U-grooved SIT CMOS technology with 3 fJ and 49 ps (7 mW, 350 fJ)operation

Static induction transistor (SIT) CMOS is analyzed by a circuit simulation method. According to the results, the propagation delay time of the SIT CMOS could be represented as the ratio of the load capacitance to the transconductance. The U-grooved structure plays an important role in the fabrication of MOS SIT with large transconductance and small parasitic capacitance. U-grooved SIT CMOS has been fabricated by anisotropic plasma etching, and its switching speed has been evaluated by a 31-stage ring oscillator. A minimum ρ-τ product of 3 fJ/gate has been obtained for a design rule of 1-μm channel length. A minimum propagation delay time of 49 ps/gate has also been obtained at a dissipation power of 7 mW/gate, which corresponds to a ρ-τ product of 350 fJ/gate     

Numerical modeling of SiC-CVD in a horizontal hot-wall reactor

A numerical simulation was carried out on SiC-CVD in a horizontal hot-wall reactor. In order to explain the effect of surface polarity, Si-face and C-face, the surface reaction model was improved. Then, the growth processes and doping features of both Si-face and C-face were analyzed. The role of conditions at growing surface, such as surface mass flux of both Si-containing and C-containing species, surface concentration of Si-containing and C-containing species and their ratio, is investigated. Then, the deposition and etching rates, and doping concentration are analyzed as the function of those parameters. In addition, surface morphology of growing epitaxial layer is also investigated in connection with growing surface condition.     

Frequency-Tunable Terahertz-Wave Generation from GaP Using Cr:Forsterite Lasers

We have constructed THz spectrometers using the widely frequency-tunable THz-wave generated from GaP crystal pumped at 1.2 µm region using two Cr:forsterite lasers and compared with that pumped at 1 µm region using a YAG laser and an optical parametric oscillator (OPO). The systems have sufficient resolution for observation of solids and liquids at room temperature. We have measured Terahertz absorption spectra of all 20 kinds of amino acids which form proteins.     

Co含量对Co-C纳米复合薄膜磁性能和磁电阻的影响

采用磁控共溅射法制备了Co含量介于6.4at%~16.4at%的Co-C纳米复合薄膜。形貌观察表明,Co纳米颗粒均匀分散在C基体中,相邻Co颗粒被C基体较好地分离,样品呈现典型的颗粒薄膜结构。Co颗粒平均尺寸随Co含量增加而增大。薄膜在低温下磁性较强,在室温下磁性较弱;磁化强度随Co含量增加显著提高。当温度为4.2K、磁场为90×79.6kA·m-1时,在Co含量为6.4at%、8.3at%和9.6at%的Co-C薄膜中分别观察到9.1%、4.3%和1.9%的负磁电阻,为碳基磁性颗粒薄膜获得优异磁输运性能提供可能。受微结构变化影响,样品磁电阻值随Co含量的增加而下降。     

The switch mechanism of the cell death mode from apoptosis to necrosis in menadione-treated human osteosarcoma cell line 143B cells

Time-dependent changes in the cell death mode from apoptosis to necrosis were studied in cultured 143B cells treated with menadione, an anti-cancerous drug, excluding a possible involvement of "secondary necrosis." The population of apoptotic cells judged by FITC-Annexin V and propidium iodide (PI) double staining reached its maximum at 6 hours after 100 microM menadione treatment followed by an abrupt decrease thereafter, while that of necrotic cells continuously increased reaching 90% at 24 hours. Electron microscopically, cells attached to the culture dish at 6 hours after the treatment consisted of two different types of cells: cells with typical apoptotic features occupying the major population and those with condensed nuclei and swollen cytoplasm. Cells attached to the culture dish at 8 hours after the treatment consisted exclusively of those with condensed nuclei and swollen cytoplasm. Mitochondria in these cells showed various structural changes: those swollen to various degrees with deposition of flocculent densities, or those with highly condensed matrix. Distinct decreases both in intracellular levels of ATP and caspase-3-like activities and remarkable elevations of intracellular levels of superoxide, which were partly suppressed by NAD(P)H oxidase inhibitors, occurred at 6 hours after the treatment. These results may suggest that distinct increases of the intracellular level of superoxide derived from plasma membrane NAD(P)H oxidase besides that from mitochondria have triggered the transition of cell death mode from apoptosis to necrosis. Transition of highly condensed mitochondria to extremely swollen ones may reflect necrotic processes in menadione-treated cells. The present study strongly suggests that time-dependent study is essential using the electron microscopic technique to analyze detailed processes in the changes of the cell death mode.     

Measurement of optical-beat frequency in a photoconductive terahertz-wave generator using microwave higher harmonics

A new method for measuring optical-beat frequencies in the terahertz (THz) region using microwave higher harmonics is presented. A microwave signal was applied to the antenna gap of a photoconductive (PC) device emitting a continuous electromagnetic wave at about 1 THz by the photomixing technique. The microwave higher harmonics with THz frequencies are generated in the PC device owing to the nonlinearity of the biased photoconductance, which is briefly described in this article. Thirteen nearly periodic peaks in the photocurrent were observed when the microwave was swept from 16 to 20 GHz at a power of -48 dBm. The nearly periodic peaks are generated by the homodyne detection of the optical beat with the microwave higher harmonics when the frequency of the harmonics coincides with the optical-beat frequency. Each peak frequency and its peak width were determined by fitting a Gaussian function, and the order of microwave harmonics was determined using a coarse (i.e., lower resolution) measurement of the optical-beat frequency. By applying the Kalman algorithm to the peak frequencies of the higher harmonics and their standard deviations, the optical-beat frequency near 1 THz was estimated to be 1029.81 GHz with the standard deviation of 0.82 GHz. The proposed method is applicable to a conventional THz-wave generator with a photomixer.