Local strain and defects in silicon wafers due to nanoindentation revealed by full‐field X‐ray microdiffraction imaging

Quantitative characterization of local strain in silicon wafers is critical in view of issues such as wafer handling during manufacturing and strain engineering. In this work, full‐field X‐ray microdiffraction imaging using synchrotron radiation is employed to investigate the long‐range distribution of strain fields in silicon wafers induced by indents under different conditions in order to simulate wafer fabrication damage. The technique provides a detailed quantitative mapping of strain and defect characterization at the micrometer spatial resolution and holds some advantages over conventional methods.     

A new hyperbranched star polyether electrolyte with high ionic conductivity

Hyperbranched poly(glycidol) containing hydroxyl groups was firstly synthesized via anionic polymerization and then reacted with 2-bromoisobutyl bromide to form macroinitiator HPG-Br. Finally, a hyperbranched star polymer (HPG-PPEGMA) was successfully prepared by atom transfer radical polymerization (ATRP) of poly(ethylene glycol) methyl ether methacrylate using HPG-Br as macroinitiator. The structures and properties of the obtained polymers were characterized by ¹H NMR, attenuated total reflectance Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (ATR-FTIR), differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), X-ray diffraction (XRD), and thermogravimetric analysis (TGA). The ionic conductivity of the polymer electrolytes composed of HPG-PPEGMA and lithium bis(trifluoromethanesulfonimide) (LiTFSI) was investigated via electrochemical impedance spectroscopy. The results showed that the room temperature ionic conductivity of the prepared hyperbranched star polymer electrolytes had a higher ionic conductivity. When [EO]/[Li] was 20, the ionic conductivity of the hyperbranched star polymer electrolyte was up to 1?×?10^?4 Scm^?1 at 30 °C. The onset decomposition temperature of the hyperbranched star polyether could reach 374 °C, indicating that the hyperbranched star polymer had a good thermal stability. The XRD results showed that the structure of the hyperbranched star polymer was beneficial to improve the ionic conductivity due to possessing a low degree of crystallinity.     

Influence of structural and chemical properties on electron transport in mesoporous ZnO-based dye-sensitized solar cell

Ionics - Two chemical bath deposition (CBD) solutions were prepared at two different temperatures of 60 and 80 °C for dye-sensitized solar cell (DSSC) application. The deposition time...