Micromachined structures decoupling Joule heating and electron wind force.

Microstructural changes in conductive materials induced by electric current treatments, such as electromigration and electroplasticity, are critical in semiconductor and metal processing. However, owing to the inevitable thermal effect (Joule heating), the athermal effect on microstructural modifications remains obscure. This paper presents an approach of utilizing pre-micromachined structures, which obstruct current flow but maintain a thermal history similar to that of the matrix, effectively disentangling the thermal and athermal effects.

Ameliorated 3 × 3 coupler-based demodulation algorithm using iteratively reweighted ellipse specific fitting.

Passive demodulation scheme using 3 × 3 coupler has been widely used in phase-sensitive optical time-domain reflectometry (φ-OTDR), interrogation of fiber Bragg gratings or fiber optic interferometric sensors, and sensor multiplexing. However, the asymmetry of the 3 × 3 coupler in real applications affects the demodulation performance seriously. We proposed an ameliorated 3 × 3 coupler-based demodulation algorithm using iteratively reweighted ellipse specific fitting (IRESF) to overcome the drawback.

Thermal stress-assisted formation of submicron pillars from a thin film of CoCrCuFeNi high entropy alloy: experiments and simulations.

In this work, for the first time, the thermal stress-assisted formation of submicron pillars (SPs) from a high entropy alloy (HEA) thin film is made possible, and novel molecular dynamics (MD) simulations are proposed to assess the underlying mechanisms. In a series of experiments, the growth of quasi-equiatomic HEA SPs from CoCrCuFeNi HEA thin films was demonstrated under different heating and cooling conditions. Atomistic simulations are performed to probe possible formation mechanisms in two ways.

A new phenylspirodrimane dimer from the fungus Stachybotrys chartarum.

A new phenylspirodrimane dimer, named stachartarin A (1), was isolated from cultures of the tin mine tailings-associated fungus Stachybotrys chartarum. Its structures were elucidated by means of spectroscopic methods. At the same time, the compound was tested for its cytotoxicity against HL-60, SMMC-7721, A-549, MCF-7, and SW480 cells.

A novel phenylspirodrimane dimer from cultures of the fungus Stachybotrys chartarum.

Stachartone A (1), a novel phenylspirodrimane dimer, was isolated from cultures of the tin mine tailings-associated fungus Stachybotrys chartarum. Its structure was elucidated by means of spectroscopic methods. At the same time, compound (1) was tested for its cytotoxicity against five human cancer cell lines.