Current sustainability and electromigration of Pd, Sc and Y thin-films as potential interconnects

The progress on novel interconnects for carbon nanotube (CNT)-based electronic circuit is by far behind the remarkable development of CNT-field effect transistors. The Cu interconnect material used in current integrated circuits seems not applicable for the novel interconnects, as it requires electrochemical deposition followed by chemical-mechanical polishing. We report our experimental results on the failure current density, resistivity, electromigration effect and failure mechanism of patterned stripes of Pd, Sc and Y thin-films, regarding them as the potential novel interconnects. The Pd stripes have a failure current density of (8 similar to 10)x10(6) A/cm(2) (MA/cm(2)), and they are stable when the working current density is as much as 90% of the failure current density. However, they show a resistivity around 210 mu O.cm, which is 20 times of the bulk value and leaving room for improvement. Compared to Pd, the Sc stripes have a similar resistivity but smaller failure current density of 4 similar to 5 MA/cm(2). Y stripes seem not suitable for interconnects by showing even lower failure current density than that of Sc and evidence of oxidation. For comparison, Au stripes of the same dimensions show a failure current density of 30 MA/cm(2) and a resistivity around 4 mu O.cm, making them also a good material as novel interconnects.http://gateway.webofknowledge.com/gateway/Gateway.cgi?GWVersion=2&SrcApp=PARTNER_APP&SrcAuth=LinksAMR&KeyUT=WOS:000208414400008&DestLinkType=FullRecord&DestApp=ALL_WOS&UsrCustomerID=8e1609b174ce4e31116a60747a720701Nanoscience & NanotechnologyMaterials Science, MultidisciplinaryPhysics, AppliedSCI(E)2ARTICLE3184-189

Suppression of superconductivity in nanowires by bulk superconductors

Transport measurements were made on a system consisting of a zinc nanowire array sandwiched between two bulk superconducting electrodes (Sn or In). It was found that the superconductivity of Zn nanowires of 40 nm diameter is suppressed either completely or partially by the superconducting electrodes. When the electrodes are driven into their normal state by a magnetic field, the nanowires switch back to their superconducting state. This phenomenon is significantly weakened when one of the two superconducting electrodes is replaced by a normal metal. The phenomenon is not seen in wires with diameters equal to and thicker than 70 nm.Comment: 4 pages, 5 figure

High-order Spatial Interactions Enhanced Lightweight Model for Optical Remote Sensing Image-based Small Ship Detection

Accurate and reliable optical remote sensing image-based small-ship detection is crucial for maritime surveillance systems, but existing methods often struggle with balancing detection performance and computational complexity. In this paper, we propose a novel lightweight framework called \textit{HSI-ShipDetectionNet} that is based on high-order spatial interactions and is suitable for deployment on resource-limited platforms, such as satellites and unmanned aerial vehicles. HSI-ShipDetectionNet includes a prediction branch specifically for tiny ships and a lightweight hybrid attention block for reduced complexity. Additionally, the use of a high-order spatial interactions module improves advanced feature understanding and modeling ability. Our model is evaluated using the public Kaggle marine ship detection dataset and compared with multiple state-of-the-art models including small object detection models, lightweight detection models, and ship detection models. The results show that HSI-ShipDetectionNet outperforms the other models in terms of recall, and mean average precision (mAP) while being lightweight and suitable for deployment on resource-limited platforms

Towards on-chip time-resolved thermal mapping with micro-/nanosensor arrays

In recent years, thin-film thermocouple (TFTC) array emerged as a versatile candidate in micro-/nanoscale local temperature sensing for its high resolution, passive working mode, and easy fabrication. However, some key issues need to be taken into consideration before real instrumentation and industrial applications of TFTC array. In this work, we will demonstrate that TFTC array can be highly scalable from micrometers to nanometers and that there are potential applications of TFTC array in integrated circuits, including time-resolvable two-dimensional thermal mapping and tracing the heat source of a device. Some potential problems and relevant solutions from a view of industrial applications will be discussed in terms of material selection, multiplexer reading, pattern designing, and cold-junction compensation. We show that the TFTC array is a powerful tool for research fields such as chip thermal management, lab-on-a-chip, and other novel electrical, optical, or thermal devices

Minangkabau culture in the mirror of randai theatre plays

Předmětem disertační práce je kultura etnika Minangkabau, jehož domovskou oblastí je současná indonéská provincie Západní Sumatra, nicméně jeho diaspora pokrývá celé indonéské souostroví a zasahuje rovněž do sousední Malajsie, Singapuru a dalších částí světa. Minangská kultura je v disertaci nahlížena z perspektivy her minangského lidového divadla randai, které vzniklo jako součást mužské iniciace, aby se později stalo jedním z významných symbolických výrazových prostředků minangské identity. Disertační práce využívá ukázek z vybraných, autorkou v terénu v jejich autentickém kontextu zaznamenaných her randai, jako příkladů k výkladu klíčových kulturních konceptů, jež tvoří jádro kultury etnika Minangkabau, a zabývá se rovněž historicko-sociálními souvislostmi, které vedly k jejich formování do současné podoby. Předmětem výkladu jsou za prvé společenské postavení a klíčové společenské role žen v kontextu společenského systému založeného na principech matrilineárního příbuzenství ve srovnání s postavením a rolemi mužů, za druhé základní východiska minangské etnopsychologie, na nichž je založeno genderové rozlišení společenských rolí, jakož i odlišné postupy socializace, za třetí institucionalizovaná dočasná migrace jako součást mužské iniciace a konečně vztah adatu, (systému norem, hodnot a vzorů pro chování...The dissertation thesis is focused on the culture of the ethnic group Minangkabau, whose home territory is situated in the present-day Indonesian province of West Sumatra, yet whose diaspora, reaching its highest density in the islands of Sumatra and Java, recently covers the whole of the Indonesian archipelago, overlapping to the neighbouring countries of Malaysia, Singapore, and beyond. In the thesis, Minangkabau culture is viewed through the looking glass of the Minang folk theatre randai, which traces its origins to the iniciation of young Minang males, yet which has with time transformed into an important means of symbolic expression of the Minang identity. Selected randai plays recorded by the author in their authentic social context are used to provide examples for the explanation of some of the key concepts that form the core of Minang culture, while socio-historical conditions are considered for the influence they have had upon the shaping of these concepts to their present form. Topics that are subject to explanation include the following: the social position and the key social roles performed by women in the context of a system of social organization based on the principals of matrilineal kinship, relative to the position and roles of men; basic principals of Minang ethnopsychology as source of...Institute of EthnologyÚstav etnologieFilozofická fakultaFaculty of Art

The Development of a Portable Hard Disk Encryption/Decryption System with a MEMS Coded Lock

In this paper, a novel portable hard-disk encryption/decryption system with a MEMS coded lock is presented, which can authenticate the user and provide the key for the AES encryption/decryption module. The portable hard-disk encryption/decryption system is composed of the authentication module, the USB portable hard-disk interface card, the ATA protocol command decoder module, the data encryption/decryption module, the cipher key management module, the MEMS coded lock controlling circuit module, the MEMS coded lock and the hard disk. The ATA protocol circuit, the MEMS control circuit and AES encryption/decryption circuit are designed and realized by FPGA(Field Programmable Gate Array). The MEMS coded lock with two couplers and two groups of counter-meshing-gears (CMGs) are fabricated by a LIGA-like process and precision engineering method. The whole prototype was fabricated and tested. The test results show that the user's password could be correctly discriminated by the MEMS coded lock, and the AES encryption module could get the key from the MEMS coded lock. Moreover, the data in the hard-disk could be encrypted or decrypted, and the read-write speed of the dataflow could reach 17 MB/s in Ultra DMA mode