Mechanical property changes in sapphire by nickel ion implantation and their dependence on implantation temperature

Sapphire plates, cut parallel to an {0001} plane, have been implanted with 300 keV nickel ions to doses ranging from 5×10¹² to 1×10¹⁷ Ni cm^–2 at specimen temperatures of 100, 300 and 523 K, in order to investigate the effect of implantation temperature on the mechanical property changes in sapphire caused by ion implantation. The measured changes in surface hardness, surface fracture toughness and bulk flexural strength were found to depend strongly on the implantation temperature, and were largely correlated with the residual surface compressive stress measured by using a cantilever beam technique. The surface amorphization that occurred only by the implantation at 100 K and at doses larger than 2×10s15 Ni cm^–2 reduced the hardness to 0.6 relative to the value of the unimplanted sapphire, and considerably increased the surface plasticity. Furthermore, the amorphization was found to involve a large volume expansion of 30% and to change drastically the apparent shape and size of a Knoop indentation flaw made prior to implantation. This effect was suggested to reduce stress concentrations at surface flaws and hence to increase the flexural strength.     

Sialon formation by Si+ and N2 + ion implantation into sapphire

Single-crystal alumina was implanted firstly with 400 keV Si⁺ and subsequently with N₂ ⁺ ions and then annealed at 1673 K in an No atmosphre. The implanted layers were characterized by means of X-ray diffraction, Rutherford backscattering-channelling of 2 MeV He⁺ ions, and the resonance nuclear reaction¹⁵N(p,)¹²C. The annealing of sapphire implanted at ambient temperature resulted in the formation of-sialon, a solid solution of-silicon nitride and alumina in the subsurface layer, while implantation at 100 K resulted in the formation of aluminium oxynitride in the surface layer. In the latter case, the implanted silicon atoms were believed not to react vxi1h the implanted nitrogen atoms but with the substrate oxygen atoms. These crystalline precipitates were found to have epitaxial relations with the sapphire substrate.     

Behavior of a mechanically anchored waterproofing membrane system under wind suction and uniform Pressure

A pressure and wind tunnel test was conducted to obtain the basic data for wind resistance design of a mechanically anchored waterproofing membrane system. The test specimen was a flat roof with the following dimensions: 2.4 m in width, 3 m in length and 0.29 m in height. The waterproofing material was polyvinyl chloride sheet reinforced with polyester fiber (PVC sheets). In the pressure test, because the applied pressure was equivalent to the pressure on the entire surface area of the roof, the billowing heights of the PVC sheet around the fastener had almost the same maximum values; therefore, the axial force at the fastener was also similar to the pressure induced by a compressor, and no lateral forces were measured. On the other hand, in the wind tunnel test, the strain of the PVC sheet around the fastener at windward side was larger than that of the leeward side. The lateral force was 70% of the axial force at a mean wind speed of 38.6 m/s. Therefore, it was clear that the characteristics of the mechanically anchored waterproofing membrane system in the pressure test and the wind tunnel test were different.     

Development of gap sensing system for narrow gap laser welding

Narrow gap welding with an oscillation laser beam is one of the effective processes for thick plate welding. To put this welding process into practical manufacturing, a groove-sensing system using image processing for narrow gap welding with an oscillation laser beam is used. This developed system uses still images of the weld zone taken by a coaxial CMOS camera. It can recognize the position of the groove wall by analysing the brightness distribution in the still image. It can then control the oscillation width and the laser-irradiated area by calculating the groove width and the groove centre position. Some narrow gap welding experiments were performed to evaluate the performance of the developed system. The results revealed that the developed system is effective for narrow gap welding with an oscillation laser beam. Using this system, the narrow gap groove can be welded even if the groove width has changed during the welding process.     

Ribotyping and a study of transmission of Staphylococcus aureus collected from food preparation facilities

Food poisoning from Staphylococcus aureus is sometimes caused by improper handling of food items in food preparation facilities. Prevention of contamination by employees is particularly important in facilities where a significant amount of food preparation is performed by hand. Some experiments have been performed to describe bacterial cross-contamination in the food preparation process, but there have been few studies of cross-contamination in actual food preparation facilities. Aiming to shed light on the transmission of S. aureus in food preparation facilities, this study collected samples of 66 strains of this bacterium from the fingers of food preparation staff, foodstuffs, prepared foods, cooking utensils, and cooking equipment and typed them with the ribotyping method. S. aureus from the same ribogroup was detected on the hands of a study participant, a faucet, knife, frying pan, and a salad, indicating that bacteria found on the hands of the study participant was transmitted to cooking utensils and prepared foods. Transmission (from a faucet to a frying pan handle) of bacteria by another person, a third party, was also detected.     

Microassembly of semiconductor three-dimensional photonic crystals

Electronic devices and their highly integrated components formed from semiconductor crystals contain complex three-dimensional (3D) arrangements of elements and wiring. Photonic crystals, being analogous to semiconductor crystals, are expected to require a 3D structure to form successful optoelectronic devices. Here, we report a novel fabrication technology for a semiconductor 3D photonic crystal by uniting integrated circuit processing technology with micromanipulation. Four- to twenty-layered (five periods) crystals, including one with a controlled defect, for infrared wavelengths of 3-4.5 microm, were integrated at predetermined positions on a chip (structural error <50 nm). Numerical calculations revealed that a transmission peak observed at the upper frequency edge of the bandgap originated from the excitation of a resonant guided mode in the defective layers. Despite their importance, detailed discussions on the defective modes of 3D photonic crystals for such short wavelengths have not been reported before. This technology offers great potential for the production of optical wavelength photonic crystal devices.     

Experimental study of the flow in helical circular pipes: Torsion effect on the flow velocity and turbulence

An objective of the present paper is to experimentally clarify the torsion effect on the flow in helical circular pipes. We have made six helical circular pipes having different pitches and common non-dimensional curvature δ of about 0.1. The torsion parameter β0, which is defined by β0 = τ/（2δ）1/2 with non-dimensional torsion r, are taken to be 0.02, 0.45, 0.69, 1.01, 1.38 and 1.89 covering from small to very large pitch. The velocity distributions and the turbulence of the flow are measured using an X-type hot-wire anemometer in the range of the Reynolds number from 200 to 20000. The results obtained are summarized as follows： The mean secondary flow pattern in a cross section of the pipe changes from an ordinary twin-vortex type as is seen in a curved pipe without torsion （toroidal pipe） to a single vortex type after one of the twin-vortex gradually disappears as β0 increases. The circulation direction of the single vortex is the same as the direction of torsion of the pipe. The mean velocity distribution of the axial flow is similar to that of the toroidal pipe at small β0, but changes its shape as β0 increases, and attains the shape similar to that in a straight circular pipe when ,β0 = 1.89. It is also found that the critical Reynolds number, at which the flow shows a marginal behavior to turbulence, decreases as ,β0 increases for small ,β0, and then increases after taking a minimum at ,β0 ≈ 1.4 as ,β0 increases. The minimum of the critical Reynolds number experimentally obtained is about 400 at ,β0 ≈ 1.4.     

ALIS method for high‐resolution color PDPs

This paper describes the Alternate Lighting of Surfaces (ALIS) method as a promising drive technology which can lead to high‐resolution plasma‐display panels (PDPs). This technology provides a resolution of more than 1000 scanning lines without lowering luminance, thus enabling the essential requirements of HDTV. Moreover, it allows the number of scanning electrodes to be halved in comparison with the conventional method, as well as the circuit scale to be minimized due to the use of the single scanning drive. The ALIS method is expected to be a key technology that will help PDPs penetrate the TV market.