Glasses can be formed by many routes. In some cases, distinct polyamorphic forms are found. The normal mode of glass formation is cooling of a viscous liquid. Liquid behavior during cooling is classified between "strong" and "fragile," and the three canonical characteristics of relaxing liquids are correlated through the fragility. Strong liquids become fragile liquids on compression. In some cases, such conversions occur during cooling by a weak first-order transition. This behavior can be related to the polymorphism in a glass state through a recent simple modification of the van der Waals model for tetrahedrally bonded liquids. The sudden loss of some liquid degrees of freedom through such first-order transitions is suggestive of the polyamorphic transition between native and denatured hydrated proteins, which can be interpreted as single-chain glass-forming polymers plasticized by water and cross-linked by hydrogen bonds. The onset of a sharp change in d dT( is the Debye-Waller factor and T is temperature) in proteins, which is controversially indentified with the glass transition in liquids, is shown to be general for glass formers and observable in computer simulations of strong and fragile ionic liquids, where it proves to be close to the experimental glass transition temperature. The latter may originate in strong anharmonicity in modes ("bosons"), which permits the system to access multiple minima of its configuration space. These modes, the Kauzmann temperature T(K), and the fragility of the liquid, may thus be connected.

https://science.sciencemag.org/content/sci/267/5206/1924.full.pdf

Formation of glasses from liquids and biopolymers.

The MN+1AXN phases: A new class of solids

▪ Abstract Soft lithography, a set of techniques for microfabrication, is based on printing and molding using elastomeric stamps with the patterns of interest in bas-relief. As a technique for fabricating microstructures for biological applications, soft lithography overcomes many of the shortcomings of photolithography. In particular, soft lithography offers the ability to control the molecular structure of surfaces and to pattern the complex molecules relevant to biology, to fabricate channel structures appropriate for microfluidics, and to pattern and manipulate cells. For the relatively large feature sizes used in biology (≥50 μm), production of prototype patterns and structures is convenient, inexpensive, and rapid. Self-assembled monolayers of alkanethiolates on gold are particularly easy to pattern by soft lithography, and they provide exquisite control over surface biochemistry.

/pdf/soft-lithography-in-biology-and-biochemistry-1qiku7qz44.pdf

Soft Lithography in Biology and Biochemistry

This article presents an overview of the essential aspects in the fabrication of silicon and some silicon/germanium nanostructures by metal-assisted chemical etching. First, the basic process and mechanism of metal-assisted chemical etching is introduced. Then, the various influences of the noble metal, the etchant, temperature, illumination, and intrinsic properties of the silicon substrate (e.g., orientation, doping type, doping level) are presented. The anisotropic and the isotropic etching behaviors of silicon under various conditions are presented. Template-based metal-assisted chemical etching methods are introduced, including templates based on nanosphere lithography, anodic aluminum oxide masks, interference lithography, and block-copolymer masks. The metal-assisted chemical etching of other semiconductors is also introduced. A brief introduction to the application of Si nanostructures obtained by metal-assisted chemical etching is given, demonstrating the promising potential applications of metal-assisted chemical etching. Finally, some open questions in the understanding of metal-assisted chemical etching are compiled.

/pdf/metal-assisted-chemical-etching-of-silicon-a-review-2djk1xh2iu.pdf

Metal-Assisted Chemical Etching of Silicon: A Review

The present invention provides stretchable, and optionally printable, semiconductors and electronic circuits capable of providing good performance when stretched, compressed, flexed or otherwise deformed. Stretchable semiconductors and electronic circuits of the present invention preferred for some applications are flexible, in addition to being stretchable, and thus are capable of significant elongation, flexing, bending or other deformation along one or more axes. Further, stretchable semiconductors and electronic circuits of the present invention may be adapted to a wide range of device configurations to provide fully flexible electronic and optoelectronic devices.

http://science.sciencemag.org/content/sci/311/5758/208.full.pdf

Stretchable form of single crystal silicon for high performance electronics on rubber substrates

An improved process for preparing selective deposition of conductive metals on disilicide encroachment barriers allows the construction of integrated circuit components wherein the metal/disilicide interface is substantially free of O and/or F contamination. The level of interfacial oxygen and/or fluorine contamination in the selective W deposition on the TiSi 2 was substantially reduced or eliminated by first forming a C49 TiSi 2 phase on a substrate, selectively depositiong W on the C49 TiSi 2 phase and thereafter annealing a a (minimum) temperature sufficient to convert the high resistivity phase C49 TiSi 2 to the low resistivity phase C54 TiSi 2 .

Selective deposition of tungsten on TiSi2

The transformation of amorphous Si layers to polycrystalline material induced by Q‐switched ruby laser single pulses of 20 and 50 nsec duration has been investigated. The analysis has been performed by transmission electron microscopy and by channeling measurements using 2.0‐MeV He+ Rutherford backscattering. The average grain size of the polycrystalline layers increases with the incident energy density of the laser pulse in the range 0.6–1.7 J/cm2. A transition to single‐crystal layers is found for incident energy densities around 2.0 J/cm2. The grain size correlates with incident energy density (J/cm2) rather than incident power density (MW/cm2) for these pulse durations.

Grain size dependence in a self‐implanted silicon layer on laser irradiation energy density

The temperature dependence of lattice disorder created in Si by 40‐keV Sb ions was studied by energy analysis of the yield of backscattered 1‐MeV He ions incident along 〈111〉 and 〈110〉 axes. Doses of ∼ 1 × 1013 Sb ions/cm2 were used so that the disorder level was below that representing an amorphous layer. The disorder per incident ion decreases strongly with implant temperature above 50°C. This is approximately 100°C lower than the region of corresponding decrease in the anneal of a low‐dose room‐temperature implantation. For implantation temperatures less than 50°C, the disorder per ion was only mildly temperature‐dependent.

TEMPERATURE DEPENDENCE OF LATTICE DISORDER CREATED IN Si BY 40 keV Sb IONS

Formation and characterization of silicon films on flexible polymer substrates

We have developed an innovative approach without the use of ion implantation to transfer a high-quality thin Si layer for the fabrication of silicon-on-insulator wafers. The technique uses a buried strained SiGe layer, a few nanometers in thickness, to provide H trapping centers. In conjunction with H plasma hydrogenation, lift-off of the top Si layer can be realized with cleavage occurring at the depth of the strained SiGe layer. This technique avoids irradiation damage within the top Si layer that typically results from ion implantation used to create H trapping regions in the conventional ion-cut method. We explain the strain-facilitated layer transfer as being due to preferential vacancy aggregation within the strained layer and subsequent trapping of hydrogen, which lead to cracking in a well controlled manner.

/pdf/plasma-hydrogenation-of-strained-si-sige-si-heterostructure-dattmbks5o.pdf

James W. Mayer

Papers

Selective deposition of tungsten on TiSi2

Grain size dependence in a self‐implanted silicon layer on laser irradiation energy density

TEMPERATURE DEPENDENCE OF LATTICE DISORDER CREATED IN Si BY 40 keV Sb IONS

Formation and characterization of silicon films on flexible polymer substrates

Plasma hydrogenation of strained Si∕SiGe∕Si heterostructure for layer transfer without ion implantation