Experimental study of forced convective boiling for non-azeotropic refrigerant mixtures R-22/R-124 in horizontal smooth tube

In this article, the experiment is carried out with four stages of test section and new experimental data of non-azeotropic refrigerant mixtures R-22/R-124 are presented. Existing correlations are analysed and new ones are proposed for pure refrigerants. The nucleate boiling correlation of the refrigerant mixtures is modified so as to obtain the evaporation heat transfer coefficient of the refrigerant mixtures in a smooth tube. The result shows that the majority of the predictions fall within ±30% of the experiments.     

Energy-Efficient Dual-Edge-Triggered Level Converting Flip Flops With Symmetry in Setup Times and Insensitivity to Output Parasitics

Level converting flip-flops (LCFFs) are crucial components for multisupply systems as interfaces between different voltage islands. The proposed energy-efficient LCFFs reduce the power consumption of clock networks with dual-edge triggering, support sleep mode of power management mechanisms with data retention, and have symmetry in setup times and insensitivity to output parasitics. With all these features, the proposed LCFFs have 19% and 38% lower power-delay product than the conventional LCFF, as demonstrated by postlayout simulation results.     

A full code-patterns coverage high-speed embedded ROM using dynamic virtual guardian technique

Crosstalk between bitlines induces read failure and limits the coverage of applicable code-patterns for high-speed contact/via-programming read-only memories (ROMs) in SoC. Owing to the variation in bitline loading across code-patterns, the amount of coupled noise on an accessed bitline is code-pattern-dependent. This crosstalk effect worsens, with larger coupling capacitance and smaller intrinsic loading, as the technology node shrinks. This study proposes dynamic virtual guardian (DVG) techniques for contact/via-programming ROM macros and compilers to eliminate the crosstalk-induced read failure and increase the code-patterns coverage. Compared with conventional ROMs, DVG techniques achieve higher speed, lower power consumption and better design for manufacturing (DFM) capability with full code-patterns coverage. Experiments on fabricated designs, a conventional ROM and two 256 Kb DVG ROMs, using 0.18 /spl mu/m 1P5M CMOS technology have demonstrated that DVG techniques achieve 100% code-pattern coverage under a small sensing margin.     

Miscibility of SAN with polyacrylates and polymethacrylates

Styrene-acrylonitrile copolymers, SAN, are known to be miscible with poly(methyl methacrylate). Based on the presence of a single composition dependent glass transition and lower critical solution temperature behaviour, it is shown that SAN is also miscible with poly(ethyl methacrylate). However, the SAN does not appear to be miscible with other polymethacrylates or polyacrylates.     

A simple simultaneous geometric and intensity correction method for echo-planar imaging by EPI-based phase modulation

A technique, based on Echo planar imaging (EPI)-based phase modulation factor maps, is described for correction of EPI distortions resulting from field inhomogeneity. In this paper, a phase modulation factor was employed to remove the distortions. The phase modulation factor was obtained experimentally by collecting EPI images with a spin-echo (TE) spacing, deltaTE, equal to the inter-echo time interval, T(i). Then, the distortions resulting from the field inhomogeneity were removed by modulating the kappa-space data with the phase modulation factor. One of the advantages of this method is that it requires only a few extra scans to collect the information on field inhomogeneity. The proposed method does not require a phase unwrapping procedure for field inhomogeneity correction and, hence, is easier to implement, compared to other techniques. In addition, it corrects geometric distortion as well as intensity distortions simultaneously, which is robust to external noise or estimation error in severely distorted images. In this work, we also compared the proposed technique with others including, a) interpolation method with EPI-based displacement maps, and b) modulation method with phase modulation factor maps generated from spin-echo images. The results suggest the proposed technique is superior in correcting severely distorted images.     

The effect of polyimide passivation on the electromigration of Cu multilayer interconnections

Electromigration damage (EMD) is one of the major causes for the failures of interconnect. In this study, the electromigration (EM) of Cu multilayer (TiWN/Cu/TiWN) with polyimide passivation is investigated with an isothermal resistance change method. The EM measurements were carried out on a wafer level at various temperatures (170–230 °C) and current densities (2.28–4.0 ). The activation energy for passivated Cu multilayer is larger than that of the unpassivated ones. The lifetime of passivated specimens are from two to 16 times those of the unpassivated ones. Resistance oscillation, which is attributed to the formation and closing of Cu gap, is observed during EM test. The TiWN interlayer helps to maintain the electrical continuity when a local Cu gap is formed. Hence, the lifetime of Cu metallization is further enhanced by the presence of the interlayer. Copper multilayer interconnect has better EMD resistance than Cu monolayer interconnect does.     

A closed-cycle capillary polymerase chain reaction machine

A novel thermocycling machine based on a microcapillary equipped with bidirectional pressure-driven flow and in situ optical position sensors is described. A 1-microL droplet of reaction mixture moves between three heat zones in a 1-mm-i.d., oil-filled capillary using a multielement scattered light detector and active feedback. Dwell times and accelerations can be adjusted independently. As a demonstration of the device, 30 cycles of a 500-base pair product were performed in 23 min with 78% amplification efficiency. This result compares well with previous high-speed thermocyclers. Theoretically, the arrangement can approach a time of 2.5 min for 30 cycle amplifications of a 500-base pair product.     

High-Temperature Stability of 650-nm Resonant-Cavity Light-Emitting Diodes Fabricated Using Wafer-Bonding Technique on Silicon Substrates

AlGalnP-based visible 650-nm GalnP-AlGalnP resonant-cavity light-emitting diodes (RCLEDs) with high-temperature stability were fabricated by wafer-bonding techniques on Si substrates. In this study, the metal-bonding RCLEDs (MBRCLEDs) devices were designed with 84-mum apertures for light output. The MBRCLEDs with a maximum wall-plug efficiency of 13.7% were demonstrated at an injection current of 2.5 mA. In addition, the improved heat sinking of MBRCLEDs led to lower junction temperature, and resulted in a very low power decay of 0.31 dB from room temperature to 100degC at an injection current of 20 mA.     

Stability bound of discrete multiple time-delay singularly perturbed systems

In this paper, the exact stability bound for discrete multiple time-delay singularly perturbed systems is examined. The obtained results, based on state space approach for the critical stability criterion of discrete systems, are sufficient conditions for the original system and its reduced subsystems about stability problems. Besides, we show that the subsystems are, indeed, zero-order approximations to the original systems. An example is given to illustrate the proposed schemes.