Effect of temperature on dielectric property and microwave heating behavior of low grade Panzhihua ilmenite ore

The permittivity of low grade Panzhuhua ilmenite ore at 2.45 GHz in the temperatures from 20 ℃ up to 100 ℃ was measured using the technology of open-ended coaxial sensor combined with theoretical computation. The results show that both the real （ε′） and imaginary （ε′） part of complex permittivity （ε′-jε′） of the ilmenite significantly increase with temperature. The loss tangent （tanδ） is a quadratic function of temperature, and the penetration depth of ilmenite decreases with temperature increase from 20 ℃to 100 ℃ The increase of the sample temperature under microwave radiation displays a nonlinear relationship between the temperature （T） and microwave heating time （t）. The positive feedback interaction between complex permittivity and sample temperature amplifies the interaction between ilmenite and the microwave radiation. The optimum dimensions for uniform heat deposition vary from 10 cm to 5 cm （about two power penetration depths） in a sample being irradiated from both sides in a 2.45 GHz microwave field when temperature increases from room temperature to 100 ℃

Effect of thermophysical property and coating thickness on microstructure and characteristics of a casting

A new improved investment casting technology （IC） has been presented and compared with the existing IC technology such as lost foam casting （LFC）. The effect of thermophysical property and coating thickness on casting solidification temperature field, microstructure and hardness has been investigated. The results show that the solidification rate decreases inversely with the coating thickness when the coating contains silica sol, zircon powder, mullite powder and defoaming agent. In contrast, the solid cooling rate increases as the coating thickness increases. However, the solidification rate and solid cooling rate of the casting produced by the existing IC and the improved IC are very similar when the coating thickness is 5 mm, so the microstructure and hardness of a container corner fitting produced by the improved IC and the existing IC are similar. The linear regression equation for the grain size （d） and cooling rate （v） of the castings is d= -0.41v＋206.1. The linear regression equation for the content of pearlite （w） and solid cooling rate （t） is w=1.79t ＋ 6.71. The new improved IC can greatly simplify the process and decrease the cost of production compared with the existing IC. Contrasting with LI=C, container corner fittings produced by the new improved IC have fewer defects and better properties. It was also found that the desired microstructure and properties can be obtained by changing the thermophysical property and thickness of the coating.

Investigation on dependence of BiFeO_3 dielectric property on oxygen content

The influence of oxygen content on the dielectric property of BiFeO3 ceramics is studied by experiment and firstprinciples calculation. The experimental result demonstrates that the dielectric constant of BiFeO3 is strongly dependent on introduced oxygen and oxygen vacancies. By comparison with BiFeO3, the introduced oxygen and oxygen vacancies can lead to a reduction in dielectric constant of BiFeO5 at a lower frequency. The first-principles calculation also shows a similar result when photon energy is in a range of 2.0-4.1 eV. A likely explanation is that this oxygen content dependence may be ascribed to the distortion of Fe-O octahedron structure due to oxygen vacancies or excess oxygen ions in the crystal structure of BiFeO3.

Study on Microwave Dielectric Property of Carbon Black and Short Carbon Fibers

Carbon black and carbon fibers of different lengths were introduced in different matrices at different ratios to explore their microwave dielectric properties under 8.2 GHz-12.4 GHz. It is found that the actual dielectric constants of the samples containing carbon black are in a two-order function of the contents of carbon black （ε＇, ε＂=Av2＋Bv＋C） and the complex dielectric constants show an obvious frequency response. Of the added fibers of different lengths, the 4 mm-long one could well disperse in the matrices having not only good frequency response, but also larger real parts, imaginary parts and loss values. The imaginary parts and the loss values （tanδ）of the samples with 4 mm-long carbon fibers added increase linearly with the contents of fiber increasing. So it is practicable to adjust the dielectric parameters of the material in a wide range by changing the added amount of carbon black, and the carbon fiber or altering the lengths of the carbon fiber added.

Synthesis, Structure and Dielectric Property of Ba_(1- x)Sr_xZr_yTi_(1- y)O_3

A sieres of Ba 1- x Sr x Zr y Ti 1- y O 3(0≤ x ≤0.4, 0< y <0.3) solid solutions was synthesized by soft chemical method below 100 ℃. The XRD and cell parameters component figures of the series of the solid solutions powder demonstrate that the compounds are mutually miscible in the solid solutions. Furthermore, the observation through a TEM showed that the product has a shape of uniform, substantially spherical particles with an average particle size of 60 nm in diameter. The result of prepared ceramics shows that after being adulterated with Sr 2+ and Zr 4+ in pure BaTiO 3 phase, the dielectric constant was increased eight times at room temperature, while the dielectric loss was decreased three times.

Soil seed bank is affected by transferred soil thickness and properties in the reclaimed coal mine in the Qilian Mountains, China

Reclamation of lands abandoned after mining in mountain areas is critical to erosion control,safety from landslides,and ecological protection of mountain ecosystems.However,little is known about alpine coal mine reclamation using the soil seed bank as a potential source for revegetation.We collected samples of persistent soil seed bank for germination experiments from nine reclaimed sites with different soil cover thicknesses and from six control sites in the Qilian Mountains of China.Soil properties of each site were determined(including soil water content,soil available potassium,soil available phosphorus,soil total nitrogen,pH,soil organic matter,soil total phosphorus,and soil total potassium,and soil alkali-hydrolyzable nitrogen),and the relationships of the characteristics of the soil seed bank with soil cover thickness and soil properties were examined.The results showed that the density,number of species,and diversity of the topsoil seed bank were significantly correlated with soil cover thickness,and all increased with the increment of soil cover thickness.Soil cover thickness controlled the soil seed bank by influencing soil properties.With the increase in soil cover thickness,soil properties(e.g.,soil organic matter,soil total nitrogen,etc.)content increased while soil pH decreased.The soil seed bank had the potential to restored the pre-mining habitat at reclaimed sites with approximately 20-cm soil cover thickness.Soil properties of reclaimed sites were lower than that of natural sites.The relationship between the soil seed bank and soil cover thickness determined in this study provides a foundation for improving reclamation measures used in coal mines,as well as for the management and monitoring of reclaimed areas.

Effect of PyC Interface Thickness on the Heat-stability of Cansas-ⅡSiC_(f)/SiC Composites

The effect of the pyrolytic carbon(PyC)interface thickness on the heat-stability of CansasⅡSiC_(f)/SiC composites under Ar up to 1500℃was studied in detail.After the heat treatment at 1500℃for 50 h,the interface bonding strength of the thin interface(about 200 nm)decreases from 74.4 to 20.1 MPa(73.0%),while that of the thick interface(about 2μm)declines from 7.3 to 3.2 MPa(52.7%).At the same time,the decline fraction of strength of the composites with the thin interface is 12.1%,less than that with the thick interface(42.0%).The fiber strength also decreases after heat treatment,which may be due to the significant growth ofβ-SiC grains and critical defects.The different heat-stability of the interface with the thin and thick thickness might be related to the inconsistency of the degree of the graphitization of PyC.Compared with the composites with the thick interface,the composites with the thin interface remained higher tensile strength after heat treatment due to the better interface bonding strength.The interface with strong bonding strength could protect the fiber by postponing the decomposition of amorphous phases SiC_(x)O_(y) and hindering the generation of fiber defects.

Effects of HfO_2 buffer layers on the dielectric property and leakage current of Ba_(0.6)Sr_(0.4)TiO_3 thin films by pulsed laser deposition

Ba0.6Sr0.4TiO3 （BST） thin films with and without HfO 2 buffer layer were fabricated on Pt/Ti/SiO2/Si substrates by pulsed laser deposition. Dependences of HfO 2 thickness on the dielectric property and leakage current of BST thin films were focused. The dielectric constant of BST thin films increased and then decreased with the increase of HfO 2 thickness, while the dielectric relaxation was gradually improved. The loss tangent and leakage current under positive bias decreased with the HfO 2 thickness increasing. The leakage current analysis based on the Schottky emission indicated an improvement of the BST/Pt interface with HfO 2 buffer layer. The loss tangent, tunability and figure of merit of optimized HfO 2 buffered BST thin film achieved 0.009 8, 21.91% （E max = 200 kV/cm）, 22.40 at 10 6 Hz, respectively.

Fabrication and Property of SiC Ceramic with Large Thickness/Diameter Ratios

Silicon carbide ceramics with different thicknesses/diameter ratios were prepared by using ultra-fine silicon carbide powder with the sintering additives of 1.0 wt% boron and 1.5 wt% carbon. The influence of thickness/diameter ratio on the microstructure and density of SiC ceramics was investigated in detail. The experimental results show that the addition of boron and carbon sintering aids can promote the densification process of SiC ceramic, leading to the low sintering temperature and improve mechanical properties. At 1950 ℃, SiC ceramic with a density of 99% exhibits Young's modulus, hardness, and flexural strength of 476 MPa, 28.3 GPa, and 334 MPa, respectively. It is found that long holding time has a positive effect on the uniformity of the microstructure and density distribution of SiC ceramics with large thickness/diameter ratios. Additionally, the sintering additive of boron can solid-solve into SiC, and then facilitate the phase transformation of SiC to form 6H-SiC and 4H-SiC composite ceramics.

Saturation thickness of stacked SiO_(2)in atomic-layer-deposited Al_(2)O_(3)gate on 4H-SiC

High-k materials as an alternative dielectric layer for SiC power devices have the potential to reduce interfacial state defects and improve MOS channel conduction capability.Besides,under identical conditions of gate oxide thickness and gate voltage,the high-k dielectric enables a greater charge accumulation in the channel region,resulting in a larger number of free electrons available for conduction.However,the lower energy band gap of high-k materials leads to significant leakage currents at the interface with Si C,which greatly affects device reliability.By inserting a layer of SiO_(2)between the high-k material and Si C,the interfacial barrier can be effectively widened and hence the leakage current will be reduced.In this study,the optimal thickness of the intercalated SiO_(2)was determined by investigating and analyzing the gate dielectric breakdown voltage and interfacial defects of a dielectric stack composed of atomic-layer-deposited Al_(2)O_(3)layer and thermally nitride SiO_(2).Current-voltage and high-frequency capacitance-voltage measurements were performed on metal-oxide-semiconductor test structures with 35 nm thick Al_(2)O_(3)stacked on 1 nm,2 nm,3 nm,6 nm,or 9 nm thick nitride SiO_(2).Measurement results indicated that the current conducted through the oxides was affected by the thickness of the nitride oxide and the applied electric field.Finally,a saturation thickness of stacked SiO_(2)that contributed to dielectric breakdown and interfacial band offsets was identified.The findings in this paper provide a guideline for the SiC gate dielectric stack design with the breakdown strength and the interfacial state defects considered.

Broad Microwave Dielectric Property of Single-walled Carbon Nanotube Composites

Microwave dielectric measurements over the broad bandwith of 10 MHz to 20 GHz were conducted on composites comprising bundles of single-walled carbon nanotubes （SWNT） embedded in an epoxy matrix, in comparison to the nano-graphite and MWNT. It is found that both relative real and imaginary permittivity of the nanocomposites are strong functions of the SWNT concentration, showing large, wide dielectric and electrical response. Distinct resonance around 1.5 GHz is observed at high SWNT concentrations, accompa- nied by the downshift of the resonance frequency with increasing concentration. Largely, the SWNT-epoxy composites share the behavior of the MWNT owing to structural similarity, much more effective than the nano-graphite. The remarkable, broadband dielectric and electrical properties of the nanotubes acquired in the work originate from their unique seamless graphene architectures, modeled by two major contributions, dielectric relaxation/resonance and electronic conduction, which is substantiated by the agreement between theoretical analysis and experimental results. The carbon nanotube composites are prospective for microwave applications and offer experimental evidence for fundamental studies in low-dimensional systems.

Microstructure and Dielectric Property of 3D BNf/Si3N4 Fabricated by CVI Process

As potential wave-transparent materials applied at high temperatures, 3D BNf/Si3N4 ceramic matrix composites were prepared by low pressure chemical vapor infiltration or deposition（LPCVI/CVD） process from SiCl4-NH3-H2-Ar gas precursor at 800 oC. The densification process, microstructure and dielectric properties of 3D BNf/Si3N4 composites were investigated. The results indicated that 3D BNf/Si3N4 was successfully fabricated by LPCVI/CVD, with final open porosity of 2.37% and density of 1.89 g/cm3. Densification kinetics of 3D BNf/Si3N4 is a typical exponential pattern. The Si3N4 matrix was uniformly infiltrated into porous BNf preform. The deposited Si3N4 matrix was amorphous by XRD analysis. Introduction of BN fiber into Si3N4 ceramic lowered the permittivity of Si3N4. The fabricated BNf/Si3N4 composites possess low permittivity of 3.68 and low dielectric loss of lower than 0.01, which are independent of temperature below400 oC. Transmission coefficient of BNf/Si3N4 composite is 0.57 and keeps stable below 400 oC. BNf/Si3N4 can be fabricated at low temperature and may be candidates for the microwave transparent materials.

Preparation, Characterization and Dielectric Property of Sr_5LaTi_3Nb_7O_(30) Ceramic

Sr-5LaTi-3Nb-7O- 30 ceramic was prepared by the conventional high temperature solid-state reaction route. The sintered samples were characterized by X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), differential thermal calorimetry (DSC) and dielectric measurements.The results show Sr-5LaTi-3Nb-7O- 30 belongs to paraelectric phase of filled tetragonal TB structure at room temperature, and undergoes a diffuse phase transition in the temperature range of -54-34 ℃.And Sr-5LaTi-3Nb-7O- 30 ceramic shows a high dielectric constant of 479 with a low dielectric loss of 0.005 at 1MHz. In comparison with Ba-based ceramics with TB structure, the temperature coefficients of the dielectric constant (τ-ε) is significantly reduced.

Electrical conductivity and dielectric property of fly ash geopolymer pastes

The electrical conductivity and dielectric property of fly ash geopolymer pastes in a frequency range of 100 Hz-10 MHz were studied.The effects of the liquid alkali solution to ash ratios（L/A） were analyzed.The mineralogical compositions and microstructures of fly ash geopolymer materials were also investigated using X-ray diffraction（XRD） and scanning electron microscopy（SEM）.The 10 mol sodium hydroxide solution and sodium silicate solution at a sodium silicate-to-sodium hydroxide ratio of 1.0 were used in making geopolymer pastes.The pastes were cured at 40℃.It is found that the electrical conductivity and dielectric constant are dependent on the frequency range and L/A ratios.The conductivity increases but the dielectric constant decreases with increasing frequency.

Dielectric Property Studies of Biologically Compatible Brushite Single Crystals Used as Bone Graft Substitute

The electrical characterization of bone is essential for the better understanding of the role of electrical stimulation in bone remodeling. Calcium Hydrogen Phosphate Dihydrate or brushite (CaHPO4 2H2O) has been used in bone substitution owing to their fast resorption under physiological condition. Brushite is a suitable matrix for osteoconductive bone grafts. In this work, Calcium Hydrogen Phosphate single crystals have been grown by single diffusion gel growth technique. The powder XRD studies revealed the monoclinic structure of the grown crystals. The vibrational analysis of the crystals is done with FTIR spectroscopy and the major functional groups and their assigned vibrations are discussed. The frequency dependence of dielectric constant and ac conductivity at different temperatures have been studied in detail. This study shows decrease in the dielectric constant with the increase in frequency and temperature. The variation of ac conductivity is found to be increasing with frequency and decreasing with temperature.

Effects of rare earth addition on sintering process and dielectric property of cordierite based glass-ceramics

The effects of rare earth oxide on the sintering and dielectric property of cordierite-based glass-ceramics with non-stoichiometric composition prepared by quenching of molten droplets were investigated. The results show that the addition of rare earth oxide can lower the sintering temperature of cordierite glass-ceramics, improve the densification process and obviously reduce sintering activation energy. It is found that the densification of cordierite-based glass-ceramics is a liquid phase sintering process. The dielectric constant of the sintered compacts enhances with the increase of the density. When the sintering temperature is identical, the rare earth addition is found to have a noticeable effect on the dielectric loss of glass-ceramics. The properties of the glass-ceramics containing rare earth oxide appear to be correct for low firing temperature substrates.

Novel attributes and design considerations of effective oxide thickness in nano DG MOSFETs

Impacts of effective oxide thickness on a symmetric double-gate MOSFET with 9-nm gate length are studied, using full quantum simulation. The simulations are based on a self-consistent solution of the two-dimensional （2D） Poisson equation and the Schr6dinger equation within the non-equilibrium Green＇s function formalism. Oxide thickness and gate dielectric are investigated in terms of drain current, on-off current ratio, off current, sub-threshold swing, drain induced barrier lowering, transconductance, drain conductance, and voltage. Simulation results illustrate that we can improve the device performance by proper selection of the effective oxide thickness.

Facile Synthesis of Uniform Hollow Hematite Sub-micro Spheres with Controllable Shell Thickness

A simple method was developed to prepare the uniform hematite hollow submicro-spheres with controllable structure and different diameter based on monodisperse poly（styrene-co-acrylic acid） [P（St-co-AA）] particles. The structure and formation mechanism of the hollow spheres were investigated in detail. The control mechanism of shell thickness was also discussed. The results indicated that the shell thickness and coarseness of the synthesized core-shell hematite hollow spheres could be tuned simply by the surface carboxyl content of the P（St-co-AA） particles. This method provided a new approach for the structure control in the preparation of hollow spheres. A Brunauer-Emmett-Teller （BET） test shows that the prepared hollow spheres have large surface areas which were decreased along with the increase of the diameter. The magnetic properties of the as-obtained hematite hollow spheres were investigated. The result showed that the coercivity and saturated magnetization were increased along with the increase of the shell thickness, and the remanent magnetization was increased along with the decrease of the diameter.

Equivalent oxide thickness scaling of Al_2O_3/Ge metal-oxide-semiconductor capacitors with ozone post oxidation

Aluminum-oxide films deposited as gate dielectrics on germanium （Ge） by atomic layer deposition were post oxidized in an ozone atmosphere. No additional interfacial layer was electron microscopy and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy detected by the high-resolution cross-sectional transmission measurements made after the ozone post oxidation （OPO） treatment. Decreases in the equivalent oxide thickness of the OPO-treated Al2O3/Ge MOS capacitors were confirmed. Furthermore, a continuous decrease in the gate leakage current was achieved with increasing OPO treatment time. The results can be attributed to the film quality having been improved by the OPO treatment.

NON-DESTRUCTIVE PAVEMENT LAYER THICKNESS MEASUREMENT USING EMPIRICAL MODE DECOMPOSITION WITH GPR

Ground Penetrating Radar(GPR) is an effective Non-Destructive Testing(NDT) technique for highway pavement surveys, which is able to acquire continuous pavement data compared with traditional core drilling method. In this study, we proposed an accurate and efficient method to estimate the thickness of each pavement layer using an air-coupled GPR system. For this work, the main difficulties are estimating each pavement layer's time delay and dielectric constant. We first give the basic signal model for pavement evaluation, and then present an Intrinsic Mode Functions(IMFs) product detector to determine each pavement layer's time delay. This method is based on Empirical Mode Decomposition(EMD), which is an adaptive signal decomposition procedure and proved to be suitable for suppressing noises in GPR signal. The dielectric constant was determined by metal reflection measurement. The laboratory and highway experiments illustrate that the proposed thickness estimation method yields reasonable result, thus meets the requirements of practical highway pavement survey with massive GPR data.