Node-agnostic Cu TSVs integrated with high-K/metal gate and embedded DRAM were used in functional 3D modules.Thermal cycling and stress results show no degradation of TSV or BEOL structures, and device and functional data indicate that there is no significant impact from TSV processing and/or proximity.

The method of solvent-enhanced dye diffusion for patterning full-color (red, green, and blue) polymer light-emitting diode displays was investigated in detail. After local dry transfer of dye onto a device polymer film, the dye remains on the surface of the polymer layer and must be diffused into the polymer for efficient emission. Exposure of the polymer to solvent vapor at room temperature increases the dye-diffusion coefficient by many orders of magnitude, allowing rapid diffusion of the dye into the film without a long, high-temperature anneal that can degrade the polymer. The increase in diffusion is due to absorption of the solvent vapor into the polymer film, which increases the polymer thickness and decreases its effective glass transition temperature T g,eff. Measurements of the polymer in solvent vapor indicate that its thickness varies roughly linearly with pressure and inversely with temperature, with thickness increases as large as 15% often observed. A model based on Flory-Huggins theory is used to describe these results. The diffusion of the dye into the polymer was evaluated by photoluminescence and secondary-ion mass spectroscopy. This dye-diffusion increase is largest for high solvent-vapor partial pressures and, most surprisingly, is larger at lower temperatures than at higher temperatures. This anomalous temperature dependence is due to the increased solvent-vapor absorption and consequent reduction in the effective glass-transition temperature at lower temperatures.

This study explores the reliability of a wireless sensing unit by testing it in a real-world university laboratory environment. The unit employs off-the-shelf products for their key components, while a flexible payload scheme was adopted for radio packet transmission to maximize throughput and minimize latency. The testing consists of two main parts: (1) a series of loopback tests using two off-the-shelf radio components with carrier frequencies of 900 MHz and 2:4 GHz; respectively, and (2) wireless transmission of a shake table response to a periodic swept sine excitation. The performance of the wireless channel is examined in each part of the study. Through this experimental investigation, it is validated that a loopback test may be used as a fast prototyping approach to characterize the complex transmitting environment of a structure in which a wireless monitoring system is installed. Various factors leading to signal attenuation are ranked according to their effects on packet delivery performance. Transmitting range and building materials are among the leading factors causing packet loss (and therefore data loss) in this specific testing environment. The severity of interference from 802.11b wireless systems in close proximity to the wireless sensing unit was investigated. Some preliminary results on the influence of operating rotating machinery and human activities are to wireless sensors were investigated. The results presented herein offer a guideline for applying wireless sensing within real-world structures so that the reliability of the wireless monitoring system is maximized. Due to uncertainties associated with the reliability of wireless communications, statistical analysis is performed on the collected time histories to reveal the underlying patterns associated with data loss. Temporal correlations of data loss were measured and found to be related to the adopted radio. A statistical distribution of the size of consecutive lost data points was further derived from the collected data. Such results have identified the need to further develop: (1) reliable communication

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