Characterization and FE analysis on the shear test of electronic materials

Adhesion is one of the main reliability concerns in electronic packages. However, the lack of standards to characterize this property makes it difficult to interpret the results. In this work, a series of shear tests have been conducted to evaluate adhesion strength of different electronic materials.Finite element analysis (FEA) is employed here to model the shear strength of microelectronic materials and to analyze the stress distribution in the specimen and substrate in order to understand this failure mechanism. The shear tool force and displacement at failure were measured experimentally and used as boundary condition for the FEA calculations.Several combinations of soft and stiff materials for specimens and substrates respectively have been evaluated in order to estimate the effects on the shear strength. The general trend from experimental and FEM results shows that soft specimens present a high concentration of stresses in the loaded surface while in the case of rigid specimens, the stresses are distributed in the whole area of contact between specimen and substrate. A proposal for calculating the shear strength was done.     

Device assessment of the electrical activity of threading dislocations in strained Ge epitaxial layers

It is shown that the high density of threading dislocations (TDs) and, more specifically, the high density of point defects associated with it and present in our strained Ge epitaxial layers on a Si_0.2Ge_0.8 relaxed buffer layer degrades the mobility and the leakage current of pMOSFETs and p⁺n junctions fabricated therein. Annealing in the range 550–650 °C prior to gate stack deposition improves the device performance, although there is no marked change in the TD density. From this, it is concluded that the annealing may reduce the density of point defects grown in during the epitaxial deposition.     

Entities,identities, identifiers and credentials — what does it all mean?

This paper looks at the concepts of entities, identities, identifiers and credentials, their definitions, and how they combine to authenticate an identity to an account, or function, within a service. Credentials can be divided into several different types on the basis of their use, origin and characteristics. In particular, types such as composite, dynamic and derived credentials will be considered, and their applicability within an identity management system. Each credential must be managed through its entire life cycle from initial registration, general use and suspension, to deletion. The notion of public (i.e. freely distributable) and private (i.e. known only to you) aspects of a credential is explored. The bindings, by trusted third parties, of identifiers and public credentials into permits and instruments of proof is explained along with the convenience, but greater exposure, of local information. Several scenarios are analysed in terms of how different types of credentials are employed during the authentication process.     

Conducted EMI Reduction in Power Converters by Means of Periodic Switching Frequency Modulation

Spread spectrum clock generation techniques were originally developed to reduce electromagnetic interference (EMI) in communications and microprocessor systems working in the range of hundreds of megahertz. Nowadays, the switching frequency of power converters has been increasing up to values that make worthy the application of such switching frequency modulation techniques to reduce EMI emissions in power converters. Although random modulations have been applied before to power converters, periodic patterns can provide some advantages. First, theoretical principles of frequency modulation using three periodic patterns for the modulating function are presented. The influence of some important modulation parameters on the EMI reduction is analyzed and some considerations about the EMI filters design are also presented. The effectiveness of such methods in terms of EMI reduction is demonstrated theoretically and confirmed with experimental results obtained from tests carried out on two converters. The first one is a 2.5 W buck converter that can be switched up to 1 MHz and the second one is a 600 W boost converter switching at 40 kHz. In both cases, attenuations obtained in conducted EMI are evaluated. Finally, special attention has been paid to input current and output voltage ripple in order to evaluate possible undesired side-effects produced by this technique.     

Liquid Crystal Enabled Early Stage Detection of Beta Amyloid Formation on Lipid Monolayers

Liquid crystals (LCs) can serve as sensitive reporters of interfacial events, and this property has been used for sensing of synthetic or biological toxins. Here it is demonstrated that LCs can distinguish distinct molecular motifs and exhibit a specific response to beta‐sheet structures. That property is used to detect the formation of highly toxic protofibrils involved in neurodegenerative diseases, where it is crucial to develop methods that probe the early‐stage aggregation of amyloidogenic peptides in the vicinity of biological membranes. In the proposed method, the amyloid fibrils formed at the lipid–decorated LC interface can change the orientation of LCs and form elongated and branched structures that are amplified by the mesogenic medium; however, nonamyloidogenic peptides form ellipsoidal domains of tilted LCs. Moreover, a theoretical and computational analysis is used to reveal the underlying structure of the LC, thereby providing a detailed molecular‐level view of the interactions and mechanisms responsible for such motifs. The corresponding signatures can be detected at nanomolar concentrations of peptide by polarized light microscopy and much earlier than the ones that can be identified by fluorescence‐based techniques. As such, it offers the potential for early diagnoses of neurodegenerative diseases and for facile testing of inhibitors of amyloid formation.     

Design of Two‐Stage Class AB CMOS Buffers: A Systematic Approach

A systematic approach for the design of two‐stage class AB CMOS unity‐gain buffers is proposed. It is based on the inclusion of a class AB operation to class A Miller amplifier topologies in unity‐gain negative feedback by a simple technique that does not modify quiescent currents, supply requirements, noise performance, or static power. Three design examples are fabricated in a 0.5 µm CMOS process. Measurement results show slew rate improvement factors of approximately 100 for the class AB buffers versus their class A counterparts for the same quiescent power consumption (< 200 µW).     

Shape effect on electromigration in VLSI interconnects

The influence of the shape of VLSI interconnects on the lifetime due to electromigration is investigated. Simulations and experiments indicate that, in some cases, the right angle corners of the metal lines, widely interconnections layout of VLSI circuits, reduce the lifetime of such interconnects. Substitutions by more gradual, smaller angled corners improve electromigration lifetimes.     

SPICE modelling of hot-carrier degradation in Si1–xGex S/D and HfSiON based pMOS transistors

Hot-carrier degradation in pMOS transistors with Si_1–xGe_x implantations in the source and drain areas is analyzed (SiGe S/D). A simulation methodology is developed to translate the effects to circuit simulators. This methodology is applied to study hot-carrier degradation in CMOS inverters designed with SiGe S/D pMOS transistors. The results show that although pMOS transistors with embedded SiGe S/D have a better device performance, these devices are more sensitive to hot-carrier degradation at both the device and circuit levels.     

Toward Meaningful Connectivity: Using Multilevel Communication Research to Reframe Digital Inequality

Digital inequality, or unequal access to the Internet and technologies that connect to it, has preoccupied communication scholars since the Internet's introduction into popular culture. The relationships between digital and broader social inequalities suggest that meaningful digital connectivity—that is, having the technical skills necessary to engage technology and mobilize information resources to address everyday needs—can empower socially disenfranchised individuals, families, and communities to address challenges related to those disparities. In this essay, we overview the arc of communication research on technology engagement and its consequences. On this foundation, we argue why multilevel research that accounts for individual‐, family‐, and community‐level influences on meaningful digital connectivity is the best path forward for research on digital inequality.     

A Technique for Determining Solar Irradiance Deficits

A novel analytic technique, involving the use of computer-assisted data-reduction techniques, has been developed to determine the variation of solar irradiance from long-term averages. The objective of the study was to develop a tool that would enable solar system designers to assess and improve overall system reliability by determining the amount of backup and/or storage capability required to supplement a baseline system sized according to long-term averages. The technique allows the determination of variations for intervals of time up to 60 days. This paper presents results of the analysis of 13 sites in the continental USA. Cost-effective accommodation of solar irradiance deficits includes both increasing the collector area by about 15% to cover long-term year-to-year variations from the average, and adding energy storage or backup to cover short-term deficits such as those caused by local storms. Site-to-site dependency exists, causing a range of required short-term storage capacities of 1 to 7 no-sun days to accommodate the weather-caused deficits for this broad variety of sites.