3D VLSI with a CoolCube TM process allows vertically stacking several layers of devices with a unique connecting via density above a million/mm2. The thermal budget allowed to process the top transistor is currently limited by NiPt silicide stability of the bottom transistor. To extend the upper transistors thermal process window, Pre-Amorphization Implant (PAI) and Si-Capping were used to improve the stability of NiPt 15% on SiC:P and SiGe 30% :B accesses. While PAI enhances the silicide stability on SiC:P substrate from 600°C 2h to 700°C 2h, neither PAI nor Si-Capping improve silicide stability on SiGe 30% :B. To provide a solution for P accesses stability, NiCo 10% silicidation has been developed. Combined with PAI and Si-Capping, the germano-silicide offers a higher stability (up to 600°C 2h) than its NiPtSi 15% counterpart.

L-arginina fosfatada monohidratada (LAP) é um cristal semiorgânico altamente transparente com propriedades atrativas para conversão de freqüência. É facilmente crescido a partir de solução aquosa e apresenta casamento de fase para todos os processos não-lineares onde o KDP é casável em fase. Apresenta alto limiar de dano, excelente qualidade óptica, é menos higroscópico que o KDP e dispositivos não-lineares podem ser facilmente fabricados a partir deles. Neste trabalho apresentamos os resultados de diversos ensaios para avaliar a sua estabilidade térmica, mecânica e química. Concluiu-se que o cristal de LAP é estável para temperaturas inferiores à 100&#176C. Quando o material for submetido à processos que envolvem geração de grande quantidade de calor, tais como processamento do material por corte ou tomeamento (diamond tuming), ou em sistemas com lasers de alta intensidade, recomenda-se não exceder o limite de 100&#176C para assegurar que as propriedades do material não sejam alteradas / L-arginine phosphate monohydrate (LAP) is a highly transparent semiorganic crystal with atractive properties for frequency conversion. It is easily grown from aqueous solution, and it is phase matchable for alI nonlinear processes where KDP is phase matchable. lt has high damage threshold, exceHent optical quality, is less hygroscopic than KDP, and are easily fabricated into nonlinear devices. In this work we present the results of several tests to evaluate its thermal, mechanical, and chemical stabilities. It was found that LAP crystals are stable under temperatures up to 100&#176C. If this material is submited to processes involving the generation of considerable amount of heat, e.g. during cutting or diamond turning or due to high power lasers, it is recommended not to exceed the 100&#176C limit to ensure that crystal properties remain unchanged

This paper investigates the device behavior of a novel pseudo tri-gate ultrathin channel vertical MOSFET with source/drain tie (S/D tie), the PTG-SDT VMOS. The S/D tie (SDT) of this novel device circumvents short channel effect (SCEs). A double- surround-gate (the mid-gate and the spacer gate) is also presented to investigate the effect of S/D tie. According to the 2D simulation, three kinds of pseudo vertical MOSFETs are now proposed. The first one is to investigate the device characteristics of the new PTG-SDT VMOS. Our proposed structure also mitigates self-heating effect (SHEs), thereby enhancing the drain drive current and the thermal stability. Owing to its ultrathin channel (Tsi = 10 nm), the PTG-SDT VMOS has a very low subthreshold swing of 60 mV/dec, for channel lengths from 90 nm down to 40 nm. It is also found to control drain-induced barrier lowing (DIBL) and to have an excellent Gm of 4.5 mS/£gm at the channel length 40 nm. The second one, we proposed the ultrathin channel pseudo tri-gate vertical MOSFET with natural source/drain tie (NSDT), the big source/drain tie (BSDT), the SDT and the without source/drain tie (WSDT) VMOS. The PTG VMOS of this novel structure circumvents short channel effects (SCEs). A new natural S/D tie (N-SDT) is also presented to investigate of the PTG VMOS. According to 2D simulation, the PTG-NSDT also show the excellent thermal dissipated such as the lattice temperature in the drain-on-top configuration and drain-on-bottom configuration were improved 47% and 66% respectively, thereby enhancing the ON-state and OFF-state current ratio. In addition, the dependence of GIDL current on body bias and temperature is characterized and discussed when the source and drain interchanged. Although the PTG VMOS keep the double-surround-gate and S/D tie structure, the design flow is more simplify even increase the drain drive current and immunity the SHEs.

The latest generation of fighter aircraft utilizes a 270Vdc power system [1]. Such high voltage DC power systems are difficult to protect with conventional circuit breakers because the current does not automatically go to zero twice per cycle during a fault like it does in an AC power system and thus arcing of the contacts is a problem. Solid state power controllers (SSPCs) are the solid state equivalent of a circuit breaker that do not arc and which can respond more rapidly to a fault than a mechanical breaker [2]. Present SSPCs are limited to lower voltages and currents by the available power semiconductors [8,9]. This dissertation presents design and experimental results for a SSPC that utilizes SiC power JFETs for the SSPC power switch to extend SSPC capability to higher voltages and currents in a space that is smaller than what is practically achievable with a Si power switch. The research started with the thermal analysis of the SSPCs power switch, which will guide the development of a SiC JFET multi-chip power module to be fabricated by Solid State Devices Inc. (SSDI) using JFETs from SiCED and/or Semisouth LLC. Multiple multi-chip power modules will be paralleled to make the SSPC switch. Fabricated devices were evaluated thermally both statically and dynamically and electrically both statically and dynamically. In addition to the SiC module research a detailed design of the high voltage SSPC control circuit capable of operating at 200andamp;ordm;C was completed including detailed analysis, modeling and simulations, detailed schematic diagrams and detailed drawings. Finally breadboards of selected control circuits were fabricated and tested to verify simulation results. Methods for testing SiC JFET devices under transient thermal conditions unique to the SSPC application was also developed.

In order to obtain diamond-like carbon (DLC) thin films with improved mechanical, tribological, thermal and corrosion properties for practical applications, the structure and properties of various DLC thin films including hydrogen-free DLC, hydrogenated DLC, and DLC-MoS2 composites synthesized under different conditions were investigated in this thesis. The research methodologies and the main results are summarized in following paragraphs. Hydrogen-free DLC thin films were synthesized by biased target ion beam deposition (BTIBD) method, while hydrogenated DLC thin films were deposited by ion beam deposition technique using a Kaufman-type ion source and an end-Hall ion source. DLC-MoS2 composite thin films were also synthesized using BTIBD technique in which MoS2 was produced by sputtering a MoS2 target while DLC was simultaneously deposited by ion beam deposition. The influence of processing parameters on the bonding structure, morphology and properties of the deposited films was investigated using atomic force microscopy, Raman spectroscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, synchrotron based near edge X-ray absorption fine structure spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, nanoindentation, ball-on-disk and corrosion testing. Finally, the influence of annealing temperature on the structure and properties of pure DLC and DLC-MoS2 composite films in ambient air and low pressure environments was studied. In the case of BTIBD method, hydrogen-free DLC thin films with exceptionally high smoothness and low friction coefficient were prepared by biased target sputtering of graphite target without additional ion bombardment either by negative bias of substrate or assisting ion source. For ion beam deposition technique with Kaufman ion source, the DLC thin films synthesized at ion energies of 300 eV showed the highest sp3 content and optimum properties. Regarding end-Hall ion source, the best properties achieved in DLC films synthesized at ion energies of 100 eV. Comparing with pure DLC and pure MoS2 films, the DLC-MoS2 films deposited at low biasing voltages showed better tribological properties including lower coefficient of friction and wear coefficient in ambient air environment. Also, comparing with pure DLC films, the DLC-MoS2 thin films showed a slower rate of graphitization and higher structure stability throughout the range of annealing temperatures, indicating a relatively higher thermal stability.

L-arginina fosfatada monohidratada (LAP) é um cristal semiorgânico altamente transparente com propriedades atrativas para conversão de freqüência. É facilmente crescido a partir de solução aquosa e apresenta casamento de fase para todos os processos não-lineares onde o KDP é casável em fase. Apresenta alto limiar de dano, excelente qualidade óptica, é menos higroscópico que o KDP e dispositivos não-lineares podem ser facilmente fabricados a partir deles. Neste trabalho apresentamos os resultados de diversos ensaios para avaliar a sua estabilidade térmica, mecânica e química. Concluiu-se que o cristal de LAP é estável para temperaturas inferiores à 100&#176C. Quando o material for submetido à processos que envolvem geração de grande quantidade de calor, tais como processamento do material por corte ou tomeamento (diamond tuming), ou em sistemas com lasers de alta intensidade, recomenda-se não exceder o limite de 100&#176C para assegurar que as propriedades do material não sejam alteradas / L-arginine phosphate monohydrate (LAP) is a highly transparent semiorganic crystal with atractive properties for frequency conversion. It is easily grown from aqueous solution, and it is phase matchable for alI nonlinear processes where KDP is phase matchable. lt has high damage threshold, exceHent optical quality, is less hygroscopic than KDP, and are easily fabricated into nonlinear devices. In this work we present the results of several tests to evaluate its thermal, mechanical, and chemical stabilities. It was found that LAP crystals are stable under temperatures up to 100&#176C. If this material is submited to processes involving the generation of considerable amount of heat, e.g. during cutting or diamond turning or due to high power lasers, it is recommended not to exceed the 100&#176C limit to ensure that crystal properties remain unchanged

Le moulage par rotation est une technique de mise en oeuvre des polymères thermoplastiques. Ce procédé fait l'objet de plusieurs études durant cesdernières années. La finalité de notre travail est la modélisation thermique et chimique de ce procédé, tenant compte de la nature des polyamides, du changement de phases et en particulier la cristallisation et la fusion. Ces changements de phases ont été traités numériquement pour chaque couche de polymère, à l'aide d'une méthode dite enthalpique puis par une autre méthode dérivée de la cinétique de cristallisation. Cette dernière a été modifiée et adaptée à notre travail en procédant à un couplage de deux concepts ; le premier traduit le dégagement de la chaleur lors de la transformation dela cristallinité, le deuxième concept est la modélisation chimique de lathermodégradation des polyamides. / The rotational molding is a technique for implementation ofthermoplastic polymers. This process is subject of several studies in recent years. The purpose of our work is the thermal and chemical modeling of this process, taking into account the phase changes, in particular the crystallization and melting. These phasechanges were digitally processed for each polymer layer used in this study, using a method known as enthalpic then by another method derived from the crystallization kinetics. This method has been modified and adapted to our work by taking a coupling of two concepts: the first approach reflects the release of heat during processing of crystallinity; the second concept is the chemical modeling of the thermal degradation ofpolyamides.

Excess ice with a minimum age of tens of millions of years is widespread in Arcadia Planitia on Mars, and a similar deposit has been found in Utopia Planitia. The conditions that led to the formation and preservation of these midlatitude ice sheets hold clues to past climate and subsurface structure on Mars. We simulate the thermal stability and retreat of buried excess ice sheets over 21Myr of Martian orbital solutions and find that the ice sheets can be orders of magnitude older than the obliquity cycles that are typically thought to drive midlatitude ice deposition and sublimation. Retreat of this ice in the last 4Myr could have contributed similar to 6% of the volume of the north polar layered deposits (NPLD) and more than 10% if the NPLD are older than 4Myr. Matching the measured dielectric constants of the Arcadia and Utopia Planitia deposits requires ice porosities of similar to 25-35%. We model geothermally driven vapor migration through porous ice under Martian temperatures and find that Martian firn may be able to maintain porosity for timescales longer than we predict for retreat of the ice.

Ruthenium and ruthenium dioxide thin films have shown great promise in various applications, such as thick film resistors, buffer layers for yttrium barium copper oxide (YBCO) superconducting thin films, and as electrodes in ferroelectric memories. Other potential applications in Si based complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS) devices are currently being studied. The search for alternative metal-based gate electrodes as a replacement of poly-Si gates has intensified during the last few years. Metal gates are required to maintain scaling and performance of future CMOS devices. Ru based materials have many desirable properties and are good gate electrode candidates for future metal-oxide-semiconductor (MOS) device applications. Moreover, Ru and RuO2 are promising candidates as diffusion barriers for copper interconnects. In this thesis, the thermal stability and interfacial diffusion and reaction of both Ru and RuO2 thin films on HfO2 gate dielectrics were investigated using Rutherford backscattering spectrometry (RBS), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). An overview of Ru and RuO2/HfO2 interface integrity issues will be presented. In addition, the effects of C ion modification of RuO2 thin films on the physico-chemical and electrical properties are evaluated.

Polymer nanofibers have attracted a lot of industrial interest in the past decade. In general, these fibers need to be thermally stable for many applications, such as in the aerospace industry. However, most of these polymer nanofibers suffer from low temperature degradation, limiting their use in many potential applications. Graphene, which is one sheet of graphite, has unique properties such as high conductivity, and high thermal stability. This exceptional material can be incorporated into the polymer nanofibers as nanofillers in order to enhance their thermal properties. The aim of this dissertation is to investigate the effect of adding graphene nanofillers into the polymer fiber on the resulting fibers’ thermal properties. For that purpose, polyvinyl alcohol (PVA), a non-conductive polymer and a different source of graphene, namely graphene foam, expendable graphite and graphite powder were used. The growth technique was the electrospinning technique which offers a variety of parameters that need to be optimized. For this includes, the amount of PVA in the water solvent, the flow rate, the applied voltage, the growth time, and the tip/collector distance. In summary, it has been optimized that the best conditions for growth of fibers will be as follows: PVA concentration will be fixed at 10 wt%, flow rate will be 3 ml/h, applied voltage will be 30 kV, growth time of 60 s and tip/collector distance will be fixed at 12 cm. The resulted PVA fibers from these conditions were smooth continuous and hollow with diameter ranging between 190-340 nm, while PVA/graphene nano-fibers are much thinner with diameter ranging between 132 - 235 nm when the same parameters were used with only graphene concentration varied. The fiber obtained with PVA showed a hollow structure which is desirable for incorporation of graphene nanofillers. The dispersion of the different source of graphene sheets in the starting PVA solution showed enhanced thermal stability compared to the PVA fibers alone. Furthermore, an increase in the thermal stability is observed with increasing concentration of graphene nanofillers. This work shows the promising use of graphene as nanofillers for PVA fibers. This can be expended to other non-conductive and conductive polymers in order to broaden the application of these fibers in the industries, where thermal stability is a prerequisite. / Dissertation (MSc)--University of Pretoria, 2013. / gm2014 / Physics / unrestricted