Noise characteristics of stacked CMOS active pixel sensor for charged particles

The noise characteristics of a stacked CMOS active pixel sensor (SCAPS) for incident charged particles have been analyzed under 4.5 keV Si⁺ ion irradiation. The source of SCAPS dark current was found to change from thermal to electron leakage with decreasing device temperature. Leakage current at charge integration part in a pixel has been reduced to 0.1 electrons s⁻¹ at 77 K. The incident ion signals are computed by subtracting reset frame values from each frame using a non-destructive readout operation. With increase of irradiated ions, the dominant noise source changed from read noise, and shot noise from the incident ions, to signal frame fixed-pattern noise from variations in sensitivity between pixels. Pixel read noise is equivalent to ten incident ions. The charge of an incident ion is converted to 1.5 electrons in the pixel capacitor. Shot noise corresponds to the statistical fluctuation of incident ions. Signal frame fixed-pattern noise is 0.7% of the signal. By comparing full well conditions to noise floor, a dynamic range of 80 dB is achieved. SCPAS is useful as a two-dimensional detector for microanalyses such as stigmatic secondary ion mass spectrometry.     

Coupled CFD analysis of size distributions on indoor secondary organic aerosol derived from ozone/limonene reactions

Recently, theoretical analysis and experiment have been initiated to investigate the generation of secondary organic aerosols (SOA) by chemical reactions in indoor air. In particular, it has been confirmed that SOA are generated by the reaction of ozone with various terpenoids. The overarching goal of this work was to better understand ozone, VOC (volatile organic compounds) and generated SOA distributions within rooms. We carried out cylindrical test chamber experiments to measure SOA generation from the chemical reaction of ozone and limonene and discussed numerical models to describe it. In this paper, we propose a method for predicting the particle size distribution of SOA generated by ozone and limonene chemical reactions in air. In particular, we discuss an analytical method that involves a sectional modeling approach governing equations of SOA. Although the changes in particle size distribution in a 40-section model were reproduced to a certain extent, rigorous modeling for the generation and growth of SOA and an increased number of sections are needed for improvement of prediction accuracy.     

Experimental and Numerical Analysis of Rock Block Stability Using a Remotely Positioned Laser Doppler Vibrometer

This paper examines a new method of evaluating the stability of a rock slope using a remotely positioned LDV （laser Doppler vibrometer）. We conducted an experiment using physical models and performed a numerical analysis to evaluate the new method. The physical model included： （l） concrete blocks on an artificial soil slope with two block sizes and three slopes; （2） concrete blocks bonded to the concrete base with different contact area. The LDV measurements agreed with conventional seismometer measurements. The dominant frequency of the blocks varied with the stability and dominant frequency and the amplitude varied with the block size. The numerical model was used to examine a concrete block adhered to a concrete base with different contact areas. The dominant frequency of the blocks determined using the numerical model agreed with those obtained from the physical experiments. We analyzed different sized blocks to examine the scaling effects. The dominant frequency of the blocks was inversely related to the block size. These results demonstrated the effectiveness of LDV for evaluating the stability of rock slopes and cleared the block size scaling effects.     

Effect of Polarization Mode Coupling on Extrema Counting Fixed Analyzer PMD Measurement Method

We describe the effect of polarization mode coupling in the single-mode optical fibers on the extrema counting fixed analyzer (FA) polarization mode dispersion (PMD) measurement method. We define the polarization mode coupling coefficient for the over (or under) estimation which occurs with the FA method. We investigate the polarization mode coupling coefficient experimentally by comparison with the air-path (cross-correlation) type interferometric PMD measurement method. Moreover, we discuss the polarization mode coupling experimentally as well as analytically by using pseudo-polarization mode coupling which we obtained by splicing highly birefringent (B  4.5 × 10 ^− 4) polarization maintaining fibers (PMFs) with the random splice angles. The results show that the PMD τ of the single-mode optical fibers which has random polarization mode coupling can be approximated by multiplying the PMD τ obtained using the FA method with the random polarization mode coupling coefficient k  0.82.     

EB-PVD process and thermal properties of hafnia-based thermal barrier coating

Thermal barrier coatings (TBCs) are being developed for the key technology of gas turbine and diesel engine applications. In general, 8 mass% Y₂O₃–ZrO₂ (8YSZ) coating materials are used as the top coating of TBCs. The development of hafnia-based TBC was started in order to realize the high reliability and durability in comparison with 8YSZ, and the 7.5 mass% Y₂O₃–HfO₂ (7.5YSH) was selected for coating material. By the investigation of electron-beam physical vapor deposition (EB-PVD) process using 7.5YSH ceramic ingot, 7.5YSH top coating with about 200 µm thickness could be formed. The microstructure of the 7.5YSH coated at coating temperature of 850 °C showed columnars of laminated thin crystals. On the other hand, the structure of the 7.5YSH coated at coating temperature of 950 °C showed solid columnars. From the result of sintering behavior obtained by heating test of 7.5YSH coating, it was recognized that the thermal durability of 7.5YSH coating was improved up to about 100 °C in comparison with 8YSZ coating. This tendency was confirmed by the experimental result of the thermal expansion characteristics of sintered 7.5YSH and 8YSZ.

©2003 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.     

汉语语句的自动改写

在基于转换方式的口语机器翻译中,口语的多样性和不规则性加重了转换模块的处理负担。另外,由于缺少双语语料库和懂双语的语言学家,使得翻译知识的开发很困难或成本很高。为了解决这些问题,我们提出了在翻译前对源语言的语句进行自动改写的方法,试图通过加强源语言的处理来分散转换模块的负担。本文介绍了汉日口语机器翻译系统中汉语语句改写模块的开发。作者在分析了口语句子的改写目标后,提出了基于模板匹配的改写方法和从改写语料库中获取改写模板的半自动化方法。作者还介绍了改写模块的设计与实现,以及评价试验和结果。     

Gate oxide reliability concerns in gate-metal sputtering deposition process: an effect of low-energy large-mass ion bombardment

The effects of ion species/ion bombardment energy in sputtering deposition process on gate oxide reliability have been experimentally investigated. The use of xenon (Xe) plasma instead of argon (Ar) plasma in tantalum (Ta) film sputtering deposition for gate electrode formation makes it possible to minimize the plasma-induced gate oxide damage. The Xe plasma process exhibits 1.5 times higher breakdown field and five times higher 50%-charge-to-breakdown (Q_BD). In the gate-metal sputtering deposition process, the physical bombardment of energetic ion causes to generate hole traps in gate oxide, resulting in the lower gate oxide reliability. The simplified model providing a better understanding of the empirical relation between the gate oxide damage and the ion-bombardment energy to gate oxide in gate-metal sputtering deposition process is also presented.     

Performance of droplet generator and droplet collector in liquid droplet radiator under microgravity

The Liquid Droplet Radiator (LDR) has an advantage over comparable conventional radiators in terms of the rejected heat power-weight ratio. Therefore, the LDR has attracted attention as an advanced radiator for high-power space systems that will be prerequisite for large space structures. The performance of the LDR under microgravity condition has been studied from the viewpoint of operational space use of the LDR in the future. In this study, the performances of a droplet generator and a droplet collector in the LDR are investigated using drop shafts in Japan: MGLAB and JAMIC. As a result, it is considered that (1) the droplet generator can produce uniform droplet streams in the droplet diameter range from 200 to 280 [μm] and the spacing range from 400 to 950 [μm] under microgravity condition, (2) the droplet collector with the incidence angle of 35 degrees can prevent a uniform droplet stream, in which droplet diameter is 250 [μm] and the velocity is 16 [m/s], from splashing under microgravity condition, whereas splashes may occur at the surface of the droplet collector in the event that a nonuniform droplet stream collides against it.