As microelectronic parts trend smaller so do their solder joints. The surface finish on a copper pad is expected to become a significant part of the total solder joint volume and therefore affect mechanical properties of the smaller solder joints. Two sample geometries and four different surface finishes for tin-silver-copper...
Solid solutions based on the perovskite ferroelectrics Bi₀.₅Na₀.₅TiO₃ (BNT) and Bi₀.₅K₀.₅TiO₃ (BKT) might someday replace current Pb-based ferroelectric and piezoelectric devices. This is one goal of the Restrictions on Hazardous Substances (RoHS) guidelines seeking to limit Pb in consumer devices. Although the Bi-based ferroelectrics are well suited to the task...
Metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) represent an exciting, new class of porous materials. Their hybrid organic-inorganic structure opens up near infinite possibilities to tune and design their structure for specific properties and applications. A new generation of flexible MOFs, following a generation of stiff MOFs, has created additional design space and complexity....
Pb(Zr,Ti)O₃ (PZT) is a very attractive material for use in piezoelectric-based microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) due to its high piezoelectric coefficients and ability for large displacements with relatively low applied fields (as compared to electrostatic-based MEMS). The piezoelectric effect is strongly anisotropic, thus it is very desirable to control the crystallographic...