Fully parallel integrated CAM/RAM using preclassification to enablelarge capacities

Many applications would benefit from the availability of large-capacity content addressable memories (CAMs). However, while RAMs, EEPROMs, and other memory types achieve ever-increasing per-chip bit counts, CAMs show little promise of following suit, due primarily to an inherent difficulty in implementing two-dimensional decoding. The serialized operation of most proposed solutions is not acceptable in speed-sensitive environments. In response to the resulting need, this paper describes a fully-parallel (single-clock-cycle) CAM architecture that uses the concept of “preclassification” to realize a second dimension of decoding without compromising throughput. As is typically the case, each CAM entry is used as an index to additional data in a RAM. To achieve improved system integration, the preclassified CAM is merged into the same physical array as its target RAM, and both use the same core cells. Architecture and operation of the resulting novel memory are described, as are two critical-path circuits: the match-line pull-down and the multiple match resolver. The memory circuits, designed in 0.8 μm BiCMOS technology, may be employed in chips as large as 1 Mb, and simulations confirm 37 MHz operation for this capacity. To experimentally verify the feasibility of the architectural and circuit design, an 8 kb test chip was fabricated and found to be fully functional at clock speeds up to 59 MHz, with a power dissipation of 260 mW at 50 MHz     

Nanoimprint Lithography Facilitated Plasmonic-Photonic Coupling for Enhanced Photoconductivity and Photocatalysis

Imprint lithography has emerged as a reliable, reproducible, and rapid method for patterning colloidal nanostructures. As a promising alternative to top-down lithographic approaches, the fabrication of nanodevices has thus become effective and straightforward. In this study, a fusion of interference lithography (IL) and nanosphere imprint lithography on various target substrates ranging from carbon film on transmission electron microscope grid to inorganic and dopable polymer semiconductor is reported. 1D plasmonic photonic crystals are printed with 75% yield on the centimeter scale using colloidal ink and an IL-produced polydimethylsiloxane stamp. Atomically smooth facet, single-crystalline, and monodisperse colloidal building blocks of gold (Au) nanoparticles are used to print 1D plasmonic grating on top of a titanium dioxide (TiO₂) slab waveguide, producing waveguide-plasmon polariton modes with superior 10 nm spectral line-width. Plasmon-induced hot electrons are confirmed via two-terminal current measurements with increased photoresponsivity under guiding conditions. The fabricated hybrid structure with Au/TiO₂ heterojunction enhances photocatalytic processes like degradation of methyl orange (MO) dye molecules using the generated hot electrons. This simple colloidal printing technique demonstrated on silicon, glass, Au film, and naphthalenediimide polymer thus marks an important milestone for large-scale implementation in optoelectronic devices.     

Reliability of AlN substrates and their solder joints in IGBT power modules

The reliability of IGBT modules was investigated with respect to the metallized ceramic (substrate) and the solder layer between the substrate and copper baseplate. Thermal cycles were performed between −55°C and +150°C on substrates based on different technologies and from various manufacturers. An incipient delamination of the metallization could be predicted from the mechanical resonance frequency. The warping of the substrates after cycling due to crack propagation and the adhesion of the metallization were determined. Thermal and active-power cycles were performed on 1200 A / 3.3 kV IGBT power modules to investigate the reliability of the solder joint between substrate and baseplate.     

USB端对端系统设计

介绍您曾经想过Windows操作系统显示“发现新的硬件装置”讯息时,究竟计算机是怎样做到的?这是一个随插即用(PlugandPlay)的例子,是Windows操作系统中的一项特色,能让个人计算机自动设定硬件。在设定装置时,有许多动作是在幕后执行。对使用者来说,只要放入安装用光盘片,让Windows复制所需的档案就行了。然而,对于研发人员来说,就必须对Windows操作系统与计算机硬件间的关系有更深的了解,才能发展随插即用的产品。本文将阐明部分关于随插即用的神秘之处,以及计算机应用软件存取USB装置的相关介绍,一并了解韧体与应用之间的互动关系。背景…     

Tuning Thermal Transport Through Atomically Thin Ti3C2Tz MXene by Current Annealing in Vacuum

Heat transport across vertical interfaces of heterogeneous 2D materials is usually governed by the weak Van der Waals interactions of the surface‐terminating atoms. Such interactions play a significant role in thermal transport across transition metal carbide and nitride (MXene) atomic layers due to their hydrophilic nature and variations in surface terminations. Here, the metallicity of atomically thin Ti₃C₂T_z MXene, which is also verified by scanning tunneling spectroscopy for the first time, is exploited to develop a self‐heating/self‐sensing platform to carry out direct‐current annealing experiments in high (<10^?8 bar) vacuum, while simultaneously evaluating the interfacial heat transport across a Ti₃C₂T_z/SiO₂ interface. At room temperature, the thermal boundary conductance (TBC) of this interface is found, on average, to increase from 10 to 27 MW m^?2 K^?1 upon current annealing up to the breakdown limit. In situ heating X‐ray diffraction and X‐ray photo‐electron spectroscopy reveal that the TBC values are mainly affected by interlayer and interface spacing due to the removal of absorbents, while the effect of surface termination is negligible. This study provides key insights into understanding energy transport in MXene nanostructures and other 2D material systems.     

Narrow Vertical Far-Field 975-nm Broad-Area DFB Lasers for Wide Temperature Range Operation

We report on 100-mum-wide 975-nm distributed-feedback lasers with a cavity length of 2 mm, which deliver 2.4 W within a 14deg vertical far-field angle (full-width at half-maximum) and 35% power conversion efficiency in combination with a spectral linewidth of 0.27 nm (95% power content). The epitaxial design is a compromise between a narrow vertical far-field and a good power conversion efficiency, as required for application as a pump source. Narrow linewidth operation is sustained to 100degC, enabled by use of a grating with a high coupling coefficient.     

Prototype implementation of an assembly system for tissue engineered constructs

In the course of the research described in this paper a prototype assembly system for the automated fabrication of customized, biodegradable bone implants for tissue engineering applications has been developed. This work is part of a collaborative effort between the Handling Laboratory (hLab) of Fachhochschule Vorarlberg and the Bone Tissue Engineering Center (BETC) of Carnegie Mellon University. Bone implants are built up using thin layers of highly porous, biodegradable polymer scaffold materials. These layers can be seeded with cells prior to assembly. The main focus of this work is robotic handling of the prefabricated polymer layers. Additional components that are addressed include the cutting of contoured polymer layers from sheetstock and the assembly of the 21/2 dimensional layers to form 3D bone implants. Cutting tests have been performed to assess different cutting technologies. Assembly tests with mechanical connectors and fibrin adhesive have also been conducted. These components are integrated within a robot cell to demonstrate overall system feasibility.     

Contribution to the characterization of acetylated protein fractions of vicia faba in view of their functional properties

Whilst the emulsifying properties of the protein fraction of vicia faba are almost independent on the acetylation degree, the shear modulus of the gels produced by heat denaturation increases at first with increasing acetylation degree, decreases with further increase of the acetylation, and comes finally to zero for very high acetylation degrees. By changes of pH and by influence of added NaCl, CaCl₂, AlCl₃, and starch, the shear modulus of gels of acetylated protein fractions of vicia faba can be increased, by addition of sunflower oil it can be decreased. On the base of studies on the fraction profile and on the changes of the content of sulfhydryl and disulfide groups of the protein fractions of vicia faba and the corresponding gels in dependence on the acetylation degree, an interpretation of the results is given.     

Quantum Transport and Cyclotron Resonance Study of Ge/SiGe Quantum Wells in High Magnetic Fields

Shubnikov-de Haas oscillation and cyclotron resonance were studied for high mobility p-type Ge channels in strained Ge/Si_1?x Ge _x quantum wells, using pulsed high magnetic fields up to 50 T. Fine quantum oscillations were observed in ρ _xx . Reflecting the complex Landau level structure in the nearly degenerate valence bands, the Fourier transform of the oscillatory spectra consists of several peaks. Cyclotron resonance was measured at photon energies between 10 and 17 meV. Two well-defined resonance peaks were observed in two samples with different x, resulting in different strains. A large non-parabolicity and large strain dependence of the effective masses were observed.