Robust Bottom-Up Gold Filling of Deep Trenches and Gratings

This work extends an extreme variant of superconformal Au electrodeposition to deeper device architectures while exploring factors that constrain its function and the robustness of void-free processing. The unconventional bottom-up process is used to fill diffraction gratings with trenches 94 μm deep and 305 μm deep, with aspect ratios (height/width) of just below 20 and 15, respectively, in near-neutral 0.16 mol·L^-1 Na₃Au(SO₃)₂ + 0.64 mol·L^-1 Na₂SO₃ electrolyte containing 50 μmol·L^-1 Bi³⁺. Although the aspect ratios are modest compared to previously demonstrated void-free filling beyond AR = 60, the deepest trenches filled exceed those in previous work by 100 μm - a nearly 50 % increase in depth. Processes that substantially accelerate the start of bottom-up deposition demonstrate a linkage between transport and void-free filling. Final profiles are highly uniform across 65 mm square gratings because of self-passivation inherent in the process. Electron microscopy and electron backscatter diffraction confirm the fully dense Au and void-free filling suggested by the electrochemical measurements. X-ray transmission "fringe visibility" average more than 80 % at 50 kV X-ray tube voltage across the deeper gratings and 70 % at 40 kV across the shallower gratings, also consistent with uniformly dense, void-free fill across the gratings.

[The effects of psychotherapy on Crohn's disease patients--results of a randomized multicenter study]

In a prospective multicenter study of Crohn disease patients, the influence of psychotherapy on the course of the disease and on psychosocial variables (anxiety, depression, life satisfaction and data of the PSKB) was studied. Psychodynamic oriented psychotherapy was provided in addition to a standardized medical treatment and took place during the first year of the two-year observation period. 108 of 488 patients were recruited and randomly assigned to the psychotherapy and the control group. 84 patients completed the somatic and 81 the psychosocial follow up. 23% of the control group and 30% of the psychotherapy group showed episode-free courses, 29% and 17% respectively underwent surgery (worst outcome group). The ranking and comparisons of the disease course showed no significant difference (p = 0.125) between psychotherapy and control group. The psychosocial variables also showed no differences between these groups. Subjectively, the patients report favourable effects to psychotherapy.

Psychological aspects in the therapy of the andrological sterility factor with regard to the unfulfilled wish for a child

Aside from knowledge of the respective causes in women and men, the therapy of couples with unfulfilled wish for a child requires the patients' willingness to submit to treatment. From a psychological point of view, the extent of the suffering is focused on, to be presupposition of the patients' compliance. Results from various research groups suggest that men tend to portray themselves as being especially unstressed. In the following report, considerations about the consequences to the doctor-patient relationships in andrology will be depicted. Among other things, the problematic relationship between the men affected and their fathers will be discussed as a possible cause of the self images of these men.