A low-power 2/5.8-GHz dual-wide-band CMOS LC-VCO with switched-inductor technique

A fully integrated dual-band LC voltage control oscillator, designed in a 0.18-µm CMOS technology for 5.8-GHz/2.0-GHz wireless communication applications, is described. The frequency band switching is accomplished with switched-inductor technique. The dual-band oscillator can be operated in 5.38–6.23?GHz and 1.78–2.07?GHz with 15% frequency tuning range. Two different inductors are used for the frequency band switching. Frequency tuning is implemented by varying the capacitance of a MOS varactor. The measured phase noise is ?109?dBc/Hz @ 1?MHz and ?112?dBc/Hz @ 1?MHz for frequency at 5.8?GHz and 2?GHz, respectively. This oscillator is fabricated in UMC's 0.18-µm one-poly-six-metal 1.8?V process. The power dissipation of this dual-band VCO is 11.7 and 9.3?mW for oscillation frequency of 2?GHz and 5.8?GHz, respectively.     

Electrodynamically actuated on-chip flow cytometry with low shear stress for electro-osmosis based sorting using low conductive medium

In the proposed paper, we demonstrate on-chip electrodynamically driven actuator flow cytometry, based on negative dielectrophoretic (nDEP) focus and alternating current electro-osmotic flow (ACEOF) sorting technique. This single chip can perform three different functions such as focusing, transportation of beads/cells to detection site and reloading the unsorted ones with two distinctive phenomena. AC EOF is achieved by the design of the asymmetric electrode pair’s array and nDEP is used to focus the beads/cells in-line. The design, simulation and experimental results of the proposed microchip are reported in this paper. The simulation and experimental results reveal well defined stable region for nDEP and ACEOF driving force. The potential severe shear stress damage caused by the sheath flow in conventional flow cytometry is eliminated. In addition, to explore the influence of conductivity of the medium, we have used low conductive formulated medium with conductivity of 81.4 μS/cm. The voltage and the frequency required to manipulate the particles decreased comparatively with the use of this medium.     

Analysis and design of high-speed and low-power CMOS PLAs

The programmable logic array (PLA) is a basic and important building circuit for VLSI chips. Operating behaviors of several conventional PLAs are analyzed first to find out their speed and power bottlenecks. Then, new circuit design techniques for the CMOS PLA are proposed in the hopes of fulfilling the requirements of high speed and low power at the same time. Finally, high speed is achieved through the combined effect of utilization of a fast pseudofootless dynamic circuit and a reduced interplane clock delay. On the other hand, low power is achieved because the power consumption from the three main sources, i.e., the AND-plane circuits, the interplane buffers, and the OR-plane circuits, can be reduced significantly and simultaneously. The delay time and the power consumption of the critical path of a PLA are taken as the performance evaluation parameters. When the 50×50×64 PLAs are designed in a 0.35-μm 1P4M CMOS technology, the maximum operating frequency of the proposed PLA is 1.61 times higher than that of the fastest conventional PLA. Furthermore, power reduction can be as high as 18% and 43% when the operating frequencies are set to be 100 MHz and 50 MHz, respectively, as compared to the most power-efficient conventional PLA     

Influence of glycerol on the mechanical reversibility and thermal damage susceptibility of collagenous tissues

Clinical procedures wherein supraphysiologic temperatures must be achieved in deep layers of tissue via light are often compromised by optical scattering and absorption. Optical clearing of tissue superficial to the target improves the efficacy of such procedures. Glycerol is an attractive chemical agent for achieving dramatic reductions in tissue turbidity, but its net effects on healthy tissue are not fully understood. In this paper, we investigate possible alterations of biaxial mechanical properties in a model collagenous tissue, bovine epicardium, induced by glycerol. Furthermore, we examine the effects of glycerol on the biaxial thermomechanical properties of epicardium constrained at near-physiologic length. It is seen that mechanical changes induced by glycerol are fully reversed upon rehydration in normal saline. Moreover, glycerol protects cleared tissue by increasing its thermal stability and minimizing thermal alterations of mechanical properties.     

Dissolution behavior of Cu and Ag substrates in molten solders

This study investigated the dissolution behavior of Cu and Ag substrates in molten Sn, Sn-3.5Ag, Sn-4.0Ag-0.5Cu, Sn-8.6Zn and Sn-8.55Zn-0.5Ag-0.1Al-0.5Ga lead-free solders as well as in Sn-37Pb solder for comparison at 300, 350, and 400°C. Results show that Sn-Zn alloys have a substantially lower dissolution rate of both Cu and Ag substrates than the other solders. Differences in interfacial intermetallic compounds formed during reaction and the morphology of these compounds strongly affected the substrate dissolution behavior. Soldering temperature and the corresponding solubility limit of the substrate elements in the liquid solder also played important roles in the interfacial morphology and dissolution rate of substrate.     

An Integrated Assessment of the Impacts of Hydrogen Economy on Transportation, Energy Use, and Air Emissions

This paper presents an analysis of the potential system-wide energy and air emissions implications of hydrogen fuel cell vehicle (H ₂-FCV) penetration into the U.S. light duty vehicle (LDV) fleet. The analysis uses the U.S. EPA MARKet ALlocation (MARKAL) technology database and model to simultaneously consider competition among alternative technologies and fuels, with a focus on the transportation and the electric sectors. Our modeled reference case suggests that economics alone would not yield H₂-FCV penetration by 2030. A parametric sensitivity analysis shows that H₂-FCV can become economically viable through reductions in H ₂-FCV costs, increases in the costs of competing vehicle technologies, and increases in oil prices. Alternative scenarios leading to H₂-FCV penetration are shown to result in very different patterns of total system energy usage depending on the conditions driving H₂-FCV penetration. Overall, the model suggests that total CO₂ emissions changes are complex, but that CO₂ emission levels tend to decrease slightly with H₂-FCV penetration. While carbon capture and sequestration technologies with H ₂ production and renewable technologies for H₂ production have the potential to achieve greater CO₂ reductions, these technologies are not economically competitive within our modeling time frame without additional drivers     

Solution‐Processed Small‐Molecule Bulk Heterojunction Ambipolar Transistors

Solution‐processed small‐molecule bulk heterojunction (BHJ) ambipolar organic thin‐film transistors are fabricated based on a combination of [2‐phenylbenzo[d,d']thieno[3,2‐b;4,5‐b']dithiophene (P‐BTDT) : 2‐(4‐n‐octylphenyl)benzo[d,d ']thieno[3,2‐b;4,5‐b']dithiophene (OP‐BTDT)] and C₆₀. Treating high electrical performance vacuum‐deposited P‐BTDT organic semiconductors with a newly developed solution‐processed organic semiconductor material, OP‐BTDT, in an optimized ratio yields a solution‐processed p‐channel organic semiconductor blend with carrier mobility as high as 0.65 cm² V^?1 s^?1. An optimized blending of P‐BTDT:OP‐BTDT with the n‐channel semiconductor, C₆₀, results in a BHJ ambipolar transistor with balanced carrier mobilities for holes and electrons of 0.03 and 0.02 cm² V^?1 s^?1, respectively. Furthermore, a complementary‐like inverter composed of two ambipolar thin‐film transistors is demonstrated, which achieves a gain of 115.     

Solution‐Processed High‐Performance Tetrathienothiophene‐Based Small Molecular Blends for Ambipolar Charge Transport

Four soluble dialkylated tetrathienoacene ( TTAR) ‐based small molecular semiconductors featuring the combination of a TTAR central core, π‐conjugated spacers comprising bithiophene ( bT ) or thiophene ( T ), and with/without cyanoacrylate ( CA ) end‐capping moieties are synthesized and characterized. The molecule DbT‐TTAR exhibits a promising hole mobility up to 0.36 cm² V^?1 s^?1 due to the enhanced crystallinity of the microribbon‐like films. Binary blends of the p‐type DbT‐TTAR and the n‐type dicyanomethylene substituted dithienothiophene‐quinoid ( DTTQ‐11 ) are investigated in terms of film morphology, microstructure, and organic field‐effect transistor (OFET) performance. The data indicate that as the DbT‐TTAR content in the blend film increases, the charge transport characteristics vary from unipolar (electron‐only) to ambipolar and then back to unipolar (hole‐only). With a 1:1 weight ratio of DbT‐TTAR DTTQ‐11 in the blend, well‐defined pathways for both charge carriers are achieved and resulted in ambipolar transport with high hole and electron mobilities of 0.83 and 0.37 cm² V^?1 s^?1, respectively. This study provides a viable way for tuning microstructure and charge carrier transport in small molecules and their blends to achieve high‐performance solution‐processable OFETs.     

Interfacial Connections between Organic Perovskite/n+ Silicon/Catalyst that Allow Integration of Solar Cell and Catalyst for Hydrogen Evolution from Water

The rapidly increasing solar conversion efficiency (PCE) of hybrid organic–inorganic perovskite (HOIP) thin-film semiconductors has triggered interest in their use for direct solar-driven water splitting to produce hydrogen. However, application of these low-cost, electronic-structure-tunable HOIP tandem photoabsorbers has been hindered by the instability of the photovoltaic-catalyst-electrolyte (PV+E) interfaces. Here, photolytic water splitting is demonstrated using an integrated configuration consisting of an HOIP/n⁺silicon single junction photoabsorber and a platinum (Pt) thin film catalyst. An extended electrochemical (EC) lifetime in alkaline media is achieved using titanium nitride on both sides of the Si support to eliminate formation of insulating silicon oxide, and as an effective diffusion barrier to allow high-temperature annealing of the catalyst/TiO₂-protected-n⁺silicon interface necessary to retard electrolytic corrosion. Halide composition is examined in the (FA_1-xCs_x)PbI₃ system with a bandgap suitable for tandem operation. A fill factor of 72.5% is achieved using a Spiro-OMeTAD-hole-transport-layer (HTL)-based HOIP/n⁺Si solar cell, and a high photocurrent density of −15.9 mA cm⁻² (at 0 V vs reversible hydrogen electrode) is attained for the HOIP/n⁺Si/Pt photocathode in 1 m NaOH under simulated 1-sun illumination. While this thin-film design creates stable interfaces, the intrinsic photo- and electro-degradation of the HOIP photoabsorber remains the main obstacle for future HOIP/Si tandem PEC devices.     

Improving the Retention and Endurance Characteristics of Charge-Trapping Memory by Using Double Quantum Barriers

We have studied the performance of double-quantum-barrier [TaN-Ir₃Si]-[HfAlO-LaAlO₃]-Hf_0.3N_0.2O_0.5-[HfAlO-SiO₂]-Si charge-trapping memory devices. These devices display good characteristics in terms of their plusmn9-V program/erase (P/E) voltage, 100-mus P/E speed, initial 3.2-V memory window, and ten-year extrapolated data retention window of 2.4 V at 150 degC. The retention decay rate is significantly better than single-barrier MONOS devices, as is the cycled retention data, due to the reduced interface trap generation.