Plant height and lodging resistance can affect rice yield significantly, but these traits have always conflicted in crop cultivation and breeding. The current study aimed to establish a rapid and accurate plant type evaluation mechanism to provide a basis for breeding tall but lodging-resistant super rice varieties. A comprehensive approach integrating plant anatomy and histochemistry was used to investigate variations in flexural strength (a material property, defined as the stress in a material just before it yields in a flexure test) of the rice stem and the lodging index of 15 rice accessions at different growth stages to understand trends in these parameters and the potential factors influencing them. Rice stem anatomical structure was observed and the lignin content the cell wall was determined at different developmental stages. Three rice lodging evaluation models were established using correlation analysis, multivariate regression and artificial radial basis function (RBF) neural network analysis, and the results were compared to identify the most suitable model for predicting optimal rice plant types. Among the three evaluation methods, the mean residual and relative prediction errors were lowest using the RBF network, indicating that it was highly accurate and robust and could be used to establish a mathematical model of the morphological characteristics and lodging resistance of rice to identify optimal varieties.

This study explored the target sound source location at unknown situation and processed the received signal to determine the location of the target, including the reconstructed signal of source immediately. In this paper, it used triangulation sound sources localization and time reversal method (TRM) to reconstruct the source signals. The purpose is to use a sound source localization method with a simple device to quickly locate the position of the sound source. This method uses the microphone array to measure signal from the target sound source. Then, the sound source location is calculated and is indicated by Cartesian coordinates. The sound source location is then used to evaluate free field impulse response function which can replace the impulse response function used in time-reversal method. This process reduces the computation time greatly which makes possible for a real time source localization and source signal separation.

While rabies is a significant public health concern in China, the epidemiology of animal rabies in the north and northwest border provinces remains unknown. From February 2013 to March 2014, seven outbreaks of domestic animal rabies caused by wild carnivores in Xinjiang (XJ) and Inner Mongolia (IM) Autonomous Regions, China were reported and diagnosed in brain samples of infected animals by the fluorescent antibody test (FAT) and RT–PCR. Ten field rabies viruses were obtained. Sequence comparison and phylogenetic analysis based on the complete N gene (1353 bp) amplified directly from the original brain tissues showed that these ten strains were steppe-type viruses, closely related to strains reported in Russia and Mongolia. None had been identified previously in China. The viruses from XJ and IM clustered separately into two lineages showing their different geographical distribution. This study emphasizes the importance of wildlife surveillance and of cross-departmental cooperation in the control of transboundary rabies transmission.

Taking advantages of short pulse excitation and time-resolved photoluminescence (PL), we have studied the exciton localization effect in a number of GaAsN alloys and GaAsN/GaAs quantum wells (QWs). In the PL spectra, an extra transition located at the higher energy side of the commonly reported N-related emissions is observed. By measuring PL dependence on temperature and excitation power along with PL dynamics study, the new PL peak has been identified as a transition of the band edge-related recombination in dilute GaAsN alloy and delocalized transition in QWs. Using selective excitation PL we further attribute the localized emission in QWs to the excitons localized at the GaAsN/GaAs interfaces. This interface-related exciton localization could be greatly reduced by a rapid thermal annealing.

Stress relaxation of a patterned thin film on diaphragms of different material and thickness was investigated through experimental study and numerical simulation. The diaphragm deflections, caused by relaxation of the residual stress in a patterned thin film residing on top, were measured using a Twyman–Green laser interferometer. The first diaphragm used was a Si3N4(top)/SiO2/Si composite diaphragm and the second a 0.5-μm-thick Si3N4 membrane. Custom-written simulation software, which uses a novel numerical algorithm named Nonlinear Sequential Analysis (N-LISA), was utilized to calculate the stress distribution in the patterned thin film and the diaphragm substrate. Agreement between the model and the experimental results was satisfactory. Simulation of the system balance between a tensile-stressed circular Ti film and a stress-free Si substrate of different thickness clearly shows a transition in the substrate behavior from a pure plate to a pure membrane. Interestingly, the deflection of the Si substrate caused by the residual stress in the Ti film reaches its maximum at a certain substrate thickness where plate and membrane characteristics coexist. This study addresses some basic mechanics issues involved in modern devices dealing with thin diaphragms.

Temperature dependent photoluminescence (PL) and absorption measurements are employed to clarify mechanism for light emission in GaNP alloys with low (< 4.1) nitrogen content. The PL emission in GaNP epilayers and GaNP/GaP multiple quantum well structures is shown to be dominated by optical transitions within deep states likely related to N clusters. With increasing N composition these states are shown to become resonant with conduction band of the alloy and thus optically inactive, leading to the apparent red shift of the PL maximum position. On the other hand, band-to-band recombination in the alloy remains predominantly non-radiative presumably due to the presence of a large number of competing recombination channels.

The cyclic voltammetry stripping (CVs) behavior of the tin-doped indium oxide (ITO) on SiO2 in 0.3M HCl is reported. The CVs result showed an obvious reduction-current peak that occurred during the first cathodic potential scanning. Smaller reduction current and more negative potential of the reduction-current peak were also observed for the ITO that was annealed at 500 °C. The result was attributed to the replenished oxygen-deficient site and the oxygen anion density is decreased in the ITO. The present study has proved that CVs is a useful method to differentiate the carrier concentration in ITO film controlled by different pretreatments. Many spherical In-Sn particles were formed on the ITO when the reduction current took place. During precipitation of these spherical particles, the grain boundaries of the ITO were dissolved and the ITO surface nearby the grain boundaries offered a preferred nucleation site for the formation of these spherical In-Sn particles. Based on the microstructure observed and the result derived from the short potential range scanning, the formation mechanism of the spherical particle is proposed.

The optically detected magnetic resonance (ODMR) technique has been employed to examine the nature and formation mechanism of non-radiative defects in GaNAs and InGaAsN. In both alloys, two defects were observed and were shown to be deep-level, non-radiative recombination centers. One of the defects has been identified as a complex involving an AsGa antisite. These two defects gain more importance with increasing N composition up to 3%, presumably due to an increase in their concentration. With a further higher N composition, the defects start to lose importance in carrier recombination that is attributed to an increasingly important role of other new non-radiative channels introduced with a high N composition. On the other hand, effect of In composition up to 3% seems to be only marginal. Both defects were shown to be preferably introduced in the alloys during low-temperature growth by molecular beam epitaxy (MBE), but can be rather efficiently removed by post-growth rapid thermal annealing.

Raman scattering (RS) spectroscopy is employed to characterize the effect of nitrogen on structural properties of GaNxP1-x alloy with nitrogen composition up to 3 %. Two-mode behavior of the alloy is clearly shown. The frequency of the GaP-like LO phonons is found to decrease with N composition as –1.13 cm-1x. This dependence is proposed to be largely due to the biaxial strain in the GaNP epilayers, as a result of lattice mismatch to the GaP substrate. The frequency of the GaN-like phonons is found to be more sensitive to nitrogen content, increasing with the rate of +2.6 cm-1x. The addition of nitrogen is also found to cause a dramatic quenching of the two-phonon Raman scattering and an appearance of the zone edge GaP-like vibrations. These effects are suggested to reflect local distortion in the GaNP lattice induced by nitrogen, as well as possible clustering of N atoms.

We examined the interfacial morphology and shear deformation of flip chip solder joints on an organic substrate (chip-on-board). The large differences in the coefficients of thermal expansion between the board and the chip resulted in bending of the 1-cm2 chip with a curvature of 57 ± 12 cm. The corner bump pads on the chip registered a relative misalignment of 10 μm with respect to those on the board, resulting in shear deformation of the solder joints. The mechanical properties of these solder joints were tested on samples made by sandwiching two Si chips with electroless Ni(P) as the under-bump metallization and 25 solder interconnects. Joints were sheared to failure. Fracture was found to occur along the solder/Ni3Sn4 interface. In addition, cracking and peeling damages of the SiO2 dielectric layer were observed in the layer around the solder balls, indicating that damage to the dielectric layer may have occurred prior to the fracture of the solder joints due to a large normal stress. The failure behavior of the solder joints is characterized by an approximate stress analysis.

GaNP bulk layers with different N concentrations and GaN0.025P0.975/GaP multiple quantum wells (MQWs) with various well thicknesses were grown on (100) GaP substrates by gas-source molecular beam epitaxy with a RF nitrogen radical beam source. Using high-resolution X-ray rocking curves, photoluminescence (PL) and absorption measurements, we have shown that incorporation of N in GaNxP1−x, alloys (x ≥0.43%) leads to a direct bandgap behavior of GaNP, and yields strong room-temperature PL from the epilayers. A large Stokes shift of 200 meV is found between the PL peak energy and the absorption edge for the GaNP epilayers, indicating a very strong carrier localization. From the PL peaks of a series of GaN0.025P0.975/GaP MQWs with different well thicknesses grown at the same growth condition, a large conduction-band effective mass mc* − 0.9 me has been obtained for the GaN0.025P0.975alloy, indicating a mixing of Γ and X band wave functions in the conduction band

A novel fabrication approach for two- and three-dimensional arrays of magnetic microspheres is presented in this paper. The magnetic microsphere is made from 47 μm size Al2O3 spheres onto which a 2–3 μm thick nickel layer is coated through electroless plating. After proper anneal, the outer nickel layer is converted to exhibit a crystalline structure. As an example for utilizing such magnetic microspheres, a two-dimensional, anisotropically conductive matrix is made by transferring the magnetic microsphere array from a template to a transparent adhesive tape using a magnetic attractive force. In addition, a three-dimensional array has also successfully been constructed on a metal plate. The two-dimensional conductor array may be useful for high-density circuit packaging applications in the semiconductor industry, and the three-dimensional array may open up a possibility for constructing three-dimensional photonic crystals.

Dewetting of eutectic SnPb on blank Au(500 Å)/Cu(1 μm)/Cr(800 Å) layered structure was found to have a solder size dependence. At 250 °C, if the solder weight fell below 4 mg, dewetting occurred from the center of the solder cap; if the solder weight went beyond 6 mg, dewetting happened from the cap edge. In the latter case, a smaller cap with a higher wetting angle was formed at the center and a ring of solder was left around the edge. Large voids were left in the solder cap after dewetting in both cases. In contrast, all solder caps were found to dewet from the edge on a patterned film at 250 °C if the solder ball was large enough to wet the whole film initially, irrespective of the solder size. For comparison, pure Sn, eutectic SnAg, and eutectic SnBi caps also dewetted from the edge of the Au/Cu/Cr thin film, irrespective of the solder size or whether the substrate was patterned. Since eutectic SnPb on blank Au/Cu/Cr is the only case in which a large sideband growth was found and the dewetting occurred from the center, we postulated sideband to be the main factor which controls the unusual dewetting. The link between them is discussed.

We have studied the etching effect of AlxGa1-xAs (0≤ x ≤ 0.5) by trisdimethylaminoarsenic (TDMAAs) at different substrate temperatures, and the quality of the resulting etched/regrown GaAs interface. We find that the etching rate of AlxGa1-x As decreases with increasing Al composition, and the interface trap density of the TDMAAs etched/regrown interface can be reduced by about a factor of 10 as deduced from capacitance-voltage carrier profiles. A smooth surface morphology of GaAs with an interface state density of 1.4×l011 cm−2 can be obtained at a lower in-situ etching temperature of 550°C. Moreover, by using this in-situ etching the I-V characteristics of regrown p-n junctions of Al0.35Ga0.65As/Al0.25Ga0.75As and Al0.35Ga0.65As/GaAs can be improved.

We report a study of N incorporation in GaAs and InP by gas-source molecular beam epitaxy using a N radical beam source. For GaNAs grown at high temperatures, phase separation was observed, as evidenced from the formation of cubic GaN aside from GaNAs. By lowering the growth temperature, however, GaNAs alloys with N as high as 14.8% have been obtained without showing any phase separation. For InNP, no phase separation was observed in the temperature range studied (310 – 420 °C). Contrary to GaNAs, incorporating N in InP is very difficult, with only less than 1% N being achieved. Optical absorption measurement reveals strong red shift of bandgap energy with direct-bandgap absorption. However, no semimetallic region seems to exist for GaNAs and a composition-dependent bowing parameter has been observed.

In this study, we shall first report selective-area epitaxy (SAE) of GaAs by chemical beam epitaxy (CBE) using tris-dimethylaminoarsenic (TDMAAs), a safer alternative source to arsine (AsH3), as the group V source. With triethylgallium (TEGa) and TDMAAs, true selectivity of GaAs can be achieved at a growth temperature of 470°C, which is much lower than the 600°C in the case of using TEGa and arsenic (As4) or AsH3. Secondly, we apply SAE of carbon-doped AIGaAs/GaAs to a heterojunction bipolar transistor (HBT) with a regrown external base, which exhibits a better device performance. Finally, the etching effect and the etched/regrown interface of GaAs using TDMAAs will be discussed.

We report the effects of growth conditions on the strain and crystalline quality of lowtemperature (LT) grown GaP films by gas-source molecular beam epitaxy. At temperatures below 160 °C, poly-crystalline GaP films are always obtained, regardless of the PH3 low rate used, while at temperatures above 160 °C, the material quality is affected by the PH3 flow rate. Contrary to compressively strained LT GaAs, high-resolution X-ray rocking curve measurement indicates a tensile strain of the LT GaP films, which is considered to be due to PGa antisite defects. The strain is found to be affected by the PH3 flow rate, the growth temperature, and post-growth annealing. Contrary to LT GaAs, no P precipitates are observed in cross-sectional transmission electron microscopy.