High-Performance Al–Sn–Zn–In–O Thin-Film Transistors: Impact of Passivation Layer on Device Stability

We fabricated high-performance thin-film transistors (TFTs) with an amorphous-Al–Sn–Zn–In–O (a-AT-ZIO) channel deposited by cosputtering using a dual Al–Zn–O and In–Sn–O target. The fabricated AT-ZIO TFTs, which feature a bottom-gate and bottom-contact configuration, exhibited a high field-effect mobility of 31.9 $ hbox{cm}^{2}/hbox{V}cdothbox{s}$, an excellent subthreshold gate swing of 0.07 V/decade, and a high $I_{{rm on}/{rm off}}$ ratio of $≫hbox{10}^{9}$, even below the process temperature of 250 $^{circ}hbox{C}$. In addition, we demonstrated that the temperature and bias-induced stability of the bottom-gate TFT structure can significantly be improved by adopting a suitable passivation layer of atomic-layer-deposition-derived $hbox{Al}_{2} hbox{O}_{3}$ thin film.      

CMOS digital duty cycle correction circuit for multi-phase clock

A digital duty cycle correction circuit with a fixed-delay rising-edge output is proposed for use in applications with the multi-phase clock and the standby mode. Two integrators are used in the duty cycle detector to eliminate the effect of reference voltage variations. The output duty cycle is adjusted to 50/spl plusmn/0.25% throughout the input duty cycle range from 20% to 80% at the frequency of 1.25 GHz. 0.18 /spl mu/m CMOS technology is used in this work.     

In Situ Formation of Copper‐Based Hosts Embedded within 3D N‐Doped Hierarchically Porous Carbon Networks for Ultralong Cycle Lithium–Sulfur Batteries

Lithium–sulfur (Li–S) batteries are promising energy storage systems due to their large theoretical energy density of 2600 Wh kg^?1 and cost effectiveness. However, the severe shuttle effect of soluble lithium polysulfide intermediates (LiPSs) and sluggish redox kinetics during the cycling process cause low sulfur utilization, rapid capacity fading, and a low coulombic efficiency. Here, a 3D copper, nitrogen co‐doped hierarchically porous graphitic carbon network developed through a freeze‐drying method (denoted as 3D Cu@NC‐F) is prepared, and it possesses strong chemical absorption and electrocatalytic conversion activity for LiPSs as highly efficient sulfur host materials in Li–S batteries. The porous carbon network consisting of 2D cross‐linked ultrathin carbon nanosheets provides void space to accommodate volumetric expansion upon lithiation, while the Cu, N‐doping effect plays a critical role for the confinement of polysulfides through chemical bonding. In addition, after sulfuration of Cu@NC‐F network, the in situ grown copper sulfide (Cu_xS) embedded within Cu_xS@NC/S‐F composite catalyzes LiPSs conversion during reversible cycling, resulting in low polarization and fast redox reaction kinetics. At a current density of 0.1 C, the Cu_xS@NC/S‐F composites' electrode exhibits an initial capacity of 1432 mAh g^?1 and maintains 1169 mAh g^?1 after 120 cycles, with a coulombic efficiency of nearly 100%.     

DART: Fast and Efficient Distributed Stream Processing Framework for Internet of Things

With the advent of the Internet‐of‐Things paradigm, the amount of data production has grown exponentially and the user demand for responsive consumption of data has increased significantly. Herein, we present DART, a fast and lightweight stream processing framework for the IoT environment. Because the DART framework targets a geospatially distributed environment of heterogeneous devices, the framework provides (1) an end‐user tool for device registration and application authoring, (2) automatic worker node monitoring and task allocations, and (3) runtime management of user applications with fault tolerance. To maximize performance, the DART framework adopts an actor model in which applications are segmented into microtasks and assigned to an actor following a single responsibility. To prove the feasibility of the proposed framework, we implemented the DART system. We also conducted experiments to show that the system can significantly reduce computing burdens and alleviate network load by utilizing the idle resources of intermediate edge devices.     

Miniaturized Flexible Electronic Systems with Wireless Power and Near‐Field Communication Capabilities

A class of thin, lightweight, flexible, near‐field communication (NFC) devices with ultraminiaturized format is introduced, and systematic investigations of the mechanics, radio frequency characteristics, and materials aspects associated with their optimized construction are presented. These systems allow advantages in mechanical strength, placement versatility, and minimized interfacial stresses compared to other NFC technologies and wearable electronics. Detailed experimental studies and theoretical modeling of the mechanical and electromagnetic properties of these systems establish understanding of the key design considerations. These concepts can apply to many other types of wireless communication systems including biosensors and electronic implants.     

Study on Characteristics of Various RF Transmission Line Structures on PES Substrate for Application to Flexible MMIC

In this work, the coplanar waveguide is fabricated on a PES (poly[ether sulfone]) substrate for application to a flexible monolithic microwave integrated circuit, and its RF characteristics were thoroughly investigated. The quality factor of the coplanar waveguide on PES is 40.3 at a resonance frequency of 46.7 GHz. A fishbone‐type transmission line (FTTL) structure is also fabricated on the PES substrate, and its RF characteristics are investigated. The wavelength of the FTTL on PES is 5.11 mm at 20 GHz, which is 55% of the conventional coplanar waveguide on PES. Using the FTTL, an impedance transformer is fabricated on PES. The size of the impedance transformer is 0.318 mm × 0.318 mm, which is 69.2% of the size of the transformer fabricated by the conventional coplanar waveguide on PES. The impedance transformer showed return loss values better than –12.9 dB from 5 GHz to 50 GHz and an insertion loss better than –1.13 dB in the same frequency range.     

InGaAsP microdisk lasers on AlxOy

InGaAsP microdisk lasers are fabricated on Al_xO_y by wafer fusion. Room-temperature continuous-wave operation with threshold pump power of 1.13 mW has been achieved from a 2.2-μm diameter microdisk laser. The lasing wavelength with incident pump power redshifts at a rate of 0.28 nm/mW which shows the improved thermal characteristics due to the high thermal conductivity of Al_xO _y bottom layer     

A health management algorithm for composite train carbody based on FEM/FBG hybrid method

In this study, a health management program for a composite train carbody was developed using the acquired strain distributions from fiber Bragg grating (FBG) sensor arrays. To determine appropriate locations for the FBG sensors, a finite element analysis (FEA) was executed. In this FEA, a FE model of the Korean tilting train (TTX) was used as a representative composite carbody train. The FEA results of various derailment situations and high speed operation on curved track were used as the database of each deformation case. In the last step, the health management program was produced using LabVIEW software. In this post-processing algorithm, the method of least squares was used to determine the difference between the FEA results and the acquired strains. This program shows the estimated deformations and plots of the acquired strains, as well as displaying an emergency indicator when necessary, all through post-processing of the strains. Finally, this FEM/FBG hybrid method was verified by several simulations using the reproductive sensor data.     

接触面陷阱密度对a-InSnZnO薄膜晶体管器件电气性能的影响研究

We reported the influence of interface trap density（Nt） on the electrical properties of amorphous InSnZnO based thin-film transistors,which were fabricated at different direct-current（DC） magnetron sputtering powers.The device with the smallest N_t of 5.68×10¹¹ cm^-2 and low resistivity of 1.21×10^-3Ω·cm exhibited a turn-on voltage(V_ON) of-3.60 V,a sub-threshold swing（S.S） of 0.16 V/dec and an on-off ratio(I_ON/I_OFF) of⁸ x 108.With increasing N_t,the V_ON,S.S and I_ON/I_OFF were suppressed to-9.40 V,0.24 V/dec and 2.59×10⁸,respectively.The V_TH shift under negative gate bias stress has also been estimated to investigate the electrical stability of the devices.The result showed that the reduction in N_t contributes to an improvement in the electrical properties and stability.