In this study, single splats of polyether ether ketone were plasma sprayed onto aluminum substrates that had been boiled, etched, or polished and then thermally treated, except for one etched substrate, to remove water from the surface. Splat morphology was viewed in a scanning electron microscope and splat-substrate interfaces were examined using TEM and focused ion beam imaging. The results show that PEEK splats have a poor level of contact on aluminum substrates that were boiled and those that were etched but not thermally treated. In contrast, specimens that had undergone thermal treatment to minimize the presence of water on the substrate surface exhibited high levels of contact at the splat-substrate interface with significantly less porosity.

Reliability of low standby current (Isb) CMOS circuits is impacted by extremely small non-fault resistive defects which, without compromising logic functionality or timing specifications, cause Isb currents well in excess of device specifications. A primary cause of high Isb, identified through failure analysis, is due to Crystal Originated Pits (COPs) defects, whereat thin oxide is more prone to electrical breakdown.

Impact performance of plasma spray coatings is usually evaluated by means of surface observation after impact action. As a matter of fact, the dynamic response characteristics of coatings in the course of impact action are also very important. In this paper, a method of response frequency spectrum analysis is developed for the impact evaluation of plasma spray coatings. An impact test machine, in which the impact load is generated by a pivot-rod-lever system, is specially designed, allowing both single impact test and repeated impact test. The frequency spectra of Cr2O3 ceramic coating and WC-Co17% alloy coating under single and repeated impact action are analyzed. The results show that there is an obvious relationship between the impact performance and the impact response frequency spectrum. Abrupt changes in the coating, such as appearance of surface cracks and surface damage, correspond the sudden changes of the response frequency spectrum.