Dimensional variation in production of high-aspect-ratio micro-pillars array by micro powder injection molding

Micro powder injection molding (μPIM) is one of the potential processes for the mass production of metallic microstructures and micro components. Here, μPIM is the miniaturization of conventional PIM, which involves four processing steps: mixing, injection molding, debinding and sintering. This paper looks into the feasibility and effectiveness of μPIM as a key mass production process for the fabrication of metallic micro components. For it to be an effective re-production process, it is imperative to examine how well parts can be duplicated/fabricated from a master mold. In this work, the dimensional variation of high-aspect-ratio micro-pillars arrays, in particular the dimensional shrinkage, global warpage, and surface roughness at each stage of the μPIM process for a range of molding pressures, are quantified and compared in detail. The sensitivity of the dimensional variation of the microstructures to the packing pressure is reported. The mechanism behind the dimensional variation is analyzed. PACS 81.20.Ev; 81.20.Hy; 81.70.Fy; 07.60.Ly; 81.05.-t     

Solvothermal Synthesis of Molybdenum Disulfide Hollow Spheres Modified by Cyanex 301 in Water–Ethanol Medium

Hollow spherical molybdenum disulfide has been successfully synthesized via a solvothermal method using Cyanex 301 as sulfur source and modification agent. The hollow spheres are characterized by transmission electron microscopy, scanning electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction and Energy-Dispersive X-ray analysis. The influences of reaction conditions are also discussed while a mechanism is proposed to explain the formation of the peculiar morphology.     

Scalable silicon nanowire photodetectors

This paper presents photodetectors having vertically stacked electrodes with sub-micron (300 nm) separation based on silicon nanowire (SiNW) nanocomposites. The thin-film-like devices are made using standard photolithography instead of electron beam lithography and thus are amenable to scalable low-cost manufacturing. The processing technique is not limited to SiNWs and can be extended to different nanowires (NWs) (e.g., ZnO, CdSe) and substrates. The current–voltage characteristics show Schottky behaviour that is dependent on the properties of the contact metal and that of the pristine SiNWs. This makes these devices suitable for examination of electronic transport in SiNWs. Preliminary results for light sensitivity show promising photoresponse that is a function of effective NW density.     

High-resolution heteronuclear correlation spectroscopy in solid state NMR of aligned samples

A new two-dimensional scheme is proposed for accurate measurements of high-resolution chemical shifts and heteronuclear dipolar couplings in NMR of aligned samples. Both the (1)H chemical shifts and the (1)H-(15)N dipolar couplings are evolved in the indirect dimension while the (15)N chemical shifts are detected. This heteronuclear correlation (HETCOR) spectroscopy yields high-resolution (1)H chemical shifts split by the (1)H-(15)N dipolar couplings in the indirect dimension and the (15)N chemical shifts in the observed dimension. The advantages of the HETCOR technique are illustrated for a static (15)N-acetyl-valine crystal sample and a (15)N-labeled helical peptide sample aligned in hydrated lipid bilayers.     

Formation of stray grains during directional solidification of a superalloy AM3

Stray grains were found during the preparation of single crystal superalloy AM3 by seeding technique and the researching on the competitive growth of bi-crystal. Stray grains were mainly observed at the diverging 〈001〉 corner of the mold wall. Therefore, increasing orientation deviation angle would intensify the possibility of the formation of stray grains. This was because the solute was inclined to enrich at the diverging 〈001〉 corner of mold wall, leading to the relatively large undercooling, and accordingly resulted in the formation of stray grains.     

Three-dimensional spiral structure of tropical cyclone under four-force balance

The steady axis-symmetrical atmosphere dynamical equations are used for describing spiral structure of tropical cyclones under four-force （pressure gradient force, Coriolis force, centrifugal force, and friction force） balance, and the dynamical systems of three-dimensional （3D） velocity field are introduced. The qualitative analysis of the dynamical system shows that there are down 3D spiral structures in eye of tropical cyclone and tropical cyclone is 3D counterclockwise up spiral structure. These results are consistent with the observed tropical cyclone on the weather map.     

A tunable infrared plasmonic polarization filter with asymmetrical cross resonator

A tunable infrared plasmonic polarization filter is proposed and investigated in this paper. The filter is based on the sandwich absorption structure which consists of three layers. The top layer is an array of asymmetrical cross resonator.The middle and bottom layers are dielectric spacer and metal film respectively. By absorbing specific wavelength of the incident light perfectly, the reflection spectrum of the structure shows filter performance. The calculated results show that the absorption wavelength is strongly dependent on the length of branch of the asymmetrical cross resonator which is parallel to the light polarization and independent of the length of the vertical one. Therefore, the asymmetrical cross resonator filter structure opens the way for freely tuning the filtering wavelength for a different light polarization. We can fix a resonant wavelength(absorption wavelength) corresponding to one polarization and change the resonant wavelength for the other polarization by adjusting the corresponding branch length of the asymmetrical cross resonator, or change the two resonant wavelengths of both two polarizations at the same time.     

Study on lattice vibrational properties and Raman spectra of Bi_2Te_3 based on density-functional perturbation theory

We present a variational density-functional perturbation theory(DFPT) to investigate the lattice dynamics and vibrational properties of single crystal bismuth telluride material. The phonon dispersion curves and phonon density of states(DOS) of the material were obtained. The phonon dispersions are divided into two fields by a phonon gap. In the lower field,atomic vibrations of both Bi and Te contribute to the DOS. In the higher field, most contributions come from Te atoms. The calculated Born effective charges and dielectric constants reveal a great anisotropy in the crystal. The largest Born effective charge generates a significant dynamic charge transferring along the c axis. By DFPT calculation, the greatest LO–TO splitting takes place in the infrared phonon modes and reaches 1.7 THz in the Brillouin zone center. The Raman spectra and peaks corresponding to respective atomic vibration modes were found to be in good agreement with the experimental data.     

Improved performance of P3HT：PCBM solar cells by both anode modification and short-wavelength energy utilization using Tb（aca）3phen

The performance of P3HT:PCBM solar cells was improved by anode modification using spin-coated Tb(aca)3phen ultrathin films. The modification of the Tb(aca)3phen ultrathin film between the indium tin oxide(ITO) anode and the PEDOT:PSS layer resulted in a maximum power conversion efficiency(PCE) of 2.99% compared to 2.66% for the reference device, which was due to the increase in the short-circuit current density(Jsc). The PCE improvement could be attributed to the short-wavelength energy utilization and the optimized morphology of the active layers. Tb(aca)3phen with its strong down-conversion luminescence properties is suitable for the P3HT:PCBM blend active layer, and the absorption region of the ternary blend films is extended into the near ultraviolet region. Furthermore, the crystallization and the surface morphology of P3HT:PCBM films were improved with the Tb(aca)3phen ultrathin film. The ultraviolent–visible absorption spectra,atomic force microscope(AFM), and X-ray diffraction(XRD) of the films were investigated. Both anode modification and short-wavelength energy utilization using Tb(aca)3phen in P3HT:PCBM solar cells led to about a 12% PCE increase.     

Fabrication of Ag nanodot array over large area for surface-enhanced Raman scattering using hybrid nanoimprint mold made from AAO template

We demonstrated the fabrication of dense hexagonal arrays of Ag nanodots over a large area using a novel nanoimprint-based fabrication technique for surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy. Flexible imprint molds with sub-10 nm features were duplicated from AAO templates using a novel hybrid mold technique. This method solves the nonflatness-induced defect issue in the conventional thermal nanoimprint technique, and allows high-quality duplications of nanometer features from rigid nonflat templates. Moreover, with the help of the excellent tunability of the size of nanoholes on AAO templates, we were able to tune the size of Ag nanodots, and consequently to tailor the resonance frequency of the Ag nanodot arrays. Finally, surface-enhanced Raman scattering of Rhodamine-123 on Ag nanodot arrays was measured, and large signal enhancement was observed on the 70 nm Ag nanodots. We numerically simulated the optical properties of those Ag nanodot arrays, and excellent agreement was found with the experimental results.