A Noninvasive, on Wafer Method to Determine the Intrinsic Stress of a Polymer Layer

The method described in this paper allows an investigator to determine the intrinsic stress of a polymer layer in a way that does not result in damage to devices or test structures. The method requires that a small area of the polymer be released from the substrate to form a diaphragm. The diaphragm is stimulated with acoustic white noise and the diaphragm movement is monitored with a laser vibrometer. The first few resonance frequencies of the diaphragm are obtained using a laser vibrometer and then those frequencies are used to calculate the membrane intrinsic bi-axial tension.     

On a free boundary problem for the Reynolds equation derived from the Stokes system with Tresca boundary conditions

The asymptotic behaviour of a Stokes flow with Tresca free boundary friction conditions when one dimension of the fluid domain tends to zero is studied. A specific Reynolds equation associated with variational inequalities is obtained and uniqueness is proved.     

The Systematics of Muonium Hyperfine Constants

The hyperfine constants for muonium in elemental and binary inorganic solids suggest formation of three different families of defect centre, with distinct electronic structures. The overall range of values, spanning nearly five orders of magnitude, and their correlation with host properties such as band gap and electron affinity, reveal a deep-to-shallow instability which has profound implications for the electrical properties of hydrogen impurity in electronic materials, both semiconducting and dielectric.     

Kinetics of the bromate–bromide reaction at high bromide concentrations

At bromide concentrations higher than 0.1 M, a second term must be added to the classical rate law of the bromate–bromide reaction that becomes ?d[BrO₃^?]/dt = [BrO₃^?][H⁺]²(k₁[Br^?] + k₂[Br^?]²). In perchloric solutions at 25°C, k₁ = 2.18 dm³ mol^?3 s^?1 and k₂ = 0.65 dm⁴ mol^?4 s^?1 at 1 M ionic strength and k₁ = 2.60 dm³ mol³ s^?1and k₂ = 1.05 dm⁴ mol^?4 s^?1 at 2 M ionic strength. A mechanism explaining this rate law, with Br₂O₂ as key intermediate species, is proposed. Errors that may occur when using the Guggenheim method are discussed. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Int J Chem Kinet 39: 17–21, 2007     

Acetylene weak bands at 2.5 μm from intracavity Cr:ZnSe laser absorption observed with time-resolved Fourier transform spectroscopy

The spectral dynamics of a mid-infrared multimode Cr(2+):ZnSe laser located in a vacuum sealed chamber containing acetylene at low pressure is analyzed by a stepping-mode high-resolution time-resolved Fourier transform interferometer. Doppler-limited absorption spectra of C(2)H(2) in natural isotopic abundance are recorded around 4000 cm(-1) with kilometric absorption path lengths and sensitivities better than 3 10(-8) cm(-1). Two cold bands are newly identified and assigned to the ν(1)+ν(4) (1) and ν(3)+ν(5) (1) transitions of (12)C(13)CH(2). The ν(1)+ν(5) (1) band of (12)C(2)HD and fourteen (12)C(2)H(2) bands are observed, among which for the first time ν(2)+2ν(4) (2)+ν(5) (-1).     

Evaluation of Polycation-Stabilized Lactate Oxidase in a Silica Sol–Gel as a Biosensor Platform

 Whereas glucose oxidase and related proteins are encapsulated readily in silica sol–gels, α-hydroxy enzymes such as lactate oxidase (LOx), are reported to be damaged by electrostatic interaction with these matrices. Based on a previous report, poly(ethyleneimine), PEI, was evaluated as a protecting compound under conditions suited to analytical measurements. With LOx and PEI co-encapsulated in a silica sol–gel, the enzyme retained 62% of its initial activity after 20 days. In the absence of PEI, activity was lost during the processing. Batch analytical measurements with enzyme-doped sol–gel yielded a linear response over the range 0.5–2.0 mM lactate and a detection limit of 0.03 mM lactate. Both simple incorporation of LOx in a silica sol–gel and an alternative protection method, blocking the ion-exchange sites on silica with La(III), failed. These negative results supported the hypothesis that the efficacy of PEI was related to its formation of a protective sheath around the enzyme. Author for correspondence. E-mail: coxja@muohio.edu Received July 29, 2002; accepted December 15, 2002 Published online May 19, 2003     

A geometric theory forL 2-stability of the inverse problem in a one-dimensional elliptic equation from anH 1-observation

This study provides a stability theory for the nonlinear least-squares formulation of estimating the diffusion coefficient in a two-point boundary-value problem from an error-corrupted observation of the state variable. It is based on analysing the projection of the observation on the nonconvex attainable set.This research was started while G. Chavent visited the Technical University of Graz. Support through the Steiermaerkische Landesregierung is gratefully acknowledged.     

Molecule-to-metal bonds: electrografting polymers on conducting surfaces.

Electrografting is a powerful and versatile technique for modifying and decorating conducting surfaces with organic matter. Mainly based on the electro-induced polymerization of dissolved electro-active monomers on metallic or semiconducting surfaces, it finds applications in various fields including biocompatibility, protection against corrosion, lubrication, soldering, functionalization, adhesion, and template chemistry. Starting from experimental observations, this Review highlights the mechanism of the formation of covalent metal-carbon bonds by electro-induced processes, together with major applications such as derivatization of conducting surfaces with biomolecules that can be used in biosensing, lubrication of low-level electrical contacts, reversible trapping of ionic waste on reactive electrografted surfaces as an alternative to ion-exchange resins, and localized modification of conducting surfaces, a one-step process providing submicrometer grafted areas and which is used in microelectronics.