Volume 53, Issue 9

For quality assurance, thermal spray coatings undergo, metallographic examination, among other things, Here, for example, unmelted particles, pores, oxides, phase fractions, homogeneity, separations, cracks and impurities are estimated. The correct evaluation of thermal spray samples is heavily influenced by embedding and preparation methods.

The investigation presented is of part of a high pressure discharge lamp. The heart of the lamp is a ceramic burner which is sealed with a so-called glass solder, a glass ceramic comprised of a mixture of Oxides (Dysprosium Oxide, Aluminium Oxide and Silicon Oxide). Two different chemical compositions of glass solder, which are part of type of a composite material comprised of a broad spectrum of materials, are compared microscopically. The morphology of solidification, which has an effect on the operating life of the lamps is characterised using various classical methods such as optical light microscopy and Scanning Electron Microscopy.

The technological progress of microelectronic devices is directly coupled with the ability to produce transistor circuits and interconnects on the wafer level with increasingly small dimensions while providing equal or even better electrical properties and functionality. Therefore every new generation of microchip manufacturing is a challenge for the existing production technologies to compete with the raised requirements as well as for the material scientific methods to characterize and control the properties of the incorporated dielectrics and deposited metal layers with dimensions in the nm range. The following article will illustrate the investigation methods that have been applied for the development of electrolessly plated copper layers of less than 3 nm thickness to provide a conductive copper seed for subsequent copper electroplating to fill Dual Damascene interconnects of the 14 nm or 10 nm technology node. The methods used are AFM, Ellipsometry, 4-point resistivity, XPS, EELS, XRF, XRD, FIB/HR-STEM, HR-TEM.

A drive shaft of a multifunctional mechanical processing machine for large components broke down during processing. The OEM shaft was worn-out after years of operation and was recently replaced. The replaced drive shaft was delivered to the materials laboratory of the Berlin gas turbine plant in order to identify the cause of the damage. It was found that the component failed due to high cycle fatigue failure, HCF, on the tooth roots after a short period of operation. The teeth of the damaged shaft were inappropriately induction surface hardened.