Experimental and theoretical analysis of energy capability ofRESURF LDMOSFETs and its correlation with static electrical safeoperating area (SOA)

Thermal and electrical destruction of 55 V single and double reduced surface field (RESURF) lateral double-diffused MOSFETs (LDMOSFETs) in smart power ICs are investigated by experiments, simulations, and theoretical modeling. Static safe operating area (SOA) and single pulse dynamic SOA (energy capability) have been studied and correlated. Single RESURF device failure and hence the energy capability is controlled by electrical phenomenon for drain to source voltage near breakdown voltages, whereas the energy capability of the double RESURF device is shown to be controlled by thermal phenomenon for voltage ranges up to about 5 V below the breakdown voltage. Measured energy capability data have been used to obtain critical temperatures for device failure, which decreases with an increase in drain to source voltage. We have empirically shown using experimental data that if the dynamic SOA of the device comes within about 2-5× of the static SOA boundary, the device failure is strongly influenced by avalanche multiplication. An analytical model based on Green's function formulation is derived and proposed which can predict energy capability of LDMOSFETs for a wide range of device geometry. The calculated data show excellent matching with the measurements and are within ±10%. A new technique of distributing power within a device by applying less power at the center and more at the edges is proposed, which realizes significant improvement in energy capability by optimizing the temperature distribution within the device     

Preparation of water-dispersible graphene by facile surface modification of graphite oxide

Water-dispersible graphene was prepared by reacting graphite oxide and 6-amino-4-hydroxy-2-naphthalenesulfonic acid (ANS). X-ray diffraction study showed that the basal reflection (002) peak of graphite oxide was absent in the ANS-functionalized graphene (ANS-G), indicating crystal layer delamination. Ultraviolet-visible spectral data were recorded to assess the solubility of the ANS-G in water. Fourier transform infrared spectral analysis suggested the attachment of ANS molecules to the surface of graphene. Raman and x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy revealed that oxygen functionality in the graphite oxide had been removed during reduction. Atomic force microscopy found that the thickness of ANS-G in water was about 1.8 nm, much higher than that of single layer graphene. Thermal stability measurements also indicated successful removal of oxygen functionality from the graphite oxide and the attachment of thermally unstable ANS to the graphene surfaces. The electrical conductivity of ANS-G, determined by a four-point probe, was 145 S m(-1) at room temperature.     

Performance of a stand-alone renewable energy system based on energy storage as hydrogen

Electrolytic hydrogen offers a promising alternative for long-term energy storage of renewable energy (RE). A stand-alone RE system based on energy storage as hydrogen has been developed and installed at the Hydrogen Research Institute, and successfully tested for autonomous operation with developed control system and power conditioning devices. The excess energy produced, with respect to the load requirement, has been sent to the electrolyzer for hydrogen production. When energy produced from the RE sources became insufficient, with respect to the load requirement, the stored hydrogen was fed to a fuel cell to produce electricity. The RE system components have substantially different voltage-current characteristics and they are integrated through power conditioning devices on a dc bus for autonomous operation by using a developed control system. The developed control system has been successfully tested for autonomous operation and energy management of the system. The experimental results clearly indicate that a stand-alone RE system based on hydrogen production is safe and reliable.     

Unified BER and optimum threshold analysis of binary modulations in simple and cascaded Rayleigh fading channels with switched combining

Following a unified analytical framework, the bit error rate (BER) of several coherent and non‐coherent binary modulation schemes is derived for a switched diversity system. The two variants of switched combining that have been investigated are switch and stay combining and switch and examine combining. For channel modelling, at first a simple slow flat fading channel is assumed, where the amplitude attenuation obeys the Rayleigh distribution. Later the BER calculations are repeated for cascaded Rayleigh fading channel case. Rayleigh fading is the most popular model for electromagnetic signal propagation in wireless media when both or either of the transmitter/receiver is fixed. On the other hand, when both the transmitter and the receiver are mobile, a cascaded (or double) Rayleigh fading model is better suited. The applicability of these two models, namely simple and cascaded Rayleigh model, has been indicated by several theoretical studies and their suitability is established by various field measurements. In our paper, simple closed‐form BER expressions as a function of switching threshold have been found and optimum switching thresholds have been computed for both these models as well as for both types of diversity combining described earlier. The results presented in this paper can be very useful for communication system designers to analyze link quality of switched diversity assisted systems in various wireless environments. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

SEP calculations for coherent M‐ary FSK in different fading channels with MRC diversity

In this paper, the authors derive symbol error probability (SEP) expressions for coherent M‐ary frequency shift keying (MFSK) modulation schemes in multipath fading channels. The multipath or small‐scale fading process is assumed to be slow and frequency non‐selective. In addition, the channel is also subjected to the usual degradation caused by the additive white Gaussian noise (AWGN). Different small‐scale fading statistics such as Rayleigh, Rician (Nakagami‐n), Hoyt (Nakagami‐q), and Nakagami‐m have been considered to portray diverse wireless environments. Further, to mitigate fading effects through space diversity, the receiver front‐end is assumed to be equipped with multiple antennas. Independent and identically distributed (IID) as well as uncorrelated signal replicas received through all these antennas are combined with a linear combiner before successive demodulation. As the detection is coherent in nature and thus involves phase estimation, optimum phase‐coherent combining algorithms, such as predetection maximal ratio combining (MRC), may be used without any added complexity to the receiver. In the current text, utilizing the alternate expressions for integer powers (1≤n≤4) of Gaussian Q function, SEP values of coherent MFSK are obtained through moment generating function (MGF) approach for all the fading models (with or without MRC diversity) described above. The derived end expressions are composed of finite range integrals, which can be numerically computed with ease, dispenses with the need of individual expressions for different M, and gives exact values up to M=5. When the constellation size becomes bigger (M≥6), the same SEP expressions provide a quite realistic approximation, much tighter than the bounds found in previous literatures. Error probabilities are graphically displayed for each fading model with different values of constellation size M, diversity order L, and for corresponding fading parameters (K, q, or m). To validate the proposed approximation method extensive Monte‐Carlo simulations were also performed, which show a close match with the analytical results deduced in the paper. Both these theoretical and simulation results offer valuable insight to assess the efficacy of relatively less studied coherent MFSK in the context of the optimum modulation choice in wireless communication. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Workload characterization: A key aspect of microarchitecture design

Micro editor in chief Pradip Bose talks about the issue of workload characterization in the modern setting.     

Determination of interface state density of PtSi/strained-Si1-xGex/Si Schottky diodes

PtSi/p-strained-Si_1-xGe_x (x=0.19 and x=0.29) Schottky barrier diodes have been fabricated and characterized for the determination of barrier height, ideality factor and the interface state density distribution with energy. Diodes having an epitaxial layer thickness of 20 and 52 nm were modeled with emphasis on comparison with experiment. To achieve better agreement with experimental data, an interfacial layer and associated series resistance were included in the model. The capacitance–voltage (C–V) technique has been used for the determination of the energy distribution of interface state density. The interface state density distribution for the Si_0.81Ge_0.19 and Si_0.71Ge_0.29 diodes is found to decrease with increasing energy from the valence band edge.     

On observability with delay: antitheses and syntheses

The idea of observability with delay for discrete-event dynamic systems in a finite state machine framework has been proposed (Ozveren and Wilsky 1990). This note points out some shortcomings in the existing definitions and proposes an alternative one. It also derives necessary and sufficient conditions for the above property that can be tested for easily     

Editorial

Multidimensional Systems and Signal Processing -