The role of grain-boundary on the hydrogen-induced degradation inthin-film ferroelectric capacitors

The electrical properties of thin-film ferroelectric capacitors are known to degrade severely when exposed to hydrogen. In this study, we directly measured the effects of the grain boundary on the hydrogen-induced degradation in ferroelectric Pb(Zr, Ti)O₃ (PZT) thin films by the location of the top Pt electrode either inside the grains or at the grain boundary. A strong relationship between the grain boundary and the electrical properties of ferroelectric capacitors as a result of hydrogen annealing was found. The degradation of the electrical properties in thin-film ferroelectric capacitors after hydrogen annealing is mainly due to the presence of the grain boundary in the ferroelectric thin film     

Adding Support for Persistence to CLOS via Its Metaobject Protocol

Language-level support for object persistence frees programmers from having to confront a broad class of database issues from within their applications. By virtue of its metaobject protocol, CLOS is a language whose semantics can be tailored by individual programmers. We used the metaobject protocol to extend CLOS with support for object persistence. Our goal was to obtain a version of CLOS with persistence to which we could easily port a commercial geometric CAD modeling system. We describe the design and implementation of our persistence extension and highlight the strengths and weaknesses exhibited by the CLOS metaobject protocol during our experiment. For many aspects of the implementation we found that the metaobject protocol was ideal. In other cases we had to choose among paying a large performance penalty, extending the protocol, and bypassing the protocol by modifying the language implementation directly.     

Immittance function simulator using a single current conveyor

A novel circuit for realising negative immittance using a single plus-type second-generation current conveyor is proposed. The immittance values of the the circuit, which only use four passive elements, can be orthogonally adjusted. The circuit does not require component matching     

Comparison of Superplastic Formabiliity Predictions Using 2-D Plane Strain and 3-D Modeling

Computational simulations of superplastic forming by 2-D plane strain including simple analytical and finite element and 3-D finite element modeling were compared with each other. The piece being formed was a rectangular pan with a female die. The effect of die entrance radii upon pressurization rate and thickness distribution was examined. Experimental work was conducted on superplastic aluminum-lithium 8090 material for comparison with predictions from simulations.     

Practice characteristics that lead to 21st century learning outcomes

Abstract The key research question for this study was to ask whether or not innovative teaching practices would lead to the development of learning outcomes essential for preparing the younger generation for the challenges of life in the knowledge society of the 21st century, and if so, how are the pedagogical features related to the different learning outcomes. Preliminary analyses of the case study data collected from the SITES M2 Study in Hong Kong reveal that where the development of more significant learning gains were observed, the cases possess characteristics additional to the criteria defined in the Study for selection of innovation. More importantly, it was found that the impact of the pedagogical practices was not determined simply by the aggregation of characteristics of the practices per se , nor on the technologies used, but on whether 'empowerment' permeates the curriculum goal and process. Further, this paper claims that these affective and socio-cognitive learning outcomes are more important as preparation for lifelong learning in the 21st century than 'knowledge management competencies'.     

Analogue implementation of a neural network controller for UPSinverter applications

An analogue neural-network controller for UPS inverter applications is presented. The proposed neural-network controller is trained off-line using patterns obtained from a simulated controller, which had an idealized load-current-reference. Simulation results show that the proposed neural-network controller can achieve low total harmonic distortion under nonlinear loading condition and good dynamic responses under transient loading condition. To verify the performance of the proposed NN controller, a hardware inverter with an analogue neural network (NN) controller (using mainly operational amplifiers and resistors) is built. Additionally, for comparison purposes, a PI controller with optimized parameters is built. Experimental results confirm the simulation results and show the superior performance of the NN controller especially under rectifier-type loading condition. Implementing the analogue neural-network controller using programmable integrated circuits is also discussed     

Electromagnetic interference mitigation by using a spread-spectrumapproach

We investigate a new technique, referred to as spread-spectrum clock generation (SSCG), for reducing the level of radiated emission from devices with digital clock signals. To calculate the radiated emissions from such devices, we model the radiating geometry and compute the radiated field at a multitude of frequencies by using NEC-4, which is an electromagnetic field solver based on the method of moments (MoM). We consider a variety of modulating profiles for the spread spectrum clock and demonstrate that by using a frequency deviation of only 1%, we can achieve from 10 to 30 dB reduction in the radiated emission levels