TeraView at ISTFA 2015

TeraView are pleased to announce their attendance at this year’s ISTFA Conference & Exposition.

Teraview’s Dr. Ka Chung Lee will present a talk on Tuesday 3rd November, titled:

‘Fast Feature Based Non-Destructive Fault Isolation in 3D IC Packages Utilizing Virtual Known Good Device’

For more information on the event visit the ISTFA website here, you can view the program here.

Come and visit us at booth 105, a layout map of the event can be found here.

If you would like to organize a prior meeting please contact Mr Martin Igarashi

ISTFA is the premier event for the Failure Analysis of Microelectronics, attracting the who's who of the FA industry.

ISTFA 2015 will be held between November 1-5 at the Portland Convention Center, Portland, OR, USA

TeraView at EAS 2015

TeraView are pleased to announce their attendance at this year’s EAS Analytical Conference!

TeraView's Principal Scientist Dr. Philip Taday will be presenting a talk on Monday 16th November at 10.20am, by the title of:

‘Terahertz Systems for Cultural Heritage’

Tiphaine Bardon from UCL will follow the talk and present her work done in collaboration with TeraView using the TPS3000, titled:

‘Characterization and Imaging of Archival Texts: Let's Have a Word with Terahertz!’

If you would like to arrange a meeting with Dr. Philip Taday at EAS 2015, please contact him via philip.taday@teraview.com.

For more information on the event visit the EAS website here, and to view the program use this link.

The Eastern Analytical Symposium and Exposition (EAS) is held each year to provide professional scientists and students continuing education in the analytical and allied sciences through the presentation of symposia of papers, workshops, and short courses. An exposition of apparatus and supplies allied to these sciences is held concurrently with the symposia. 

EAS 2015 will be held November 16-18, 2015 at the Garden State Exhibit Center and hotel complex in Somerset, New Jersey.

Terahertz Spectroscopy Applied For Investigation of Water Structure

Nikita Penkov, Nikolay Shvirst, Valery Alexandrovich Yashin, Eugeny Eugenievich Fesenko (Jr.), and Eugeny Eugenievich Fesenko

 Abstract

The absorption spectra of liquid water and different aqueous solutions were analyzed in a terahertz frequency domain (from 6 to 200 cm–1) which characterize the collective dynamics of water molecules. The particular attention was paid to the relaxation process in the range of ~6–80 cm-1. The physical essence of this process on the molecular level is still unclear. We found that the amplitude of this relaxation process correlates with the degree of destruction of water structure. The obtained data allowed us to interpret this process as a monomolecular relaxation of free water molecules. Based on a consideration of the water polarization in the electric field we proposed a method of calculation of the amount of free water molecules in solution.

If you would like to read more please use this link.

Calendering as a direct shaping tool for the continuous production of fixed-dose combination products via co-extrusion

A.-K. Vynckier, H. Lin, J.A. Zeitler, J.-F. Willart, E. Bongaers J. Voorspoels, J.P. Remon, C. Vervaet

European Journal of Pharmaceutics and Biopharmaceutics

Abstract

In this study calendering is used as a downstream technique to shape monolithic co-extruded fixed-dose combination products in a continuous way. Co-extrudates with a metoprolol tartrate-loaded sustained-release core and a hydrochlorothiazide-loaded immediate-release coat were produced and immediately shaped into a monolithic drug delivery system via calendering, using chilled rolls with tablet-shaped cavities. In vitro metoprolol tartrate release from the ethylcellulose core of the calendered tablets was prolonged in comparison with the sustained release of a multiparticulate dosage form, prepared manually by cutting co-extrudates into mini-matrices. Analysis of the dosage forms using X-ray micro-computed tomography only detected small differences between the pore structure of the core of the calendered tablet and the mini-matrices. Diffusion path length was shown to be the main mechanism behind the release kinetics. Terahertz pulsed imaging visualized that adhesion between the core and coat of the calendered tablet was not complete and a gradient in coat thickness (varying from 200 to 600 μm) was observed. Modulated differential scanning calorimetry and X-ray diffraction indicated that the solid-state properties of both drugs were not affected by the calendering procedure.

see http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0939641115003264

... 2.2.6. Terahertz pulsed imaging (TPI). The calendered tablets from different formulations were
analyzed using a TPI imaga2000 coating scan system (TeraView, Cambridge,UK). ... Images wereanalyzed using TPI View (version 3.0.3, TeraView, Cambridge, UK). ...

Improved terahertz modulation using germanium telluride (GeTe) chalcogenide thin films

Abstract

We demonstrate improved terahertz (THz) modulation using thermally crystallized germaniumtelluride (GeTe) thin films. GeTe is a chalcogenide material that exhibits a nonvolatile, amorphous to crystalline phase change at approximately 200 °C, as well as six orders of magnitude decreased electrical resistivity. In this study, amorphous GeTe thin films weresputtered on sapphire substrates and then tested using THz time-domain spectroscopy (THz-TDS). The test samples, heated in-situ while collecting THz-TDS measurements, exhibited a gradual absorbance increase, an abrupt nonvolatile reduction at the transition temperature, followed by another gradual increase in absorbance. The transition temperature was verified by conducting similar thermal tests while monitoring electrical resistivity. THz transmittance modulation data were investigated between 10 and 110 cm⁻¹ (0.3–3.3 THz). A peak modulation of approximately 99% was achieved at 2.3 THz with a 100 nm GeTe film on a sapphiresubstrate. After isolating the sapphire and the crystalline GeTe (c-GeTe) absorbance contributions, the results showed THz modulations ranging from 88.5% to 91.5% that were attributed solely to the single layer of transitioned c-GeTe. These results strongly motivate using GeTe or other chalcogenide thin films in THz modulators, filters, and metamaterial applications.

http://scitation.aip.org/content/aip/journal/apl/107/3/10.1063/1.4927272

The measurments in this paper were collected with a TeraView THz-TDS spectroscopy system equipped with a variable temperature sample holder.