Particle morphology, electrical conductivity, crystal and electronic structures of hydrothermally synthesized (Ce,Sr)PO4

We focused on Sr-substituted CePO₄—i. e., (Ce,Sr)PO₄—with the monazite structure and synthesized the orthophosphates hydrothermally. As for the obtained products, we investigated the particle morphologies by SEM and electrical conduction properties by conductivity measurements. In order to estimate the crystal and electronic structures, neutron and synchrotron X-ray diffraction measurements were also carried out. As a result, it was found that (Ce,Sr)PO₄ with a single phase of the monazite structure was successfully prepared by the hydrothermal method and the substitution amount of Sr was almost equal to the nominal one. It was also demonstrated that a powder morphology of the (Ce,Sr)PO₄ depended on the synthetic conditions; i.e, concentrations of cation sources and pH of aqueous solution in the hydrothermal process. The Sr-substituted sample showed much higher conductivities than the unsubstituted one, in the same way as the (Ce,Sr)PO₄ synthesized by other methods reported previously.     

A 23-ns 4-Mb CMOS SRAM with 0.2-μA standby current

A 4-Mb CMOS SRAM having 0.2-μA standby current at a supply voltage of 3 V has been developed. Current-mirror/PMOS cross-coupled cascade sense-amplifier circuits have achieved the fast address access time of 23 ns. A new noise-immune data-latch circuit has attained power-reduction characteristics at a low operating cycle time without access delay. A 0.5-μm CMOS, four-level poly, two-level metal technology with a polysilicon PMOS load memory cell, yielded a small cell area of 17 μm² and the very small standby current. A quadruple-array, word-decoder architecture allowed a small chip area of 122 mm²     

Microwave synthesis of Fe-doped β-rhombohedral boron

Iron-doped β-rhombohedral boron was synthesized by 28 GHz microwave irradiation on a powder mixture of iron and β-boron. β-Boron strongly absorbs 28 GHz microwaves, and this strong coupling with microwave energy can be used to promote a reaction with iron dopant. The powder mixture was heated to 1800°C within 2 min by microwave irradiation, resulting in the formation of β-rhombohedral boron interstitially doped with iron. The reaction proceeded rapidly without accompanying grain growth. The XRD analysis and the electrical conductivity measurements revealed successful incorporation of iron into two doping sites of β-boron.     

Development and applications of an analytical electron microscope with a field emission electron gun

An analytical electron microscope with a field emission electron gun has been developed in order to improve the function of material identification, in order to obtain higher resolution of images, sharper electron diffraction patterns, and purer x-ray spectra with no effects of contamination from smaller areas than in the conventional instruments so far utilized. The performance capabilities of this newly developed analytical electron microscope, the Model H-600FE, have been examined and found to be very useful for the material characterization of nanometer-size areas. Various attributes of the microscope became apparent with reference to the results of different studies. These include better convergence of the electron beam (demonstrated by examination of an MoS₂ thin film), high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (using a gold film), high-resolution scanning electron microscopy (with a carbon film containing nanometer-size holes), high-angle resolution electron diffraction (of an iron carbide film), and precision x-ray analysis of nanometer-size areas (using a pyroxene crystal and a Cu---Zn---Al shape memory alloy).     

Species specificity of musty odor producing Phormidium tenue in Lake Kamafusa.

16S ribosomal DNA sequences of various strains of Phormidium tenue (P. tenue) in Lake Kamafusa were determined. Such P. tenue could not be distinguished under microscopic examination. From the results of the analyses of base sequences, and using a phylogenetic tree, several P. tenue with different species specificity on the sequence were found in the lake. P. tenue were divided into three groups. The first produced 2-methylisoborneol (MIB) and was close to a species from the moat of Nagoya castle. The second produced MIB and was characteristic of Lake Kamafusa. The third had a brown color like a Lake Biwa strain and was MIB non-producing. From the phylogenetic tree, it was revealed that species had not changed recently by mutation. Moreover, a detection method for P. tenue by PCR and dot hybridization was established.     

Monte Carlo analysis of the space-charge effect in AlGaAs/GaAsballistic collection transistors (BCTs) under high currentinjection

AlGaAs/GaAs ballistic collection transistors (BCTs) are investigated by self-consistent Monte Carlo simulation, focusing on the space-charge effect in the collector region. In addition to the conventional BCT collector structure (i-p⁺-n⁺), modified collector structures which have n^--p⁺-n ⁺ and p^--p⁺-n⁺ doping profiles are examined. By taking account of the fact that the collector delay time is composed of transit time and capacitance charging time, it is shown that the n^--p⁺-n⁺ collector structure is effective for the suppression of the base-widening effect (Kirk effect) compared to the i-p⁺-n⁺ or p^- -p⁺-n⁺ structure. Donors in the n^- layer compensate for the negative space charges produced by near-ballistic electrons. For a simulated BCT with an n^--p ⁺-n⁺ collector, the smaller collector capacitance charging time leads to improvement in current-gain cutoff frequency under high current injection