Effect of Oxide Defect Structure on the Electrical Properties of ZrO2

The defect structure of monoclinic ZrO₂ was studied by measuring the transfer numbers and electrical conductivity as functions of O₂ pressure and temperature. The data suggest a defect structure of doubly ionized oxygen vacancies at low pressures, i.e. <10⁻¹⁹ atm, and singly ionized oxygen interstitials at pressures >10⁻⁹ atm. Zirconia is primarily an ionic conductor below #700°C and an electronic conductor at 700° to 1000°C for 10⁻²²≤P_o2≤1 atm.     

Quote examiner: verifying quoted images using web-based text similarity

Over the last few years, there has been a rapid growth in digital data. Images with quotes are spreading virally through online social media platforms. Misquotes found online often spread like a forest fire through social media, which highlights the lack of responsibility of the web users when circulating poorly cited quotes. Thus, it is important to authenticate the content contained in the images being circulated online. So, there is a need to retrieve the information within such textual images to verify quotes before its usage in order to differentiate a fake or misquote from an authentic one. Optical Character Recognition (OCR) is used in this paper, for converting textual images into readable text format, but none of the OCR tools are perfect in extracting information from the images accurately. In this paper, a method of post-processing on the retrieved text to improve the accuracy of the detected text from images has been proposed. Google Cloud Vision has been used for recognizing text from images. It has also been observed that using post-processing on the extracted text improved the accuracy of text recognition by 3.5% approximately. A web-based text similarity approach (URLs and domain name) has been used to examine the authenticity of the content of the quoted images. Approximately, 96.26% accuracy has been achieved in classifying quoted images as verified or misquoted. Also, a ground truth dataset of authentic site names has been created. In this research, images with quotes by famous celebrities and global leaders have been used. A comparative analysis has been performed to show the effectiveness of our proposed algorithm.

     

Gold nanoparticle-coated biomaterial as SERS micro-probes

We report for the first time, on the utility of plant-based biomaterial as enhanced-Raman scattering probes. The bio-substrate used in this study are commonly found in plant extracts, and are cost-effective, mechanically robust, flexible and easily transportable. The probe was fabricated by coating the plant extract with gold nanoparticles and characterized. By employing a ‘single-touch contact’ method, we reveal the ability of these probes to detect routinely used Raman markers such as 2-napthalenethiol and rhodamine B, at nano-molar concentrations, in dry and liquid forms, respectively. Reproducibility of the signals with variation <5%, and the ability to detect biomolecules are demonstrated herein. We envision these bio-probes as potential candidates for enhanced Raman sensing in chemical, environmental, and archaeological applications. By further engineering the shape, morphology, and surface chemistry of these micro-probes, we foresee their utility as miniaturized, natural SERS substrates.     

Structural characteristics of titanium coating on copper substrates

The growth characteristics of titanium films deposited on glass, silicon (100) and oxygen free high purity copper substrate using magnetron sputtering have been investigated using X-ray diffraction, electron microscopy and scratch indentation techniques. The study of interface between the titanium film and the substrate was carried out to determine coating thickness, as well as intermixing of the elements at the interface. Studies revealed that the interface is free from voids and intermixing of the film and the substrate. Microstructural and diffraction analysis showed that the Ti coating was polycrystalline and exhibited columnar growth. The Ti crystallite size varied between 24 and 58 nm depending on the substrate. The thickness of the films were typically about 4 μm. Scratch test indicated that the films are adherent and the first critical load to failure was observed to be 4·5 N ± 2 N.     

Balanced gait generations of a two-legged robot on sloping surface

In this paper, dynamically balanced gait generation problem of a 7-DOF two-legged robot moving up and down through the sloping surface is presented. The gait of the lower links during locomotion is obtained after assuming suitable trajectories for the swing leg and hip joint. The trunk motion is initially generated based on the concept of static balance, which is different from the well-known semi-inverse method and then checked for its dynamic balance calculated using the concept of Zero-Moment Point (ZMP). Lagrange–Euler formulation is attempted for the determination of joint torques. Average power consumption at each joint is then determined based on the computed torques. Moreover, the variations of dynamic balance margin and average power consumption are studied for both ascending and descending through the sloping surface. Both of them are found to be more for the ascending gait generation compared to those for the descending case. The effects of variations of the slope have also been studied on the average dynamic balance margin and power consumption for both the cases.     

Switched-capacitor filters using unity-gain amplifiers

Switched-capacitor networks realizing second-order filter characteristics are presented. Realization is achieved with unity-gain amplifiers as buffers. The circuits have small sensitivities, good dynamic range and a reasonable spread of capacitor values. The filters can be used for high-Q realization and a relatively high frequency range.     

Extending the bandwidth of an instrumentation amplifier

A new configuration for operational amplifier based instrumentation amplifier is presented. The analytical expressions are obtained and the performance of the proposed circuit is examined in relation to the conventional circuit. Simulation and experimental results are presented which establish the superiority of the proposed instrumentation amplifier topology over the conventional circuit. The effect of second pole of op amps on the circuit stability has also been investigated. Numerical results are given in support of theoretical conclusions.     

Inclusion of minority charge carriers in the solution of Poisson's equation for a metal semiconductor contact in thermal equilibrium†

A theory of the space-charge capacitance of a metal-semiconductor contact has been developed by solving the Poisson equation for the space-charge region under zero current condition. The space charge is assumed to consist not only of ionized donors and acceptors but also of electrons and holes. An explicit expression for the space-charge capacitance under those general conditions is given. In an appendix a procedure is outlined whereby the theory could be developed for the case of Fermi statistics with partially ionized donors.