This study demonstrates the feasibility of an in-situ heat treatment for cold spray coatings. By controlling heat flow, temperature gradients are maintained in the coatings, leading to the development of graded mechanical properties. Initial experimental results validate both the starting idea and the first results of numerical simulations.

In this work, the microstructure of silver coatings obtained by cold spraying with a fine and a rather coarse powder were investigated. Cold-sprayed microstructures strongly depend on the deposition process parameters. These parameters have an influence on porosity, plastic strain, particle-to-particle bonding mechanisms. The originality of this study rests on the use of X-ray microtomography, which is shown to be a very powerful technique to investigate into cold-sprayed coatings. Several samples were machined from coatings by electro-discharge machining (EDM) then scanned using microtomography. Porosity fraction was determined by three-dimensional image analysis and compared to classical two-dimensional analysis of micrographs. A difference between the two methods was exhibited, which showed sample preparation effects. Consequently, X-ray microtomography seems to be well adapted to study cold-sprayed coatings thoroughly. Another result from this work was the characterization of the morphology of pores and deformed particles. Bonding mechanisms in cold spray could therefore be discussed. In addition, the knowledge on deformed particles allowed to simulate cold-sprayed coatings with build-up models. This will be done in a further work

Focused Ion Beam is commonly used for IC repairs and modifications. However, FIB operation may also induce a damaging impact which can takes place far from the working area due to the charge-up phenomenon. A complete characterization joined to an in-depth understanding of the physical phenomena arising from FIB irradiation is therefore necessary to take into account spurious FIB induced effects and to enhance the success of FIB modifications. In this paper, we present the effects of FIB irradiation on the electrical DC performances of different electronic devices such as nMOS and pMOS transistors, CMOS inverters, PN junctions and bipolar transistors. From the observed behavior of the DC characteristics evolution of the devices, some suggestions about physical mechanisms inducing the electrical degradation are proposed.