Effect of material selection and background impurity on interface property and resulted CIP-GMR performance

In this paper, we investigated the effect of background base pressure, wafer-transferring time between process modules, and stack layer material selection on the current-in-plane giant magneto-resistive (CIP-GMR) interface properties and the resulted CIP-GMR performance. Experimental results showed that seed layer/AFM interface, AFM/pinned layer (PL) interface, pinned layer/Ru interface, and reference layer (RL)/Cu spacer interface are among the most critical ones for a CIP-GMR device. By reducing the background impurity level (water moisture and oxygen), optimizing the wafer process flow sequence, and careful stack-layer material selection, such critical interfaces in a CIP-GMR device can be preserved. Consequently, a much robust GMR performance control can be achieved.     

Mid-infrared InAsSb-based nBn photodetectors with AlGaAsSb barrier layers – Grown on GaAs,using an interfacial misfit array,and on native GaSb

InAsSb-based nBn photodetectors were fabricated on GaAs, using the interfacial misfit (IMF) array growth mode, and on native GaSb. At −0.1 V operating bias, 200 K dark current densities of 1.4 × 10⁻⁵ A cm⁻² (on GaAs) and 4.8 × 10⁻⁶ A cm⁻² (on GaSb) were measured. At the same temperature, specific detectivity (D^*) figures of 1.2 × 10¹⁰ Jones (on GaAs) and 7.2 × 10¹⁰ Jones (on GaSb) were calculated. Arrhenius plots of the dark current densities yielded activation energies of 0.37 eV (on GaAs) and 0.42 eV (on GaSb). These values are close to the 4 K bandgap of the absorption layers (0.32–0.35 eV) indicating diffusion limited dark currents and small valence band offsets. Significantly, these devices could be used for mid-infrared focal plane arrays operating within the temperature range of cost-effective thermoelectric coolers.     

Lower bounds for boundary roughness for droplets in Bernoulli percolation

We consider boundary roughness for the ``droplet' created when supercritical two-dimensional Bernoulli percolation is conditioned to have an open dual circuit surrounding the origin and enclosing an area at least l², for large l. The maximum local roughness is the maximum inward deviation of the droplet boundary from the boundary of its own convex hull; we show that for large l this maximum is at least of order l^1/3(logl)^–2/3. This complements the upper bound of order l^1/3(logl)^–2/3 proved in [Al3] for the average local roughness. The exponent 1/3 on l here is in keeping with predictions from the physics literature for interfaces in two dimensions. The research of the first author was supported by NSF grant DMS-9802368. The research of the second author was supported by NSF grants DMS-9802368 and DMS-0103790.Mathematics Subject Classification (2000): Primary 60K35; Secondary 82B20, 82B43     

ICT并行重建算法设计与实现

分析了三维ICT近似重建FDK快速算法以及算法串行执行与并行执行的复杂度,利用MPI并行编程环境,对原有ICT重建流程进行并行化,在PC集群上实现了并行ICT重建,进行了系统集成。给出了系统应用实现的解决方案与软件集成流程图。实验结果证明串行重建和并行重建结果是一致的,并行重建可以得到比较理想地重建时间结果和比较理想的加速比与效率。     

Influence of intramolecular vibrations in charge redistribution at the pentacene-graphite interface

We have investigated the relation between the intramolecular vibrational modes of pentacene and the charge redistribution at the pentacene-graphite interface by using high-resolution electron-energy-loss-spectroscopy. The three main vibrational peaks shift to lower energies as the pentacene film thickness decreases. In order to discuss this energy shift, we have calculated the vibrational energies of a free pentacene molecule by changing its charge state. We have also calculated the vibrational energies of a pentacene molecule adsorbed on a graphite sheet by changing the pentacene-graphite distance. Taking the experimental and calculation results into account, we conclude that the observed energy shifts result from an intramolecular charge redistribution. The present results indicate that the effect of an intramolecular charge redistribution is essential to discuss the origin of an energy shift observed in a vibrational study of an organic molecule/substrate interface.     

Heat flow disturbed by periodic array of insulated interface cracks

The thermal effects of an interface crack between two dissimilar half-spaces is considered. The interface cracks are partially or fully insulated, and spaced in a periodic array. Using the complex variable technique, the temperature and fluxes are found in closed form, and the interactions between heat flows due to nearby cracks are determined.     

Orientation and Structure of Ionic Liquid Cation at Air/[bmim][BF4] Aqueous Solution Interface

The watermiscible room temperature ionic liquid 1butyl3methylimidazolium tetrafluorob orate （[bmim] [BF4]） is a model system for studying the interactions between ionic liquid and water molecules. In this work the orientational structure of the low concentrated aqueous solution of [bmim] [BF4] at the air/liquid interface was investigated by sum frequency gener ation vibrational spectroscopy. It has been found that at very low concentrations, the butyl chain exhibited a significant gauche defect, indicating a disordered conformation; and the cation ring oriented with a fairly small tilting angle at the surface. When the concentration increased, the cation ring tended to lie flat at the surface, and the gauche defects of the butyl chain decreased due to the intermolecular chainchain interactions and the consequent more ordered interfacial molecular arrangement. Additionally, the antisymmetric stretching mode in the PPP and SPS spectra exhibited a peak shift, showing that there exists more than one kind of orientation or chemical environment for the butyl CH3 group. These results may shed new light on understanding the surface behavior of watermiscible ionic liquids as well as the imidazolium based surfactants.     

Two types of diffusions at the cathode/electrolyte interface in IT-SOFCs

Analytical transmission electron microscopy, in particular with the combination of energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX) and electron energy-loss spectroscopy (EELS), has been performed to investigate the microstructure and microchemistry of the interfacial region between the cathode (La_0.6Sr_0.4Co_0.8Fe_0.2O₃, LSCF) and the electrolyte (Gd-doped ceria, GDC). Two types of diffusions, mutual diffusion between cathode and electrolyte as well as the diffusion along grain boundaries, have been clarified. These diffusions suggest that the chemical stability of LSCF and GDC are not as good as previously reported. The results are more noteworthy if we take into consideration the fact that such interdiffusions occur even during the sintering process of cell preparation.     

Facile fabrication of porous pure and Ag nanoparticle-doped poly(4-vinylpyridine) films at the liquid-liquid interfaces

We reported an interfacial self-assembly of regularly layered porous poly(4-vinylpyridine)(P4VP) films at the interfaces of water-chloroform or -dichloroethane.The porous diameters were in the range from hundred nanometers to several micrometers.It was revealed that formation of such kind of porous materials was solvent dependent.Moreover,cyclic Ag nanoparticles could be grown in the porous P4VP films to form Ag-P4VP nanohybrids under radiation.     

Interface physicochemical processes controlling sulphate anion incorporation in porous anodic alumina and their dependence on the thermodynamic and transport properties of cations

Aluminium was anodised in H₂SO₄, LiHSO₄, NaHSO₄, KHSO₄, Mg(HSO₄)₂ and Al(HSO₄)₃ electrolytes. The kinetics of growth of porous anodic alumina films and of the pore wall oxide dissolution during anodisation was studied. Based on the derived kinetic parameters, suitable physicochemical processes in the barrier layer electrolyte interface controlling the anion incorporation in the barrier layer were suggested and relevant models were formulated. According to these processes Al³⁺ and H⁺ ions are rejected from the pore base surface in the attached double layer, where Al³⁺ ions are solvated, and are transferred to the pore filling solution. The strongly different mobilities of Al³⁺ and H⁺ and the necessary space negative charge density distribution in the double layer result in similar concentration distributions of Al³⁺ and anions inside it, which differ strongly from that of H⁺. These Al³⁺ and anion concentrations increase with decreasing mobility of the main cations in the solution which depends on their hydration enthalpy and transport mechanism. The concentration of incorporated anions inside both a thin surface layer of the barrier layer and the double layer vary similarly. For identical surface density and base diameter of pores the decrease of the above mobility reinforces anion incorporation.