Measurement and Identification of the Parameters of SPICE-Models of a Bipolar Transistor

A method of measuring and identifying the static parameters of a bipolar transistor is considered. The characteristic of the transistor, from which the parameters of the model are determined, is chosen depending on what group the calculated parameters belong to. The characteristics are measured in such a way that the equations of the model describing them can be reduced to the simplest form.     

Recovery of gold cyanide using inherently conducting polymers

Removal of gold from basic solutions containing [Au(CN)₂]^? has been demonstrated using the inherently conducting polymer polypyrrole. Polymers containing sulfonated aromatic dopants have been found to display a significant ability to remove gold from such solutions. Experiments performed in solutions containing both gold and copper cyanide complexes indicate that the recovery process is not highly selective. However, the polypyrroles used display significantly faster rates of gold recovery than activated carbon. © 2003 Society of Chemical Industry     

X-ray or UV adjustment of MOS threshold voltage: Analytical and numerical modeling

A model is formulated that describes how radiation-induced charge accumulates in the gate oxide of a MOS structure and how it decays through tunneling and thermal emission. The model is used in a numerical analysis of the x-ray or UV adjustment of threshold voltage in MOS-circuit manufacture. The limits of this process technique are evaluated.     

Using the magneto-optical Kerr effect to study magnetization processes in two-dimensional magnonic crystals based on YIG thin films

The magneto-optical Kerr effect for red (628 nm) and green (532 nm) light is used to study magnetization processes in 2D magnonic crystals obtained by etching pits with the diameter D ≈ 32 μm to a depth of t ≤ 2 μm in a 16.1-μm-thick film of yttrium iron garnet (YIG). Hysteresis loops obtained in the case of the inplane crystal magnetization at 628 nm are characterized by lower saturation fields H _s and higher remanent magnetizations than those obtained at 532 nm, a result that is attributed to different absorption coefficients of the YIG film at these wavelengths. This difference between the magnetization curves reflects the fact that the magnonic-crystal surface probed with the green light makes a greater contribution to the magneto-optical Kerr effect. Therefore, the green light is more sensitive to the demagnetizing fields, which govern magnetization processes in the magnonic crystals.     

1/f noise in large-area Hg<Subscript>1−x</Subscript>Cd<Subscript>x</Subscript>Te photodiodes

The 1/f noise in photovoltaic (PV) molecular-beam epitaxy (MBE)-grown Hg_1−xCd_xTe double-layer planar heterostructure (DLPH) large-area detectors is a critical noise component with the potential to limit sensitivity of the cross-track infrared sounder (CrIS) instrument. Therefore, an understanding of the origins and mechanisms of noise currents in these PV detectors is of great importance. Excess low-frequency noise has been measured on a number of 1000-μm-diameter active-area detectors of varying “quality” (i.e., having a wide range of I-V characteristics at 78 K). The 1/f noise was measured as a function of cut-off wavelength under illuminated conditions. For short-wave infrared (SWIR) detectors at 98 K, minimal 1/f noise was measured when the total current was dominated by diffusion with white noise spectral density in the mid-10⁻¹⁵A/Hz^1/2 range. For SWIR detectors dominated by other than diffusion current, the ratio, α, of the noise current in unit bandwidth i_n(f = 1 Hz, V_d = −60 mV, and Δf = 1 Hz) to dark current I_d(V_d = −60 mV) was α_SW-d = i_n/I_d ∼ 1 × 10⁻³. The SWIR detectors measured at 0 mV under illuminated conditions had median α_SW-P = i_n/I_ph ∼ 7 × 10⁻⁶. For mid-wave infrared (MWIR) detectors, α_MW-d = i_n/I_d ∼ 2 × 10⁻⁴, due to tunneling current contributions to the 1/f noise. Measurements on forty-nine 1000-μm-diameter MWIR detectors under illuminated conditions at 98 K and −60 mV bias resulted in α_MW-P = i_n/I_ph = 4.16 ± 1.69 × 10⁻⁶. A significant point to note is that the photo-induced noise spectra are nearly identical at 0 mV and 100 mV reverse bias, with a noise-current-to-photocurrent ratio, α_MW-P, in the mid 10⁻⁶ range. For long-wave infrared (LWIR) detectors measured at 78 K, the ratio, α_LW-d = i_n/I_d ∼ 6 × 10⁻⁶, for the best performers. The majority of the LWIR detectors exhibited α_LW-d on the order of 2 × 10⁻⁵. The photo-induced 1/f noise had α_LW-P = i_n/I_ph ∼ 5 × 10⁻⁶. The value of the noise-current-to-dark-current ratio, α appears to increase with increasing bandgap. It is not clear if this is due to different current mechanisms impacting 1/f noise performance. Measurements on detectors of different bandgaps are needed at temperatures where diffusion current is the dominant current. Excess low-frequency noise measurements made as a function of detector reverse bias indicate 1/f noise may result primarily from the dominant current mechanism at each particular bias. The 1/f noise was not a direct function of the applied bias.     

Effect of the Distribution of Manganese Ions on the Properties of Mn-Doped (Ba,Y)TiO3 PTCR Ceramics

The electrical properties and microstructure of (Ba,Y)TiO₃ PTCR ceramics were studied. The results indicate that the Mn ions increase the intergranular barrier height and produce a high-resistance layer on the grain surface. The temperature-dependent resistances of the grain bulk, surface layer, and grain boundaries, the temperature coefficient of resistance, and the magnitude of the varistor effect were assessed as a function of Mn content.     

Characteristic Features of the Optimal Processing of the Results of Measurements in the Case of a Random Observation Function

An analysis is made of the characteristic features and problems of the optimal processing of the results of measurements in the case of a random observation function utilizing a nonlinear Kalman filter. A method is proposed for increasing the convergence domain of the filter with additional processing of measurements in the frequency domain.     

Influence of device engineering on the analog and RF performances of SOI MOSFETs

This work presents a systematic comparative study of the influence of various process options on the analog and RF properties of fully depleted (FD) silicon-on-insulator (SOI), partially depleted (PD) SOI, and bulk MOSFET's with gate lengths down to 0.08 /spl mu/m. We introduce the transconductance-over-drain current ratio and Early voltage as key figures of merits for the analog MOS performance and the gain and the transition and maximum frequencies for RF performances and link them to device engineering. Specifically, we investigate the effects of HALO implantation in FD, PD, and bulk devices, of film thickness in FD, of substrate doping in SOI, and of nonstandard channel engineering (i.e., asymmetric Graded-channel MOSFETs and gate-body contacted DTMOS).     

Static energy reduction techniques for microprocessor caches

Microprocessor performance has been improved by increasing the capacity of on-chip caches. However, the performance gain comes at the price of static energy consumption due to subthreshold leakage current in cache memory arrays. This paper compares three techniques for reducing static energy consumption in on-chip level-1 and level-2 caches. One technique employs low-leakage transistors in the memory cell. Another technique, power supply switching, can be used to turn off memory cells and discard their contents. A third alternative is dynamic threshold modulation, which places memory cells in a standby state that preserves cell contents. In our experiments, we explore the energy and performance tradeoffs of these techniques. We also investigate the sensitivity of microprocessor performance and energy consumption to additional cache latency caused by leakage-reduction techniques.