Ultrasonic Bonding of Multi-Layered Foil Using a Cylindrical Surface Tool

A cylindrical tool was applied for ultrasonic bonding of multi-layered copper foil and a copper sheet to prevent damage to the foil during bonding. The strength of the joints bonded with the cylindrical tool was comparable to that of the joints bonded with a conventional knurled tool. The effect of the cylindrical surface tool on bondability was investigated thorough relative motion behaviors between the tool surface and the bonding materials, as well as on bond microstructure evolution. The relative motion was visualized with in-situ observation using a high-speed camera and digital image correlation. At shorter bonding times, relative motions occurred at the bonding interfaces of the foil and the copper sheet. Thereafter, the relative motion between the tool and the bonding material became predominant owing to bond formation at the bonding interface, resulting in a macroscopic plastic flow in the bonded region. This relative motion damaged the foil in knurled tool bonding, and the cylindrical tool achieved bonding without any damage

Formation of uniaxial strained Ge via control of dislocation alignment in Si/Ge heterostructures

Uniaxially strained Ge/SiGe heterostructures are fabricated by selective ion implantation technique, where dislocation alignments are highly controlled by the local defect introduction. Firstly, ion-implantation-defects are selectively induced into a Ge substrate, followed by the growth of a SiGe buffer layer. As a result, the SiGe on the implanted region is largely strain-relaxed due to the defects acting as dislocation sources. In contrast, it is demonstrated that anisotropic strain relaxation takes place in the SiGe on the unimplanted region, leading to the uniaxial strained SiGe. A strained Ge layer is pseudomorphically grown on the SiGe buffer and the same strain states are observed for the Ge layer. It is found that misfit dislocations generated at the interface between the SiGe layer and the Ge substrate are aligned along only one direction. These one-directional dislocations are an origin of the uniaxial strain relaxation. Moreover, effects of ion-implantation stripe-pattern widths on the strain states are investigated. With the implanted line width increasing, the anisotropy of the strain in the unimplanted region is enhanced. From these results, it can be said that this technique opens a route to engineer dislocation alignments and anisotropic strain in semiconductor hetero structures toward high performance novel devices

Unique Requirement for ESCRT Factors in Flavivirus Particle Formation on the Endoplasmic Reticulum

Flavivirus infection induces endoplasmic reticulum (ER) membrane rearrangements to generate a compartment for replication of the viral genome and assembly of viral particles. Using quantitative mass spectrometry, we identified several ESCRT (endosomal sorting complex required for transport) proteins that are recruited to sites of virus replication on the ER. Systematic small interfering RNA (siRNA) screening revealed that release of both dengue virus and Japanese encephalitis virus was dramatically decreased by single depletion of TSG101 or co-depletion of specific combinations of ESCRT-III proteins, resulting in ≥1,000-fold titer reductions. By contrast, release was unaffected by depletion of some core ESCRTs, including VPS4. Reintroduction of ESCRT proteins to siRNA-depleted cells revealed interactions among ESCRT proteins that are crucial for flavivirus budding. Electron-microscopy studies revealed that the CHMP2 and CHMP4 proteins function directly in membrane deformation at the ER. Thus, a unique and specific subset of ESCRT contributes to ER membrane biogenesis during flavivirus infection