Characteristics of Reactively Sputtered Niobium Nitride Thin Films as Diffusion Barriers for Cu Metallization

Cheng-Lin Huang,Chih-Huang Lai,Po-Hao Tsai,Hsing-An Huang,Jing-Cheng Lin,Chiapyng Lee 대한금속·재료학회 2013 ELECTRONIC MATERIALS LETTERS Vol.9 No.5

NbN films were prepared by radio frequency reactive magnetron sputtering and then employed as diffusion barriers between Cu and Si. The microstructure of the NbN films was an assembly of very small columnar crystallites with a cubic structure. To investigate the properties as diffusion barriers, we performed metallurgical reactions of Cu/NbN0.8/Si, Cu/Nb/Si and Cu/TaN0.7/Si for comparisons. The sheet resistance increased dramatically after annealing above 750°C for Cu/NbN0.80/Si, and above 500°C for both Cu/Nb/Si and Cu/TaN0.7/Si. The interfaces were deteriorated seriously and formation of Cu3Si was observed when the sheet resistance was significantly increased. The diffusion coefficient of Cu in NbN barrier films was estimated by using the change of resistance (ΔRs/Rs %). Compared with TaN0.7, NbN0.8 films possess larger grain size and lower Cu diffusion coefficient. Our results suggest that the NbN film can be used as a diffusion barrier for Cu metallization as compared to the well-known TaN film.

Thermal Stability, Adhesion and Electrical Studies on (Ti,Zr)Nx Thin Films as Low Resistive Diffusion Barriers between Cu and Si

Cheng-Lin Huang,Chih-Huang Lai,Po-Hao Tsai,Yu-Lin Kuo,Jing-Cheng Lin,Chiapyng Lee 대한금속·재료학회 2014 ELECTRONIC MATERIALS LETTERS Vol.10 No.3

In this study, we investigated the thermal stability, wettability, adhesion and reliability of (Ti,Zr)Nx films used as the diffusion barrier between Cu and Si. (Ti,Zr)Nx films were prepared by DC reactive magnetron sputtering from a Ti-5 at. % Zr alloy target in N2/Ar gas mixtures. A minimum film resistivity of 59.3 μΩ cm was obtained at an N2/Ar flow ratio of 2.75, which corresponds to the near stoichiometric composition (N/(Ti,Zr) ratio ~0.95). The sheet resistance of Cu/(Ti,Zr)N0.95/Si was not significantly increased until annealing above 750°C, indicating good thermal stability. On the other hand, the adhesion energy between Cu and the (Ti,Zr)Nx film was reduced as the N/Ti ratio was increased. To obtain reliable performance on stress-induced-voiding (SIV) and electromigration (EM) tests, we proposed to use (Ti,Zr)/(Ti,Zr)Nx/(Ti,Zr) tri-layers. We suggest that the interfacial adhesion between barrier and Cu plays an important role in reliability. The proposed tri-layer structure may be a promising candidate for a barrier, as it exhibits excellent reliability without increasing resistance.

China Consensus Document on Allergy Diagnostics

Chen Hao,Li Jing,Cheng Lei,Gao Zhongshan,Lin Xiaoping,Zhu Rongfei,Yang Lin,Tao Ailin,Hong Haiyu,Tang Wei,Guo Yinshi,Huang Huaiqiu,Sun Jinlyu,Lai He,Lei Cheng,Liu Guanghui,Xiang Li,Chen Zhuanggui,Ma Ha 대한천식알레르기학회 2021 Allergy, Asthma & Immunology Research Vol.13 No.2

The prevalence of allergic diseases has increased dramatically in recent years in China, affecting the quality of life in 40% of the population. The identification of allergens is the key to the diagnosis of allergic diseases. Presently, several methods of allergy diagnostics are available in China, but they have not been standardized. Additionally, cross-sensitization and co-sensitization make allergy diagnostics even more complicated. Based on 4 aspects of allergic disease (mechanism, diagnosis procedures, allergen detection in vivo and in vitro as well as the distribution map of the most important airborne allergens in China) and by referring to the consensus of the European Society of Allergy and Clinical Immunology, the World Allergy Organization, and the important literature on allergy diagnostics in China in recent years, we drafted this consensus of allergy diagnostics with Chinese characteristics. It aims to standardize the diagnostic methods of allergens and provides a reference for health care givers. The current document was prepared by a panel of experts from the main stream of professional allergy associations in China.

Genetic Factors, Viral Infection, Other Factors and Liver Cancer: An Update on Current Progress

Su, Cheng-Hao,Lin, Yong,Cai, Lin Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention 2013 Asian Pacific journal of cancer prevention Vol.14 No.9

Primary liver cancer is one of the most common cancers at the global level, accounting for half of all cancers in some undeveloped countries. This disease tends to occur in livers damaged through alcohol abuse, or chronic infection with hepatitis B and C, on a background of cirrhosis. Various cancer-causing substances are associated with primary liver cancer, including certain pesticides and such chemicals as vinyl chloride and arsenic. The strong association between HBV infection and liver cancer is well documented in epidemiological studies. It is generally acknowledged that the virus is involved through long term chronic infection, frequently associated with cirrhosis, suggesting a nonspecific mechanism triggered by the immune response. Chronic inflammation of liver, continuous cell death, abnormal cell growth, would increase the occurrence rate of genetic alterations and risk of disease. However, the statistics indicated that only about one fifth of HBV carries would develop HCC in lifetime, suggesting that individual variation in genome would also influence the susceptibility of HCC. The goal of this review is to highlight present level of knowledge on the role of viral infection and genetic variation in the development of liver cancer.

BRCA1/2 mutation status in patients with metachronous breast and ovarian malignancies: clues towards the implementation of genetic counseling

Angel Chao,Yi-Hao Lin,Lan-Yan Yang,Ren-Chin Wu,Wei-Yang Chang,Pi-Yueh Chang,Shih-Cheng Chang,Chiao-Yun Lin,Huei-Jean Huang,Cheng-Tao Lin,Hung-Hsueh Chou,Kuan-Gen Huang,Wen-Ling Kuo,Ting-Chang Chang,Ch 대한부인종양학회 2020 Journal of Gynecologic Oncology Vol.31 No.3

Objective: The characteristics of patients with metachronous breast and ovarian malignancies and the pathogenic role of BRCA1/2 mutations remain poorly understood. We investigated these issues through a review of hospital records and nationwide Taiwanese registry data, followed by BRCA1/2 mutation analysis in hospital-based cases. Methods: We retrospectively retrieved consecutive clinical records of Taiwanese patients who presented with these malignancies to our hospital between 2001 and 2017. We also collected information from the Data Science Center of the Taiwan Cancer Registry (TCR) between 2007 and 2015. Next-generation sequencing and multiplex ligation-dependent probe amplification were used to identify BRCA1/2 mutations and large genomic rearrangements, respectively. When BRCA1/2 mutations were identified in index cases, pedigrees were reconstructed and genetic testing was offered to family members. Results: A total of 12,769 patients with breast cancer and 1,537 with ovarian cancer were retrieved from our hospital records. Of them, 28 had metachronous breast and ovarian malignancies. We also identified 113 cases from the TCR dataset. Eighteen hospital-based cases underwent BRCA1/2 sequencing and germline pathogenic mutations were detected in 7 patients (38.9%, 5 in BRCA1 and 2 in BRCA2). All BRCA1/2 mutation carriers had ovarian high-grade serous carcinomas. Of the 12 patients who were alive at the time of analysis, 5 were BRCA1/2 mutation carriers. All of them had family members with BRCA1/2-associated malignancies. Conclusions: Our results provide pilot evidence that BRCA1/2 mutations are common in Taiwanese patients with metachronous breast and ovarian malignancies, supporting the clinical utility of genetic counseling.

VEGF and FGF2 improve revascularization, survival, and oocyte quality of cryopreserved, subcutaneously transplanted mouse ovarian tissues

( Cheng-en Hsieh ),( Yuh-ming Hwu ),( Sheng-hsiang Li ),( Chung-hao Lu ),( Ming-huei Lin ),( Robert Kuo-kuang Lee ) 대한산부인과학회 2016 대한산부인과학회 학술대회 Vol.102 No.-

Objective: To investigate the effect of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and fibroblast growth factor 2 (FGF2) on revascularization, survival, and oocyte quality of cryopreserved, subcutaneously transplanted mouse ovarian tissue. Methods: Outbred ICR mice (n = 112) were used as the animal model. Vitrified mouse ovarian tissues were treated without (control group) or with VEGF and FGF2 before autologous subcutaneous transplantation. After transplantation for 2 or 3 weeks, grafts’ survival, angiogenesis, and oocyte quality were examined. Results: VEGF and FGF2 promoted revascularization and significantly increased the survival rate of subcutaneously transplanted cryopreserved ovarian tissues compared with the untreated grafted control. The two growth factors did not show long-term effects on the ovarian grafts. In contrast to the untreated ovarian grafts, active folliculogenesis was revealed as the number of various follicles was significantly higher or had an increased trend in the VEGF and FGF2-treated ones. Though the fertilization rate had no differences between VEGF/FGF2 and control group; however, the oocyte quality was much better in the VEGF/FGF2-treated grafts as demonstrated by the higher ratio of blastocyst development. Conclusions: Introducing of angiogenic factors such as VEGF and FGF2 may be a promising strategy to improve revascularization, survival, and oocyte quality of cryopreserved, subcutaneously transplanted mouse ovarian tissue.

Development of Integrated Multi-Station System to Precisely Detect and Mitigate Surface Damage on Fused Silica Optics

Lin-Jie Zhao,Jian Cheng,Ming-Jun Chen,Xiao-Dong Yuan,Wei Liao,Hao Yang,Qi Liu,Hai-Jun Wang 한국정밀공학회 2021 International Journal of Precision Engineering and Vol.22 No.1

In high power laser facility, irreversible damage on fused silica optics, induced by laser irradiation or processing, seriously affects the service life of optics. Therefore, the work of inhibiting damage growth has been carried out in various countries. In our work, an integrated multi-station system is designed to detect and mitigate surface damage on fused silica. The process of processing fused silica optics include UV laser conditioning, surface damage detection and surface damage mitigation with CO2 laser. UV laser conditioning pre-initiates surface damage on fused silica optics with the laser flux less than Laser-Induced Damage Threshold (LIDT). Images of surface damage acquired from camera are processed by improved global threshold segmentation algorithm to extract damage information. Finally, CO2 laser is applied to process the damage with specific morphology to enhance the laser damage resistance. This integrated multi-station system saves the repeated optics installation time between the workstations with the positioning accuracy of 20 μm. Furthermore, the damage with diameter of 10 μm is mitigated to prolong service life of processed fused silica optics. The efficient and accurate integrated multi-station system is of great significance for off -line detecting and mitigating surface damage of fused silica optics in high power laser facility.

Salt Processed Food and Gastric Cancer in a Chinese Population

Lin, Si-Hao,Li, Yuan-Hang,Leung, Kayee,Huang, Cheng-Yu,Wang, Xiao-Rong Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention 2014 Asian Pacific journal of cancer prevention Vol.15 No.13

To investigate the association between salt processed food and gastric cancer, a hospital based case-control study was conducted in a high risk area of China. One hundred and seven newly diagnosed cases with histological confirmation of gastric cancer and 209 controls were recruited. Information on dietary intake was collected with a validated food frequency questionnaire. Unconditional logistic regression was applied to estimate the odds ratios with adjustment for other potential confounders. Comparing the high intake group with never consumption of salt processed foods, salted meat, pickled vegetables and preserved vegetables were significantly associated with increased risk of gastric cancer. Meanwhile, salt taste preference in diet showed a dose-response relationship with gastric cancer. Our results suggest that consumption of salted meat, pickled and preserved vegetables, are positively associated with gastric cancer. Reduction of salt and salt processed food in diets might be one practical measure to preventing gastric cancer.

Dynamic Model Identification for Adaptive Polishing System

Hao An,Sining Zhang,Chaoran Cui,Cheng Qian,Weiyang Lin 제어·로봇·시스템학회 2022 International Journal of Control, Automation, and Vol.20 No.9

In this paper, a decoupled and adaptive polishing system without force sensors is designed for the industrial robot to track the rapid change of the contact force and eliminate dynamical nonlinearities in the polishing process. An identification method is proposed to obtain the dynamic model of this system. The system dynamic model is composed of the nominal linear model and the nonlinear model. The parameters of the system linear time-invariant (LTI) model is identified by frequency domain response with the disturbance observer in this paper. Regarding the high order differential terms and uncertain errors of the nonlinear part of the dynamic model, the Long-Short Term Memory (LSTM) is introduced for identifying system nonlinear characteristics. The bounds of the learning rate are discussed and the LSTM stability analysis result shows that the proposed method holds the Lyapunov stability. Finally, the experimental results show that a more accurate dynamic model can be established by combing frequency domain response and LSTM.

ONE-STEP COLLOID CHEMICAL ROUTE TO PREPARE HETEROSTRUCTURE EuSe/Ag NANOPARTICLES FOR LUMINESCENCE RESONANCE ENERGY TRANSFER SENSORS

LIN XU,QUAN LIN,HAO CHENG,CHUANXI WANG 성균관대학교(자연과학캠퍼스) 성균나노과학기술원 2014 NANO Vol.9 No.3

The heterostructure EuSe/Ag nanoparticles (NPs) were prepared through one-step colloidchemical method. Blue °uorescent EuSe NPs were prepared by amine reducing method witholeylamine (OLA) as surface stabilizer. The colloid microemulsion was formed through themixture of AgNO 3 aqueous solution and the EuSe n-Hexane solution. On the interface, Agþionscould be reduced to Ag NPs by OLA. Finally heterogeneous EuSe/Ag NPs were obtained. Thestructure and properties of EuSe NPs and EuSe/Ag NPs were characterized by photo-luminescence (PL), transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and X-ray photoelectron spec-troscopy (XPS). The results showed that the luminescence resonance energy transfer (LRET)occurred on the interface of EuSe NPs and Ag NPs. Also it demonstrated that the linear enhancedLRET e®ect happened with increasing the concentration of Agþ. All these properties make ourheterostructural EuSe/Ag NPs to have interesting potential applications for ions detection andbiosensors.