Distinguishing successful students in mathematics - a comparison across European countries

The study explores the relative contribution of interviewers’ personality and interviewers’ ratings of candidate’s personality in predicting interviewers’ ratings of candidate’s job suitability and examines the moderating effect of interviewers’ personality on the relationship between ratings of candidate’s personality and job suitability. Results showed that ratings of candidate’s Big Five personality traits were related to ratings of candidate’s job suitability, as well as were interviewers’ Agreeableness and Extraversion. Interviewers’ Openness and Agreeableness had a moderating effect on the relationship between interviewers’ ratings of candidate’s personality traits and ratings of candidate’s job suitability. Results reveal the role that interviewer’s Agreeableness, Extraversion and Openness play in the assessment of candidate in the selection interview

Copper Rich Cu1-xNix Alloys (0.05 < x < 0.15) Electrodeposited from Acid Sulfate-Based Electrolyte with Benzotriazole Additive for Microbump Metallization for 3D Stacked Integrated Circuits

status: publishe

The effect of the substrate characteristics on the electrochemical nucleation and growth of copper

status: publishe

Nucleation and growth of copper on Ru-based substrates, II : the effect of the suppressor additive

The effect of the molecular mass (Mm) of polyethylene glycol (PEG) and its derivatives on the copper island density (Np) on ruthenium-tantalum (RuTa) alloy was investigated by utilizing scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and galvanostatic methods. The experimental results show that the island density is affected by the strength of suppression which can be modified by using different suppressor molecules. Furthermore, we use galvanostatic measurements to evaluate the suppression strength and show that potential-time transients recorded during galvanostatic deposition of Cu can be used to estimate the island density

Exploration of process window for fill of sub 30 nm features by direct plating

status: publishe

Nanometer-thin graphitic carbon buffer layers for electrolytic MnO₂ for thin-film energy storage devices

In this study, nanometer thin graphitic carbon coatings were applied as an adhesion layer for the growth of submicron to micron thick electrolytic manganese dioxide (EMD) films for thin-film energy storage devices. The graphitic carbon coating served not only as current collector and adhesion layer between the EMD and the substrate, but also prevented the oxidation of the non-noble TiN substrate during the anodic deposition process. The EMD films consisted of a network of interconnected nanometer-size particles with around 50% porosity. The ability to grow a few hundred nanometer thick EMD film with good adhesion to the current collector is critical for reliable thin-film batteries on high aspect ratio microstructured surfaces. Thin EMD films grown on our graphitic carbon coated TiN substrates showed improved reversible Li-ion intercalation kinetics and increased cycle life compared to similar films deposited on noble metal platinum substrates, thus demonstrating the improved interface properties using the graphitic carbon buffer layer.status: publishe

Contribution to the Validation of the Expectancy-Value Scale for Primary School Students

Grounded in ‘expectancy-value’ theory, this paper reports on the psychometric properties of an instrument intended to measure students’ motivation in mathematics. The participants were 2045 third-, fourth- and fifth-grade students from Estonia, Finland, Norway, Portugal, Serbia and Sweden. The Expectancy-Value Scale (EVS) was found to be suitable for early grades of primary education in measuring competence self-perceptions and subjective task values relative to the mathematics field. The results indicate a good model fit aligned with the expectancy-value theory. The EVS dimensions showed good reliability, and scalar invariance was established. However, findings also indicated high correlations between some of the EVS dimensions, which is well documented for students at this age. The findings are discussed relative to the ‘expectancy-value’ theory framework and students’ age.This work was supported by the Norges Forskningsråd (FINNUT (grant number 301033)CC-BY 4.0</p

Effect of Film Morphology on the Li Ion Intercalation Kinetics in Anodic Porous Manganese Dioxide Thin Films

Electrolytic manganese dioxide (EMD) films are electrodeposited from acid MnSO₄ solution, targeting equivalent film thicknesses between 25 and 100 nm onto silicon substrates coated with Pt and TiN seed layers. The structure and morphology of the deposited EMD films are characterized and tied to the observed electrochemical performance. Deposition efficiencies as large as 80% are achieved, as determined from Rutherford back scattering (RBS). TEM and SEM show that our EMD films are highly porous. The degree of porosity is dependent on the deposition current density and also the deposition time. The electrochemical activity of the EMD films for lithium ion intercalation is investigated in propylene carbonate solvent with 1 M LiClO₄. Reversible insertion and extraction of Li⁺ follows after removing water from the films by annealing and subsequent electrochemical cycling. The porous EMD thin films show a Li ion capacity up to 90% of the theoretical capacity at 0.8 C rate, based on the Mn content from RBS data and assuming one Li ion per MnO₂ unit. The effect of film thickness and film porosity on the rate of Li⁺ intercalation (and thus accessible capacity) is discussed

Biocompatible encapsulation and interconnection technology for implantable electronic devices

A biocompatible packaging process for implantable electronic systems is under development at imec, combining biocompatibility, hermeticity, extreme miniaturization and cost aspects. In a first phase of this packaging sequence, hermetic chip sealing is performed by encapsulating all chips to realize a bi-directional diffusion barrier preventing body fluids to leach into the package causing corrosion, and preventing IC materials such as Cu to diffuse into the body, causing various adverse effects. For cost effectiveness, this chip sealing is performed as post-processing at wafer level, using modifications of standard clean room (CR) fabrication techniques. Well known conductive and insulating CR materials are investigated with respect to their biocompatibility, biostability, diffusion barrier properties and sensitivity to corrosion. Material selection and integration aspects are modified until good properties are obtained. In a second phase of the packaging process, all chips of the final device should be electrically connected, applying a biocompatible metallization scheme. We selected the use of Pt due to its excellent biocompatibility and corrosion resistance. Since Pt is very expensive, a cost effective Pt-selective plating process is developed. During the third packaging step, all system components such as electronics, passives, a battery,… will be interconnected. To provide sufficient mechanical support, all components are finally embedded using a medical grade elastomer such as PDMS or Poly-urethane.</jats:p