Review of laser scanning methods for microelectronic semiconductor structures investigation

The development and widespread of high-tech microelectronic products impose increased requirements on the quality and reliability of microcircuits. The most effective methods for reliability improvement of electronic systems include diagnostic non-destructive testing (NDT) methods and selective destructive testing in special cases. Studies using visual inspection and electrical testing, consisting of functional and parametric testing, do not provide enough information to detect latent defects (for example, macro-defects in SiO 2 layers in CMOS chips) and to detect fakes and counterfeits. A fake integrated circuit (IC) may contain an undeclared malicious modification of the circuit, called hardware bugs. The common ICs studying tools are systems based on microfocus X-ray sources, scanning acoustic microscopes, optical and scanning electron microscopes, and X-ray fluorescence spectroscopes. Products destruction avoidance is a fundamental point, for example, for the technological process control in crystal manufacturing. Investigation of ICs using a light microscope is one of the most accessible and widespread method of microchip NDT. Semiconductor ICs structure scanning from the side of the device layer is limited by the shielding effect of metallization, since the metal is opaque for light. This limitation can be overcome by an alternative approach to microchip scanning based on irradiating the IC from the side of the substrate with laser sources in the near-IR range. This paper provides a brief overview of the major methods used in laser scanning microscopy to analyze the structures, responses, and features of the operating modes of semiconductor circuits. The main advantages and limitations in the use of optical methods are described, as well as what information about the product can be obtained as a result of laser scanning

Nature secondary quartzites of the island Bol’shoy Tyuters (Gulf of the Finland, Russia)

Territory Baltic shield is well understood and the identification of innovative geological formations rare stroke of luck. Thanks to the Russian Geographical Society in the summer of 2015 an integrated expedition to study the nature of the little-known islands of the Outer Gulf of Finland was carried out and found, much quartz rocks (SiO2 more than 90%) that compose most part of the island Bolhoy Tyuters. As a result of complex studies including petrogeochemical, microprobe, isotope, thermobarogeochemical investigations and chromatographic analysis of gases, it can be asserted that these rocks are secondary quartzites formed under the influence of carbon dioxide solutions. The presence of shadow structures of migmatites, as well as mineralogical features of quartzites, suggest that the initial rocks, on which secondary quartzites were formed, could be shales of the svecofennian complex. The temperature of homogenization of gas-liquid inclusions is 330-370°C, which indicates a high-temperature facies of secondary quartzites. The age of the dikes of the granite composition, which break through secondary quartzites, is close to 1660 and 1680 million years, which is somewhat older than the main phase of rapakivi granites (1650-1550 my) and coincides with the pre-Riphean weathering era, at the end of which the formation of the largest “type of disagreement” occurred. The formation of secondary quartzites of B. Tyuters, as well as for most classical manifestations of this type, we associate with the fluid-explosive activity of volcanoes preceded of rapakivi granites, whose products, in the form of basic and acidic lavas, were preserved as part of the Early Riphean strata located on the island Hogland. Considering the huge resources of these quartzites (more than 370 million tons), this manifestation is very promising for high purity quartz raw materials, close to the North-Western industrial area and St-Petersburg. The formation of a subhorizontal plane controlling the formation of a deposit of secondary quartzites and Early Riphean sediments and rapakivi granite intrusions, we associate with the tectonic activity of the marginal part of the Baltic Shield, known as the Polkanov lineament

TIME CONSTRAINTS ON THE FORMATION OF THE KANDALAKSHA AND KERETSK GRABENS OF THE WHITE SEA PALEO-RIFT SYSTEM FROM NEW ISOTOPIC GEOCHRONOLOGICAL DATA

Initially, the age and stratigraphic position of the Tersk formation were determined with respect to the fact that this formation overlaps the Early Proterozoic granitoids. Its top was marked by the rocks penetrated by the Late Devonian alkaline intrusions, including explosion pipes.This article presents the U-Pb isotopic dating of detrital zircon grains (dZr) from sandstones of the Tersk formation. It describes the geochemical compositions of the rocks and the Sm-Nd study results. In our study, the weighted average age of four youngest dZr grains from the sandstones of the Tersk formation is 1145±20 Ma, which suggests that the rocks above the studied rock layer (see the Tersk formation cross-section) are is not older than the end of the Middle Riphean. The U-Pb isotopic ages of dZr grains (provenance signals) from the sandstones of the Tersk formation were compared to the ages of other Upper Precambrian clastic strata in the northeastern East European platform (EEP) and adjacent areas. Our comparative analysis shows that these rocks significantly differ in age. This conclusion is in good agreement with the idea that at the end of the Middle and during the Late Riphean, several small (mainly closed) basins separated by uplifts dominated in the paleogeographic setting of the area wherein the White Sea rift system (WSRS) formed and developed. Temporal connections of these basins with the ocean were possible. Such paleogeographic setting does not favour the development of large rivers; this is why the grabens are mainly filled with local rock materials. The Keretsk and Kandalaksha grabens (WSRS) are filled with marine sediments eroded from the grabens walls. The local sediment sources include eclogite complexes (~1.9 Ga), which basic magmatism is dated at ~2.4–2.5 and ~2.7–2.9 Ga. Any potential primary sources for dZr grains are lacking in the area near the Keretsk graben. We suggest that such grains occurred due to recycling of the secondary sources of zircon, i.e. originated from ancient local sedimentary formations

О ВРЕМЕНИ И УСЛОВИЯХ ФОРМИРОВАНИЯ ШОКШИНСКИХ КВАРЦИТОПЕСЧАНИКОВ ЮЖНО-ОНЕЖСКОЙ ВПАДИНЫ В СВЕТЕ НОВЫХ ДАННЫХ ИЗОТОПНОЙ ГЕОХРОНОЛОГИИ

The first results of U-Pb isotope dating of detrital zircons (dZr) from red-colored quartzitic-sandstones of the Shoksha formation (Shoksha horizon) are presented. The Shoksha formation completes the Vepsian sub-horizon (Vepsian) of the Lower Proterozoic of Karelia and is distributed within the South Onega trough. A sample (KL-555) of red-colored quartzitic sandstones was taken from the lower part of the section of the Shoksha formation in the same name deposit within the southwestern Cis-Onega Lake region. The 79 dZr grains isolated from this sample were analyzed by the staff of the Chemistry-Isotopic Analytic Laboratory of the GIN RAS using the equipment of the Shared Research Facilities of the GIN RAS. The weighted average of the three youngest U-Pb isotope dates for dZr grains is 1906±13 Ma. Taking into account the known isotopic dates of gabbro-dolerites from the Ropruchei sill, that cuts through the Shoksha formation, it makes possible to constrain the time of the Shoksha formation accumulation by ~1.90–1.75 Ga. A significant part of the carried out analyzes has yielded a high degree of discordance of the dates. The features of the distribution of the figurative points of these analyzes in the diagram with concordia suggest that the rocks of the studied section of the Shoksha formation were subjected to the alteration that disturbed the U-Pb isotope system of these zircon grains in the Phanerozoic.The set of obtained dates for dZr grains has been compared with the known ages of the crystalline complexes of the basement of the East European Platform. The age sets of dZr grains from sample KL-555 and rocks of the Ladoga group, developed along the margin of the Svecofennian accretionary orogen, are very similar (p similarity coefficient in Kolmogorov – Smirnov test is 0.27) and characterize mainly tectonic–magmatic events that had immediately preceded the manifestation of the Svecofennian orogeny (1.9–1.87 Ga). Therefore, the rocks of the Ladoga group could highly probably be a secondary source for the Shoksha quartzites. Based on a comparative analysis of ages and thorium-uranium ratios (Th/U) in dZr grains from sample KL-555, it was concluded that some of the studied dZr grains with high Th/U>1.5 originate from Ludicovian mafic rocks, but those with low Th/U<0.1 originate from ultra-high-pressure formations, such as eclogites known in the Salma, Kuru-Vaara and Gridino.A paleo-geographic scheme for the Late Vepsian is proposed, showing that the highly mature Shoksha sandstones were generated under continental conditions in a local basin due to the accumulation of clastic material carried by an extensive and branched Представлены первые результаты U-Pb изотопного датирования зерен детритового циркона (dZr) из красноцветных кварцитопесчаников шокшинской свиты (шокшинского горизонта). Шокшинская свита завершает разрез вепсийского надгоризонта (вепсия) нижнего протерозоя Карелии и распространена в Южно-Онежском прогибе (мульде). Проба (KL-555) красноцветных кварцитопесчаников отобрана из нижней части разреза шокшинской свиты на одноименном месторождении, расположенном в Юго-Западном Прионежье. Выделенные из этой пробы 79 зерен dZr проанализированы сотрудниками лаборатории химико-аналитических исследований ГИН РАН с использованием оборудования ЦКП ГИН РАН. Средневзвешенное значение трех наиболее молодых датировок зерен dZr – 1906±13 млн лет. С учетом известных изотопных датировок габбро-долеритов Ропручейского силла, прорывающего шокшинскую свиту, это дает возможность ограничить время формирования шокшинской свиты ~1.90–1.75 млрд лет. Значительная часть выполненных U-Pb анализов имеет высокую степень дискордантности вычисленных по ним датировок. Особенности распределения фигуративных точек анализов на диаграмме с конкордией позволяют предположить, что в фанерозое породы изученного разреза шокшинской свиты были подвержены воздействию, нарушившему U-Pb изотопную систему цирконовых зерен.Набор полученных датировок зерен dZr сопоставлен с известными значениями возраста кристаллических комплексов фундамента Восточно-Европейской платформы. Наборы возрастов зерен dZr из пробы KL-555 и пород ладожской серии, развитой вдоль окраины Свекофеннского аккреционного орогена, очень сходны (р-коэффициент сходства теста Колмогорова – Смирнова – 0.27) и характеризуют главным образом тектономагматические события, непосредственно предшествовавшие проявлению главного этапа свекофеннского тектогенеза (1.90–1.87 млрд лет), поэтому образования ладожской серии с высокой степенью вероятности могли быть вторичным источником для шокшинских кварцитов. На основании сравнительного анализа возрастов и торий-урановых отношений (Th/U) в зернах dZr из пробы KL-555 сделан вывод о том, что часть изученных зерен dZr с высокими Th/U(>1.5) происходят из базитов людиковия, а с низкими (<0.1) – из ультравысокобарических образований (таких, как эклогиты), развитых в районах Салма, Куру-Ваара и Гридино.Разработана палеогеографическая схема для поздневепсийского времени, показывающая, что высокозрелые шокшинские песчаники формировались в континентальных условиях в локальном бассейне за счет накопления обломочного материала, переносимого обширным и разветвленным седиментационным потоком в направлении с севера и северо-запада на юг и юг-юго-восток.

Two planets around Kapteyn's star: a cold and a temperate super-Earth orbiting the nearest halo red dwarf

This article has been accepted for publication in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society - Letters. ©: 2014 The Author(s). Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Royal Astronomical Society. All rights reserved.Exoplanets of a few Earth masses can be now detected around nearby low-mass stars using Doppler spectroscopy. In this Letter, we investigate the radial velocity variations of Kapteyn's star, which is both a sub-dwarf M-star and the nearest halo object to the Sun. The observations comprise archival and new HARPS (High Accuracy Radial velocity Planet Searcher), High Resolution Echelle Spectrometer (HIRES) and Planet Finder Spectrograph (PFS) Doppler measurements. Two Doppler signals are detected at periods of 48 and 120 d using likelihood periodograms and a Bayesian analysis of the data. Using the same techniques, the activity indices and archival All Sky Automated Survey (ASAS-3) photometry show evidence for low-level activity periodicities of the order of several hundred days. However, there are no significant correlations with the radial velocity variations on the same time-scales. The inclusion of planetary Keplerian signals in the model results in levels of correlated and excess white noise that are remarkably low compared to younger G, K and M dwarfs. We conclude that Kapteyn's star is most probably orbited by two super-Earth mass planets, one of which is orbiting in its circumstellar habitable zone, becoming the oldest potentially habitable planet known to date. The presence and long-term survival of a planetary system seem a remarkable feat given the peculiar origin and kinematic history of Kapteyn's star. The detection of super-Earth mass planets around halo stars provides important insights into planet-formation processes in the early days of the Milky Way.Peer reviewe

A terrestrial planet candidate in a temperate orbit around Proxima Centauri

At a distance of 1.295 parsecs, the red dwarf Proxima Centauri (α Centauri C, GL 551, HIP 70890 or simply Proxima) is the Sun’s closest stellar neighbour and one of the best-studied low-mass stars. It has an effective temperature of only around 3,050 kelvin, a luminosity of 0.15 per cent of that of the Sun, a measured radius of 14 per cent of the radius of the Sun and a mass of about 12 per cent of the mass of the Sun. Although Proxima is considered a moderately active star, its rotation period is about 83 days and its quiescent activity levels and X-ray luminosity are comparable to those of the Sun. Here we report observations that reveal the presence of a small planet with a minimum mass of about 1.3 Earth masses orbiting Proxima with a period of approximately 11.2 days at a semi-major-axis distance of around 0.05 astronomical units. Its equilibrium temperature is within the range where water could be liquid on its surface

О ВРЕМЕНИ ФОРМИРОВАНИЯ КАНДАЛАКШСКОГО И КЕРЕЦКОГО ГРАБЕНОВ ПАЛЕОРИФТОВОЙ СИСТЕМЫ БЕЛОГО МОРЯ В СВЕТЕ НОВЫХ ДАННЫХ ИЗОТОПНОЙ ГЕОХРОНОЛОГИИ

Initially, the age and stratigraphic position of the Tersk formation were determined with respect to the fact that this formation overlaps the Early Proterozoic granitoids. Its top was marked by the rocks penetrated by the Late Devonian alkaline intrusions, including explosion pipes.This article presents the U-Pb isotopic dating of detrital zircon grains (dZr) from sandstones of the Tersk formation. It describes the geochemical compositions of the rocks and the Sm-Nd study results. In our study, the weighted average age of four youngest dZr grains from the sandstones of the Tersk formation is 1145±20 Ma, which suggests that the rocks above the studied rock layer (see the Tersk formation cross-section) are is not older than the end of the Middle Riphean. The U-Pb isotopic ages of dZr grains (provenance signals) from the sandstones of the Tersk formation were compared to the ages of other Upper Precambrian clastic strata in the northeastern East European platform (EEP) and adjacent areas. Our comparative analysis shows that these rocks significantly differ in age. This conclusion is in good agreement with the idea that at the end of the Middle and during the Late Riphean, several small (mainly closed) basins separated by uplifts dominated in the paleogeographic setting of the area wherein the White Sea rift system (WSRS) formed and developed. Temporal connections of these basins with the ocean were possible. Such paleogeographic setting does not favour the development of large rivers; this is why the grabens are mainly filled with local rock materials. The Keretsk and Kandalaksha grabens (WSRS) are filled with marine sediments eroded from the grabens walls. The local sediment sources include eclogite complexes (~1.9 Ga), which basic magmatism is dated at ~2.4–2.5 and ~2.7–2.9 Ga. Any potential primary sources for dZr grains are lacking in the area near the Keretsk graben. We suggest that such grains occurred due to recycling of the secondary sources of zircon, i.e. originated from ancient local sedimentary formations.На начальном этапе исследований возраст и стратиграфическое положение терской свиты ограничивались снизу ее налеганием на раннепротерозойские гранитоиды, а сверху – тем, что породы терской свиты вмещают позднедевонские щелочные интрузии (в том числе и трубки взрыва).В статье представлены результаты U-Pb изотопного датирования зерен детритового циркона (dZr) из песчаников терской свиты, дополненные определениями химического состава пород и результатами их изотопного Sm-Nd изучения. Полученный средневзвешенный возраст четырех наиболее молодых зерен dZr из песчаников терской свиты составил 1145±20 млн лет, что означает, что часть разреза терской свиты, залегающая выше изученного уровня, не может быть древнее конца среднего рифея. Сравнительный анализ полученного набора U-Pb изотопных датировок зерен dZr (провенанс-сигнала) из песчаников терской свиты и аналогичных данных по другим верхнедокембрийским обломочным толщам, распространенным на северо-востоке Восточно-Европейской платформы и в сопредельных регионах, выявил существенные различия. Это находится в хорошем соответствии с представлениями о том, что палеогеографическую обстановку, господствовавшую в конце среднего и в позднем рифее в области заложения и развития рифтовой системы Белого моря (РСБМ), можно рассматривать как совокупность небольших (часто бессточных) бассейнов, разделенных поднятиями. Эти бассейны могли время от времени иметь связь с Мировым океаном. Такая палеогеографическая ситуация не благоприятствовала развитию крупных рек, поэтому грабены заполнялись преимущественно материалом местного происхождения. Кандалакшский и Керецкий грабены РСБМ заполнены осадками морского генезиса, представляющими собой преимущественно продукты размыва вещественных комплексов, участвующих в строении бортов этих грабенов. Среди местных локальных источников идентифицированы эклогитовые комплексы с возрастом метаморфизма ~1.9 млрд лет и базитовового магматизма с возрастом ~2.4–2.5 и ~2.7–2.9 млрд лет. Попадание зерен dZr, для которых нет потенциальных близких первичных источников, расположенных около Керецкого грабена, произошло за счет рециклинга из вторичных источников циркона – местных древних осадочных образований

The CARMENES search for exoplanets around M dwarfs HD147379 b: A nearby Neptune in the temperate zone of an early-M dwarf

We report on the first star discovered to host a planet detected by radial velocity (RV) observations obtained within the CARMENES survey for exoplanets around M dwarfs. HD 147379 (V = 8.9 mag, M = 0.58 ± 0.08 M⊙), a bright M0.0 V star at a distance of 10.7 pc, is found to undergo periodic RV variations with a semi-amplitude of K = 5.1 ± 0.4 m s−1 and a period of P = 86.54 ± 0.06 d. The RV signal is found in our CARMENES data, which were taken between 2016 and 2017, and is supported by HIRES/Keck observations that were obtained since 2000. The RV variations are interpreted as resulting from a planet of minimum mass mP sin i = 25 ± 2 M⊕, 1.5 times the mass of Neptune, with an orbital semi-major axis a = 0.32 au and low eccentricity (e < 0.13). HD 147379 b is orbiting inside the temperate zone around the star, where water could exist in liquid form. The RV time-series and various spectroscopic indicators show additional hints of variations at an approximate period of 21.1 d (and its first harmonic), which we attribute to the rotation period of the star.FEDER/ERF FICTS-2011-02 fundsMajor Research Instrumentation Programme and DFG Research Unit FOR2544 “Blue Planets around Red StarsEuropean Research Council (ERC-279347), Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (RE 1664/12-1, RE 2694/4-1), Bundesministerium für Bildung und Forschung (BMBF-05A14MG3, BMBF-05A17MG3), Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness (MINECO, grants AYA2015-68012-C2-2-P, AYA2016-79425-C3-1,2,3-P, AYA2015-69350-C3-2-P, AYA2014-54348-C03- 01, AYA2014-56359-P, AYA2014-54348-C3-2-R, AYA2016-79425-C3-3-P and 2013 Ramòn y Cajal program RYC-2013-14875), Fondo Europeo de Desarrollo Regional (FEDER, grant ESP2016-80435-C2-1-R, ESP2015-65712-C5- 5-R), Generalitat de Catalunya/CERCA programme, Spanish Ministerio de Educación, Cultura y Deporte, programa de Formación de Profesorado Universitario (grant FPU15/01476), Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt (grants 50OW0204 and 50OO1501), Office of Naval Research Global (award no. N62909-15-1-2011), Mexican CONACyT grant CB-2012-183007

ОЦЕНКА НЕПРОБИВАЕМОСТИ КОРПУСА АВИАЦИОННОГО ДВИГАТЕЛЯ ПРИ УПРАВЛЯЕМОМ ОБРЫВЕ ЛОПАТКИ

The method of control by blade breakage of the driving wheel is developed. It allows to provide blade destruction in the set section at demanded rotor frequency of rotation without use of explosion. The containment tests of the aviation engine casing with use of the developed blade breakage method are carried.  Разработан метод управления обрывом лопатки рабочего колеса. Он позволяет обеспе­чить разрушение лопатки в заданном сечении при требуемой частоте вращения ротора без использования взрыва. Проведены испытания корпуса авиационного двигателя на непроби­ваемость с использованием разработанного метода обрыва лопатки