The texture of thin NiSi films and its effect on agglomeration

Nickel silicide films are used as contacting materials in the micro electronics industry. It was recently [1] discovered that these films exhibit a peculiar type of texture, which was called 'axiotaxy', whereby certain lattice planes in the NiSi grains are preferentially aligned to (110)-type lattice planes in the single crystal Si substrate. In this contribution, we present a quantitative study of this phenomenon, using both XRD pole figure measurements and EBSD. Furthermore, we report a correlation between the texture of these NiSi films and their morphological stability during annealing at high temperature. In spite of the small grain size in these films, EBSD could be used to determine the volume fractions of the various texture components. This provided quantitative support for the claim that axiotaxy is the main texture component in these films, as about 40% of the grains belong to one of the axiotaxial texture components, and the remaining fraction exhibits a random orientation. A discussion of the techniques used during the measurement and analysis of the EBSD data is presented, as this must be given special consideration in view of the peculiar type of texture encountered in these films. Secondly, both XRD and EBSD were performed after annealing the NiSi films at various temperatures and durations. It is known that thin NiSi films have a strong tendency to agglomerate [2]. Our data indicates a correlation between the texture evolution and the agglomeration of the NiSi layer. Grains with axiotaxial orientation were observed to grow and thicken during the annealing process, by consuming neighboring randomly oriented grains. This suggests that the texture of the NiSi layer is a determining factor for the morphological stability of the film. The fact that grains with axiotaxial orientation grow during heat treatment can be related to the one dimensional periodicity at the interface, which lowers the interface energy and thus provides a driving force for the preferred growth of these grains. The agglomeration of NiSi films results in a significant increase of the sheet resistance. Therefore, these results illustrate the importance of texture control for the application of these films as contacts in micro-electronic devices

Virtual Astronomy, Information Technology, and the New Scientific Methodology

All sciences, including astronomy, are now entering the era of information abundance. The exponentially increasing volume and complexity of modern data sets promises to transform the scientific practice, but also poses a number of common technological challenges. The Virtual Observatory concept is the astronomical community's response to these challenges: it aims to harness the progress in information technology in the service of astronomy, and at the same time provide a valuable testbed for information technology and applied computer science. Challenges broadly fall into two categories: data handling (or "data farming"), including issues such as archives, intelligent storage, databases, interoperability, fast networks, etc., and data mining, data understanding, and knowledge discovery, which include issues such as automated clustering and classification, multivariate correlation searches, pattern recognition, visualization in highly hyperdimensional parameter spaces, etc., as well as various applications of machine learning in these contexts. Such techniques are forming a methodological foundation for science with massive and complex data sets in general, and are likely to have a much broather impact on the modern society, commerce, information economy, security, etc. There is a powerful emerging synergy between the computationally enabled science and the science-driven computing, which will drive the progress in science, scholarship, and many other venues in the 21st century

Development of an in-field tree imaging system : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Technology at Massey University

Quality inventory information is essential for optimal resource utilisation in the forestry industry. In-field tree imaging is a method which has been proposed to improve the preharvest inventor assessment of standing trees. It involves the application of digital imaging technology to this task. The method described generates a three dimensional model of each tree through the capture of two orthogonal images from ground level. The images are captured and analysed using the "TreeScan" in-field tree imaging system. This thesis describes the design, development, and evaluation of the TreeScan system. The thesis can also be used as a technical reference for the system and as such contains appropriate technical and design detail. The TreeScan system consists of a portable computer, a custom designed high resolution scanner with integral microcontroller, a calibration rod, and custom designed processing software. Images of trees are captured using the scanner which contains a CCD line scan camera and a precision scanning mechanism. Captured images are analysed on the portable computer using customised image processing software to estimate real world tree dimensions and shape. The TreeScan system provides quantitative estimates of five tree parameters; height, sweep, stem diameter, branch diameter, and feature separation such as internodal distance. In addition to these estimates a three dimensional model is generated which can be further processed to determine the optimal stem breakdown into logs

Index to Library Trends Volume 33

published or submitted for publicatio

Development of canopy vigour maps using UAV for site-specific management during vineyard spraying process

Site-specific management of crops represents an important improvement in terms of efficiency and efficacy of the different labours, and its implementation has experienced a large development in the last decades, especially for field crops. The particular case of the spray application process for what are called “specialty crops” (vineyard, orchard fruits, citrus, olive trees, etc.)FI-DGR grant from Generalitat de Catalunya (2018 FI_B1 00083). Research and improvement of Dosaviña have been developed under LIFE PERFECT project: Pesticide Reduction using Friendly and Environmentally Controlled Technologies (LIFE17 ENV/ES/000205)This research was partially funded by the “Ajuts a les activitats de demostració (operació 01.02.01 de Transferència Tecnològica del Programa de desenvolupament rural de Catalunya 2014-2020)” and an FI-DGR grant from Generalitat de Catalunya (2018 FI_B1 00083). Research and improvement of Dosaviña have been developed under the LIFE PERFECT project: Pesticide Reduction using Friendly and Environmentally Controlled Technologies (LIFE17 ENV/ES/000205).This research was partially funded by the “Ajuts a les activitats de demostració (operació 01.02.01 de Transferència Tecnològica del Programa de desenvolupament rural de Catalunya 2014-2020)” and an FI-DGR grant from Generalitat de Catalunya (2018 FI_B1 00083). Research and improvement of Dosaviña have been developed under LIFE PERFECT project: Pesticide Reduction using Friendly and Environmentally Controlled Technologies (LIFE17 ENV/ES/000205)Postprint (updated version