Suppression of creep cavitation in precipitation-hardened austenitic stainless steel to enhance creep rupture strength

Extensive creep cavitation in Ti, Nb and Cu containing precipitation hardened austenitic steels was found to limit the usefulness of deformation resistance to increase long-term creep rupture strength. The steels were microalloyed with boron and cerium that resulted in increase in creep rupture strength and ductility of the steels significantly. Grain boundary sliding and creep cavity nucleation and growth in the steels were suppressed greatly on microalloying. Auger spectroscopic analysis revealed the segregation of boron instead of sulfur on cavity surface and the absence of sulfur contamination of grain boundary upon the microalloying. Suppression of creep cavitation through the control of trace elements segregation along with the precipitation hardening increased the creep rupture strength of austenitic stainless steels.     

Characterization of crystalline low temperature GaAs layers annealed from an amorphous phase

The results from an in-depth characterization of as-grown and annealed low-temperature GaAs layers deposited at less than 260°C are presented. The layers, amorphous as grown, became crystalline after annealing. The crystallization was documented by several characterization techniques including photoreflectance, Raman spectroscopy, photoluminescence, transmission electron microscopy, and double-crystal x-ray diffraction. The n-type conductivity of the annealed films was exploited for the construction of a diode structure.     

Evaluation of low-level asbestos exposure by transbronchial lung biopsy with analytical electron microscopy

To improve diagnostic sensitivity for detecting low-level asbestos exposure (AEx) in patients, a new method was developed using an analytical transmission electron microscope (ATEM) for specimens of transbronchial lung biopsy (TBLB). The TBLB specimens from 28 patients were examined and the results were: 1) In cases with long-term AEx, the present method detected a large amount of asbestos fibers (AF) as well as asbestos bodies (AB) showing a good agreement with the results of light microscope (LM) which detected definite amounts of ferruginous bodies (FB). 2) In cases with short-term or suspected AEx, the LM failed to detect FB in some cases, but an appreciable amount of AF was detected using the present method, and AEx was disclosed through a second close interview. 3) Neither AB nor AF were detected in most of the cases without any dust exposure. Although small amounts of chrysotile fibers were observed in some cases, this might simply reflect the exposure level of urban dwellers. These results show that the ATEM applied to the TBLB specimens promises to confirm low-level AEx in such small specimens even if the patients were unaware of their past AEx.     

InAlAs/InGaAs heterojunction bipolar transistors with AlAs etch-stop layer

A seven monolayer AlAs layer was used as an etch stop at the emitter-base heterojunction of an Npn In/sub 0.52/Al/sub 0.48/As/In/sub 0.53/Ga/sub 0.47/As HBT. The etch-stop HBTs displayed higher DC gain and similar microwave performance when compared to devices without the AlAs layer.<>     

Copper,Boron, and Cerium Additions in Type 347 Austenitic Steel to Improve Creep Rupture Strength

Type 347 austenitic stainless steel (18Cr-12Ni-Nb) was alloyed with copper (3 wt pct), boron (0.01 to 0.06 wt pct), and cerium (0.01 wt pct) with an aim to increase the creep rupture strength of the steel through the improved deformation and cavitation resistance. Short-term creep rupture strength was found to increase with the addition of copper in the 347 steel, but the long-term strength was inferior. Extensive creep cavitation deprived the steel of the beneficial effect of creep deformation resistance induced by nano-size copper particles. Boron and cerium additions in the copper-containing steel increased its creep rupture strength and ductility, which were more for higher boron content. Creep deformation, grain boundary sliding, and creep cavity nucleation and growth in the steel were found to be suppressed by microalloying the copper-containing steel with boron and cerium, and the suppression was more for higher boron content. An auger electron spectroscopic study revealed the segregation of boron instead of sulfur on the cavity surface of the boron- and cerium-microalloyed steel. Cerium acted as a scavenger for soluble sulfur in the steels through the precipitation of cerium sulfide (CeS). This inhibited the segregation of sulfur and facilitated the segregation of boron on cavity surface. Boron segregation on the nucleated cavity surface reduced its growth rate. Microalloying the copper-containing 347 steel with boron and cerium thus enabled to use the full extent of creep deformation resistance rendered by copper nano-size particle by increase in creep rupture strength and ductility.     

Work of fracture of unidirectional metal matrix composites subjected to isothermal exposure

Work of fracture, _F, was measured on as-fabricated and isothermally exposed unidirectional boron fibre reinforced 1100 aluminium composites. Then an analytical study was made to predict _F of unidirectional metal matrix composites with the special emphasis on the thermally degraded composites. In the analytical study the statistical data on the strength of the fibres that were extracted from as-fabricated and thermally exposed composites were used. A good agreement between the experimental and analytical results of _F was obtained for the entire range of exposure time. It was found in this study that the toughness of the thermally exposed composite decreases with the increase in the exposure time.On leave from Toray Industries, Inc., Otsu, Shiga 520, Japan.     

Process integration of an interlevel dielectric (ILDO) module usinga building-in reliability approach

Process integration is approached from a built-in reliability perspective in order to develop a pre-metal inter-level dielectric (ILDO) module which may be integrated into a submicron CMOS process with embedded nonvolatile memory. The approach involves developing a fundamental understanding of the process parameters that modulate parasitics and impact reliability. The benefit of such an approach is a relatively simple process integration while achieving a highly manufacturable and reliable process. Several ILDO films have been characterized to understand the physical and chemical composition, process parameter dependencies, and gettering properties in order to define a process window from which to integrate the most manufacturable process     

Graded-channel MOSFET (GCMOSFET) for high performance, low voltageDSP applications

Graded-Channel MOS (GCMOS) VLSI technology has been developed to meet the growing demand for low power and high performance applications. In this paper, it will be shown that, compared to conventional complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS), the GCMOS device offers the advantage of significantly higher drive current, capable of lower threshold voltage with improved punchthrough resistance, lower body effect and lower series resistance, thus making it most suitable for applications that require both high performance and low power consumption, such as digital signal processing (DSP). This is demonstrated, for the first time, by much improved low voltage circuit performance of a DSP logic circuit fabricated using a 0.5 μm GCMOS process. At 1.8 V, a 30% speed improvement over CMOS is achieved, and the power-delay product is reduced by 25%. In addition, similar speed improvement is achieved in SRAM's with consistent performance improvement over a wide range of temperatures between -50 and 150°C     

Differential interaction of Crkl with Cbl or C3G, Hef-1, and gamma subunit immunoreceptor tyrosine-based activation motif in signaling of myeloid high affinity Fc receptor for IgG (Fc gamma RI)

Cbl-Crkl and Crkl-C3G interactions have been implicated in T cell and B cell receptor signaling and in the regulation of the small GTPase, Rap1. Recent evidence suggests that Rap1 plays a prominent role in the regulation of immunoreceptor tyrosine-based activation motif (ITAM) signaling. To gain insight into the role of Crkl in myeloid ITAM signaling, we investigated Cbl-Crkl and Crkl-C3G interactions following Fc gamma RI aggregation in U937IF cells. Fc gamma RI cross-linking of U937IF cells results in the tyrosine phosphorylation of Cbl, Crkl, and Hef-1, an increase in the association of Crkl with Cbl via direct SH2 domain interaction and increased Crkl-Hef-1 binding. Crkl constitutively binds to the guanine nucleotide-releasing protein, C3G, via direct SH3 domain binding. Our data show that distinct Cbl-Crkl and Crkl-C3G complexes exist in myeloid cells, suggesting that these complexes may modulate distinct signaling events. Anti-Crkl immunoprecipitations demonstrate that the ITAM-containing gamma subunit of Fc gamma RI is induced to form a complex with the Crkl protein, and Crkl binds to the cytoskeletal protein, Hef-1. The induced association of Crkl with Cbl, Hef-1, and Fc gamma RI gamma after Fc gamma RI activation and the constitutive association between C3G and Crkl provide the first evidence that a Fc gamma RI gamma-Crkl-C3G complex may link ITAM receptors to the activation of Rap1 in myeloid cells.     

Improved creep strength and creep ductility of type 347 austenitic stainless steel through the self-healing effect of boron for creep cavitation

Composition of type 347 austenitic stainless steel was modified with the addition of boron and cerium. An improvement of creep strength coupled with creep ductility of the steel was observed with boron and cerium additions. The observation of enhanced precipitation of carbonitrides in boron-containing steel over that of boron-free steel may in part contribute to the increase in creep strength. Both grain boundary sliding and nucleation and growth of intergranular creep cavities were found to be suppressed in steel-containing boron. This results in an increase in creep strength and creep ductility. Auger electron spectroscopic analysis of the chemistry of creep cavity surfaces (exposed by breaking the creep-exposed steel specimen at liquid nitrogen temperature under impact loading) revealed the segregation of elemental boron on the creep cavity surface. Boron segregation, on the creep cavity surface in the absence of sulfur contamination, suppressed the cavity growth and provided the steel with a self-healing effect for creep cavitation. Cerium additions enabled boron to segregate on the cavity surface by effectively removing the traces of free sulfur in the matrix by the formation of ceriumoxysulfide (Ce₂O₂S).