Experimental Investigation of the Thermal Performance of Graphite Foam for Evaporator Enhancement in Both Pool Boiling and an FC-72 Thermosyphon

High-conductivity graphite foam is investigated for use as a surface enhancement for improved thermal performance in both pool boiling and an FC-72 thermosyphon. The influences of heat load and fluid level on the overall system thermal performance including surface superheat, effective heat transfer coefficient, and thermal resistance are examined. The thermal resistance of the foam heat sink is found to be extremely low at a minimum of 0.024 K/W, well below that of many other methods. The featured low thermal resistance is the primary benefit of this system. The thermal resistance is found to rise with increasing heat flux, but still remains advantageously low and exhibits excellent potential for high heat flux dissipation with low surface superheat, making it suitable for thermal management of advanced electronics.     

Adhesion studies of CVD copper metallization

The adhesion of chemical vapor deposition (CVD) Cu thin films to various barriers was observed to improve with a post-deposition anneal or a physical vapor deposition (PVD) Cu flash layer on the barrier before depositing CVD Cu. The ambient exposure of the barrier before the deposition of CVD Cu has been observed to lead to degradation of adhesion in both CVD Cu seed and CVD/PVD Cu high vacuum integrated metallization schemes. The integrated CVD and PVD Cu deposition scheme exhibits better adhesion due to the inherent annealing provided during the PVD deposition which is carried out at temperatures between 300 and 400°C. We have evaluated both qualitative and quantitative tests — tape test, Stud pull test and 4-point bend test — in understanding adhesion and observed that each of these tests give different details of interface breakdown.     

Disturbance observer–based adaptive boundary layer sliding mode controller for a type of nonlinear multiple‐input multiple‐output system

In this paper, a disturbance observer–based adaptive boundary layer sliding mode controller (ABLSMC) is proposed to compensate external disturbance and system uncertainty for a class of output coupled multiple‐input multiple‐output (MIMO) nonlinear systems. To show the effectiveness of the proposed ABLMSC, a traditional adaptive sliding mode controller (ASMC) is also designed. The stability of the closed‐loop system is examined by using the Lyapunov stability approach. The proposed control approach is implemented for a class of nonlinear output coupled MIMO systems. For real‐time validation, a coupled tank system is considered for study. Finally, simulation and real‐time results show that the proposed ABLMSC gives better performance such as reduced chattering and energy efficiency than that of the ASMC and some reported works in the literature.     

State-space realizations for output feedback control of linear differential-algebraic-equation systems

This work addresses the derivation of state-space realizations for the output feedback control of linear, high-index differential-algebraic-equation systems that are not controllable at infinity and for which the control inputs appear explicitly in the underlying algebraic constraints. The constrained state space of such systems depends on the control inputs, and thus, a state-space realization cannot be derived independently of the controller design. Motivated by this, initially a dynamic output feedback compensator is designed that yields a modified system for which the algebraic constraints are independent of the new control inputs. For this feedback modified system, a state-space realization is then derived which can be used for output feedback controller synthesis.     

Manufacturable Processes for $leq$ 32-nm-node CMOS Enhancement by Synchronous Optimization of Strain-Engineered Channel and External Parasitic Resistances

Manufacturable processes to reduce both channel and external resistances (R_Ext) in CMOS devices are described. Simulations show that R_Ext will become equivalent to strained Si channel resistance near the 32-nm logic node. Tensile stress in plasma-enhanced chemical-vapor-deposited SiN_x liners is increased with UV curing, boosting the NMOS drive current by 20% relative to a neutral reference. W contact-plug resistance (R_c) is reduced by 40% by optimizing preclean, liner/barrier, and nucleation steps. Replacing the fill material with Cu reduces R_c by > 35% as compared to W. The Schottky barrier height of silicide contacts to p-Si is reduced by 0.12 eV with a 10% addition of Pt, resulting in a ~10% increase in the PMOS drive current. By implementing a two-step anneal process (spike + laser), the source/drain-extension resistance can be reduced by 20%.     

The Effect of Aiding/Opposing Buoyancy on Two-Dimensional Laminar Flow Across a Circular Cylinder

The effect of thermal buoyancy on the upward flow and heat transfer characteristics around a heated/cooled circular cylinder is studied. A two-dimensional finite-volume model is deployed for the analysis. The influence of aiding/opposing buoyancy is studied for the range of parameters ?0.5 ≤ Ri ≤ 0.5, 50 ≤ Re ≤ 150, and the blockage ratios of B = 0.02 and 0.25. The flow shows unsteady periodic nature in the chosen range of Reynolds numbers for the forced convective cases (Ri = 0), and the vortex shedding stops completely at some critical values of Richardson numbers.     

Chemical studies of CVD Cu deposited on Ta and TaN barriers under various process conditions

Contamination in the matrix of CVD copper films and at the interface between CVD copper films and barrier layers has been characterized using XPS, SIMS, XRD and RGA. Contamination in the CVD copper matrix has been found to increase with increasing precursor flow rate and with decreasing wafer temperature. Interfacial contamination has been investigated in an attempt to quantitatively define acceptable levels of contamination and ultimately reduce the effect of these contaminants on the integrated film stack. Sputtered copper flash layers for CVD copper deposition are also shown as highly effective for reducing the levels and effects of incorporated contamination.