Performance Optimization of InSb Infrared Focal-Plane Arrays with Diffractive Microlenses

In this paper, diffractive microlens arrays are studied to concentrate incident light onto the effective photosensitive area of InSb infrared focal-plane arrays and thus enhance the quantum efficiency and reduce the crosstalk. Four designs of diffractive microlenses are investigated by a phase-matched Fresnel-elements approach. The quantum efficiency and crosstalk of the devices are calculated by using a two-dimensional device simulation with unit cell of 50 μm. Light propagation through the diffractive microlenses is simulated by the finite-difference time-domain method based on a rigorous vector solution of Maxwell’s equations. The results show that the highest quantum efficiency of the device with a diffractive microlens array is about 51.6% and the corresponding crosstalk is 5.06%. The quantum efficiency is 2.1% higher than that of the device with a spherical refractive microlens array.     

Endoscopic Visualization of Contact Line Dynamics during Pool Boiling on Capillary-Activated Copper Microchannels

Microchannel surfaces are common to microfluidics, biofluidics, thermal management, and energy applications. Due to processing limitations for the majority of metallic materials, the majority of hyperfine microchannels used in microfluidics and thermo-fluids are fabricated on non-metallic substrates, for example, silicon and polydimethylsiloxane. Here, a technique to fabricate ultrasmall microchannels on arbitrary metallic materials is developed using photolithography in combination with electrochemical deposition. The technique is used to prepare copper microchannels and to investigate the pool boiling heat transfer performance with a focus on the three-phase contact line dynamics. The hydrodynamics of nucleating bubbles during boiling are observed in situ using in-liquid endoscopy. The results show that the variation of critical heat flux enhancement has a linear relationship with the contact line increase ratio. The scalable microchannel surfaces exhibit superior heat transfer performance with a maximum heat transfer coefficient) enhancement of 930% with ultra-low wall superheat of 5  ° C. This work not only develops a scalable manufacturing method to develop ultra-small microchannels on metallic materials, it outlines design guidelines for structure optimization of pool boiling heat transfer for temperature sensitive applications, such as electronics thermal management.     

Experimental Study of Planar Finite Grid Oscillator Arrays

Results of an experimental study on finite grid oscillator arrays and the effects of the edge element loading stubs in such arrays are presented. Three finite grid oscillator arrays, based on the same unit cell, with different number of unit were fabricated on RT/Duroid 5870 substrate and tested in terms of the oscillation frequencies, radiated power and radiation patterns. It is observed that the oscillation frequency of a finite grid array differs from the theoretically prediction based on the infinite array assumption and is strongly affected by the edge element loading stubs. The measurement also indicates that mode-jumping and multi-frequency (spurious) oscillation can exist in grid oscillator arrays.     

Issues in HgCdTe Research and Expected Progress in Infrared Detector Fabrication

The purpose of this paper is to review the trends in HgCdTe research, illustrating the discussed ideas with the latest results obtained at DEFIR (CEA-LETI and Sofradir joint laboratory). The beginning of this paper is devoted to an extended introduction to today’s issues concerning HgCdTe photodiode performance enhancement. In fact, very high-quality material is mandatory for ultrahigh performance at low temperature as well as for high noise operability at high operating temperature (HOT). Therefore, a strong effort has been carried out during the last few years for lattice-matched CdZnTe substrate and HgCdTe active layer growth improvement, leading to very large substrates and ultraflat liquid-phase epitaxy layers. The same analysis holds for diode process quality and passivation. Therefore, the photodiode process has been completely revisited in order to optimize HOT operability. Also necessary for the next generation of HOT devices, some significant progress has been made in small-pixel-pitch interconnection on silicon read-out circuits. Indeed, the first 10-μm focal-plane arrays (FPAs) have been successfully fabricated this year in the mid-wave infrared (IR) band. The latest avalanche photodiode (APD) realizations are also presented with 15-μm-pitch FPAs for passive imaging and 30-μm-pitch ultrafast arrays running at 1.5 kHz full frame rate. Linear-mode photon counting using APDs is also briefly discussed. Finally, the paper concludes on more complex structures for the third generation of IR detectors, discussing the latest achievements in dual-band FPA fabrication in various spectral bands.     

Improved Thermal Behavior of Multiple Linked Arrays of Silicon Nanowires Integrated into Planar Thermoelectric Microgenerators

Low-dimensional structures have been shown to be promising candidates for enhancing the thermoelectric properties of semiconductors, paving the way for integration of thermoelectric generators into silicon microtechnology. With this aim, dense arrays of well-oriented and size-controlled silicon nanowires (Si NWs) obtained by the chemical vapor deposition (CVD)-vapor–liquid–solid (VLS) mechanism have been implemented into microfabricated structures to develop planar unileg thermoelectric microgenerators (μTEGs). Different low-thermal-mass suspended structures have been designed and microfabricated on silicon-on-insulator (SOI) substrates to operate as microthermoelements using p-type Si NW arrays as the thermoelectric material. To obtain nanowire arrays with effective lengths larger than normally attained by the VLS technique, structures composed of multiple ordered arrays consecutively bridged by transversal microspacers have been fabricated. The successive linkage of multiple Si NW arrays enabled the development of larger temperature differences while preserving good electrical contact. This gives rise to small internal thermoelement resistances, enhancing the performance of the devices as energy harvesters.     

Planar micro-direct methanol fuel cell prototyped by rapid powder blasting

We present a planar micro-direct methanol fuel cell (μ-DMFC) fabricated by rapid prototyping-powder blasting technology. Using an elastomeric mask, we pattern two parallel microfluidic channels in glass. The anode and cathode of the fuel cell are formed by wet spraying Pt-Ru/C and Pt/C catalysts, respectively, onto Au electrodes that are evaporated in the microchannels. Simply clamping a Nafion 117 proton exchange membrane (PEM) using a glass substrate covered with PDMS membrane onto the microchannels completes the fuel cell fabrication. Our μ-DMFC generates a voltage of 0.45 V and can deliver a power up to 0.5 mW/cm² by using 1 M CH₃OH in 0.5 M H₂SO₄ solution as fuel in the anodic channel, and 0.01 M H₂O₂ in 0.5 M H₂SO₄ as oxidant solution in the cathodic channel.     

Replication of cancer cells using soft lithography bioimprint technique

Replication of biological cells for the purpose of imaging and analysis under electron and scanning probe microscopy has facilitated the opportunity to study and examine some molecular processes of living cells in a manner that was not possible before. The difficulties faced in direct cellular analysis when using and operating atomic force microscopy (AFM) in situ for morphological studies of biological cells has lead to the development of a novel method for biological cell studies based on nanoimprint lithography. The realisation of the full potential of high-resolution AFM imaging has revealed some very important biological events such as exocytosis and endocytosis. In this work, a soft lithography bioimprint replication technique, which involved simple fabrication steps, was used to form a hard replica of the cell employing a newly developed biocompatible polymer that has fast curing time at room temperature essential for this process. The structure and topography of the endometrial (Ishikawa) cancer cell was investigated in this study. Cells were cultured and incubated in accordance with standard biological culturing procedures and protocols approved by the Human Ethics Committee, University of Otago. An impression of the cell profile was created by applying a layer of the polymer onto the cells attached to a substrate and rapidly cured under UV-light. Fast UV radiation helps to lock cellular processes within minutes after exposure and replicas of the cancer cells exhibit ultra-cellular structures and features down to nanometer scale. Elimination of the AFM tip damping effects due to probing of the soft biological tissue allows imaging with unprecedented resolution. High-resolution AFM imagery provides the opportunity to examine the structure and topography of the cells closely so that any abnormalities can be identified. Craters that resemble granules may be observed. These represent steps on a transitional series of sequential structures that indicate either an endocytotic or exocytotic processes, which were evident on the replicas. These events, together with exocytosis, play a very significant part in the tumorigenesis of these cancer cells. By forming cell replica impressions, not only have they the potential to understand biological cell conditions, but may also benefit in synthesizing three dimensional (3-D) scaffolds for natural growth of biological cells and provide an improvement over standard cell growth conditions.     

Control of filament size and reduction of reset current below 10 μA in NiO resistance switching memories

Resistive-switching memory (RRAM) is receiving a growing deal of research interest as a possible solution for high-density, 3D nonvolatile memory technology. One of the main obstacle toward size reduction of the memory cell and its scaling is the typically large current I_reset needed for the reset operation. In fact, a large I_reset negatively impacts the scaling possibilities of the select diode in a cross-bar array structure. Reducing I_reset is therefore mandatory for the development of high-density RRAM arrays. This work addresses the reduction of I_reset in NiO-based RRAM by control of the filament size in 1 transistor-1 resistor (1T1R) cell devices. I_reset is demonstrated to be scalable and controllable below 10 μA. The significance of these results for the future scaling of diode-selected cross-bar arrays is finally discussed.     

A hybrid Nb/CMOS integration process for superconducting tunneljunction imaging arrays

A process for hybrid superconductor/CMOS integration was developed for the fabrication of extremely sensitive color-imaging arrays using superconducting tunnel junctions. A Nb-AlO_x-Nb process was used to fabricate arrays of junctions directly on top of CMOS devices. The CMOS wafers required the development of a planarization process suitable for subsequent tunnel-junction fabrication. The process involved the deposition of a sacrificial oxide layer by electron cyclotron resonance plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition, chemical-mechanical polishing, and a layer of spin-on glass. A process was also developed for via contacts through the oxide layer that optimized the stability of the contacts. The critical current spreads of the arrays (50 junctions) were as small (spread about 1% for 3 μm × 3 μm junctions) as on bare silicon wafers     

Photoelectrochemical Water Oxidation by GaAs Nanowire Arrays Protected with Atomic Layer Deposited NiO<Subscript><Emphasis Type="Italic">x</Emphasis></Subscript> Electrocatalysts

Photoelectrochemical (PEC) hydrogen production makes possible the direct conversion of solar energy into chemical fuel. In this work, PEC photoanodes consisting of GaAs nanowire (NW) arrays were fabricated, characterized, and then demonstrated for the oxygen evolution reaction (OER). Uniform and periodic GaAs nanowire arrays were grown on a heavily n-doped GaAs substrates by metal–organic chemical vapor deposition selective area growth. The nanowire arrays were characterized using cyclic voltammetry and impedance spectroscopy in a non-aqueous electrochemical system using ferrocene/ferrocenium (Fc/Fc+) as a redox couple, and a maximum oxidation photocurrent of 11.1 mA/cm² was measured. GaAs NW arrays with a 36 nm layer of nickel oxide (NiO _x ) synthesized by atomic layer deposition were then used as photoanodes to drive the OER. In addition to acting as an electrocatalyst, the NiO _x layer served to protect the GaAs NWs from oxidative corrosion. Using this strategy, GaAs NW photoanodes were successfully used for the oxygen evolution reaction. This is the first demonstration of GaAs NW arrays for effective OER, and the fabrication and protection strategy developed in this work can be extended to study any other nanostructured semiconductor materials systems for electrochemical solar energy conversion.     

Tunable Nanoparticle and Cell Assembly Using Combined Self‐Powered Microfluidics and Microcontact Printing

The combination of cell microenvironment control and real‐time monitoring of cell signaling events can provide key biological information. Through precise multipatterning of gold nanoparticles (GNPs) around cells, sensing and actuating elements can be introduced in the cells' microenviroment, providing a powerful substrate for cell studies. In this work, a combination of techniques are implemented to engineer complex substrates for cell studies. Alternating GNPs and bioactive areas are created with micrometer separation by means of a combination of vacumm soft‐lithography of GNPs and protein microcontract printing. Instead of conventional microfluidics that need syringe pumps to flow liquid in the microchannels, degas driven flow is used to fill dead‐end channels with GNP solutions, rendering the fabrication process straightforward and accessible. This new combined technique is called Printing and Vacuum lithography (PnV lithography). By using different GNPs with various organic coating ligands, different macroscale patterns are obtained, such as wires, supercrystals, and uniformly spread nanoparticle layers that can find different applications depending on the need of the user. The application of the system is tested to pattern a range of mammalian cell lines and obtain readouts on cell viability, cell morphology, and the presence of cell adhesive proteins.     

Fabrication of silicon field-emission arrays using masks of amorphous hydrogenated carbon films

A fabrication process of silicon field-emission arrays is reported, in which thin films of amorphous hydrogenated carbon (a-C:H) are employed as masks in a two-step plasma-etching process, using pure SF₆ and a mixture of SF₆ and O₂. In comparison with processes that involve SiO₂ masks, the use of a-C:H improved the selectivity of the plasma etching, particularly in the case of pure SF₆. An estimation of Utsumi's figure of merit showed that a significant enhancement in electric field can be achieved, as a result of the sharp tips fabricated through this process.     

移动X射线光刻制备等腰三角形结构的PMMA微通道

利用移动X射线光刻工艺,制备了六种不同深宽比的等腰三角形结构的聚甲基丙烯酸甲酯(PMMA)微通道。基于毛细管原理,将PMMA微通道与老鼠血液接触,对血液进行了微量采集。该PMMA微通道是中间带有凹槽结构的等腰三角形结构,凹槽结构的宽度为10μm、长度为6.7~39.4μm。将32个高度为35 mm的PMMA微通道的基板垂直插入老鼠血液样品中,通过实验测定了六种不同等腰三角形结构的PMMA微通道的接触角、表面张力及血液上升高度。结果表明,在一定范围内,PMMA微通道的深宽比越大,血液上升越容易,液体提取量也越多。对于通道横截面长度为39.4μm的微通道,样品血液在15 s时的上升高度可达到20.45 mm,达到最终30 s时上升高度的89.9%以上。     

Optimal and heuristic algorithms to synthesize lattices of four-terminal switches

In this work, we study implementation of Boolean functions with nano-crossbar arrays where each crosspoint behaves as a four-terminal switch controlled by a Boolean literal. These types of arrays are commonly called as switching lattices. We propose optimal and heuristic algorithms that minimize lattice sizes to implement a given Boolean function. The algorithms are mainly constructed on a technique that finds Boolean functions of lattices having independent inputs. This technique works recursively by using transition matrices representing columns and rows of the lattice. It performs symbolic manipulation of Boolean literals as opposed to using truth tables that allows us to successfully find Boolean functions having up to 81 variables corresponding to a 9 × 9-lattice. With a Boolean function of a certain sized lattice, we check if a given function can be implemented with this lattice size by defining the problem as a satisfiability problem. This process is repeated until a desired solution is found. Additionally, we fix the previously proposed algorithm that is claimed to be optimal. The fixed version guarantees optimal sizes. Finally, we perform synthesis trials on standard benchmark circuits to evaluate the proposed algorithms by considering lattice sizes and runtimes in comparison with the recently proposed three algorithms.     

Design aspects of MOS-controlled thyristor elements: technology,simulation, and experimental results

2.5-kV thyristor devices have been fabricated with integrated MOS controlled n⁺-emitter shorts and a bipolar turn-on gate using a p-channel DMOS technology. Square-cell geometries with pitch variations ranging from 15 to 30 μm were implemented in one- and two-dimensional arrays with up to 20000 units. The impact of the cell pitch on the turn-off performance and the on-state voltage was studied for arrays with constant cathode area as well as for single-cell structures. By realizing MOS components with submicrometer channel lengths, scaled single cells are shown to turn off with current densities of several kiloamperes per square centimeter at a gate bias of 5 V. In the case of multi-cell ensembles, turn-off performance is limited due to inhomogeneous current distribution. Critical process parameters as well as the device behavior were optimized through multidimensional numerical simulation     

Fabrication of arrays of line with nanoscale width and large length by electron beam lithography with high-precision stage

Fabrication of arrays of line with a nanoscale width less than 150 nm and length over 1500 μm on SU8 resist was proposed when using SEM-converted exposure system with high-precision positioning stage. Investigating the effect of the stage movement and the local-aperture contamination on stitching errors, we found that changing the deflector gain factors and the cleaning aperture after each exposure made it possible to improve stitching accuracy. Overlapping length 200 nm of line arrays was obtained with increase of 0.35% in x direction and 0.16% in y direction for deflection gain factors.     

Top-down fabrication of very-high density vertically stacked silicon nanowire arrays with low temperature budget

We report on a top-down complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS) compatible fabrication method of ultra-high density Si nanowire (SiNW) arrays using a time multiplexed alternating process (TMAP) with low temperature budget. The flexibility of the fabrication methodology is demonstrated for curved and straight SiNW arrays with different shapes and levels. Ultra-high density SiNW arrays with round or rhombic cross-sections diameters as low as 10 nm are demonstrated for vertical and horizontal spacing of 60 nm. The uniqueness of the technique, which achieves several advantages such as bulk-Si processing, low-thermal budget, and wide process window makes this fabrication method suitable for a very broad range of applications such as nano-electro-mechanical systems (NEMS), nano-electronics and bio-sensing.     

Failure analysis of pad-height effects in the fine-pitch interconnection of the anisotropic conductive films

This study analyzes the effect of the upper-to-lower pad-height ratio on the global failure probability of IC/substrate assemblies packaged using Anisotropic Conductive Film (ACF). In modeling the failure of the IC/substrate package, the probability of an opening failure in the vertical gap between the pads is calculated using a Poisson function, while the probability of a bridging failure between the pads in the pitch direction is computed using a modified box model. The opening and bridging probabilities are then combined using probability theory to establish an overall failure prediction model for the IC/substrate assembly. The results show that the failure probability increases as the sum of the lower pad height and upper pad height increases, or as the ratio R_h of the upper pad height to the lower pad height increases. Furthermore, for a given gap size between the IC device and the substrate, the minimum failure probability is obtained when the ratio of the upper pad height to the lower pad height has a value of R_h = 1. Overall, the results suggest that the reliability of ACF-packaged IC/substrate assemblies can be improved by reducing the total height of the two pad arrays or by utilizing pad arrays with an equivalent height.     

A replication process of metallic micro-mold by using parylene embossing and electroplating

This study demonstrated a replication process for metallic micro-mold that combines the parylene-C (poly-chloro-p-xylylene C) hot-embossing and electroplating techniques. A nickel original master was fabricated using the deep RIE silicon etching followed by the electroplating process. Then, the patterned fields composed of arrays of 25 μm-high, 10 μm-wide and 1 mm-long lines with 10 μm spacing in nickel molds were successfully replicated on the 60 μm-thick parylene-C films by the hot-emboss process. Under complete filling conditions, the deviation of the replicated micropattern was less than 2.4%. The electroplated copper successfully filled parylene-C replica master patterns with the aspect ratio of 2.5 without the void formation by both adding organic addictives and controlling the seed layer thickness. After electroplating, the copper micro-mold could be successfully separated from the parylene-C replica master.     

Optimization and integration of LED array for uniform illumination distribution

A design method for light-emitting diode （LED） array is proposed to achieve a good uniform illumination distribution on target plane. By using random walk algorithm, the basic LED array modules are optimized ftrstly. The optimized basic arrays can generate uniform illumination distribution on their target plane. The optimized basic LED array mod- ules can be integrated into a large LED array module with more than tens of LEDs. In the large array, we can select a sub-array with K LEDs （K〉7）, which can produce the good uniform illumination distribution. By this way, we design two LED arrays which consist of 21 and 25 LEDs, respectively. The 21-LED array and 25-LED array can generate uniform illumination distributions with the uniformities of 95% and 90%, respectively.