An ultra-small tactile sensor with functions of signal processing and digital communication has been prototyped based on MEMS-CMOS integration technology. The designed analog-digital mixed signal ASIC allows many tactile sensors to connect each other on a common bus line, which drastically reduces the number of wire. The ASIC capacitively detects the deformation of a force sensor and sends digital data to the common bus line when the force exceeds a threshold. The digital data contain a physical ID of each sensor, 32-bit sensing data and 16-bit cyclic redundancy check (CRC) code. In this study, a novel wafer-level integration and packaging technology were developed, and a chip-size-packaged tactile sensor with a small footprint (2.5mm×2.5mm) and a low profile (0.27mm) was prototyped and tested. The sensor autonomously sends digital data like a tactile receptor of human.

We succeeded in fabricating ultra-thin (<3 nm-thick) layer on top of the surface of porous low-k. The roughness of the surface of porous low-k remains homogeneous even after covering by the thin layer. Furthermore, we found that such ultra-thin layer suppresses the diffusion of metal into porous low-k film. Concerning adhesion property, the abrasion between the thin layer and copper was not detected after annealing at 350 deg C in forming gas. TVS measurement suggested that pH control of solution is the key to reduce damages of porous low-k and mobile ions. We believe that such ultra-thin layer, which we propose here, has a potential as a pore seal layer for porous low-k films.

We demonstrate that Franz-Keldysh oscillations (FKOs) observed by photoreflectance (PR) spectroscopy are highly sensitive to the surface morphology of Al x Ga1−x N layers in Al x Ga1−x N heterostructures. Three Al0.2Ga0.8N/GaN heterostructures with different surface-morphology profiles, which are confirmed with atomic force microscopy, have been investigated. The X-ray-diffraction patterns are hardly affected by the Al0.2Ga0.8N/GaN-layer morphology. In contrast, it is revealed that cracks and pits dominating the morphology remarkably reduce the amplitude of the FKOs from the Al0.2Ga0.8N/GaN layer, which is attributed to the following two mechanisms related to the cracks and pits. One is lifetime broadening due to carrier scattering, and the other is the suppression of the modulation magnitude for the built-in electric field, which is caused by the trapping and recombination of photogenerated carriers at the surface.

Two patients who received supracricoid laryngectomy with cricohyoidoepiglottopexy to treat laryngeal cancers, underwent intra-operative electromyography analysis. After the lesion was removed and the electrodes were inserted into the remaining intrinsic laryngeal muscles, the depth of anaesthesia was carefully reduced. Gentle tactile stimulations were applied to the pharynx to trigger the reflex movement of the remaining arytenoids. Recordings were made when reflex movement was achieved.

Case one: Electromyography (EMG) of the remaining arytenoid demonstrated clear phase differences indicating reciprocal activities between the adductor group (lateral cricoarytenoid muscle, interarytenoid muscle) and the abductor muscle (posterior cricoarytenoid muscle). Case two: EMG of the remaining arytenoid demonstrated reciprocal activities between the interarytenoid muscle and the posterior cricoarytenoid muscle. Activity of the lateral cricoarytenoid muscle was not evident because the muscle was excised during removal of the paraglottic space. Mobility of the arytenoid was attributed to interaction between the interarytenoid muscle and posterior cricoarytenoid muscle. Reciprocal interaction between the interarytenoid muscle and posterior cricoarytenoid muscle alone is also capable of maintaining post-operative laryngeal functions after supracricoid laryngectomy with cricohyoidoepiglottopexy.

It is shown for the first time that the gradient diffusion hypothesis often adopted for thermal dispersion heat flux in heat transfer within porous media can be derived from a transport equation for the thermal dispersion heat flux based on the Navier–Stokes and energy equations. The transport equation valid for both thermal equilibrium and non-equilibrium cases is mathematically modelled so that all unknown spatial correlation terms, associated with redistribution and dissipation of the dispersion heat flux, are expressed in terms of determinable variables. The unknown coefficients are determined analytically by considering of macroscopically unidirectional flow through a tube as treated by Taylor. Taylor's expression for the dispersion has been generated from the transport equation. Both laminar and turbulent flow cases are investigated to obtain two distinct limiting expressions for low- and high-Péclet-number regimes. The results obtained for the Taylor diffusion problem are translated to the case of heat and fluid flow in a packed bed, to obtain the corresponding expressions for the axial dispersion coefficient in a packed bed. The resulting expression for the high-Péclet-number case agrees well with the empirical formula, validating of the present transport analysis.

The on/off ratio of the vertical-type metal-base organic transistors was drastically improved by heat treatment in air. The heat treatment after deposition of the collector layer and base electrode reduced the leakage current between the base and collector, resulting in remarkable suppression of the off current. As a result, in addition to the advantage of low voltage and high current operation based on the vertical structure, very high on/off ratio exceeding 105 was achieved.

A process for the fabrication of textured Ba2CuO3 material with a microstructure similar to that of melt-processed YBa2Cu3Oy (Y123) superconductor is discussed. The Ba2CuO3 samples were melt processed with the intent to use them as textured precursors for processing of HgBa2CuOy superconductor. The microstructure formation of the Ba2CuO3 phase was studied by observing the samples being quenched from intermediate stages of a melt growth schedule. The microstructure of melt-processed Ba2CuO3 reveals randomly oriented large-sized grains, similar to that of melt textured Y123. Other important microstructural features observed were finely distributed properitectic BaO particles, the absence of the platelet gaps within the domains, and the presence of a different kind of twin structure. The conversion of melt textured Ba2CuO3 into superconducting HgBa2CuOy phase by a two-step process is discussed.

We have developed a well-controlled method for manipulating carbon nanotubes. The first crucial process involved is to prepare a nanotube array, named nanotube cartridge. We have found the ac electrophoresis of nanotubes by which nanotubes are aligned at the knife-edge. The nanotubes used were multiwalled and prepared by an arc discharge with a relatively high gas temperature. The second important process is to transfer a nanotube from the nanotube cartridge onto a substrate in a scanning electron microscope. Using this method, we have developed nanotube tips and nanotube tweezers that operate in a scanning probe microscope. The nanotube probes have been applied for observation of biological samples and industrial samples to clarify their advantages. The nanotube tweezers have demonstrated their motion in scanning-electron-microscope and operated to carry nanomaterials in a scanning probe microscope.

A single crystalline Bi2Sr2CaCu2O8+8 which has columnar defects in its inside are observed by Lorentz microscopy using the newly developed 1-MV field emission electron microscope at the first time. The superconducting vortices are observed with higher contrast than ever. Simultaneous observation of vortices and columnar defect is succeeded in real time.

Two types of shape and contrast features of superconducting vortices in a Lorentz micrograph were obtained by the newly developed 1-MV field-emission transmission electron microscope on a Bi2Sr2CaCu2O8+8(Bi-2212) thin specimen containing tilted columnar defects. The shape and contrast features could be consistently interpreted by the simulation that some vortices were pinned along tilted columnar defects and others were unpinned. The interesting property for temperature change of vortex core inside the material was also observed.