A new type of micropump driven by a low electric voltage

In this paper, we propose a new prototype model of a micro pump using ICPF (Ionic Conducting Polymer Film) actuator as the servo actuator. This micro pump consists of two active oneway valves that make use of the same ICPF actuator. The overall size of this micro pump prototype is 12mm in diameter and 20 mm in length. The actuating mechanism is as follows: (1) The ICPF actuator as the diaphragm is bent into anode side by application of electricity. Then the volume of the pump chamber increases, resulting in the inflow of liquid from the inlet to the chamber. (2) By changing the current direction, the volume of the pump chamber decreases, resulting in the liquid flow from the chamber to the outlet. (3) The ICPF actuator is put on a sine voltage, the micro pump provides liquid flow from the inlet to the outlet continuously. Characteristic of the micro pump is measured. The experimental results indicate that the micro pump has the satisfactory responses.     

Radiation-Induced Emulsion Copolymerization of Tetrafluorethylene with Propylene. The Behavior of the HF Formed

The radiation-induced emulsion copolymerization of tetrafluoroethylene with propylene was carried out at room temperature in the presence of gaseous monomers. The formation of hydrofluoric acid in the course of polymerization was observed. The amount of HF formed increased linearly with the irradiation time at various dose rates in the early stage. The tendency was similar to that of time-polymer yield curves. The rate of HF formation was proportional to the first order of the dose rate. The amount of HF formed increased in the presence of oxygen and decreased remarkably above 1 wt% emulsifier, while the polymer yield decreased in the presence of oxygen and increased with the emulsifier concentration. A remarkable decrease in the amount of HF formed in higher emulsifier concentration is mainly attributable to chemical absorption or electrostatic capture of H⁺ ion on polymer particles produced. Hydrofluoric acid is mainly formed by reaction between primary products (e _aq ^? and H) from the radiolysis of water and organic fluoride (tetrafluoroethylene and emulsifier), and is little formed by reaction between primary products and copolymer produced. The G value of HF formation was in the order of emulsifier-water system > suspension polymerization > emulsion polymerization, while the polymer yield was in the order of emulsion polymerization > suspension polymerization.     

Reverse current reduction of Ge photodiodes on Si without post-growth annealing

A new approach to reduce the reverse current of Ge pin photodiodes on Si is presented, in which an i-Si layer is inserted between Ge and top Si layers to reduce the electric field in the Ge layer. Without post- growth annealing, the reverse current density is reduced to -10 mA/cm^2 at -1 V, i.e., over one order of magnitude lower than that of the reference photodiode without i-Si layer. However, the responsivity of the photodiodes is not severely compromised. This lowered-reverse-current is explained by band-pinning at the i-Si/i-Ge interface. Barrier lowering mechanism induced by E-field is also discussed. The presented ＂non-thermal＂ approach to reduce reverse current should accelerate electronics-photonics convergence by using Oe on the Si complementary metal oxide semiconductor （CMOS） platform.     

Results of 0.5% cold-leg small-break LOCA experiments at ROSA-IV/LSTF: Effect of break orientation

Three 0.5% cold-leg small-break loss-of-coolant accident (SBLOCA) experiment were conducted at the ROSA-IV Large Scale Test Facility (LSTF) to investigate the effects of break orientation on system thermal-hydraulic responses. In these three experiments, the break hole was located at the side, bottom, and top of the horizontal cold leg, respectively. Although the key phenomena observed in the three experiments were basically the same, the break flow rate was affected by the break orientation when phase stratification occured in the cold leg; the break flow rate was largest for the side break and smallest for the top break. The RELAP5/MOD2 code failed to predict the difference in the break flow rate observed in the experiments. Modification to the break flow calculation models, for both subcooled and two-phase flow discharge conditions, resulted in good agreement between data and predictions.     

MTV-G experiment: Probing non-standard strong gravitational field at nuclear scale using geodetic precession

A new experiment named MTV-G, probing a large electron spin-precession due to a possible strong gravitational field, which predicted by large extra dimension model, is started at TRIUMF from 2011. In an electron-nuclear scattering experiment, a strong gravitational field is tested as a large spin precession effect caused by geodetic precession predicted by general relativity theory as a result of a warped space-time around nuclei. Experimental design using spin polarized electron source and Mott-spin analyzer, commissioning experiment and the preliminary results are described.     

Oxide reliability improvement controlling microstructures of substrate/oxide and oxide/gate interfaces

For future ULSIs, the oxide reliability problem is a key issue to realize low-power, high-speed devices whilst retaining its reliability. In the MOSFET structure, a gate oxide consists of the substrate/oxide interface, oxide and oxide/gate interface. Therefore, to improve oxide reliability, it is important to control these three component structures individually. In this report, I will describe experiments to control structures of the above two interfaces using: (1) a combination of a closed wet cleaning system and a load-lock oxidation system and (2) an ultra-thin film deposition CVD technique. By controlling these structures, the oxide reliability was improved. Moreover, the interface structure should be carefully controlled in high- k gate dielectrics in future devices.     

Relaxational behavior of the piezoelectric constant and the electrostriction constant in polymers

Piezoelectricity in polymer films is classified by its mechanism into three groups: A-1, intrinsic piezoelectricity due to internal strain in nonpolar crystals; A-2, intrinsic piezoelectricity due to the strain-dependence of the spontaneous polarization in polar crystals; and B, piezoelectricity due to the heterogeneity of macroscopic strain.

The relaxational behavior of piezoelectricity in Type A-1 is discussed for two cases: (a) the piezoelectric phase is relaxing, and (b) the piezoelectric phase is nonrelaxing but the nonpiezoelectric phase is relaxing. For Case a, a thermody-namic theory is developed, yielding relations among relaxation strengths of piezoelectric constant, dielectric constant, and elastic modulus. For Case b, on the other hand, the inequalities e″/e′ < 0 and d″/d′ > 0 are verified for a generalized composite model of two phases, where e′ — ie” and d′ — id″ are complex piezoelectric stress and strain constants, respectively.

Relaxational behavior of the piezoelectric constant for Type A-2 and Type B is expected to reflect that of the electrostriction constant as suggested by theories. The complex electrostriction constant in a range from 30 Hz to 500 kHz is presented for unrolled and rolled poly(vinylidene fluoride) films. The frequency dependence of the complex electrostriction constant can explain the relaxational behavior of the piezoelectric constant of Types A-2 and B, and at the same time gives a new aspect of the relaxational character of polymers, the strain-dependence of the relaxation time, and its anisotropy.