The invention relates to the use of Dispersion Ceramic Micro-Encapsulated (DCM) nuclear fuel as a meltdown-proof, accident-tolerant fuel to replace uranium dioxide fuel in existing light water reactors (LWRs). The safety qualities of the DCM fuel are obtained by the combination of three strong barriers to fission product release (ceramic coatings around the fuel kernels), highly dense inert ceramic matrix around the coated fuel particles and metallic or ceramic cladding around the fuel pellets.

It is an object of the present invention to obtain a ceramic circuit substrate having high bonding strength, excellent heat cycle resistance, enhanced reliability of operation as an electronic device, and excellent heat dissipation properties. The present invention provides a ceramic circuit substrate in which metal plates, particularly copper plates, and both main surfaces of a ceramic substrate are bonded vial silver-copper brazing material layers. The silver-copper brazing material layers are formed from a silver-copper brazing material including i) 0.3-7.5 parts by mass of carbon fibers, and ii) 1.0-9.0 parts by mass of at least one active metal selected from titanium, zirconium, hafnium, niobium, tantalum, vanadium, and tin; with respect to iii) a total of 100 parts by mass of a) 75-98 parts by mass of silver powder and b) 2-25 parts by mass of copper powder. The carbon fibers having an average length of 15-400 m, an average diameter of 5-25 m and an average aspect ratio of 3-28.

An electrical termination unit or feedthrough which may be used for routing electrical conductors through a chamber wall, or otherwise across a barrier between isolated atmospheric conditions. The electrical termination unit may have aluminum as the interface material to the chamber interface and may utilize a ceramic insulator. The electrical termination unit may have the aluminum used as the interface brazed directly to a ceramic surface of the insulator. The aluminum that forms the chamber interface may be formed within a hollow ceramic tube in the same process step that brazes the aluminum to the ceramic tube with a hermetic joint. Machining subsequent to the brazing of the aluminum to the ceramic insulator may allow for achievement of the final form desired. A method for manufacturing such an electrical termination unit.

Methods of forming a metallic-ceramic brazed joint are disclosed herein. The method of forming the brazed joint includes deoxidizing the surface of metallic components, assembling the joint, heating the joint to fuse the joint components, and cooling the joint. In certain embodiments, the brazed joint includes a conformal layer. In further embodiments, the brazed joint has features in order to reduce stress concentrations within the joint.

An electrical termination unit or feedthrough which may be used for routing electrical conductors through a chamber wall, or otherwise across a barrier between isolated atmospheric conditions. The electrical termination unit may have aluminum as the interface material to the chamber interface and may utilize a ceramic insulator. The electrical termination unit may have the aluminum used as the interface brazed directly to a ceramic surface of the insulator. The aluminum that forms the chamber interface may be formed within a hollow ceramic tube in the same process step that brazes the aluminum to the ceramic tube with a hermetic joint. Machining subsequent to the brazing of the aluminum to the ceramic insulator may allow for achievement of the final form desired. A method for manufacturing such an electrical termination unit.

A superconducting material having a strong magnetic-flux pinning by way of sites having high electronic effective mass and charge carrier density. The superconducting material involves a superconducting host material and a dopant pinning material being inert in relation to the superconducting host material and has a {square root over ()}/m* in a range less than that of the superconducting host material, the dopant pinning material doping the superconducting host material.

A ceramic circuit substrate according to the present invention includes a ceramic substrate, a copper circuit made of a copper-based material bonded, via a bonding layer, to a surface of the ceramic, and a copper heat sink made of the copper-based material bonded, via a bonding layer, to the other surface of the ceramic. The bonding layers each include a brazing material component including two or more kinds of metals, such as Ag, and an active metal having a predetermined concentration. The bonding layers each include a brazing material layer including the brazing material component, and an active metal compound layer containing the active metal. A ratio of a bonding area of the active metal compound layer in a bonding area of each of the bonding layers is 88% or more.

A ceramic-metal structure in which a metallic body (2) is inserted into or disposed above a through hole (4h) of a ceramic substrate (4) and which includes an annular pad layer (6) disposed around the through hole; an annular ring member (8) joined to the pad layer via a first brazing filler portion (10) and having a coefficient of thermal expansion smaller than that of the metallic body; a second brazing filler portion (12) intervening between the ring member and metallic body; and brazing filler flow prevention layers (7a, 7b) covering an outer surface of the pad layer so as to expose a central region (6c) of the outer surface of the pad layer facing the first brazing filler portion. The first brazing filler portion joins the central region and the ring member without projecting to a radially inner or outer side of the flow prevention layers.

A positive temperature coefficient ceramic thermistor element includes a sintered thermosensitive ceramic piece that uses lead barium titanate as a base, as well as metal ohmic electrodes which are positioned on two side surfaces of the thermosensitive ceramic piece. The thermistor element has a microporous channel barrier layer, and includes a glass sealing layer which wraps the outer surface of the thermosensitive ceramic piece, or an organic matter sealant which fills and blocks micro-pores in the surfaces of the metal ohmic electrodes combined on the two side surfaces of the thermosensitive ceramic piece and, at the same time, blocks gaps in the surfaces of areas, that do not have the metal ohmic electrodes, of a peripheral edge of the thermosensitive ceramic piece.

A circuit board includes a metal circuit plate, a metallic heat diffusing plate disposed below the metal circuit plate and having an upper surface and a lower surface, a metallic heat dissipating plate below the heat diffusing plate, an insulating substrate disposed between the metal circuit plate and the heat diffusing plate, and an insulating substrate disposed between the heat diffusing plate and the heat dissipating plate. A grain diameter of metal grains contained in the heat diffusing plate decreases from each of the upper surface and the lower surface of the heat diffusing plate toward a center portion of the heat diffusing plate in a thickness direction.