Realizing environmentally benign silicon-wafer cleaning has become one of the most important topics in the semiconductor industry. We have developed an ultra-diluted HF/nitrogen-gas jet spray ...procedure for single-wafer spin cleaning, which can efficiently remove not only particulate but also metallic contaminants in 20 s from both silicon and silicon-dioxide surfaces without causing damage to fragile 45-nm wide polycrystalline-silicon gate structures. The use of a very low HF concentration makes the silicon and oxide losses negligible, below 0.003 and 0.03 nm, respectively. This simple, single-step, single-wafer Spin CLeaning with use of Ultra-Diluted HF/nitrogen jet spray (SCLUD) drastically reduces the chemical and water consumption as well as electrical energy per wafer due to the short spraying time with the ultra-diluted HF at room temperature. HF wastewater, the only effluent of this cleaning, is recycled by forming CaF 2 , which can be a raw material for HF or Portland cement. This cleaning, therefore, meets the requirements with respect to the environmental control.
This paper describes studies of the interface between lithium electrodes and solid electrolyte systems using in situ FTIR spectroscopy in a single internal reflectance mode. In this method, the ...masking effect of the electrolyte matrix components is largely avoided. We studied gel electrolytes based on polyvinylidene difluoride-hexafluoropropylene with cyclic alkyl carbonates as plasticizers, suitable for ambient temperatures, and a solvent free polymer, derivatives of polyethylene oxide (PEO) with a branched structure: polyethyleneoxide-2-(2-methoxyethoxy)ethyl glycidyl ether at elevated temperatures. We found that the surface chemistry of Li electrodes in contact with the gel matrixes is dominated by alkyl carbonate solvent reduction to ROCO
2Li surface species. In the case of the PEO-based polymer, the surface reactions of Li electrodes are dominated by salt and trace water reduction. The polymer itself seems to be stable with lithium even at 60°C.
The effect of amorphous carbon underlayer thickness on the microstructure of the Co/Pd multilayer perpendicular magnetic recording media was investigated. From the magnetic force microscopy ...observation in the AC-demagnetized state of the Co/Pd multilayer media, the magnetic cluster size was observed to effectively decrease with an increase in carbon underlayer thickness, where the higher coercivity and the higher
S/
N ratio of the Co/Pd multilayer media were obtained with the thicker underlayer. Furthermore, the distribution of 1
1
1 orientation of FCC-Pd became broader, and the grain size decreased with an increase in the carbon underlayer thickness. These effects caused the magnetic exchange decoupling of Co/Pd multilayer media. We suggested that the change of microstructure was directly related to the surface roughness of the amorphous carbon underlayer.
Internalization of magnetite nanoparticles with diameter of approximately 40
nm into normal and cancer cells was examined by microscopic observation and flow cytometry. Magnetite nanoparticles were ...synthesized by hydrolysis in an aqueous solution containing ferrous chloride with organic amines as a base. It was demonstrated that the difference in surface charge of magnetite nanoparticles brought about the difference in uptake efficiency. The nanoparticles with positive charge showed higher internalization into human breast cancer cells than the nanoparticles with negative charge, while the degree of internalization of the positively- and negatively-charged nanoparticles into human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVEC) was almost the same.
Two different denitrifying reactors were monitored in order to evaluate the effects of carbon source on denitrification efficiency and microbial community structure under various saline conditions. ...Nitrogen removal performances were determined when salinity concentrations increase gradually in acetate- or methanol-fed denitrifying reactor. As a result, acetate-fed process attained high nitrate removal at 0–10% NaCl, while methanol was proven beneficial electron donors at 0–3% NaCl. A parallel analysis of T-RFLP and cloning in the acetate-fed sludge showed that a specialized microbial population (i.e. the genera
Halomonas and
Marinobacter) adapted to a high saline environment. Meanwhile, there were no major changes of bacterial populations in the methanol-fed reactor at 4% NaCl, although the relative abundances of the genera
Azoarcus and
Methylophaga increased when salinity concentration was at 1–3% NaCl, indicating that methanol-utilizing populations in activated sludge was unable to adapt to a high saline environments (>4% NaCl).
A review is presented of the recent progress in research and development of soft magnetic films for magnetic recording heads of the future primarily on the basis of the work performed by the author’s ...research group. Films of CoNiFe ternary alloy with high saturation magnetic flux density
B
S and low coercivity,
H
C were successfully produced by electrodeposition. A typical film, designed as ‘HB-CoNiFe’, had the composition of Co
65Ni
12Fe
23 (at.%) with
B
S=2.0–2.1 T and
H
C<2 Oe. Properties other than
B
S and
H
C were also investigated; namely, magnetostriction,
λ
S, corrosion properties, and film resistivity
ρ. The key to the success in obtaining low
H
C with high
B
S was to form film with very fine crystals. The inclusion of small amount of sulfur was found to be essential for producing such a film with the desired magnetic properties. The film has been applied to the construction of a new type of merged-GMR head, which is considered as a breakthrough for materializing ultra high-density magnetic recording.
A 62-years-old woman with uncommon atrial flutter underwent the catheter ablation therapy. In the catheter ablation therapy and subsequent coronary angiography, a coronary artery fistula into the ...right atrium was found. A giant aneurysm formed in the junctional region between the coronary artery fistula and right atrium. The giant aneurysm might have been a course of uncommon atrial flutter. We ligated the coronary artery fistula to prevent the giant aneurysm rupture. Any events have not been observed after catheter ablation and ligation.
Previous studies have demonstrated that pretreatment of rats with a GABA sub(A) receptor antagonist microinjected bilaterally into the preoptic area (POA) blocked cold- or lipopolysaccharide-induced ...thermogenesis. Here, the involvement of GABA sub(A) receptors in prostaglandin (PG)E sub(2)-induced fever was examined. Thermogenic, tachycardic, vasoconstrictive, and hyperthermic responses were elicited by the unilateral microinjection of 0.57-1.1 pmol PGE sub(2) into the region adjacent to the organum vasculosum of the lamina terminalis in urethane-chloralose-anesthetized rats. All these responses were blocked 10 min after pretreatment of the rats with a GABA sub(A) receptor antagonist, bicuculline methiodide or gabazine (50-500 pmol), microinjected unilaterally into the POA; and recovery occurred at ~70 min. Though the antagonist treatment alone had no effect on the O sub(2) consumption rate or colonic temperature, it did elicit a bradycardic response. Pretreatment with the vehicle, saline, had no effect on the PGE sub(2)-induced responses. However, the blocking action of bicuculline/gabazine was efficacious when the agent was administered unilaterally, but not necessarily bilaterally, into the POA either contralateral or ipsilateral to the PGE sub(2) injection site. These results suggest that the PGE sub(2)-induced responses are not simply mediated by the GABAergic transmission from the PGE sub(2)-sensitive site to the thermoefferent structure in the POA, although a tonic inhibitory input to POA neurons has a permissive role for the full expression of PGE sub(2)-induced fever.
Bilateral microinjections of GABA (300 mM, 100 nl) or the GABA(A) receptor agonist muscimol (100 microM, 100 nl) into the preoptic area (POA) of the hypothalamus increased the rate of whole body O(2) ...consumption (VO(2)) and the body core (colonic) temperature of urethane-chloralose-anesthetized, artificially ventilated rats. The most sensitive site was the dorsomedial POA at the level of the anterior commissure. The GABA-induced thermogenesis was accompanied by a tachycardic response and electromyographic (EMG) activity recorded from the femoral or neck muscles. Pretreatment with muscle relaxants (1 mg/kg pancuronium bromide + 4 mg/kg vecuronium bromide i.v.) prevented GABA-induced EMG activity but had no significant effect on GABA-induced thermogenesis. However, pretreatment with the beta-adrenoceptor propranolol (5 mg/kg i.v.) greatly attenuated the GABA-induced increase in VO(2) and tachycardic responses. Accordingly, the GABA-induced increase in VO(2) reflected mainly nonshivering thermogenesis. On the other hand, cooling of the shaved back of the rat by contact with a plastic bag containing 28 degrees C water also elicited thermogenic, tachycardic, and EMG responses. Bilateral microinjections of the GABA(A) receptor antagonist bicuculline (500 microM, 100 nl), but not the vehicle saline, into the POA blocked these skin cooling-induced responses. These results suggest that GABA and GABA(A) receptors in the POA mediate cold information arising from the skin for eliciting cold-induced thermogenesis.
