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The purpose of this paper is to demonstrate the I‐V characteristics of ZnO film on Si substrates with Ag buffer layer by conductive atomic force (C‐AFM).

An Ag buffer layer and Zn film was first deposited on silicon substrate by RF‐sputtering deposition method from high pure Ag and Zn target, respectively. Then, the deposited film was sintered in air at 500°C for 1 h.

The structures and morphologies of the prepared films were characterized by X‐ray diffraction (XRD), energy dispersive spectrum (EDS), atomic force microscopy (AFM), and C‐AFM. The results show that the prepared ZnO films with Ag buffer layer have a good crystallinity and surface morphology. Interestingly, the I‐V curve of ZnO film exhibited typical characteristics of semi‐conductive oxide under the conductive Ag buffer layer.

The paper demonstrates, by C‐AFM, that the ZnO/Ag‐buffer/Si exhibits excellent crystal structure, morphology and typical I‐V characteristics.

This paper aims to investigate the sintering and solid liquid interdiffusion bonding (SLID) techniques to attach AlGaN/GaN-on-Si chips to direct bond copper (DBC) substrate. The influence of metal layers deposited on the backside of AlGaN/GaN-on-Si dies on the assembly process is also investigated.

The authors assumed the value of the shear strength to be a basic parameter for evaluation of mechanical properties. Additionally, the surface condition after shearing was assessed by SEM photographs and the shear surface was studied by X-ray diffraction method. The SLID requires Sn-plated DBC substrate and can be carried out at temperature slightly higher than 250°C and pressure reduced to 4 MPa, while the sintering requires process temperature of 350°C and the pressure at least 7.5 MPa.

Ag-, Au-backside covered high electron mobility transistor (HEMT) chips can be assembled on Sn-plated DBC substrates by SLID technology. In case of sintering technology, Cu- or Ag-backside covered HEMT chips can be assembled on Ag- or Ni/Au-plated DBC substrates. The SLID process can be realized at lower temperature and decreased pressure than sintering process.

For SLID technology, the adhesion between Cu-backside covered HEMT die and DBC with Sn layer loses its operational properties after short-term ageing in air at temperature of 300°C.

In the SLID process, Sn-Cu and Sn-Ag intermetallic compounds and alloys are responsible for creation of the joint between Sn-plated DBC and micropowder Ag layer, while the sintered joint between the chip and Ag-based micropowder is formed in diffusion process.

The solderability of a material is considered as the ability of the surface to be wetted by solder, and the rate at which this process occurs. The solderability of thick film conductors based on palladium—silver, by Pb/Sn/Ag solder, was evaluated using a meniscograph. The influence of the composition of the conductor and that of the temperature of the solderbath on the solderability were measured. The usefulness of meniscographic data for the production line is indicated by showing the relation between the production data, reported as the rate at which a full automated solder machine is operated, and the meniscographic results.

The purpose of this study is determination of cadmium using silver-gold bimetallic nanoparticles (Ag-Au BMNPs) and an aptamer modified glassy carbon electrode.

The maximum response of modified electrode was obtained with, 50 mV pulse amplitude, 20 mV/s scan rate in phosphate buffer of pH 4.0. Ag-Au BMNPs, as the mediators improved electron transmit during the entire electron transfer process and the aptasensor response. Herein, the authors used aptamer as the capture probe to prepare an aptasensor with enhanced stability.

The proposed aptasensor exhibited a wide linearity to cadmium in the range of 0.001–0.100 µg/L with a low detection limit of 0.005×10⁻³ µg/L. The glassy carbon electrodes with Ag-Au BMNPs showed a lower detection limit.

This aptasensor has good reproducibility, stability and repeatability and is cost-effective to regenerate. The specificity and selectivity of the novel modified electrode is tested in the presence of other interfering metal ions such as Fe²⁺, Mn²⁺, Mg²⁺, Sb³⁺ and Bi³⁺. The aptasensor shows 10 times more sensitivity and selectivity for Cd²⁺ ions.

The purpose of this research was to develop a new process to bond silicon (Si) chips to low carbon steel substrates using pure tin (Sn) without any flux.

Iron (Fe) substrates were first electroplated with a Sn layer, followed by a thin silver (Ag) layer that inhibits Sn oxidation thereafter. It is this Ag capping layer that makes the fluxless feature possible. Fluxless processes are more environmentally friendly and more likely to produce joints without voids. The Si chips were deposited with Cr/Au dual layer structure. The bonding process was performed at 240°C in vacuum. The Sn joint thickness was controlled by spacers during the bonding. Scanning electron microscopy images on cross sections exhibited quality joints without visible voids. Energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy analysis was used to detect joint compositions.

It was revealed that the Sn layer was bonded to a Si chip at the Cr–Sn interface and to the Fe substrate by forming an FeSn₂ intermetallic compound (IMC). The IMC is only 1.1 to 1.5 µm in thickness. Thin IMC is highly preferred because IMC deforms a little in accommodating the coefficient of thermal expansion (CTE) mismatch between Si and Fe. Shear test results showed that the fracture forces of the samples passed the military criteria by a wide margin.

This new fluxless bonding process on Fe should make Fe or low carbon steel a more likely choice of materials in optical modules and electronic packages.

The purpose of this paper is to present a sophisticated methodology for inkjet printing of silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) in the range of 80-200 nm on different flexible substrate. AgNPs was chemically deposited by ejection of silver nitrate and ascorbic acid solutions onto different substrates such as paper and textile fabrics. The fabricated pattern was used to employ as electrode for electrochemical sensors.

The morphology of deposited AgNPs was characterized by means of scanning electron microscopy. Moreover, conductivity and electrochemical behavior were identified, respectively, using four probe and cyclic voltammetry techniques. Acquired image shows a well-defined shape and size for the deposited AgNP.

The conductivity of the paper substrate after printing process reached 5.54 × 105 S/m. This printed electrode shows a sharp electrochemical response for early determination of glucose. The proposed electrode provides a new alternative to develop electrochemical sensors using AgNPs chemically deposited on paper and textile fabric surfaces.

This paper extends our study of the sequential electrochemical reduction analysis (SERA) technique for evaluation of various alternative finishes and it discusses the application of the SERA technique to assess the surface conditions of the silver finish. The tarnishing products of the silver formed under ambient and artificially created conditions were analyzed, the protective effect of an anti‐ tarnishing film was evaluated, and the influence of the elevated temperatures (reflow) on the stability of the organic inhibitor and the formation of the tarnishing film will be shown.

The purpose of this paper is to demonstrate the influence of annealing treatment on the photovoltaic properties of the solar cell based on ITO/PEDOT:PSS/ZnO:P3HT/Ag.

The influence of the annealing temperature and time on the P3HT/ZnO interface morphology and the ITO/PEDOT:PSS/ZnO:P3HT/Ag solar cell performance was discussed. The morphology and the current‐voltage (J‐V) characteristics were investigated by atomic force morphology (AFM) and solar simulator with an AM 1.5 G filter under an irradiation intensity of 100 mW cm⁻². The light intensity was calibrated using a standard silicon photovoltaic solar cell.

The photovoltaic performances were found to have been greatly enhanced by an annealing treatment at 145°C for 30 min.

The paper demonstrates that the annealing treatments play a crucial role in improving the morphology and J‐V performance of the ITO/PEDOT:PSS/ZnO:P3HT/Ag solar cell.

A new electrochemical analysis based on ß-cyclodextrin (ß-CD) was developed for penicillin V (Peni-V) using polyaniline as a conducting polymer.

The preparation of modified electrode involves the incorporation of β-CD with membrane of polyaniline. Polyaniline, incorporating β-CD, was prepared by electrochemical polymerization method in a medium of hypochloride. Cyclic voltammetry and electrochemical impedance have been used to characterize this sensor. The detection and the kinetic study of modified platinum electrode are evaluated.

Results clearly indicate that β-CDs interfere with the polymerization mechanism with an inhibition factor. The inclusion phenomenon of β-CDs has been studied and applied to detect Peni-V. The principle of this electrochemical sensor is based on the chemical properties of β-CD, which were studied using the cyclic voltammetric method and impedance spectroscopy. The electrochemical behavior of Peni-V at concentrations between 10^–8 and 10^–2 M was measured versus Ag/AgCl at pH 7.4 and 30°C in a phosphate alkaline buffer. Relationship of Peni-V concentration in logarithmic mathematical form with current in potentiometric method and with resistance in impedimetric method were obtained.

The present study showed that the Pt electrode modified with Polyaniline–β-CD was an excellent candidate for sensitive penicillin analysis. The proposed electroanalytical technique is rapid, simple and inexpensive.

Limited by the types of sensors, the state information available for musculoskeletal robots with highly redundant, nonlinear muscles is often incomplete, which makes the control face a bottleneck problem. The aim of this paper is to design a method to improve the motion performance of musculoskeletal robots in partially observable scenarios, and to leverage the ontology knowledge to enhance the algorithm’s adaptability to musculoskeletal robots that have undergone changes.

A memory and attention-based reinforcement learning method is proposed for musculoskeletal robots with prior knowledge of muscle synergies. First, to deal with partially observed states available to musculoskeletal robots, a memory and attention-based network architecture is proposed for inferring more sufficient and intrinsic states. Second, inspired by muscle synergy hypothesis in neuroscience, prior knowledge of a musculoskeletal robot’s muscle synergies is embedded in network structure and reward shaping.

Based on systematic validation, it is found that the proposed method demonstrates superiority over the traditional twin delayed deep deterministic policy gradients (TD3) algorithm. A musculoskeletal robot with highly redundant, nonlinear muscles is adopted to implement goal-directed tasks. In the case of 21-dimensional states, the learning efficiency and accuracy are significantly improved compared with the traditional TD3 algorithm; in the case of 13-dimensional states without velocities and information from the end effector, the traditional TD3 is unable to complete the reaching tasks, while the proposed method breaks through this bottleneck problem.

In this paper, a novel memory and attention-based reinforcement learning method with prior knowledge of muscle synergies is proposed for musculoskeletal robots to deal with partially observable scenarios. Compared with the existing methods, the proposed method effectively improves the performance. Furthermore, this paper promotes the fusion of neuroscience and robotics.