like subtypes (local IHC+G subtype: 31.9% Luminal A-like; 68.1% Luminal B-like). In contrast to local and C1 subtyping, C6 classified >2/3 of cases as Luminal A-like. Pairwise agreement between Prosigna® subtyping and molecular-like subtypes was fair to moderate depending on molecular-like subtyping method and center. The best agreement was observed between Prosigna® (53.8% Luminal A; 44.5% Luminal B) and C1 surrogate subtyping (Cohen’s kappa = 0.455). Adjuvant chemotherapy was suggested to 44.2% and 88.6% of Prosigna® Luminal A and Luminal B cases, respectively. Out of all Luminal A-like cases (locally IHC/IHC+G subtyping), adjuvant chemotherapy was recommended if Prosigna® testing classified as Prosigna® Luminal A at high / intermediate risk or upgraded to Prosigna® Luminal B.     

Lifetime modelling for microsystems integration: from nano to systems

Due to the rapid development of IC technology the traditional packaging concepts are making a transition into more complex system integration techniques in order to enable the constantly increasing demand for more functionality, performance, miniaturisation and lower cost. These new packaging concepts (as e.g. system in package, 3D integration, MEMS-devices) will have to combine smaller structures and layers made of new materials with even higher reliability. As these structures will more and more display nano-features, a coupled experimental and simulative approach has to account for this development to assure design for reliability in the future. A necessary “nano-reliability” approach as a scientific discipline has to encompass research on the properties and failure behaviour of materials and material interfaces under explicit consideration of their micro- and nano-structure and the effects hereby induced. It uses micro- and nano-analytical methods in simulation and experiment to consistently describe failure mechanisms over these length scales for more accurate and physically motivated lifetime prediction models. This paper deals with the thermo-mechanical reliability of microelectronic components and systems and methods to analyse and predict it. Various methods are presented to enable lifetime prediction on system, component and material level, the latter promoting the field of nano-reliability for future packaging challenges in advanced electronics system integration.     

Thermo-mechanical reliability during technology development of power chip-on-board assemblies with encapsulation

In this paper we examine the thermo-mechanical reliability of polymer-encapsulated chip-on-board (COB) assemblies for power applications by simulation and experiment. Thereby the focus is set on the low cycle fatigue failure behaviour of the die-attach material under thermal cycling conditions. As die-attach material different solder materials and Ag-filled thermal adhesives have been used. The encapsulation was performed with a soft silicone-based and hard silica-reinforced epoxy-based material, respectively. An other process variable takes into account die-tilt. The study was carried out as a feasibility analysis in the course of a COB technology development. To this end lifetime models have been employed to correlate crack growth in the, i.e. attach to a computational accumulative failure criterion which allows to consistently describe ad predict quantitatively the lifetime of the assemblies. Thereby a considerable influence of the encapsulation was found. In particular it could be shown that a hard encapsulation largely increases reliability for solder die-attach.

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Validation of operational AVHRR subpixel snow retrievals over the European Alps based on ASTER data

Snow is of great economic and social importance for the European Alps. Accurate monitoring of the alpine snow cover is a key component in studying regional climate change as well as in daily weather forecasting and snowmelt run‐off modelling. These applications require snow cover information on a high temporal resolution in near‐real time. For the European Alps, operational snow cover fraction maps are generated on a daily basis using data from the Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer (AVHRR) on board the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) platforms. Snow cover distribution is inherently discontinuous and heterogeneous in this mountainous region. We have therefore implemented a straightforward multiple endmember unmixing approach to estimate fractional snow cover. Subpixel proportions are difficult to validate because similar products are not available and appropriate ground‐based observations do not exist. In this study, we validate AVHRR subpixel snow retrievals using binary classified data sets from the Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer (ASTER) to establish absolute errors of our operational approach at three test sites. Our analysis indicates that the AVHRR subpixel maps compare well with the aggregated ASTER data, showing an overall correlation of 0.78 and providing subpixel estimates with a mean absolute error of 10.4% fractional snow cover. Discrepancies between AVHRR and ASTER snow fraction maps can be attributed to varying snow conditions, terrain effects and density in forest cover.