Results from the ORPHEUS dark matter detector

The ORPHEUS dark matter detector consists of 450 g superconducting tin granules with diameters of 28 and 36 μm. The detector has been operating in the shallow site of the underground laboratory in Bern (70 m.w.e). First preliminary results on WIMP detection sensitivity will be presented.     

Micro-prober for wafer-level low-noise measurements in MOS devices

Low-frequency noise measurements represent an interesting investigation technique for the characterization of the quality and reliability of microelectronic materials and devices. Performing meaningful noise measurements at low and very low (f<1 Hz) frequencies, however, may be quite challenging, particularly because of the many sources of interference that superimpose on the noise signal. For this reason, packaged samples are preferred because they allow accurate shielding from the external environment, and because keeping the sample in close proximity to the low-noise biasing system and amplifier reduces microphonic and electromagnetic disturbances. Notwithstanding this, the possibility of performing low-frequency noise measurements at wafer level would be quite interesting, both because of the ease of obtaining wafer-level samples from industries with respect to packaged samples, and because this would avoid possible packaging-process induced device degradation. The purpose of this work is to demonstrate that it is, in fact, possible to design and build a dedicated probe system for performing high-sensitivity, low-frequency noise measurements on metal-oxide-semiconductor devices at wafer level.     

Experimental and numerical assessment of gate-lag phenomena in AlGaAs-GaAs heterostructure field-effect transistors (FETs)

Gate-lag effects are characterized in AlGaAs-GaAs heterostructure field-effect transistors (HFETs) by means of measurements and numerical device simulations. Gate lag increasingly affects device switching at increasing ungated recess extension, suggesting that responsible deep levels be located at the ungated, recess surface of the HFET. Gate lag diminishes by making the off-state gate-source voltage less negative and by increasing the drain bias. Increasing the temperature makes the turn-on transient faster at low drain bias, while slightly delaying it at high drain bias. Numerical device simulations accounting for acceptor-like traps at the ungated surface predict gate-lag phenomena in good agreement with experiments, reproducing correctly the observed bias and temperature dependences. Simulations show that surface states behave, during the turn-on transient, as hole traps capturing holes attracted at the ungated surface by the negative trapped charge.     

A New Hand-Held Microsystem Architecture for Biological Analysis

This paper presents a hand-held microsystem based on new fully integrated magnetoresistive biochips for biomolecular recognition (DNA hybridization, antibody antigen interaction, etc.). Magnetoresistive chip surfaces are chemically treated, enabling the immobilization of probe biomolecules such as DNA or antibodies. Fluid handling is also integrated in the biochip. The proposed microsystem not only integrates the biochip, which is an array of 16times16 magnetoresistive sensors, but it also provides all the electronic circuitry for addressing and reading out each transducer. The proposed architecture and circuits were specifically designed for achieving a compact, programmable and portable microsystem. The microsystem also integrates a hand-held analyzer connected through a wireless channel. A prototype of the system was already developed and detection of magnetic nanoparticles was obtained. This indicates that the system may be used for magnetic label based bioassays     

A tree partitioning dynamic policy for OVSF codes assignment in wideband CDMA

This paper proposes some novel techniques to accommodate users with different rate requirements in a wideband code-division multiple-access system employing orthogonal variable spreading factor codes. Two simple static code assignment strategies are first considered, and an improvement based on multicode assignment. Then the new idea of tree partitioning is introduced and used to devise a dynamic code reassignment algorithm. The behavior of these different techniques is experimentally investigated, in terms of call blocking probability and number of required reassignments. The tree partitioning method exhibits very good performances.     

Control system design on a power-split CVT for high-power agricultural tractors

The problem considered in this paper is the design and tuning of the control system of a power-split continuously variable transmission (CVT) used in high-power tractors. Power-split CVTs are characterized by the combination of a traditional mechanical transmission and by a continuously-variable transmission. This guarantees, at the same time, smooth variations of the transmission-ratio and high efficiency of the overall transmission system. The control architecture of an hydrostatic power-split CVT is constituted by three main parts: 1) servo-controller on the current of the valve which drives the hydraulic transmission; 2) a servo-controller on the hydraulic transmission-ratio; and 3) a synchronizer which coordinates the hydraulic and the mechanical parts of the CVT. In this work, these three controllers are fully developed, including: design, implementation, and evaluation on an experimental system.     

Optical intensity-modulated direct detection channels: signal space and lattice codes

Traditional approaches to constructing constellations for electrical channels cannot be applied directly to the optical intensity channel. This work presents a structured signal space model for optical intensity channels where the nonnegativity and average amplitude constraints are represented geometrically. Lattice codes satisfying channel constraints are defined and coding and shaping gain relative to a baseline are computed. An effective signal space dimension is defined to represent the precise impact of coding and shaping on bandwidth. Average optical power minimizing shaping regions are derived in some special cases. Example lattice codes are constructed and their performance on an idealized point-to-point wireless optical link is computed. Bandwidth-efficient schemes are shown to have promise for high data-rate applications, but require greater average optical power.     

Experimental real-time detector of GSM terminals

The authors present an experimental real-time GSM terminal detector, to be installed in a restricted area. The detector triggers terminal signaling, which can be captured.     

Formation of Arrayed Droplets by Soft Lithography and Two-Phase Fluid Flow, and Application in Protein Crystallization

This paper presents an overview of our recent work on the use of soft lithography and two-phase fluid flow to form arrays of droplets. The crucial issues in the formation of stable arrays of droplets and alternating droplets of two sets of aqueous solutions include the geometry of the microchannels, the capillary number, and the water fraction of the system. Glass capillaries could be coupled to the PDMS microchannels and droplets could be transferred into glass capillaries for long-term storage. The arrays of droplets have been applied to screen the conditions for protein crystallization with microbatch and vapor diffusion techniques.     

Dielectric relaxation of vegetable-based polyurethane

Vegetable-based polyurethane (PU) was prepared in the thin film form by spin coating. This polymer is synthesised from castor oil, which can be extracted from the seeds of a native plant in Brazil called mamona. This polymer is biocompatible and is being used as material for artificial bone. The PU was characterised by dielectric spectroscopy in a wide range of frequency (10^–5 Hz to 10⁵ Hz) and by thermally stimulated discharge current (TSDC) measurements. The glass transition temperature (T _g = 39°C) was determined and using the initial rise method the activation energy was found to be 1.58 eV.