A low-photocurrent CMOS retinal focal-plane sensor with a pseudo-BJT smoothing network and an adaptive current Schmitt trigger for scanner applications

In this work, a new structure of low-photocurrent CMOS retinal focal-plane sensor with pseudo-BJT smoothing network and adaptive current Schmitt trigger is proposed. The proposed structure is very simple and compact. This new circuit can easily be implemented in CMOS technology with a small chip area. Another innovation of this circuit is that the proposed circuit could be operated for low-induced current levels (pA), and the current hysteresis of the proposed current Schmitt trigger could be adjusted adaptively according to the value of induced photocurrents. In this work, the detection of static and moving objects, such as a moving white bar, are proven by projecting a pattern through HSPICE simulation. The proposed retinal focal-plane sensor includes a 32 /spl times/ 32 pixel array with a pixel size of 70 /spl times/ 70 /spl mu/m/sup 2/. The fill factor is 75% and the total chip area is 3000 /spl times/ 3030 /spl mu/m/sup 2/. It is with fully functional 32 /spl times/ 32 implementations consuming less than 8.8 /spl mu/W per pixel at 3.3 V. Measurement results show that the proposed new retinal focal-plane sensor has successfully been used in character recognition of scanner systems, such as pen scanners, etc.     

Novel high-response electromagnetic actuator for electronic engraving system

We describe a new moving-iron electromagnetic actuator that utilizes cantilever-beam-type springs, /spl pi/ type armature, full-bridge magnetic circuits, and a single driving coil. The actuator is suitable for electromechanical converters with high response and minor displacement for use in electronic engraving systems. We analyzed its static and dynamic characteristics by using a three-dimensional finite-element method. We used a simple and practical measuring method based on light reflection to detect the actuator's real hysteresis loop and amplitude frequency response characteristics. The results show that the actuator has a displacement of /spl plusmn/65 /spl mu/m, hysteresis of less than 5.5%, and amplitude cutoff frequency of 3.1 kHz. We tested the actuator on a real engraving system and confirmed its characteristics by the engraving results.     

U-type piezoelectric thin-film microactuator for hard disk drives

We have designed, fabricated, and investigated a new dual-stage actuator system based on a thin-film lead-zirconate-titanate (PZT) microactuator and a voice coil motor for positioning a magnetic head in a high-density hard disk drive (HDD). We made the PZT microactuator by using a modified sol-gel technique to deposit PZT thin film and applying reactive ion etching processes to shape the device. We studied the crystalline structure and growth behavior of the piezoelectric films by X-ray diffraction and scanning electron microscopy and found that the PZT material preferably has a composition of Pb(Zr/sub 0.52/Ti/sub 0/.48)O/sub 3/. We also tested and simulated the U-type SUS304 substrate integrated with two single-layer PZT elements in order to investigate the driving mechanics. The device performance is outstanding. With the peak-to-peak head displacement of 1.08 /spl mu/m at the applied voltage of /spl plusmn/20 V and the suspension response frequency higher than 12 kHz, both displacement/voltage sensitivity and resonant frequency are high enough for the device to be used in future high-density HDDs.     

Reverse-order source/drain formation with double offset spacer (RODOS) for low-power and high-speed application

We proposed "reverse-order source/drain formation with double offset spacer" (RODOS) structure for low-power and high-speed applications. Both simulation and experimental data were used to evaluate the potential of the structure. It showed improved performance in terms of poly-depletion effect, dc characteristics, gate delay (CV/I), switching energy (CV/sup 2/) and linearity (V/sub IP3/). It satisfied all the requirements of LOP and LSTP for 90 nm technology node in ITRS 2002. Simulation predicted 794 /spl mu/A//spl mu/m in on-current, 0.1 nA//spl mu/m in off-current, 65 mV/V in DIBL, 80 mV/dec in SS, 1.29 ps in gate delay, 198 GHz in f/sub T/ and 0.151 fJ in switching energy in addition to enhanced linearity. Finally, we confirmed the high feasibility and potential of the RODOS MOSFET's for low-power and high-speed applications such as an LNA in portable communication appliances.     

50-nm fully depleted SOI CMOS technology with HfO/sub 2/ gate dielectric and TiN gate

In this paper, we demonstrate for the first time CMOS thin-film metal gate FDSOI devices using HfO/sub 2/ gate dielectric at the 50-nm physical gate length. Symmetric V/sub T/ is achieved for long-channel nMOS and pMOS devices using midgap TiN single metal gate with undoped channel and high-k dielectric. The devices show excellent performance with a I/sub on/=500 /spl mu/A//spl mu/m and I/sub off/=10 nA//spl mu/m at V/sub DD/=1.2 V for nMOSFET and I/sub on/=212 /spl mu/A//spl mu/m and I/sub off/=44 pA//spl mu/m at V/sub DD/=-1.2 V for pMOSFET, with a CET=30 /spl Aring/ and a gate length of 50 nm. DIBL and SS values as low as 70 mV/V nand 77 mV/dec, respectively, are obtained with a silicon film thickness of 14 nm. Ring oscillators with 15 ps stage delay at V/sub DD/=1.2 V are also realized.     

Piezoelectric micromotor based on the structure of serial bending arms

This paper presents a new piezoelectric micromotor based on the structure of serial bending arms. Serial bending arms are composed of two piezoelectric bimorphs with one end fixed and the other end free, driven by two signals of a biased square wave with a phase difference of /spl pi//2. The free end of a cantilever arm will move along an elliptic orbit so that the cantilever is used to drive a cylinder rotor. The rotor's end surface contacts the free end of the cantilever, resulting in the rotor's rotation. There are six serial bending arms anchored on the base. The driving mechanism of the micromotor is proposed and analyzed. A new micromotor prototype, 5 mm in diameter, has been fabricated and characterized. The maximum rotational speed reaches 325 rpm, and the output torque is about 36.5 /spl mu/Nm.     

Design, optimization, and performance analysis of new photodiode structures for CMOS active-pixel-sensor (APS) imager applications

The dark current in the active-pixel-sensor (APS) cell of a CMOS imager is known to be mainly generated in the regions of bird's beak after the local oxidation of silicon process as well as the surface damage caused by the implantation of high doping concentration. Furthermore, shallow and deep pn-junctions can improve the photo-sensitivity for light of short and long wavelengths, respectively. In this paper, two new photodiode structures using p-substrate and lightly-doped sensor implant SN- as pn-junction photodiode with the regions of bird's beak embraced by SN- and p-field implants, respectively, are proposed and analyzed to reduce dark current and enhance the overall spectral response. 5 /spl mu/m/spl times/5 /spl mu/m APS cells fabricated in a 0.35-/spl mu/m single-poly-triple-metal (1P3M) 3.3-V CMOS process are designed by using the proposed photodiode structures. As shown from the experimental results, the two proposed photodiode structures of 5 /spl mu/m/spl times/5 /spl mu/m APS cells have lower dark currents of 30.6 mV/s and 35.2 mV/s at the reverse-biased voltage of 2 V and higher spectral response, as compared to the conventional structure and other photodiode structures. Thus, the two proposed new photodiode structures can be applied to CMOS imager systems with small pixel size, high resolution, and high quality.     

Fabrication of ultralow-profile micromachined inductor with magnetic core material

We have fabricated a microinductor with an ultralow profile by a microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) technique. The fabrication process uses UV-LIGA, dry etching, fine polishing, and electroplating to achieve high performance. The dimensions of the inductor are 1500 /spl mu/m/spl times/900 /spl mu/m/spl times/100 /spl mu/m. It has 41 turns, with coil width of 20 /spl mu/m, space of 20 /spl mu/m, and a high aspect ratio of 5 : 1. The inductance is 0.424 /spl mu/H and the quality factor (Q factor) is about 1.7 at a frequency of 1 MHz. The stray capacitance is approximately zero over the frequency range measured.     

Optical deflection measurement for characterization of microelectromechanical systems (MEMS)

Nonintrusive measurement of small out-of-plane motions of microscale structures is critical to the development of microelectromechanical systems (MEMS). This paper presents a low-cost deflection measurement system for MEMS structures based on a fiber optic displacement sensor. The system is demonstrated in the characterization of a microwave switch. The deflection system had a demonstrated sensitivity of 290/spl plusmn/32 /spl mu/V/nm over a deflection range of 100 /spl mu/m. The calibration and linearity of the system are described, and the static and dynamic performance is compared to more elaborate systems.     

Theory of curved, clamped, piezoelectric film, air-borne transducers

Differential equations in the cylindrical coordinate system have been solved to calculate vibration mode of a curved, clamped, piezoelectric multilayer film. Type I has two clamps at straight ends with uniform film curvature, and Type II has the same two clamps with nonuniform curvature in which the radii are different for the central region and for side regions. The solutions include a uniform displacement term, flexural waves with sinusoidal terms, and a hyperbolic cosine term. By numerical computations, the vibration modes and frequency response of displacement are shown, as are various transducer performances. Mechanical losses of the layer materials were taken as complex Young's moduli with Q values assumed to be constant with frequency. Numerical calculations for 28-/spl mu/m PVDF with 25-/spl mu/m polyester enforcement have shown that (1) the resonance frequency is not necessarily proportional to the inverse of curvature radius as classical theory describes, and, furthermore, resonance diminishes for a certain range of radii, forming a stop band; (2) a back air cavity thinner than 150 /spl mu/m significantly increases the resonance frequency; (3) Type II generates much higher output pressure than Type I; (4) receiver sensitivities for Type I and Type II are not much different; and (5) the effect of radiation impedance is small leading to /spl sim/7% output reduction.     

基于光控压电混合驱动悬臂梁独立模态控制

本文提出利用镧改性锆钛酸铅（PLZT）的光电效应,将PLZT作为电动势源来驱动压电作动器,从而实现光控板壳结构的振动控制。基于光控压电等效电学模型建立了光控压电混合驱动的数学模型,并进行了实验验证。为了实现光控悬臂梁的独立模态控制,针对悬臂梁结构,设计了正交模态传感器/作动器表面电极形状函数。提出PLZT与压电作动器正/反接控制的激励策略,并结合速度反馈定光强控制的控制算法,利用Newmark-β法对不同光照强度下悬臂梁的动态响应进行了数值仿真分析。分析结果证明了本文所设计的模态传感器/作动器及针对光控压电混合驱动提出的控制策略的正确性。     

A CMOS focal-plane motion sensor with BJT-based retinal smoothing network and modified correlation-based algorithm

This work presents and implements a CMOS real-time focal-plane motion sensor intended to detect the global motion, using the bipolar junction transistor (BJT)-based retinal smoothing network and the modified correlation-based algorithm. In the proposed design, the BJT-based retinal photoreceptor and smoothing network are adopted to acquire images and enhance the contrast of an image while the modified correlation-based algorithm is used in signal processing to determine the velocity and direction of the incident image. The deviations of the calculated velocity and direction for different image patterns are greatly reduced by averaging the correlated output over 16 frame-sampling periods. The proposed motion sensor includes a 32/spl times/32 pixel array with a pixel size of 100/spl times/100 /spl mu/m/sup 2/. The fill factor is 11.6% and the total chip area is 4200/spl times/4000 /spl mu/m/sup 2/. The DC power consumption is 120 mW at 5 V in the dark. Experimental results have successfully confirmed that the proposed motion sensor can work with different incident images and detect a velocity between 1 pixel/s and 140,000 pixels/s via controlling the frame-sampling period. The minimum detectable displacement in a frame-sampling period is 5 /spl mu/m. Consequently, the proposed high-performance new motion sensor can be applied to many real-time motion detection systems.     

Microelectronic capacitance transducer for particle detection

This paper describes the CMOS circuit design of a sensor for detecting changes of capacitance due, for instance, to the incidence of particles or bubbles on the electrodes. The circuit is based on a simple design originating at the University of California, Berkeley, for measuring crosstalk on integrated circuits. The basic front-end sensor circuit comprises eight MOSFETs and has a sensitivity of 40 mV/fF. A differential amplifier receives the outputs from two sensor circuits each having 20-/spl mu/m square inter-digitated electrodes. The resulting sensitivity of the fabricated sensor is 1 V/fF with a noise level equivalent to 10 aF. Monte Carlo circuit simulations have been used to identify transistor dimensions to yield acceptable yield, and prototype custom silicon chips have been fabricated using a 0.8-/spl mu/m CMOS process. Static and dynamic tests, using polyamide particles as small as 10-/spl mu/m diameter, verify correct operation of the sensors. The sensor is now being developed for application in miniature electrical tomography systems.     

A dual pixel-type array for imaging and motion centroid localization

An imager chip has been designed, fabricated, and tested having two unique pixel types interleaved on the same array. The dual-pixel design enables optimization for two separate tasks. One type of pixel is an active pixel sensor (APS), which is used to produce a low-noise image. The other type is a custom-designed pixel optimized for computing the centroid of a moving object in the scene. The APS array is 120 columns /spl times/36 rows, with a pixel size of 14.7/spl times/14.7 /spl mu/m. The centroid array has 60 columns and 36 rows, with a larger pixel size of 29.4/spl times/29.4 /spl mu/m. The chip was fabricated using standard scalable rules on a 0.5 /spl mu/m 1P3M CMOS process. APS images were taken at a frame rate of 30 fps-8300 fps and centroid data was taken at a rate of 180-3580 (x,y) coordinates per second. The chip consumed 2.6 mW.     

Development and comparative analysis of fluxgate magnetic sensor structures in PCB technology

In this paper, we present a family of fluxgate magnetic sensors on printed circuit boards (PCBs), suitable for an electronic compass. This fabrication process is simple and inexpensive and uses commercially available thin ferromagnetic materials. We developed and analyzed the prototype sensors with software tools based on the finite-element method. We developed both singleand double-axis planar fluxgate magnetic sensors as well as front-end circuitry based on second-harmonic detection. Two amorphous magnetic materials, Vitrovac 6025X (25 /spl mu/m thick) and Vitrovac 6025Z (20 /spl mu/m thick), were used as the ferromagnetic core. We found that the same structures can be made with Metglas ferromagnetic core. The double-axis fluxgate magnetic sensor has a sensitivity of about 1.25 mV//spl mu/T with a linearity error of 1.5% full scale, which is suitable for detecting Earth's magnetic field (/spl plusmn/60 /spl mu/T full-scale) in an electronic compass.     

Electrostatically actuated resonant microcantilever beam in CMOS technology for the detection of chemical weapons

The design, fabrication, and testing of a resonant cantilever beam in complementary metal-oxide semiconductor (CMOS) technology is presented in this paper. The resonant cantilever beam is a gas-sensing device capable of monitoring hazardous vapors and gases at trace concentrations. The new design of the cantilever beam described here includes interdigitated fingers for electrostatic actuation and a piezoresistive Wheatstone bridge design to read out the deflection signal. The reference resistors of the Wheatstone bridge are fabricated on auxiliary beams that are immediately adjacent to the actuated device. The whole device is fabricated using a 0.6-/spl mu/m, three-metal, double-poly CMOS process, combined with subsequent micromachining steps. A custom polymer layer is applied to the surface of the microcantilever beam to enhance its sorptivity to a chemical nerve agent. Exposing the sensor with the nerve agent simulant dimethylmethylphosphonate (DMMP), provided a demonstrated detection at a concentration of 20 ppb or 0.1 mg/m/sup 3/. These initial promising results were attained with a relatively simple design, fabricated in standard CMOS, which could offer an inexpensive option for mass production of a miniature chemical detector, which contains on chip electronics integrated to the cantilever beam.     

Laser ablation patterning by interference induces directional cell growth

Laser-patterning by interference is a method to introduce micropatterns on the surface of TXL and TXB, which were shown to have an effect on the L929 growth. In this experiment, we have produced collagen-coated and laser-patterned TXL and TXB with different dimensions; the groove width of the line patterns varied approximately from 1.2 /spl mu/m to 9.7 /spl mu/m, ridge depth varied from 0.4 /spl mu/m to 1.3 /spl mu/m, and the groove depth varied between 0.4 /spl mu/m and 1.3 /spl mu/m. Therefore, a homogeneous smooth surface was achieved, and that L929 growth was only affected by the different dimensions of the line patterns. All the laser-patterned TXL and TXB have shown inducing different degrees of directional growth of L929 that the cells grew in the direction aligning the microgrooves. However, the different widths of the microgrooves were demonstrated to play an important role in determining cell morphology and growth orientation. For example, cells were elongated when they grew on the narrower widths, which were 1.26 /spl mu/m, 1.91 /spl mu/m, and 5.04 /spl mu/m while cells tended to be triangular when grew on wider width about 9.76 /spl mu/m. In addition, L929 might grow only on the top of the laser-patterns attaching the ridges when the groove widths were narrow, but might grow into the microgrooves when the width went beyond 5.04 /spl mu/m.     

A Resistivity Gradient Piezoelectric FGM Actuator

To whom correspondence should be addressedE-mail: zymeng@guomai.sh.cn1. IntroductionDuring the last several years the application ofpiezoelectric materials as reliable micro scale positioner has undergone considerable research and development work[1-3]. The two most common typesof piezoelectric actuators are the multilayer ceramicactuator with internal electrodes and the cantileveredbimorph actuator. However these technologies havetheir limitations in regard to size, weight, maximum displacem…     

CMOS pixels for subretinal implantable prothesis

This work reports on the design, fabrication, and characterization of CMOS pixels for subretinal implants, which seems to be an effective way to recover visual capabilities in some types of blindness. Two possible approaches are presented for CMOS pixel implementation: 1) an approach based on a light-controlled oscillator (LICOS) using a ring oscillator with an odd number of inverters and 2) an approach based on distributing a square signal at each pixel that filters out a number of pulses depending of the light intensity wave across the chip (WATCH). Both types of pixels fabricated in 0.35-/spl mu/m CMOS demonstrate good mimic of the electrical behavior of human retina, with low-power consumption (typically 1 mW for a 14/spl times/14 matrix of pixels) and having small dimensions (75/spl times/78.5 /spl mu/m/sup 2/ for LICOS and 70/spl times/50 /spl mu/m/sup 2/ for WATCH), which make them suitable for practical implants. Experimental validation is reported on physiological solutions. Because of its characteristic, the proposed matrix of pixels could be considered as one of the first stand-alone highly integrated solutions for subretinal implant chips.     

Piezoelectric ultrasonic micromotor with 1.5 mm diameter

A piezoelectric ultrasonic micromotor has been developed using a lead zirconate titanate (PZT) ceramic/metal composite tube stator that was 1.5 mm in diameter and 7 mm in length. The micromotor was operated in its first bending vibration mode (/spl sim/70 kHz), producing speeds from hundreds to over 2000 rpm in both rotational directions. The maximum torque-output was 45 /spl mu/N-m, which is far superior to previous PZT thin film-based micromotors. This micromotor showed good reliability and stability for more than 300 hours of continued operation.