Compensation of the Piezo-Hall Effect in Integrated Hall Sensors on (100)-Si

Silicon Hall sensors are known to suffer from a long-term drift in the magnetic sensitivity between 1% and 4%, depending on the degree of moisture in the mold compound of the package. This drift is mainly caused by changes of mechanical stress exerted by the plastic package onto the die. We present a system, which continuously measures the relevant stress components, estimates the sensitivity drift, and corrects for it digitally. An individual precalibration versus temperature is necessary to achieve the required level of accuracy. Results from laboratory characterization with pressure cells and lifetime drift during qualification runs show that this system can keep the drift of magnetic sensitivity well below 1%.     

Online monitoring by dynamically refining imprecise models

Model-based monitoring determines faults in a supervised system by comparing the available system's measurements with a priori information represented by the system's mathematical model. Especially in technical environments, a monitoring system must be able to reason with incomplete knowledge about the supervised system, to process noisy and erroneous observations and to react within a limited time. We present MOSES, a model-based monitoring system which is based on imprecise models where the structure is known and the parameters may be imprecisely specified by numerical intervals. As a consequence, only bounds on the trajectories can be derived with imprecise models. These bounds are computed using traditional numerical integration techniques starting from individual points on the external surface of the model's uncertainty space. When new measurements from the supervised system become available, MOSES checks the consistency of this new information with the model's prediction and refutes inconsistent parts from the uncertainty space of the model. A fault in the supervised system is detected when the complete model's uncertainty space has been refuted. MOSES bridges and extends methodologies from the FDI and DX communities by refining the model's uncertainty space conservatively through refutation, by applying standard numerical techniques for deriving the trajectories of imprecise models and by exploiting the measurements as soon as possible for online monitoring. The performance of MOSES is evaluated based on examples and by online monitoring a complex heating system.     

Spannungsintensitätsfaktoren für vollständig umlaufende Oberflächenumfangsrisse in Rohren bei Thermoschockbelastung

Stress Intensity Factors for Complete Circumferential Surface Cracks in Thermally Shocked Pipes In the case of an emergency cooling of a reactor thermal stresses are generated in the pipes of the primary loop, which may be described conservatively as a thermal shock problem. In this paper complete interior circumferential surface cracks loaded by these thermal stresses are considered. By means of the weight function method stress intensity factors were calculated for this loading case.     

Origin of the threshold voltage instability in SiO/sub 2//HfO/sub 2/ dual layer gate dielectrics

The magnitude of the V/sub T/ instability in conventional MOSFETs and MOS capacitors with SiO/sub 2//HfO/sub 2/ dual-layer gate dielectrics is shown to depend strongly on the details of the measurement sequence used. By applying time-resolved measurements (capacitance-time traces and charge-pumping measurements), it is demonstrated that this behavior is caused by the fast charging and discharging of preexisting defects near the SiO/sub 2//HfO/sub 2/ interface and in the bulk of the HfO/sub 2/ layer. Based on these results, a simple defect model is proposed that can explain the complex behavior of the V/sub T/ instability in terms of structural defects as follows. 1) A defect band in the HfO/sub 2/ layer is located in energy above the Si conduction band edge. 2) The defect band shifts rapidly in energy with respect to the Fermi level in the Si substrate as the gate bias is varied. 3) The rapid energy shifts allows for efficient charging and discharging of the defects near the SiO/sub 2//HfO/sub 2/ interface by tunneling.     

Possibilities and extension of XRD material response analysis in failure research for the advanced evaluation of the damage level of Hertzian loaded components

Due to clearly distinguishable damage symptoms, it is differentiated between the surface and sub‐surface failure mode of rolling bearings. Material states red out by X‐ray diffraction (XRD) residual stress measurements point to a variety of loading conditions especially at raceway surfaces that are associated with several competing failure mechanisms. The corresponding lifetime reduction can range from the lower fatigue strength region to material ratcheting in extreme cases. Relevant position of the microstructural changes and nature of the failure mechanisms are characterized. The time alteration of the XRD material parameters measured at or near the surface and at the depth of the maximum equivalent stress correlates, in a different manner, with the statistical parameter of the 10 % bearing life. Both failure modes are illustrated by concrete examples. Contaminated lubricant and boundary lubrication, which represent practically important surface‐induced failures, are discussed in more detail. Gray staining, i.e. shallow pitting, often occurs without distinct indication of global material aging by means of XRD characteristics. Here, scanning electron microscopy observations and electron microprobe analyses point to corrosion fatigue as acting surface failure mechanism. The interaction between material and lubricant under complex loading regimes particularly of mixed friction and corrosion opens further failure research areas in the field of tribology.     

Mesa and planar SiGe-HBTs on MBE-wafers

SiGe-HBTs have the potential for outstanding analog and digital or mixed-signal high frequency circuits widely based on standard Si technology. Here we review on MBE grown transistors and circuits. Processes and results of a research-like SiGe HBT and two possible production relevant HBT versions are presented. The high frequency results with f_max and f_T up to 120 GHz and a minimum noise figure of 0.9 dB at 10 GHz demonstrate the advantage of using MBE samples with steep and high base doping and high germanium contents. A comparison to the concept of reported low doped, low germanium and triangular profiled SiGe base layers, realized by UHV-CVD, is given. In addition, some circuit demonstrators of SiGe-ICs will be presented.     

Radiale Wärmeleitung in durchströmten Schüttungsrohren

Heat Transport to the Wall of Packed Tubes. Radial conduction of heat in packed tubes has a crucial influence on yield and selectivity of many heterogeneously catalyzed reactions. In spite of many years of intensive research in the field, there are still tremendous discrepancies between correlations of different origin. Even the standard model using two constant heat transport parameters, which was introduced in the fifties and has since become most widely accepted, has been controversially discussed and called into question. The unsatisfactory state of the art has been an incentive for several groups of researchers to take up this old topic once again. Three parallel experimental investigations on heat transport with air flowing in packed tubes of similar dimensions, electrically heated, steam-heated, or water-cooled, were completed in 1991. Comparative evaluation of the results of these three investigations, together with other data from the relevant literature, now provides the first clear answers to some of the questions so controversially discussed in the past.