Effect of additions of ZrO2 nano-particles on the microstructure and shear strength of Sn-Ag-Cu solder on Au/Ni metallized Cu pads

Nano-sized, nonreacting, noncoarsening ZrO₂ particles reinforced Sn-3.0 wt%Ag-0.5 wt%Cu composite solders were prepared by mechanically dispersing ZrO₂ nano-particles into Sn-Ag-Cu solder. The interfacial morphology of unreinforced Sn-Ag-Cu solder and solder joints containing ZrO₂ nano-particles with Au/Ni metallized Cu pads on ball grid array (BGA) substrates and the distribution of reinforcing particles were characterized metallographically. At their interfaces, a Sn-Ni-Cu intermetallic compound (IMC) layer was found in both unreinforced Sn-Ag-Cu and Sn-Ag-Cu solder joints containing ZrO₂ nano-particles and the IMC layer thickness increased with the number of reflow cycles. In the solder ball region, AuSn₄, Ag₃Sn, Cu₆Sn₅ IMC particles and ZrO₂ nano-particles were found to be uniformly distributed in the β-Sn matrix of Sn-Ag-Cu solder joints containing ZrO₂ nano-particles, which resulted in an increase in the shear strength, due to a second phase dispersion strengthening mechanism. The fracture surface of unreinforced Sn-Ag-Cu solder joints exhibited a brittle fracture mode with a smooth surface while Sn-Ag-Cu solder joints containing ZrO₂ nano-particles ductile failure characteristics with rough dimpled surfaces.     

Bipolar switching characteristics of low-power Geo resistive memory

We reported an ultra low-power resistive random access memory (RRAM) combining a low-cost Ni electrode and covalent-bond GeO_x dielectric. This cost-effective Ni/GeO_x/TaN RRAM device has very small set power of 2 μW, ultra-low reset power of 130 pW, greater than 1 order of magnitude resistance window, and stable retention at 85 °C. The current flow at low-resistance state is governed by Poole-Frenkel conduction with electrons hopping via defect traps, which is quite different from the filament conduction in metal-oxide RRAM.     

Physical analysis on improving the recovery accuracy of the Earth’s gravity field by a combination of satellite observations in along-track and cross-track directions

The physical investigations on the accuracy improvement to the measurement of the Earth＇s gravity field recovery are carried out based on the next-generation Pendulum-A/B out-of-plane twin-satellite formation in this paper. Firstly, the Earth＇s gravity field complete up to degree and order 100 is, respectively, recovered by the collinear and pendulum satellite formations using the orbital parameters of the satellite and the matching accuracies of key payloads from the twin GRACE satellites. The research results show that the accuracy of the Earth＇s gravity field model from the Pendulum-A/B satellite formation is about two times higher than from the collinear satellite formation, and the further improvement of the determination accuracy of the Earth＇s gravity field model is feasible by the next-generation Pendulum-A/B out-of-plane twin-satellite formation. Secondly, the Earth＇s gravity field from Pendulum-A/B complete up to degree and order 100 is accurately recovered based on the orbital parameters of the satellite （e.g., an orbital altitude of 400 km, an intersatellite range of 100 km, an orbital inclination of 89° and an orbital eccentricity of 0.001）, the matching accuracies of space- borne instruments （e.g. 10-6 m in the intersatellite range, 10-3 m in the orbital position, 10-6 m/s in orbital velocity, and 10-11 m/s2 in non-conservative force）, an observation time of 30 days and a sampling interval of 10 s. The measurement accuracy of the Earth＇s gravity field from the next-generation Pendulum-A/B out-of-plane twin-satellite formation is full of promise for being improved by about l0 times compared with that from the current GRACE satellite formation. Finally, the physical requirements for the next-generation Pendulum-A/B out-of-plane twin-satellite formation are analyzed, and it is proposed that the satellite orbital altitude be preferably designed to be close to 400±50 km and the matching precision of key sensors from the Pendulum-A/B mission be about one order of magnitude higher tha     

Synthesis of 1,3,4‐Oxadiazole‐Based Aromatic and Heterocyclic/Phenylpyrazole Derivatives

A new series of 1,3,4‐oxadiazole‐based aromatic and heterocyclic/phenylpyrazole derivatives 6a–c , 7a–d , and 8 were synthesized via sequential 1,3‐dipolar cyclization, hydrazidation, benzoylation, dehydrative cyclization, and the Suzuki coupling reaction. Among the derivatives, compounds 7a and 7c with the corresponding 2‐thienyl and 2‐benzo[b]thienyl (Ar) at the phenyl group located at the N‐1 position of pyrazole showed a better conjugation range.      

Hybrid phononic crystal plates for lowering and widening acoustic band gaps

We propose hybrid phononic-crystal plates which are composed of periodic stepped pillars and periodic holes to lower and widen acoustic band gaps. The acoustic waves scattered simultaneously by the pillars and holes in a relevant frequency range can generate low and wide acoustic forbidden bands. We introduce an alternative double-sided arrangement of the periodic stepped pillars for an enlarged pillars’ head diameter in the hybrid structure and optimize the hole diameter to further lower and widen the acoustic band gaps. The lowering and widening effects are simultaneously achieved by reducing the frequencies of locally resonant pillar modes and prohibiting suitable frequency bands of propagating plate modes.     

Phase synchronization in a two-mode solid state laser: Periodic modulations with the second relaxation oscillation frequency of the laser output

Phase synchronization (PS) in a periodically pump-modulated two-mode solid state laser is investigated. Although PS in the laser system has been demonstrated in response to a periodic modulation with the main relaxation oscillation (RO) frequency of the free-running laser, little is known about the case of modulation with minor RO frequencies. In this Letter, the empirical mode decomposition (EMD) method is utilized to decompose the laser time series into a set of orthogonal modes and to examine the intrinsic PS near the frequency of the second RO. The degree of PS is quantified by means of a histogram of phase differences and the analysis of Shannon entropy.     

Current-density imaging using ultra-low-field MRI with zero-field encoding

Electric current density can be measured noninvasively with magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Determining all three components of the current density, however, requires physical rotation of the sample or current injection from several directions when done with conventional methods. However, the emerging technology of ultra-low-field (ULF) MRI, in which the signal encoding and acquisition is conducted at a microtesla-range magnetic field, offers new possibilities. The low applied magnetic fields can even be switched off completely within the pulse sequence, increasing the flexibility of the available sequences. In this article, we present a ULF-MRI sequence designed for obtaining all three components of a current-density pattern without the need of sample rotations. The sequence consists of three steps: prepolarization of the sample, signal encoding in the current-density-associated magnetic field without applying any MRI fields, and spatial encoding in a microtesla-range field using any standard ULF-MRI sequence. The performance of the method is evaluated by numerical simulations. The method may find applications, e.g., in noninvasive conductivity imaging of tissue.     

DiffServ-aware multicasting in a mobile IPv6 network

In this paper we propose an algorithm to establish a DiffServ-Aware Multicast Tree (DAMT) in a mobile IPv6 network. We first use the modified Prim’s algorithm to construct the Maximum Available Bandwidth Map (MABM) in a mobile IPv6 network. Then, both the extended multicast routing table stored in each Edge Router (ER) and the Interface QoS Table (IQT) stored in each Core Router (CR) are created and used to construct a DAMT. Finally, the constructed MABM can be rearranged (R-MABM) in order to keep the same QoS as a Mobile Node (MN) had in the home network when the MN has moved to a new ER. The proposed algorithm solves the architectural conflicts for the integration of multicasting support in the Diffserv network as well as the problems of the Neglected Reservation Sub-tree (NRS) and receiver heterogeneity. It also solves a MN’s QoS requirement when the MN moves from one network to another. Simulation results indicate that the proposed algorithm offers better performance than existing approaches in average delay, average packet loss rate, average throughput, the number of control overhead, the usage of bandwidth, the amount of saved link bandwidth, and the accumulated time to find a feasible path, especially in the case where the number of new join MN is large and traffic loads are heavy.     

Using Sorted Switching Median Filter to remove high-density impulse noises

We propose a novel Sorted Switching Median Filter (i.e. SSMF) for effectively denoising extremely corrupted images while preserving the image details. The center pixel is considered as “uncorrupted” or “corrupted” noise in the detecting stage. The corrupted pixels that possess more noise-free surroundings will have higher processing priority in the SSMF sorting and filtering stages to rescue the heavily noisy neighbors. Five noise models are considered to assess the performance of the proposed SSMF algorithm. Several extensive simulation results conducted on both grayscale and color images with a wide range (from 10% to 90%) of noise corruption clearly show that the proposed SSMF substantially outperforms all other existing median-based filters.     

Soldering of solution-processed organic vertical transistor and light-emitting diode on separate glass substrates by tin micro-balls

The vertical organic space-charge-limited transistor made of P3HT and small-molecule phosphorescent organic light-emitting diode (OLED) are made on two separate glass substrate by blade coating, then soldered vertically together by tin balls with 40 μm diameter. The soldering is done by hot wind of 150 °C for 5 min Contact resistance is only 10 Ω. The vertical transistor is annealed at 150 °C for 5 min before soldering to enhance the output current up to 25 mA/cm² and give high thermal stability. Both OLED and the annealed vertical transistor are not affected by the soldering process. The vertical transistor has 1/4 of the OLED area and turns on the bottom-emission white OLED up to 300 cd/m² and orange OLED up to 600 cd/m². The entire operation is within 8 V. OLED and transistor array can therefore be made on separate glass substrates then soldered together to form the display.