H. Ye
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68 records found
1
Particle morphology is a critical structural variable in pressure-assisted sintering because it controls packing, pore topology, interparticle bonding and load transfer. Here, copper (Cu) was used as a model system to examine how monomodal spherical, bimodal spherical and flake-shaped particle assemblies, processed under identical conditions, form porous structures with distinct mechanical responses. Micro-pillar compression reveals low effective elastic moduli of 7.5–12.5 GPa and high yield strengths of 403–450 MPa. The deformation pathways are strongly morphology dependent. The monomodal structure accommodates strain through distributed pore collapse and particle deformation, leading to progressive densification hardening. The bimodal structure exhibits size-partitioned deformation, with large particles forming the main load-bearing backbone and smaller particles accommodating local rearrangement, embedding and shear compaction. The flake-shaped structure undergoes geometry-guided deformation, where extended face-to-face bonding enhances local load bearing, while inter-flake misalignment concentrates strain and promotes shear localization. Post-compression transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and transmission Kikuchi diffraction (TKD) analyses link these modes to pore collapse, neck deformation and grain-scale strain accommodation. TKD further gives average Geometrically Necessary Dislocations (GND) densities of 4.36×1014 m−2, 3.69×1014 m−2 and 4.11×1014 m−2 for the monomodal, bimodal and flake-shaped structures, respectively. Molecular dynamics (MD) simulations reproduce the corresponding strain-localization patterns and reveal morphology-controlled load-transfer pathways dominated by Shockley partial dislocations. These results establish particle morphology as a design parameter for tuning stiffness, strength and damage tolerance in sintered porous metals.
Sintered porous Cu contains a heterogeneous particle-neck-pore architecture whose deformation depends strongly on loading mode. In this study, porous Cu structures prepared from small particles (184 nm) and large particles (1451 nm) were examined using micropillar compression, micro-cantilever bending, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), and molecular dynamics (MD) simulations. Under compression, the large-particle structure exhibited a higher apparent elastic modulus (14.5 ± 0.9 GPa) than the small-particle structure (12.7 ± 0.5 GPa), whereas the small-particle structure showed an approximately 80% higher yield strength (364 ± 58 versus 202 ± 71 MPa). In contrast, the large-particle structure exhibited an approximately 245% higher conditional fracture toughness (5.56 ± 0.14 versus 1.61 ± 0.16 MPa⋅m1/2) and 1270% higher total bending work (8823 ± 1245 versus 644 ± 164 pJ). Microstructural analyses revealed that the refined particle-neck network accommodated compression through distributed pore compaction, neck deformation, and dislocation accumulation, suppressing strain localization. The coarser network promoted intraparticle slip and interfacial sliding under compression, while enhancing remaining-ligament continuity and neck bridging during crack propagation. MD simulations reproduced these distinct compressive responses and defect-evolution characteristics. These findings provide guidance for optimizing particle-neck-pore architectures in reliable sintered Cu interconnects.
The semiconductor industry is facing significant challenges, including physical limitations such as heat dissipation, rising manufacturing costs, and the difficulty of further shrinking transistor sizes while maintaining performance. To address these issues, chiplet technology has emerged, integrating smaller, specialized chips into a single package. This approach improves modularity, manufacturing yields, and allows mixing different technology nodes for optimal performance. However, challenges like ensuring high-speed, low-latency interconnects and effective thermal management persist.This study explores several key aspects of chiplet technology using a simplified dual-chip model, focusing on the integration of nanocopper materials. By comparing nanocopper with traditional solder, we analyze differences in mechanical behavior and thermal management. Additionally, we investigate variations in chiplet layout, examining the impact of spacing and the number of chiplets on performance under identical power conditions. Our findings indicate that nanocopper interconnects provide lower stress and better thermal conductivity than traditional solder. Adjusting chiplet spacing and increasing the number of chiplets both enhance heat dissipation. Future work will involve larger-scale simulations and fatigue analyses to optimize chiplet packaging for improved performance and reliability.
Selective Reduction Laser Sintering
A New Strategy for NO2 Gas Detection Based on In2O3 Nanoparticles
This study introduces a novel strategy for fabricating flexible nitrogen dioxide (NO2) gas sensors based on Indium Oxide (In2O3) nanoparticles (NPs) employing selective reduction laser sintering (SRLS) technology. The SRSL technology utilizes ultraviolet (UV) laser selective reduction sintering to precisely and rapidly create oxygen vacancy (OV) defects in In2O3 NPs. These oxygen vacancies (OVs) enhance the active adsorption sites and contribute additional free electrons, significantly improving sensor performance at room temperature. The sensors demonstrate excellent response (S = 460.9 at 10 ppm), rapid response/recovery times (τresp/τreco = 27/570 s), and superior selectivity (response ratio > 400), in addition to robust resistance to light and humidity (under ppm-level NO2 gas). The sensors also exhibit a low detection limit (200 ppb), a high signal-to-noise ratio (94.8 dB), and good long-term stability (25 days). Moreover, under photo-assisted conditions, the recovery speed of the sensors is further improved. This technology not only provides an innovative strategy for the development of high-performance flexible NO2 gas sensors but also broadens the application potential of laser direct writing (LDW) technology in advanced materials and sensor fabrications.
This research introduces a novel and convenient technology, chitosan oligosaccharide laser lithography (COSLL), enabling the creation of flexible laser-induced graphene (LIG) on-chip microsupercapacitors (MSCs) using environmentally friendly chitosan-class polymers for the first time. MSCs prepared through COSLL exhibit a significant areal capacitance exceeding 4 mF cm-2, comparable to that of the polyimide-LIG-based counterparts. COSLL seamlessly integrates with the micro-nano thin-film process, allowing the capacitance of resulting LIG/Au MSCs to be further increased to about 8 mF cm-2. Leveraging an eco-friendly biomass carbon source and featuring a convenient process flowchart, COSLL emerges as an appealing method for fabricating flexible LIG on-chip MSCs.
NiO-Doped Laser-Induced Graphene
A High-Performance Flexible Temperature Sensor
This study introduces a high-performance flexible temperature sensor prepared using laser-induced graphene (LIG) doped with nickel oxide (NiO) nanoparticles (NPs). Unlike conventional LIG surface doping methods, we developed a nickel oxide-doped LIG flexible temperature sensor by introducing NiO NPs into a polyimide (PI) precursor solution cured into a film followed by ultraviolet (UV) laser treatment. This approach achieves a more stable and uniform doping process while further improving the sensing performance of LIG-based temperature sensors. Over a prospective temperature detection range (30-100 °C), the sensitivity of the NiO-doped LIG temperature sensor is significantly improved from -0.064% °C-1 to -0.079% °C-1, an improvement of 19.3%, compared to that of the intrinsic LIG temperature sensor, while maintaining high linearity (R2 = 0.999) as well as excellent temperature stability and reliability. This research not only enhances the performance of flexible temperature sensors based on LIG but also paves new pathways for its industrial production in various application fields.
Flexible strain sensors play a crucial role in health monitoring, smart wearable devices, and human–machine interaction. Three-dimensional surface evaluation methods for strain sensors offer advantages by being closer to actual strain, featuring a larger working range, and being more suitable for multidirectional strain. In this study, a three-dimensional (3D) surface strain sensor based on polydimethylsiloxane/laser-induced graphene (PDMS/LIG) composite films has been developed. The electromechanical properties of this sensor, encompassing 3D strain range and sensitivity, can be adjusted by manipulating laser parameters and LIG patterns. The key to attaining these specific characteristics lies in the intentional design of crack types and orientations on the sensor's surface. Remarkably, the line-vertical (LV) sensor exhibits outstanding sensitivity with a GF of 211.3. The line-parallel (LP) sensor achieves a GF of 115.1. Additionally, it demonstrates a stretching range of 25% and maintains stable performance over an extensive number of strain/release test cycles (more than 3000 cycles). With these advantages, the 3D strain sensor can not only be applied in human activity monitoring but also monitoring pressure within microchannels in microfluidic chips, suggesting promising applications in the health and medical fields.
This study introduces an innovative approach for fabricating flexible nitrogen dioxide (NO2) gas sensors based on In2O3 nanoparticles (NPs) using selective reduction laser sintering (SRLS) technology. The SRLS technology enables specific chemical reduction reactions during the sintering process, achieving fabrication and control of oxygen vacancy defects and the porous structure in the In2O3 sintering region. The sensor exhibits exceptionally high sensitivity, fast response/recovery times, and superior selectivity for NO2 gas detection, particularly at room temperature. Compared with traditional NO2 gas sensor fabrication methods, this technology not only provides a potential way to fabricate highperformance NO2 gas sensors but also further expands the application potential of laser direct writing (LDW) technology in the fields of advanced materials and sensor fabrication.
Chitosan Oligosaccharide Laser Lithograph
A Facile Route to Porous Graphene Electrodes for Flexible On-Chip Microsupercapacitors
In this study, a convenient chitosan oligosaccharide laser lithograph (COSLL) technology was developed to fabricate laser-induced graphene (LIG) electrodes and flexible on-chip microsupercapacitors (MSCs). With a simple one-step CO2 laser, the pyrolysis of a chitosan oligosaccharide (COS) and in situ welding of the generated LIGs to engineering plastic substrates are achieved simultaneously. The resulting LIG products display a hierarchical porous architecture, excellent electrical conductivity (6.3 Ω sq-1), and superhydrophilic properties, making them ideal electrode materials for MSCs. The pyrolysis-welding coupled mechanism is deeply discussed through cross-sectional analyses and finite element simulations. The MSCs prepared by COSLL exhibit considerable areal capacitance of over 4 mF cm-2, which is comparable to that of the polyimide-LIG-based counterpart. COSLL is also compatible with complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS) and micro-electro-mechanical system (MEMS) processes, enabling the fabrication of LIG/Au MSCs with comparable areal capacitance and lower internal resistance. Furthermore, the as-prepared MSCs demonstrate excellent mechanical robustness, long-cycle capability, and ease of series-parallel integration, benefiting their practical application in various scenarios. With the use of eco-friendly biomass carbon source and convenient process flowchart, the COSLL emerges as an attractive method for the fabrication of flexible LIG on-chip MSCs and various other advanced LIG devices.
This paper proposes and simulates research on the reverse recovery characteristics of two novel superjunction (SJ) MOSFETs by adjusting the doping profile. In the manufacturing process of the SJ MOSFET using multilayer epitaxial deposition (MED), the position and concentration of each Boron bubble can be adjusted by designing different doping profiles to adjust the resistance of the upper half P-pillar. A higher P-pillar resistance can slow down the sweep out speed of hole carriers when the body diode is turned off, thus resulting in a smoother reverse recovery current and reducing the current recovery rate (d (Formula presented.) /d (Formula presented.)) from a peak to zero. The simulation results show that the reverse recovery peak current (I (Formula presented.)) of the two proposed devices decreased by 5% and 3%, respectively, compared to the conventional SJ. Additionally, the softness factor (S) increased by 64% and 55%, respectively. Furthermore, this study also demonstrates a trade-off relationship between static and reverse recovery characteristics with the adjustable doping profile, thus providing a guideline for actual application scenarios.
Laser-induced graphene (LIG) has aroused a wide range of research interests ranging from micro-nano energy devices to the Internet of Things (IoT). Nevertheless, the non-degradability of most-used synthetic polymer carbon sources poses a serious threat to the environment. In this work, ecofriendly chitosan-based derivatives, including carboxymethyl chitosan (CMCS), chitosan oligosaccharide, and chitosan hydrochloride, are successfully converted into LIGs for the first time via a convenient one-step CO2 laser engraving at ambient air. The obtained LIGs are characterized by a three-dimensional hierarchical porous structure and exhibit good sheet conductivity. The consecutive carbonization and graphitization mechanism of target precursors induced by laser heat accumulation is also deeply discussed. Besides, based on a mechanically reliable LIG/CMCS composite film and tribo-negative acrylic/polyimide anti-layers, two contact-separation mode triboelectric nanogenerators are built and their power densities range from 1.44 to 2.48 mW cm-2. These devices with long cycle life can be used for low-frequency mechanical energy harvesting and commercial capacitance charging, which could be potentially applied in the wireless sensor network nodes. Such a family of chitosan derivatives paves a new route for LIG synthesis and provides new ideas for ecofriendly LIG electronics.
The fabrication of flexible pressure sensors with low cost, high scalability, and easy fabrication is an essential driving force in developing flexible electronics, especially for high-performance sensors that require precise surface microstructures. However, optimizing complex fabrication processes and expensive microfabrication methods remains a significant challenge. In this study, we introduce a laser pyrolysis direct writing technology that enables rapid and efficient fabrication of high-performance flexible pressure sensors with a micro-truncated pyramid array. The pressure sensor demonstrates exceptional sensitivities, with the values of 3132.0, 322.5, and 27.8 kPa-1 in the pressure ranges of 0-0.5, 0.5-3.5, and 3.5-10 kPa, respectively. Furthermore, the sensor exhibits rapid response times (loading: 22 ms, unloading: 18 ms) and exceptional reliability, enduring over 3000 pressure loading and unloading cycles. Moreover, the pressure sensor can be easily integrated into a sensor array for spatial pressure distribution detection. The laser pyrolysis direct writing technology introduced in this study presents a highly efficient and promising approach to designing and fabricating high-performance flexible pressure sensors utilizing micro-structured polymer substrates.
Understanding the interaction of nucleotides with UVC light
An insight from quantum chemical calculation-based findings
Short-wave ultraviolet (also called UVC) irradiation is a well-adopted method of viral inactivation due to its ability to damage genetic material. A fundamental problem with the UVC inactivation method is that its mechanism of action on viruses is still unknown at the molecular level. To address this problem, herein we investigate the response mechanism of genome materials to UVC light by means of quantum chemical calculations. The spectral properties of four nucleotides, namely, adenine, cytosine, guanine, and uracil, are mainly focused on. Meanwhile, the transition state and reaction rate constant of uracil molecules are also considered to demonstrate the difficulty level of adjacent nucleotide reaction without and with UVC irradiation. The results show that the peak wavelengths are 248.7 nm, 226.1 nm (252.7 nm), 248.3 nm, and 205.8 nm (249.2 nm) for adenine, cytosine, guanine, and uracil nucleotides, respectively. Besides, the reaction rate constants of uracil molecules are 6.419 × 10−49 s−1 M−1 and 5.436 × 1011 s−1 M−1 for the ground state and excited state, respectively. Their corresponding half-life values are 1.56 × 1048 s and 1.84 × 10−12 s. This directly suggests that the molecular reaction between nucleotides is a photochemical process and the reaction without UVC irradiation almost cannot occur.
In recent years, metal crack-based stretchable flexible strain sensors have attracted significant attention in wearable device applications due to their extremely high sensitivity. However, the tradeoff between sensitivity and detection range has been an intractable dilemma, severely limiting their practical applications. Herein, we propose a laser transmission pyrolysis (LTP) technology for fabricating high-performance flexible strain sensors based on (Au) metal cracks with the microchannel array on the polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) surface. The fabricated flexible strain sensors exhibit high sensitivity [gauge factor (GF) of 2448], wide detection range (59% for tensile strain), precise strain resolution (0.1%), fast response and recovery times (69 and 141 ms), and robust durability (over 3000 cycles). In addition, experiment and simulation results reveal that introducing a microchannel array enables the stress redistribution strategy on the sensor surface, which significantly improves the sensing sensitivity compared to conventional flat surface sensors. Based on the excellent performance, the sensors are applied to detect subtle physiological signals, such as pulse and swallowing, as well as to monitor large-scale motion signals, such as knee flexion and finger bending, demonstrating their potential applications in health monitoring, human-machine interactions, and electronic skin.
Owing to the outstanding physical properties of graphene, its biosensing applications implemented by the terahertz metasurface are widely concerned and studied. Here, we present a novel design of the graphene metasurface, which consists of an individual graphene ring and an H-shaped graphene structure. The graphene metasurface exhibits a dual-resonance response, whose resonance frequency strongly varies with the geometrical parameters of the proposed metasurface, the carrier density of graphene, and the analyte composition. The transparency window, including width and position, can be artificially controlled by adjusting the geometrical parameters or the Fermi energy. Furthermore, the sensing parameters of the graphene metasurface for cancerous and normal cells are investigated, focusing on two factors, namely cell quantity and position on the metasurface. The simulated results clearly show that the theoretical sensitivity, figure of merit, and quantity of the graphene metasurface for breast cells reach 1.21 THz/RIU, 2.75 RIU (Formula presented.), and 2.43, respectively. Our findings may open up new avenues for promising applications in the diagnosis of cancers.
Strain-engineered S-HfSe2 monolayer as a promising gas sensor for detecting NH3
A first-principles study
The development of high-performance gas sensing materials is one of the development trends of new gas sensor technology. In this work, in order to predict the gas-sensitive characteristics of HfSe2 and its potential as a gas-sensitive material, the interactions of nonmetallic element (O, S, Te) doped HfSe2 monolayer and small molecules (NH3 and O3) have been studied by first-principles based on density functional theory. The results show that the adsorption of NH3 and O3 on pristine HfSe2 monolayer is weak, and the adsorption strength can be significantly improved by doping O. And O-HfSe2 is chemical adsorption to O3 with large adsorption energy and transfer charge, and the band gap of O[sbnd]HfSe2 disappears after adsorbing O3, indicating that the adsorption of O3 has a significant effect on the electrical properties of the substrate. These mean that O3 is difficult to recover from the substrate surface, thus preventing O-HfSe2 from developing into a sensitive material for O3 detection. After doping S, the charge transfers and adsorption strength to NH3 are the largest, but it is still small. So, the strain effect on the S-HfSe2/NH3 adsorption system is also studied. The results indicate that the adsorption strength of S-HfSe2 to NH3 can be enhanced by stretching S-HfSe2 along x-axis. After absorbing NH3, the conductivity of x-axis strained S-HfSe2 changes, which suggest its sensitivity. And the predicted recovery times of S-HfSe2 surfaces with εx=4%, 6% and 8% are 0.027 s, 1.153 s and 102.467 s, respectively, which suggests that the S-HfSe2 monolayer has the potential to be developed as a sensitive material for NH3 detection. These adsorption mechanism studies can also serve as a theoretical foundation for the experimental design of gas-sensing materials.
Coalescence kinetics and microstructure evolution of Cu nanoparticles sintering on substrates
A molecular dynamics study
Nano copper sintering technology has great potential to be widely applied in the wide-bandgap semiconductor packaging. In order to investigate the coalescence kinetics of copper nano particles for this application, a molecular dynamic (MD) simulation was carried out at low temperature on a special model containing two substrate and multiple particles in between. Accordingly, thorough microstructure and dislocation investigation was conducted to identify the atomic-scale evolution in the system. The corresponding findings could provide evidence on the new particle-substrate sintering mechanism. Furthermore, atomic trajectories tracking method was applied to study the rotation behavior of different sized nano particles. New rotation behavior and mechanism were described. Additionally, the study on the size effect of copper particles on the sintering process and coalescence mechanism was conducted via comparing the microstructural and dislocation distribution of 3 nm, 4 nm and 5 nm models. Finally, by comparing the MSD results at low and high temperature for each model, the dominant coalescence dynamics changes were obtained.
Robust bonding of Cu quasi-nanoparticles sintering for Ag coated chip and bare copper substrate was achieved. The effect of temperature, pressure and time on the sintering bonding strength and microstructural evolution was deeply studied. 36.5 MPa shear strength was achieved when applied 5 MPa pressure. By increasing to 30 MPa, it shows the best die shear strength of 116 MPa, accomplished with a sintering temperature of 250 °C for 3 min. Temperature also influenced the shear strength a lot. Between 210 °C and 230 °C can already provide strength over 30 MPa. When increased to 270 °C, the strength was extremely enhanced to over 120 MPa. Inspection on the fracture behaviors and cross-section of sheared off samples was conducted by SEM, EDS, and XRD. It is found that low bonding performance is due to both of the incomplete burnt out of organics and incomplete Cu QNPs sintering. In addition, high bonding is account for the positive effect of pressure and temperature on promoting the necking growth, sintering networking formation, pores isolation and brittle-ductile fracture transformation. The recommended sintering profile is 250 °C, 3 min, 20 MPa. Finally, the feasibility for SiC MOSFET power electronics DA was verified by testing its static characteristics at both room temperature and 150 °C.