Noise characteristics of GaAs-AlGaAs heterojunction punch-throughphototransistors

Novel GaAs-AlGaAs heterojunction phototransistors with a δ-doped base have been fabricated. Very high gain and low output noise have been measured. The measured noise is composed of shot noise associated with collector quiescent bias current and amplified shot noise due to collector leak current for nonpassivated devices. The high gain and low intrinsic noise characteristics of these transistors make them very promising in weak light detection     

An adaptive analog continuous-time CMOS biquadratic filter

An adaptive analog continuous-time biquadratic filter is realized in a 2-μm digital CMOS process for operation at 300 kHz. The biquad implements the notch, bandpass and low-pass transfer functions. The only parameter adapted is the resonant frequency of the biquad, which is identical to the notch frequency and the bandpass center frequency. The update method is based on a least-means-square algorithm which adapts the notch frequency to minimize the power at the notch filter output. The actual update is modified to reduce the circuit complexity to one biquad and one correlator. When the filter is tracking a sinusoid, this update generates a ripple-free gradient that decreases tracking error. Applications include phase-frequency detectors, FM demodulators (linear and frequency shift keying), clock extractors, and frequency acquisition aids for phase-locked loops and Costas loops. Measured results from experimental prototypes are presented. Nonidealities of an all-analog implementation are discussed, along with suggestions to improve performance     

A study of the kinetics of nucleation in a palm oil melt

Nucleation from a supercooled melt of palm oil was studied by optical microscopy and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). Despite being a multicomponent system, palm oil exhibits a rather simple cooling thermogram with its high- and low-T exotherms exclusively related to the “hard” and “soft” components of the oil. As the “hard” components are being removed, the position of the high-T peak shifts down toward the low-T peak with diminishing peak intensity, while the position of the latter remains virtually unchanged. At 288°K, nucleation in a palm oil melt is instantaneous. Its induction time-temperature curve shows an abrupt discontinuity at 297°K, which demarcates the occurrence of one polymorph from another. Nucleation data fit very well into the Fisher-Turnbull equation. Its larger activation free energy of nucleation is accompanied by lowering of the melting point and an increase in the crystal/melt interfacial free energy as compared to palm stearin. The slow rate of nucleation in palm oil is attributed to intermolecular interaction between its “hard” and “soft” components. Partly presented at the 1989 PORIM International Palm Oil Development Conference, September 5–9, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.     

Modus Operandi of Simultaneous Covering Synthesis from Precursor Heterogeneity for Shelled Nanorods for Multipotent Cancer Theranostics

The synthesis of nanostructures using homogeneous precursors in the solution phase is widely used to achieve uniformity and well‐defined morphological control. However, drawbacks such as the lack of diversity due to the limited reaction rate modulation exist. One‐step, core–shell nanorod formation using simultaneous covering synthesis using solid and ionic heterogeneous precursors is proposed in this study. A Te‐Bi₂Te₃/TeO₂ core–shell structure is successfully synthesized by precisely controlling various influencing factors, including concentration, temperature, and pH, and its physicochemical and photochemical properties are thoroughly investigated. The proposed nanostructure overcomes the oxidation susceptibility of Te and can be applied to multipotent cancer theranostics in vitro and in vivo in combination with computed tomography imaging.     

Enhanced storage/operation stability of small molecule organic photovoltaics using graphene oxide interfacial layer

Graphene and graphene oxide (GO) have been applied in flexible organic electronic devices with enhanced efficiency of polymeric photovoltaic (OPV) devices. In this work, we demonstrate that storage/operation stability of OPV can be substantially enhanced by spin-coating a GO buffer layer on ITO without any further treatment. With a 2 nm GO buffer layer, the power conversion efficiency (PCE) of a standard copper phthalocyanine (CuPc)/fullerene (C₆₀) based OPV device shows about 30% enhancement from 1.5% to 1.9%. More importantly, while the PCE of the standard device drop to 1/1000 of its original value after 60-days of operation-storage cycles; those of GO-buffered device maintained 84% of initial PCE even after 132-days. Atomic force microscopy studies show that CuPc forms larger crystallites on the GO-buffered ITO substrate leading to better optical absorption and thus photon utilization. Stability enhancement is attributed to the diffusion barrier of the GO layer which slow down diffusion of oxygen species from ITO to the active layers.     

DC and microwave noise transient behavior of InP/InGaAs doubleheterojunction bipolar transistor (DHBT) with polyimide passivation

DC and microwave noise transient behavior of InP/InGaAs double heterojunction bipolar transistor (DHBT) with polyimide passivation is reported in this paper for the first time. The base transient current is believed to be due to the change of surface potential near the base-emitter junction perimeter at the polyimide/emitter interface resulting from a decrease in the amount of trapped electrons in the polyimide. We also find that the surface potential on the sidewall of collector-emitter affected by the charge trapping and detrapping in polyimide may induce a parasitic polyimide field effect transistor along the surface of the base-collector junction which results in an excess collector transient current. These base and collector current transients result in associated transient of broadband shot noise. The time dependence of microwave noise figures due to the excess transients is also investigated. The better understanding of the mechanisms of the noise transient behavior of the InP HBT device is very useful to improve the device and circuit reliability     

能实现高压输出的抽头电感升压稳压器

当您面对产生比可用电源电压更高的稳定电压任务时,可以考虑升压稳压器。虽然升压转换器在理论上能产生比其输入更高的几乎任何电压,但实际的考虑把输出限制为对其施加的电压的大约8倍。为了产生更高的电压,可考虑使用抽头电感升压拓扑结构。图1展示了某种转换器的实现,它把3V输入提高到了100Vdc。稳压器芯片的连接类似于传统升压转换器的连接,但为了达到很高的升压比,该设计使用了L1,即一个1:6匝数比的抽头电感。图2中的波形示出了输入电压、电源开关IC1输出端(5号引脚SW)的电压、整流二极管D1的阳极电压。如同任何升压电路一样,当IC1…     

Location Estimation via Support Vector Regression

Location estimation using the global system for mobile communication (GSM) is an emerging application that infers the location of the mobile receiver from multiple signals measurements. While geometrical and signal propagation models have been deployed to tackle this estimation problem, the terrain factors and power fluctuations have confined the accuracy of such estimation. Using support vector regression, we investigate the missing value location estimation problem by providing theoretical and empirical analysis on existing and novel kernels. A novel synthetic experiment is designed to compare the performances of different location estimation approaches. The proposed support vector regression approach shows promising performances, especially in terrains with local variations in environmental factors     

Effect of plasma treatment of Au-Ni-Cu bond pads on process windows of Au wire bonding

The wire bondability of Au-Ni-Cu bond pads with different Au plating schemes, including electrolytic and immersion plates, are evaluated after plasma treatment. The plasma cleaning conditions, such as cleaning power and time, are optimized based on the process window and wire pull strength measurements for different bond pad temperatures. Difference in the efficiency of plasma treatment in improving the wire bondability for different Au plates is identified. The plasma-cleaned bond pads are exposed to air to evaluate the recontamination process and the corresponding degradation of wire pull strength. The changes in bond pad surface characteristics, such as surface free energy and polar functionality, with exposure time are correlated to the wire pull strength, which in turn provides practical information about the shelf life of wire bonding after plasma cleaning.     

The influence of solder volume and pad area on Sn–3.8Ag–0.7Cu and Ni UBM reaction in reflow soldering and isothermal aging

This paper examines various aspects of SAC (Sn–3.8Ag–0.7Cu wt.%) solder and UBM interactions which may impact interconnection reliability as it scales down. With different solder joint sizes, the dissolution rate of UBM and IMC growth kinetics will be different. Solder bumps on 250, 80 and 40 μm diameter UBM pads were investigated. The effect of solder volume/pad metallization area (V/A) ratio on IMC growth and Ni dissolution was investigated during reflow soldering and solid state isothermal aging. Higher V/A ratio produced thinner and more fragmented IMC morphology in SAC solder/Ni UBM reflow soldering interfacial reaction. Lower V/A ratio produced better defined IMC layer at the Ni UBM interface. When the ratio of V/A is constant, the IMC morphology and growth trend was found to be similar. After 250 h of isothermal aging, the IMC growth rate of the different bump sizes leveled off. No degradation in shear strength was observed in these solder bump after 500 h of isothermal aging.