• Journal of the Microelectronics and Packaging Society
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• v.28 no.3
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• pp.33-38
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• 2021

Recently, rollable and foldable displays are attracting great attention in the flexible display market due to their excellent form factor. To predict and prevent the mechanical failure of the display panels, it is essential to accurately understand the mechanical properties of brittle SiN_x thin films, which have been used as an insulating film in flexible displays. In this study, tensile properties of the ~130 nm- and ~320 nm-thick SiN_x thin films were successfully measured by coating a ~190 nm-thick organic nano-support-layer (PMMA, PS, P3HT) on the fragile SiN_x thin films and stretching the films as a bilayer state. Young's modulus values of the ~130 nm and ~320 nm SiN_x thin films fabricated through the controlled chamber pressure and deposition power (A: 1250 mTorr, 450 W/B: 1000 mTorr, 600 W/C: 750 mTorr, 700 W) were calculated as A: 76.6±3.5, B: 85.8±4.6, C: 117.4±6.5 GPa and A: 100.1±12.9, B: 117.9±9.7, C: 159.6 GPa, respectively. As a result, Young's modulus of ~320 nm SiN_x thin films fabricated through the same deposition condition increased compared to the ~130 nm SiN_x thin films. The tensile testing method using the organic nano-support-layer was effective in the precise measurement of the mechanical properties of the brittle thin films. The method developed in this study can contribute to the robust design of the rollable and foldable displays by enabling quantitative measurement of mechanical properties of fragile thin films for flexible displays.

• Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases
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• v.53 no.5
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• pp.497-509
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• 2002

Background : The mechanisms through which cellular activation results in intracellular mycobacterial killing is only partially understood. However, in vitro studies of human immunity to Mycobacterium tuberculosis have been largely modeled on the work reported by Crowle, which is complicated by several factors. The whole blood culture is simple and allows the simultaneous analysis of the relationship between bacterial killing and the effect of effector cells and humoral factors. In this study, we attempted to determine the extent to which M. tuberculosis is killed in a human whole blood culture and to explore the role of the host and microbial factor in this process. Methods : The PPD positive subject were compared to the umbilical cord blood and patients with tuberculosis, diabetes and lung cancer. The culture is performed using heparinized whole blood diluted with a culture medium and infected with a low number of M. avium or M. tuberculosis $H_{37}Ra$ for 4 days by rotating the culture in a $37^{\circ}C$, 5% $CO_2$ incubator. In some experiments, methlprednisolone- or pentoxifyline were used to inhibit the immune response. To assess the role of the T-cell subsets, CD4+, CD8+ T-cells or both were removed from the blood using magnetic beads. The ${\Delta}$ log killing ratio was defined using a CFU assay as the difference in the log number of viable organisms in the completed culture compared to the inoculum. Results : 1. A trend was noted toward the improved killing of mycobacteria in PPD+ subjects comparing to the umbilical cord blood but there was no specific difference in the patients with tuberculosis, diabetes and lung cancer. 2. Methylprednisolone and pentoxifyline adversely affected the killing in the PPD+ subjects umbilical cord blood and patients with tuberculosis. 3. The deletion of CD4+ or CD8+ T-lymphocytes adversely affected the killing of M. avium and M. tuberculosis $H_{37}Ra$ by PPD+ subjects. Deletion of both cell types had an additive effect, particularly in M. tuberculosis $H_{37}Ra$. 4. A significantly improved mycobacterial killing was noted after chemotherapy in patients with tuberculosis and the ${\Delta}$ logKR continuously decreased in a 3 and 4 days of whole blood culture. Conclusion : The in vitro bactericidal assay by human whole blood culture model was settled using a CFU assay. However, the host immunity to M. tuberculosis was not apparent in the human whole blood culture bactericidal assay, and patients with tuberculosis showed markedly improved bacterial killing after anti-tuberculous chemotherapy compared to before. The simplicity of a whole blood culture facilitates its inclusion in a clinical trial and it may have a potential role as a surrogate marker in a TB vaccine trial.