Early stage of crystallization of (Zr1-xHfx)62Ni38 metallic glasses

This paper reports a directly observable correlation between the chemical short-range order and the electrical resistivity in metallic glasses. The phase transition corresponding to the first exotherm observed in a differential-scanning-calorimetry (DSC) scan on (Zr1-xHfx)62Ni38 is peculiar in a sense that, contrary to usual metallic glasses, this transition is associated with an increase in electrical resistivity, and x-ray diffraction measurements taken just after the DSC peak shows only the broad diffuse band characteristic of the glassy phase. Electrical resistivity, differential scanning calorimetry, low-temperature superconducting measurements, high-angle x-ray diffraction, transmission electron microscopy, and Mössbauer spectroscopy are used to study this transition in detail

Electric field dependence of pairing temperature and tunneling

Using the Bethe-Salpeter equation including high electric fields, the dependence of the critical temperature of onsetting superconductivity on the applied field is calculated analytically. The critical temperature of pairing is shown to increase with the applied field strength. This is a new field effect and could contribute to the explanation of recent experiments on field induced superconductivity. From the field dependence of the Bethe-Salpeter equation, the two--particle bound state solution is obtained as a resonance with a tunneling probability analogous to the WKB solution of a single particle confined in a potential and coupled to the electrical field.Comment: 4 pages 1 figure, revised version from 29.10.02, Rev. B in pres

Suitable thicknesses of base metal and interlayer, and evolution of phases for Ag/Sn/Ag transient liquid-phase joints used for power die attachment

Both real Si insulated gate bipolar transistors (IGBT) with conventional Ni\Ag metallization and a dummy Si die with thickened Ni\Ag metallization have been bonded on Ag foils electroplated with 2.7 m and 6.8 m thick Sn as an interlayer at 250ºC for 0 min, 40 min and 640 min. From microstructure characterization of the resulting joints, suitable thicknesses are suggested for the Ag base metal and the Sn interlayer for Ag/Sn/Ag transient liquid phase (TLP) joints used in power die attachment, and the diffusivities of Ag and Sn in the Ag phase are extracted. In combination with the kinetic constants of Ag3Sn growth and diffusivities of Ag and Sn in Ag reported in the literature, the extracted diffusivities of Ag and Sn in Ag phase are also used to simulate and predict the diffusion-controlled growth and evolution of phases in the Ag/Sn/Ag TLP joints during an extended bonding process and in service

Analysis of human MDM4 variants in papillary thyroid carcinomas reveals new potential markers of cancer properties

A wild-type (wt) p53 gene characterizes thyroid tumors, except for the rare anaplastic histotype. Because p53 inactivation is a prerequisite for tumor development, alterations of p53 regulators represent an alternative way to impair p53 function. Indeed, murine double minute 2 (MDM2), the main p53 negative regulator, is overexpressed in many tumor histotypes including those of the thyroid. A new p53 regulator, MDM4 (a.k.a. MDMX or HDMX) an analog of MDM2, represents a new oncogene although its impact on tumor properties remains largely unexplored. We estimated levels of MDM2, MDM4, and its variants, MDM4-S (originally HDMX-S) and MDM4-211 (originally HDMX211), in a group of 57 papillary thyroid carcinomas (PTC), characterized by wt tumor protein 53, in comparison to matched contra-lateral lobe normal tissue. Further, we evaluated the association between expression levels of these genes and the histopathological features of tumors. Quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction revealed a highly significant downregulation of MDM4 mRNA in tumor tissue compared to control tissue (P < 0.0001), a finding confirmed by western blot on a subset of 20 tissue pairs. Moreover, the tumor-to-normal ratio of MDM4 levels for each individual was significantly lower in late tumor stages, suggesting a specific downregulation of MDM4 expression with tumor progression. In comparison, MDM2 messenger RNA (mRNA) and protein levels were frequently upregulated with no correlation with MDM4 levels. Lastly, we frequently detected overexpression of MDM4-S mRNA and presence of the aberrant form, MDM4-211 in this tumor group. These findings indicate that MDM4 alterations are a frequent event in PTC. It is worthy to note that the significant downregulation of full-length MDM4 in PTC reveals a novel status of this factor in human cancer that counsels careful evaluation of its role in human tumorigenesis and of its potential as therapeutic target