A novel design of local-feedback MOS transconductor using techniques for cancellation of mobility degradation and linearization of differential output current characteristic

In this article, a novel design of a local-feedback MOS transconductor using a technique of canceling mobility degradation and a linearization technique of differential output current characteristics is proposed. In the proposed techniques, adaptively biasing current sources are employed to improve linearity deterioration due to mobility degradation effect and to terminate differential output nodes for elimination of second-order nonlinear terms. The proposed transconductor has good linearity. Simulation results show that the proposed techniques are effective for improvement of linear characteristics.     

Research and development on nuclear hydrogen production using HTGR at JAERI

JAERI has been conducting R&D on HTGR and on hydrogen production using HTGR. The reactor technology has been developed using HTTR installed at Oarai site of JAERI. HTTR reached its full power operation of 30MW in 2001 and demonstrated reactor outlet helium temperature of 950°C in April 2004. As for the hydrogen production technology, the thermo-chemical IS process is under study. The process control method for continuous hydrogen production has been examined using a bench-scale apparatus. Also, studies are underway on process improvement and on materials of construction to be used in the corrosive environment. As for the system integration of HTGR and the hydrogen production plant, R&D is underway aiming to develop technologies for safe and economical connection. It covers safety technology against explosion, safety technology against radioactive materials release, control technology to prevent the thermal disturbance from hydrogen production plant to reactor, etc.     

Color correction for multi-view video using energy minimization of view networks

Systems using numerous cameras are emerging in many fields due to their ease of production and reduced cost, and one of the fields where they are expected to be used more actively in the near future is in image-based rendering （IBR）. Color correction between views is necessary to use multi-view systems in IBR to make audiences feel comfortable when views are switched or when a free viewpoint video is displayed. Color correction usually involves two steps： the first is to adjust camera parameters such as gain, brightness, and aperture before capture, and the second is to modify captured videos through image processing. This paper deals with the latter, which does not need a color pattern board. The proposed method uses scale invariant feature transform （SIFT） to detect correspondences, treats RGB channels independently, calculates lookup tables with an energy-minimization approach, and corrects captured video with these tables. The experimental results reveal that this approach works well.     

Analytical study on effect of ring geometry on frequency shift of piezoelectric ring-shaped resonator

Ring-shaped resonators with one and four-point-outer-pinned supports have been designed in this work. The ring-shaped resonator reacts with a mass perturbation to provide eigenstate or frequency shifts which could transfer to electrical signals by piezoelectric effect. The aforementioned ring-shaped resonator is mainly comprised with a multilayer of Pt/Ti/PZT/Pt/Ti/SiO₂ deposited on the silicon-on-insulator wafer and expected to be a contour mode. In order to estimate the sensitivity of the ring-shaped resonator against the mass perturbation, the theoretical analysis was conducted by ANSYS from two aspects including: (a) the view point of geometrical design and (b) the mass application methodology. When a mass perturbation (i.e., a liquid droplet) of 10?pg is homogeneously contacting on the top electrode of the resonator, frequency shifts from 2.11 to 4.07?kHz could be obtained when excited in the contour mode. Furthermore, the more stabled vibration behavior of resonator with four-point-pinned supports was approved by the computer stimulation of ANSYS analysis results.     

Preparation of polyynes up to C22H2 by liquid-phase laser ablation and their immobilization into SiO2 gel

Long-chain polyynes up to C₂₂H₂ were prepared by the liquid-phase laser ablation of a graphite pellet. Short-chain polyynes (C₄H₂, C₆H₂, C₈H₂ and C₁₀H₂) prepared simultaneously were identified not by UV-Vis spectra but by LC/MS spectra because C₄H₂ and C₆H₂ have absorption peaks at short wavelengths below 200 nm. Polyynes could first be immobilized in a SiO₂ dried gel, which was confirmed by UV-Vis spectra of the gel.     

Stoichiometric complexes between cyclic phenylazomethines and a dialkyl phosphate for molecular tiling at the air-water interface

The molecular tiling method is proposed as a novel methodology to provide an artificial molecular arrangement at the air-water interface by assembling rigid amphiphilic units like tile pieces. In this study, the mixed monolayers of cyclic phenylazomethine (CPA) as a rigid triangle basement and dihexadecyl phosphate (DHP) as a monolayer-forming component were investigated by pi-A isotherm measurement and Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy in the reflection-absorption mode in order to provide basic knowledge of molecular tiling design. Although the CPA molecules alone cannot form a stable monolayer on water, monolayers of DHP/CPA mixtures showed two-step condensed phases that reflect two kinds of assembling modes of alkyl chains of these components. FTIR spectra of the transferred monolayers indicated specific interaction of the amine part in CPA and the phosphate moiety of DHP. pi-A isotherms of the systematic change in the mixing ratio revealed the binding stoichiometry between DHP and the CPA to be 3:1. Interaction of DHP molecules to three basic sites of CPA and matching in cross-sectional area between three DHP molecules and CPA core would result in the stable formation of the 3:1 complex.     

Development of thin film based flexible current clamp sensor using screen-printed coil

This paper reports a novel flexible current clamp sensor with 480 turns silver paste coil (line/space = 50/50 μm) formed by through-holes and screen-printing technologies. Using screen-printing techniques, fine stripe patterns could be formed on a 50-mm-long and 10-mm-wide polyimide film in few seconds. Coil resistance between their contact pads is about 2.3 kΩ. When the value of a primary current was 20 A, the output voltage was 22.6 mV. Furthermore, the output voltage changed linearly with the changing of the primary current in the 0–20 A range. The sensor is developed using only coating, through-holes laser drilling, and screen-printing technologies. Therefore it can be fabricated by a reel-to-reel continuous film processing system.     

Glacier changes in Glacier Bay,Alaska, during 2000–2012

This article presents measurements of glacier surface areas, mean snow line altitude (MSLA) values, mean snow accumulation area ratio (MAAR) values, and elevation changes in the Glacier Bay, Alaska, using Landsat Thematic Mapper (TM)/Landsat Enhanced Thematic Mapper Plus (ETM+) images and digital elevation models (DEMs) from Shuttle Radar Topography Mission (SRTM) and interferometric synthetic aperture radar (IFSAR) data during 2000–2012. Glacier area estimation results showed that Desolation glacier and Fairweather glacier have lost 2.6% and 2.2% of the glacier area, respectively. Only minor surface area changes were seen in Cascade glacier, Crillon glacier, and Lituya glacier during the study period. The results of MSLA and MAAR showed that the MSLA of Fairweather glacier, Lituya glacier, and Desolation glacier increased by about 120–289 m and the MAAR of Fairweather glacier, Lituya glacier, and Desolation glacier decreased by about 3–6%. In contrast, MSLA and MAAR of Crillon glacier decreased by about 70 m and increased by about 1%, respectively. Glacier elevation change results showed that 7.7 m, 4.6 m and 1.5 m of mean thinning change were observed, respectively, on Fairweather glacier, Lituya glacier, and Desolation glacier. However, 7 m and 0.65 m of mean thickening were, respectively, experienced on Cascade glacier and Crillon glacier in the same period. Results from the study indicated that glacier retreat (Fairweather glacier, Lituya glacier, and Desolation glacier) affected by higher temperatures probably dominates with over-increased precipitation. However, increasing debris cover on the glacier surface can also modify the glacier dynamic, resulting in a different response to global warming.     

Dependence of ion beam current on position of mobile plate tuner in multi-frequencies microwaves electron cyclotron resonance ion source

We are constructing a tandem-type electron cyclotron resonance ion source (ECRIS). The first stage of this can supply 2.45 GHz and 11-13 GHz microwaves to plasma chamber individually and simultaneously. We optimize the beam current I(FC) by the mobile plate tuner. The I(FC) is affected by the position of the mobile plate tuner in the chamber as like a circular cavity resonator. We aim to clarify the relation between the I(FC) and the ion saturation current in the ECRIS against the position of the mobile plate tuner. We obtained the result that the variation of the plasma density contributes largely to the variation of the I(FC) when we change the position of the mobile plate tuner.     

Prototype development of a roller imprint system and its application to large area polymer replication for a microstructured optical device

In this study, the prototype of a thermal roller imprint lithography (RIL) system was developed and applied to RIL tests to evaluate its feasibility for the large area replication of an optical micro device. The developed system adapts an automatic stamp releasing mechanism and has the capacity to replicate ultra-precision structures on an area of 100 mm × 100 mm at the scanning speed range of 0.1–10 mm/s. For RIL tests, 1 mm-thick polyethylene terephthalate (PET) plastic plates and 100 μm-thick cycloolefin resin films were used as imprint materials. All samples were 100 mm × 100 mm in size. The combination of a thin and flexible polymer film and an elastomeric adhesive sheet was effective for both rapid processing and uniform replication. For given RIL conditions (700 N press force and T_g + 50 °C roller temperature), the complete filling for a 1 mm-thick PET sample was achieved at the roller scan speeds of 0.1 mm/s, whereas that for a 100 μm-thick cycloolefin sample could be obtained at the roller scan speeds of <2 mm/s with much better replication uniformity over a whole surface area. Finally, a light guide plate (LGP) for a back light panel was fabricated by RIL.