Future Direction for a Diffusion Barrier in Future High-Density Volatile and Nonvolatile Memory Devices

This article reviews the current status of high-density capacitor for volatile memory devices. The dielectric properties for both the Ta₂O₅ film and the (Ba, Sr)TiO₃ (BST) dielectric materials using either the metal organic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD) or the atomic layer deposition (ALD) are reviewed briefly. New challenges of dielectric material for the next generation, and serious problems emerged during integration to date using Ta₂O₅ and BST. The material characteristics of many electrode materials for the high dielectric materials are introduced. We present the basic properties and integration issued for MOCVD-ruthenium (Ru). The second part of this review summarized the failure mechanisms from barrier properties of previously reported diffusion barriers and emphasizes new design concepts of diffusion barrier for high-density memory devices. Finally, the future direction for a diffusion barrier to advance high-density memory capacitors is suggested.     

Enhancement of long-term stability of pentacene thin-film transistors encapsulated with transparent SnO2

The long-term stability of pentacene thin-film transistors (TFTs) encapsulated with a transparent SnO₂ thin-film prepared by ion beam-assisted deposition (IBAD) was investigated. After encapsulation process, our organic thin-film transistors (OTFTs) showed somewhat degraded field-effect mobility of 0.5 cm²/(V s) that was initially 0.62 cm²/(V s), when a buffer layer of thermally evaporated 100 nm SnO₂ film had been deposited prior to IBAD process. However, the mobility was surprisingly sustained up to 1 month and then gradually degraded down to 0.35 cm²/(V s) which was still three times higher than that of the OTFT without any encapsulation layer after 100 days in air ambient. The encapsulated OTFTs also exhibited superior on/off current ratio of over 10⁵ to that of the unprotected devices (∼10⁴) which was reduced from ∼10⁶ before aging. Therefore, the enhanced long-term stability of our encapsulated OTFTs should be attributed to well protection of permeation of H₂O and O₂ into the devices by the IBAD SnO₂ thin-film which could be used as an effective inorganic gas barrier for transparent organic electronic devices.     

Oriented polymers: A transfer matrix calculation

Based on transfer matrix techniques and finite-size scaling, we study the oriented polymer (self-avoiding walk) with nearest neighbor interaction. In the repulsive regime, various critical exponents are computed and compared with exact values predicted recently. The polymer is also found to undergo a spiral transition for sufficiently strong attractive interaction. The fractal dimension of the polymer is computed in the repulsive and attractive regimes and at the spiral transition point. The later is found to be different from that at the collapse transition of the ordinary self-avoiding walk.     

Stable single-mode operation of a Q-switched laser by a simple resonator length control technique

A simple extension to the technique of “pre-lase” Q-switching ensures that a TEM₀₀ mode, Q-switched NdYAG laser produces single longitudinal mode oscillation on every shot.     

Dunham potential energy coefficients of the hydrogen halides and carbon monoxide

The Dunham potential energy coefficients a_i, 0 ≤ i ≤ 6 (except 4 for HI) have been derived from spectroscopic data of hydrogen halides HF, HCl, HBr, and HI, and carbon monoxide in their ground electronic states. A full error analysis has produced standard deviations of both these a_i and further energy coefficients Y_lj. Comparison with experimental data shows good agreement; trends in the hydrogen halide series are discussed.     

Sulfone coupling and double-elimination strategy for carotenoid synthesis

[Reaction: see text]. A highly efficient synthetic method of carotenoid compounds has been developed on the basis of the sulfone coupling and double-elimination strategy. This method highlighted the sulfone-mediated coupling with the novel C(10) dialdehyde, 2,7-dimethyl-4-octenedial, which was easily prepared and efficiently utilized in the synthesis of the conjugated polyene chains.     

Synthesis of two types of nanoparticles in polyelectrolyte capsule nanoreactors and their dual functionality

Polyelectrolyte multilayer capsule reactors (PEMCRs) for the synthesis of two types of nanoparticles were prepared. The tunable PEMCRs containing two different functional groups that can be used to synthesize two types of nanoparticles simultaneously and to control the composition of two types of nanoparticles within the shell of PEMCs. These PEMCRs enabled the composition as well as the amount of the loaded two types of nanoparticles within the shell of PEMCs to be controlled by the copolymer ratio and the number of reaction cycles. Another interesting finding is that, as a result of the synthesis of two types of nanoparticles, these specially designed PEMCs containing both silver and goethite nanocrystals can be used as antimicrobial capsules, which can move by an external magnetic field. Such a technology has the potential for use in sterilization at the desirable sites.     

Solvent polarity and organic reactivity in mixed solvents: evidence using a reactive molecular probe to assess the role of preferential solvation in aqueous alcohols

Product selectivities [S = ([ester product]/[acid product]) x ([water]/[alcohol solvent])] are reported for solvolyses of p-methoxybenzoyl chloride (2) in aqueous methanol, ethanol, 2,2,2-trifluoroethanol, n-propyl alcohol, isopropyl alcohol, and tert-butyl alcohol at 25, 35, and 45 degrees C. S values are small and depend significantly on the alcohol cosolvent, varying from 1.3 in methanol to 0.1 in tert-butyl alcohol, but S depends only slightly on the solvent composition, and on the temperature. As S adjusts the product ratios for changes in bulk solvent compositions, it is suggested that preferential solvation by either alcohol or water at the reaction site is not a major factor influencing rates or products. Logarithms of rates of solvolyses of 2 correlate well with Kosower Z values (based on solvatochromism). In contrast, another solvatochromic polarity index, E(T)(30), shows "dispersion" in correlations with the solvent ionizing power parameter, Y(OTs), probably due to aromatic ring and other solvation effects.     

Synthesis and magnetic properties of silica-coated FePt nanocrystals

Colloidal FePt nanocrystals, 6 nm in diameter, were synthesized and then coated with silica (SiO2) shells. The silica shell thickness could be varied from 10 to 25 nm. As-made FePt@SiO2 nanocrystals have low magnetocrystalline anisotropy due to a compositionally disordered FePt core. When films of FePt@SiO2 particles are annealed under hydrogen at 650 degrees C or above, the FePt core transforms to the compositionally ordered L1(0) phase, and superparamagnetic blocking temperatures exceeding room temperature are obtained. The SiO2 shell prevents FePt coalescence at annealing temperatures up to approximately 850 degrees C. Annealing under air or nitrogen does not induce the FePt phase transition. The silica shell limits magnetic dipole coupling between the FePt nanocrystals; however, low temperature (5 K) and room temperature magnetization scans show slightly constricted hysteresis loops with coercivities that decrease systematically with decreased shell thickness, possibly resulting from differences in magnetic dipole coupling between particles.