A CMOS multichannel 10-Gb/s transceiver

We describe a CMOS multichannel transceiver that transmits and receives 10 Gb/s per channel over balanced copper media. The transceiver consists of two identical 10-Gb/s modules. Each module operates off a single 1.2-V supply and has a single 5-GHz phase-locked loop to supply a reference clock to two transmitter (Tx) channels and two receiver (Rx) channels. To track the input-signal phase, the Rx channel has a clock recovery unit (CRU), which uses a phase-interpolator-based timing generator and digital loop filter. The CRU can adjust the recovered clock phase with a resolution of 1.56 ps. Two sets of two-channel transceiver units were fabricated in 0.11-/spl mu/m CMOS on a single test chip. The transceiver unit size was 1.6 mm /spl times/ 2.6 mm. The Rx sensitivity was 120-mVp-p differential with a 70-ps phase margin for a common-mode voltage ranging from 0.6 to 1.0 V. The evaluated jitter tolerance curve met the OC-192 specification.     

Effect of the addition of silver compounds during the pyrolysis of manganese nitrate on tantalum anodic oxide film

A study of the pyrolysis of an aqueous solution of manganese nitrate in the presence of silver compounds has been carried out. Thermal analysis showed that the MnO₂ formation temperature and the transformation temperature from MnO₂ to Mn₂O₃ shifted towards a lower temperature in the presence of silver acetate. A large particle-size and high crystallinity MnO₂ was formed; this may be a useful method of making an excellent tantalum capacitor with high capacitance.     

Experimental study of venous circulatory disturbance by dural sinus occlusion

Using a newly devised model of dural sinus occlusion, we investigated the pathophysiology of venous haemorrhage as well as venous circulatory disturbance. The superior sagittal sinus (SSS) and diploic veins (DV) were occluded in 16 cats. Intracranial pressure (ICP), cerebral blood volume (CBV) and regional cerebral blood flow (rCBF) were measured for 12 hours after the occlusion. At the end of the experiment, cerebral water content was estimated. In another 8 cats additional occlusions of cortical veins were carried out. In both groups, the blood-brain barrier permeability was evaluated with Evans blue or horseradish peroxidase. The SSS and DV occlusion produced a significant increase in ICP and CBV concomitant with a significant decrease in rCBF. Cerebral water content also increased significantly. However, there was no transition of Evans blue and horseradish peroxidase through the cerebral vessels, and no haemorrhages could be observed. In contrast, the additional occlusion of cortical veins produced haemorrhagic infarctions with Evans blue extravasation in 6 out of the 8 cats. These data suggest that dural sinus occlusion may lead to an increase in CBV and cerebral water content resulting in intracranial hypertension and decreased rCBF. The brain oedema in this model seemed to be mainly hydrostatic oedema, and might also be contributed by cytotoxic oedema. The additional occlusion of cortical veins might be essential in the development of haemorrhage in this model, and the blood-brain barrier was also disrupted in these areas.     

Damage tolerance of glass mat/epoxy laminates hybridized with flexible resin under static and impact loading

This study deals with the impact property and damage tolerance of matrix hybrid composite laminates with different laminate constitution. The matrix hybrid composite laminates consisted of the laminae with a conventional epoxy resin and the laminae with a flexible epoxy resin modified from the conventional resin to avoid the interlaminar delamination. The impact energy absorption ratio greatly depended on the matrix resin placed at the impact face. The energy absorption was almost constant if the conventional resin was placed at the impact surface layer, while it increased exponentially with the increasing fraction of the flexible resin if the flexible resin was placed at the impact face. The impact energy was absorbed by the damage development and propagation in the laminate with conventional resin laminae as the impacted face, while it was absorbed by both the recoverable deformation of the flexible resin and the damage propagation in the laminate with flexible resin laminae as the impacted face.     

Au/Pt/Ti/Ni ohmic contacts to p-ZnTe

Ohmic contacts of Au/Pd/Ti/Ni to p-ZnTe show a minimum specific contact resistance of 10^-6 Ωcm² for a p-type doping level of 3×10¹⁹ cm^-3 and at an annealing temperature of 300°C. The Ni and Ti layers are very effective in improving the electrical properties of these contact     

A semi-static complementary gain cell technology for sub-1 V supplyDRAM's

A new semi-static complementary gain cell for future low power DRAM's has been proposed and experimentally demonstrated. This gain cell consists of a write-transistor and its opposite conduction type read-transistor with a heating gate as a storage node which causes a shift in the threshold voltage. This gain cell provides a two orders of magnitude larger cell signal output and higher immunity to noise on the bitlines when compared with a conventional one-transistor DRAM cell without increasing the storage capacitance even at a supply voltage of 0.8 V. The 0.87 μm² cell size is achieved by using a 0.25 μm design rule with a polysilicon thin-film transistor built in the trench and phase shifted i-line lithography     

NiCoFe/C cathode electrocatalysts for direct ethanol fuel cells

A direct ethanol fuel cell (DEFC), which is less prone to ethanol crossover, is reported. The cell consists of PtRu/C catalyst as the anode, Nafion^® 117 membrane, and Ni–Co–Fe (NCF) composite catalyst as the cathode. The NCF catalyst was synthesized by mixing Ni, Co, and Fe complexes into a polymer matrix (melamine-formaldehyde resins), followed by heating the mixture at 800 °C under inert atmosphere. TEM and EDX experiments suggest that the NCF catalyst has alloy structures of Ni, Co and Fe. The catalytic activity of the NCF catalyst for the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) was compared with that of commercially available Pt/C (CAP) catalyst at different ethanol concentrations. The decrease in open circuit voltage (V_oc) of the DEFC equipped with the NCF catalysts was less than that of CAP catalyst at higher ethanol concentrations. The NCF catalyst was less prone to ethanol oxidation at cathode even when ethanol crossover occurred through the Nafion^®117 film, which prevents voltage drop at the cathode. However, the CAP catalyst did oxidize ethanol at the cathode and caused a decrease in voltage at higher ethanol concentrations.