Search

The importance of interface and bulk transport mechanism on the leakage current of high dielectric constant thin films capacitors is examined by deriving an equation for the J-V(sub A) characteristic of a capacitor that includes the transport mechanisms of thermionic emission (TE), thermionic field emission, (TFE), and carrier drift-diffusion (DD). Implications of these results on existing transport calculations for high dielectric constant thin films capacitors are discussed.

J–V–T characteristics, measured over a very wide temperature (50–441 K) range, are analyzed simultaneously with C–V measurements to investigate conduction mechanisms and the state of charge of Pt/BaxSr1-xTi1+yO3+z(BST)/Pt thin-film capacitors during an applied voltage or current stress. A time- and voltage-dependent state of charge of the Pt/BST/Pt capacitors is inferred from stress-induced voltage shifts in the C–V curves. The voltage and temperature dependence of the C–V curve shifts is shown to be consistent with a voltage-dependent charge in interface states resulting from a change in potential across interfacial dipole layers. An intimate contact Schottky barrier model incorporating a voltage-dependent charge in interface states at both cathode and anode contacts is used to investigate conduction mechanisms in Pt/BST/Pt thin-film capacitors. The basic transport mechanisms of drift-diffusion, thermionic field emission, and Fowler–Nordeim tunneling are shown to dominate leakage in limiting voltage and temperature regimes. Thermionic emission is not predicted to control current flow at any investigated voltage and temperature. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Current-density-voltage-temperature characteristics are analyzed with capacitance-voltage measurements to investigate conduction mechanisms. The voltage and temperature dependence of the capacitance-voltage curve shifts is shown to be consistent with a voltage-dependent charge in interface states.

The frequency dispersion of the dielectric constant of yttrium (Y)-doped (Ba,Sr)TiO3 thin films (Y-BST) in the high-frequency domain (10 kHz–67 GHz) was investigated. In order to remove the substantial parasitic capacitances, inductances, and resistances from the measured impedance data, test samples, short-circuit standard, and open-circuit standard structures were fabricated and their frequency response was measured. Before removing parasitic components, the measured dielectric response showed a rolloff at approximately 4 GHz. However, after circuit calibration, the dielectric constant was almost constant up to 40 GHz where another rolloff was observed. However, this rolloff was due to the uncompensated small parasitic components. Therefore, the dielectric constant of the Y-BST films (170 with a film thickness of 30 nm) showed small frequency dispersion corresponding to the Curie–von Schweidler dispersion, of which the exponent is -0.0131, up to 40 GHz. Furthermore, the decrease of the capacitance was 17% in the frequency range from 10 kHz to 40 GHz. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A correction to the article "A study of current transport in (BaxSr1-x)Ti1+yO3+z thin-film capacitors containing a voltage-dependent interface state charge distribution," published in the 2005 issue of the "Journal of Applied Physics".

Background/aim: Non-B non-C hepatocellular carcinomas (NBNC-HCCs) are larger than hepatitis virus-related HCCs. We conducted a clinicopathological study of patients who underwent curative NBNC-HCC resection, including proliferative activity assessments, such as nuclear grade and Ki-67 labelling index (LI)., Materials and Methods: Histopathological findings of 197 patients were examined, including 56 NBNC-HCCs, 45 hepatitis B virus (HBV)-related HCCs (HBV-HCC), and 96 hepatitis C virus (HCV)-related HCCs (HCV-HCC)., Results: NBNC-HCCs were significantly larger than HCV-HCCs, but not significantly different from HBV-HCCs. Mitotic counts, nuclear grade, and Ki-67 LI of NBNC-HCCs were not significantly different from those of HCV-HCCs, but were significantly lower than those of HBV-HCCs. Recurrence-free survival was significantly better in the NBNC-HCC group than in the HBV-HCC group in cases with mild liver fibrosis., Conclusion: NBNC-HCCs were significantly larger in diameter, but their nuclear grade or Ki-67 LI were not significantly different from those of other HCCs, suggesting that they do not have a higher proliferative activity., (Copyright © 2022 International Institute of Anticancer Research (Dr. George J. Delinasios), All rights reserved.)

Marginal zone B-cell lymphomas (MZBCLs) are non-Hodgkin lymphomas arising from postgerminal center marginal zone B cells. MZBCLs are subclassified into extranodal, nodal, and splenic MZBCLs. Primary nondural central nervous system (CNS) MZBCLs of the mucosa-associated lymphoid tissue (MALT) type are among the extranodal examples. Their clinicopathological features are not well characterized. Therefore, the clinicopathological features of 8 primary nondural CNS MZBCLs of the MALT type were assessed to establish their pathological diagnostic criteria. Histologically, all cases of primary nondural CNS MZBCLs of the MALT type showed perivascular expansive monotonous proliferation of small atypical B lymphoid cells with plasma cell differentiation, low Ki-67 labeling index, and minimal invasion from the perivascular space. In addition, no vascular changes such as glomeruloid changes, obliterative fibrointimal proliferation, and intramural lymphocytic infiltration were seen. These key histological characteristics should be considered when diagnosing cases that are suspected to be primary nondural CNS MZBCLs of the MALT type. Additionally, regarding PCR for the detection of immunoglobulin heavy variable gene and T-cell receptor γ gene rearrangements, the former is detected, but the latter is not detected in all cases. Therefore, PCR detection including sequence analysis should be added when diagnosing difficult cases based on the key histological characteristics., (© 2021 American Association of Neuropathologists, Inc. All rights reserved.)

Background/aim: Assessment of the biological behavior of tumors is important for choosing an appropriate cancer therapy. In hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), the biological behaviour can be assessed by tumor morphology and molecular biology. This study investigated the usefulness of tumor tissue biopsy for predicting the biological behavior of HCC., Patients and Methods: We studied 43 patients who underwent hepatectomy and preoperative liver tumor biopsy for HCC. We performed clinicopathological and immunohistochemical (IHC) analyses. The expression of the following molecules was examined: regulator of G-protein signaling 5 (RGS5), glypican-3 (GPC3), keratin 19 (K19), epithelial cell adhesion molecule (EpCAM), protein induced by vitamin K absence or antagonist-II (PIVKA-II), β-Catenin, and p53., Results: There was an overall 83.7% agreement regarding tumor differentiation between the preoperative biopsy specimens and the resected specimens. The accuracy of IHC analysis was more than 70% for all molecules between the preoperative biopsy specimens and the resected specimens. The RGS5-positive biopsy cases had higher serum α-fetoprotein levels (p=0.04), a higher rate of moderately or poorly differentiated tumors (p=0.02) and portal vein invasion (p=0.0003) than the RGS5-negative biopsy cases. The GPC3-positive biopsy cases were younger (p=0.04), had higher serum PIVKA-II levels (p=0.01), and a higher rate of portal vein invasion (p=0.03) than the GPC3-negative biopsy cases. The PIVKA-II-positive biopsy cases had significantly higher serum PIVKA-II levels than the PIVKA-II-negative biopsy cases (p=0.02). The other molecular markers showed no significantly different clinical findings between the positive and negative cases., Conclusion: In HCC, there was a high agreement rate of both the histopathological and IHC findings between preoperative biopsy specimens and resected specimens. In the biopsy specimens of HCC, RGS5 and GPC3 expression were useful molecular makers for predicting portal vein invasion. Liver tumor biopsy is useful for predicting the biological behavior of HCC through histopathological and immunohistochemical findings., (Copyright© 2020, International Institute of Anticancer Research (Dr. George J. Delinasios), All rights reserved.)

A 51-year-old man visited our hospital with a main complaint of precordial pain, difficulty swallowing, and pyrexia. The patient was diagnosed with esophageal carcinosarcoma, based on the characteristic morphology noted on upper gastrointestinal endoscopy and histology tests, and he underwent surgical treatment. His preoperative blood granulocyte-colony stimulating factor (G-CSF) and interleukin-6 (IL-6) levels were high, and the surgical specimens were positive in both immunohistochemical tests; therefore, he was diagnosed with a G-CSF- and IL-6-producing tumor. When pyrexia is seen as a paraneoplastic symptom, it is important to consider and investigate the possibility of a cytokine-producing tumor.