Reflectarray research at the communications research centre Canada

It has been a decade since a research program began on reflectarray technology at the Communications Research Centre Canada (CRC). This endeavor has demonstrated the advantages and shortcomings of this technology, the issues that ought to be addressed, and future opportunities. This paper summarizes the outcome of this research in the context of projects that have been carried out, and the resulting insight into reflectarray technology. Design methodology, fabrication process, and measurements results will be briefly discussed for each particular development.     

Tri-Gate Bulk MOSFET Design for CMOS Scaling to the End of the Roadmap

A tri-gate bulk MOSFET design utilizing a low-aspect-ratio channel is proposed to provide an evolutionary pathway for CMOS scaling to the end of the roadmap. 3-D device simulations indicate that this design offers the advantages of a multi-gate FET (reduced variability in performance and improved scalability) together with the advantages of a conventional planar MOSFET (low substrate cost and capability for dynamic threshold-voltage control).     

Effect of short glass fiber on structure and viscoelastic behavior of olefinic polymers synthesized with metallocene catalyst

Several composites were prepared on the basis of an ethylene homopolymer and different copolymers of ethylene and 1‐hexene, synthesized with a metallocene catalyst, as matrices and a content of a 5 wt % of short glass fiber. The effect of the fiber incorporation on the structure and mechanical and viscoelastic behaviors was analyzed for the different samples. The glass fibers induced a slightly higher crystallinity, and the crystallite morphology significantly changed (long spacings and crystal orientation). The incorporation of fibers did not reinforce the different matrices under study at this low content; consequently, the mechanical parameters, such as Young's modulus, yielding stress, and microhardness, were lower in the composites as compared with those values found in the neat polyolefins. The location and apparent activation energies of distinct relaxation processes are also discussed. © 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part B: Polym Phys 41: 1244–1255, 2003     

Ultrasonic spectroscopic evaluation of the ring‐opening metathesis polymerization of dicyclopentadiene

An in situ ultrasonic spectroscopy technique was used to study the ring‐opening metathesis polymerization of dicyclopentadiene catalyzed by bis(tricyclohexylphosphine)benzylidene ruthenium dichloride. A reaction cell employing a flexible poly(ethylene terephthalate) window for pulse echo ultrasonic spectroscopy was used to monitor the polymerization. The changes in the density, wave speed, acoustic modulus, and attenuation were all simultaneously monitored. In comparison with Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy data, the changes in the density, velocity, and modulus only accurately measured the rate constant for the metathesis of the cyclopentyl unsaturation. The ultrasonic values were within 6% of the values determined by FTIR. The activation energy for metathesis of the cyclopentyl unsaturation was 84 kJ mol^?1, following first‐order kinetics. Rate constants for the polymerization of the norbornyl unsaturation could not be determined by ultrasound. The gel point, vitrification, and qualitative information about the reaction rate could be determined from the change in the attenuation. © 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part B: Polym Phys 41: 1323–1333, 2003     

Development of Stretch Solder Interconnections for Wafer Level Packaging

A wafer level packaging technique has been developed with an inherent advantage of good solder joint co-planarity suitable for wafer level testing. A suitable weak metallization scheme has also been established for the detachment process. During the fabrication process, the compliancy of the solder joint is enhanced through stretching to achieve a small shape factor. Thermal cycling reliability of these hourglass-shaped, stretch solder interconnections has been found to be considerably better than that of the conventional spherical-shaped solder bumps.     

Effect of Thickness of the p-AlGaN Electron Blocking Layer on the Improvement of ESD Characteristics in GaN-Based LEDs

The following letter presents a study regarding GaN-based light-emitting diodes (LEDs) with p-type AlGaN electron blocking layers (EBLs) of different thicknesses. The study revealed that the LEDs could endure higher electrostatic discharge (ESD) levels as the thickness of the AlGaN EBL increased. The observed improvement in the ESD endurance ability could be attributed to the fact that the thickened p-AlGaN EBL may partly fill the dislocation-related pits that occur on the surface of the InGaN-GaN multiple-quantum well (MQW) and that are due to the strain and the low-temperature-growth process. If these dislocation-related pits are not partly suppressed, they will eventually result in numerous surface pits associated with threading dislocations that intersect the InGaN-GaN (MQW), thereby reducing the ESD endurance ability. The results of the experiment show that the ESD endurance voltages could increase from 1500 to 6000 V when the thickness of the p-AlGaN EBL in the GaN LEDs is increased from 32.5 to 130 nm, while the forward voltages and light output powers remained almost the same.     

Mechanisms of n‐butanol formation in butyl acrylate latexes

The mechanisms involved in the formation of n‐butanol during the synthesis of butyl acrylate containing latices were investigated. The experimental results showed that neither the hydrolysis of butyl acrylate nor of the ester bond in the butyl acrylate segments of the polymer played a major role in the formation of n‐butanol, which was mainly generated from the polymer backbone, by transfer reactions to polymer chain followed by cyclization. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 45: 5838–5846, 2007     

Multi-mode wave propagation in ribbed plates: Part I,wavenumber-space characteristics

This paper addresses the issue of energy propagation features in ribbed panels over a wide frequency range. First, a tool for estimating the wave propagation characteristics of one- and two-dimensional structures by k-space analysis is presented. This tool uses a concept of Inhomogeneous Wave Correlation with sparse measured or extracted data, and leads to the estimation of θ-dependent wavenumbers. Here, the method is employed with the sparse simulated and measured normal velocities of a set of ribbed panels and new insights into their k-space behavior are highlighted. Behavior is essentially characterized at low frequencies by structural orthotropy. Comparisons with homogenized data show very good agreement. At higher frequencies, a new behavior pattern is observed and explained both numerically and experimentally. This is a multi-modal waveguide type of propagation in a direction parallel to the ribs.     

Buckling of a stiff thin film on a compliant substrate in large deformation

A finite-deformation theory is developed to study the mechanics of thin buckled films on compliant substrates. Perturbation analysis is performed for this highly nonlinear system to obtain the analytical solution. The results agree well with experiments and finite element analysis in wavelength and amplitude. In particular, it is found that the wavelength depends on the strain. Based on the accurate wavelength and amplitude, the membrane and peak strains in thin films, and stretchability and compressibility of the system are also obtained analytically.     

Multi-layer thin films/substrate system subjected to non-uniform misfit strains

Current methodologies used for the inference of thin film stress through curvature measurement are strictly restricted to stress and curvature states that are assumed to remain uniform over the entire film/substrate system. These methodologies have recently been extended to a single layer of thin film deposited on a substrate subjected to the non-uniform misfit strain in the thin film. Such methodologies are further extended to multi-layer thin films deposited on a substrate in the present study. Each thin film may have its own non-uniform misfit strain. We derive relations between the stresses in each thin film and the change of system curvatures due to the deposition of each thin film. The interface shear stresses between the adjacent films and between the thin film and the substrate are also obtained from the system curvatures. This provides the basis for the experimental determination of thin film stresses in multi-layer thin films on a substrate.