The absence of large-size gallium nitride (GaN) substrates with low dislocation density remains a primary bottleneck for advancing GaN-based devices. Here, we demonstrate the achievement of 8-inch freestanding GaN substrates grown by hydride vapor phase epitaxy. Critical to this achievement is the improvement in gas-flow uniformity, which ensures exceptional thickness homogeneity and enables the crack-free growth of GaN. After laser lift-off (LLO) separation, the freestanding GaN substrate exhibits superior crystal quality, evidenced by full width at half maximum values of 68 and 54 arcsec for X-ray diffraction rocking curves of (002) and (102) planes, alongside a low dislocation density of 1.6 × 10⁶ cm⁻². This approach establishes a robust pathway for the production of large-size GaN substrates, which are essential for advancing next-generation power electronics and high-efficiency photonics.

As one of the core components of IC manufacturing equipment, the electrostatic chuck (ESC) has been widely applied in semiconductor processing such as etching, PVD and CVD. The clamping force of the ESC is one of the most important technical indicators. A multi-physics simulation software COMSOL is used to analyze the factors influencing the clamping force. The curves between the clamping force and the main parameters such as DC voltage, electrode thickness, electrode radius, dielectric thickness and helium gap are obtained. Moreover, the effects of these factors on the clamping force are investigated by means of orthogonal experiments. The results show that the factors can be ranked in order of voltage, electrode radius, helium gap and dielectric thickness according to their importance, which may offer certain reference for the design of ESCs.

The rapid rise in the power conversion efficiency (PCE) of CsPbBr₂I-based perovskite solar cells (PSCs), from 4.7% in 2016 to 11.08% in 2020, render it a promising material for use in photovoltaic devices. However, the phase stability and current hysteresis caused by photo-induced phase segregation in CsPbBr₂I represent major obstacles to further improvements in the PCE for such devices. In this review, we describe the basic structure and optical properties of CsPbBr₂I, and systematically elaborate on the mechanism of the phase transition. We then discuss the strategies in progress to suppress phase transition in CsPbBr₂I, and their potential application in the photovoltaic field. Finally, challenges and application prospects for CsPbBr₂I PSCs are summarized in the final section of this article.

The optical properties of polypyrrole (Ppy) thin films upon 2 MeV electron beam irradiation changes with different doses. The induced changes in the optical properties for Ppy thin films were studied in the visible range 300 to 800 nm at room temperature. The optical band gap of the pristine Ppy was found to be 2.19 eV and it decreases up to 1.97 eV for a 50 kGy dose of 2 MeV electron beam. The refractive index dispersion of the samples obeys the single oscillator model. The obtained results suggest that electron beam irradiation changes the optical parameters of Ppy thin films.

This paper present a highly-integrated neurostimulator with an on-chip inductive power-recovery frontend and high-voltage stimulus generator. In particular, the power-recovery frontend includes a high-voltage full-wave rectifier (up to 100 V AC input), high-voltage series regulators (24/5 V outputs) and a linear regulator (1.8/3.3 V output) with bandgap voltage reference. With the high voltage output of the series regulator, the proposed neurostimulator could deliver a considerably large current in high electrode-tissue contact impedance. This neurostimulator has been fabricated in a CSMC 1 μm 5/40/700 V BCD process and the total silicon area including pads is 5.8 mm². Preliminary tests are successful as the neurostimulator shows good stability under a 13.56 MHz AC supply. Compared to previously reported works, our design has advantages of a wide induced voltage range (26-100 V), high output voltage (up to 24 V) and high-level integration, which are suitable for implantable neurostimulators.

Chemical mechanical polishing (CMP) serves as an indispensable process for achieving global planarization in semiconductor manufacturing, especially as integrated circuit (IC) technology advances to sub-7 nm nodes, where atomic-level surface flatness becomes crucial. Silica abrasives, which account for over 90% of the abrasive market in advanced CMP processes, operate not through simple mechanical grinding but through a key "chemical-mechanical synergistic" mechanism: chemically softening the wafer surface, then mechanically removing the softened layer to expose a new surface, which is further softened and removed, repeating this cycle to produce a smooth wafer. Despite their prevalence, conventional silica abrasives still face challenges, including relatively low material removal rate (MRR), a tendency to agglomerate, leading to poor dispersion and surface defects, and limitations in achieving ultimate surface uniformity. Significant progress has been made to address these issues. Development has progressed from simple spherical particles to complex structural designs (such as mesoporous, hollow, and raspberry-shaped structures) to enhance slurry transport and mechanical action. Surface chemical modifications (e.g., using amino or polymer groups) can improve dispersion stability and reduce scratching. Furthermore, composites with other materials (e.g., ceria, polymers) and precise control of particle size distribution are key to enhancing performance. These innovative approaches have yielded significant performance gains. State-of-the-art slurries have demonstrated the ability to achieve surface roughness below 0.1 nm rms. The development of silica abrasives is increasingly focused on sustainability and smart manufacturing. A prominent direction is the design of biodegradable abrasives that disintegrate after use, thereby simplifying post-chemical mechanical polishing (CMP) cleanup and minimizing environmental impact—an approach fully aligned with green manufacturing principles. This review systematically summarizes the progress of silica abrasives for CMP over the past 60 years. This summary provides theoretical insights and forward-looking strategies to overcome the current limitations of abrasive technology. We believe this review will be helpful in advancing the field of CMP abrasives towards next-generation semiconductor manufacturing.

This paper presents an image sensor controller that is compatible for depth measurement, which is based on the continuous-wave modulation time-of-flight technology. The image sensor controller is utilized to generate reconfigurable control signals for a 256×256 high speed CMOS image sensor with a conventional image sensing mode and a depth measurement mode. The image sensor controller generates control signals for the pixel array to realize the rolling exposure and the correlated double sampling functions. An refined circuit design technique in the logic level is presented to reduce chip area and power consumption. The chip, with a size of 700×3380 μm², is fabricated in a standard 0.18 μm CMOS image sensor process. The power consumption estimated by the synthesis tool is 65 mW under a 1.8 V supply voltage and a 100 MHz clock frequency. Our test results show that the image sensor controller functions properly.

Thin films of tin selenide (Sn_xSe_y) with an atomic ratio of $r=\left[\frac{y}{x}\right]=0.5$, 1 and 1.5 were prepared on a glass substrate at T=470℃ using a spray pyrolysis technique. The initial materials for the preparation of the thin films were an alcoholic solution consisting of tin chloride (SnCl₄· 5H₂O) and selenide acide (H₂SeO₃). The prepared thin films were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy, scanning tunneling microscopy, scanning helium ion microscopy, and UV-vis spectroscopy. The photoconductivity and thermoelectric effects of the Sn_xSe_y thin films were then studied. The Sn_xSe_y thin films had a polycrystalline structure with an almost uniform surface and cluster type growth. The increasing atomic ratio of r in the films, the optical gap, photosensitivity and Seebeck coefficient were changed from 1.6 to 1.37 eV, 0.01 to 0.31 and -26.2 to -42.7 mV/K (at T=350 K), respectively. In addition, the XRD patterns indicated intensity peaks in r=1 that corresponded to the increase in the SnSe and SnSe₂ phases.

The influence of substrate temperature and nozzle-to-substrate distance (NSD) on the structural, morphological, optical and electrical properties of Sb:SnO₂ thin films prepared by chemical spray pyrolysis has been analyzed. The structural, morphological, optical and electrical properties were characterized by using XRD, SEM, UV-visible spectrophotometry and Hall effect measurement techniques. It was seen that the films are polycrystalline, having a tetragonal crystal structure with strong orientation along the (200) reflection. The pyramidal crystallites formed due to coalescence were observed from SEM images. The values of highest conductivity, optical transmittance and figure of merit of about 1449 (Ω·cm)^-1, 70 % and 5.2 × 10^-3 □/Ω, respectively, were observed for a typical film deposited using optimal conditions (substrate temperature D 500 ℃ and NSD D 30 cm).