Through the analysis of peak broadening of energy-dispersive diffraction lines from a powdered sample, the yield strength of a-Si3N4 was investigated at a pressure of 9 GPa and temperatures up to 12341C. During compression at room temperature, the lattice strain deduced from peak broadening increased linearly with pressure up to 9.2 GPa, with no clear indication of strain saturation. While heat...

The remarkable stoichiometric flexibility of hydroxyapatite (HAp) enables the formation of a variety of charged structural sites at the material's surface which facilitates bone remodeling due to binding of biomolecule moieties in zwitterionic fashion. In this paper, we report for the first time that an optimized biomedical grade silicon nitride (Si3N4) demonstrated cell adhesion and improved o...

The gate-oxide (aka gate tunneling or gate) leakage due to quantum-mechanical direct tunneling of carriers across the gate dielectric of a device is a major source power dissipation for sub-65nm CMOS circuits. In this paper a high-level (aka architecture) synthesis algorithm is presented that simultaneously schedules operations and binds to modules for gate leakage optimization. The algorithm u...

We demonstrate optomechanically mediated electromagnetically induced transparency and wavelength conversion in silicon nitride (Si3N4) microdisk resonators. Fabricated devices support whispering gallery optical modes with a quality factor (Q) of 10(6), and radial breathing mechanical modes with a Q=10(4) and a resonance frequency of 625 MHz, so that the system is in the resolved sideband regime...

Ceramics have superior hardness, strength and corrosion resistance, but are also associated with poor toughness. Here, we propose the boron nitride nanoplatelet (BNNP) as a novel toughening reinforcement component to ceramics with outstanding mechanical properties and high-temperature stability. We used a planetary ball-milling process to exfoliate BNNPs in a scalable manner and functionalizes ...

Electrical spin injection into silicon was studied in a ferromagnet/insulator/silicon/insulator/ ferromagnet structure, where the insulator is Si3N4. Si3N4 barriers conduct by hopping conduction at low voltages, but switch to Fowler-Nordheim tunneling at high voltages. In the Fowler-Nordheim tunneling regime a magnetic field dependence of the output current consistent with spin dependent transp...

A Si3N4 membrane with a thin Cr coating is proposed and demonstrated as an electron beam exit window. On average, 85% electron power transmission efficiency was achieved with a 1μm thick

We develop and experimentally verify a theoretical model for the total efficiency η0 of evanescent excitation and subsequent collection of spontaneous Raman signals by the fundamental quasi-TE and quasi-TM modes of a generic photonic channel waveguide. Single-mode silicon nitride (Si3N4) slot and strip waveguides of different dimensions are used in the experimental study. Our theoretical model ...

DLC coatings are of enormous interest for biotribological applications due to their biocompatibility, auto-lubricious, and non-stick properties. The most demanding implant is the hip joint. Alternative materials to metal alloys are being increasingly investigated aiming low wear debris volume, in any case innocuous wear particles. Silicon nitride (Si3N4) ceramics are light, tough, mechanical re...