Integration of analytical techniques in stochastic optimization of microsystem reliability

This paper presents an integrative application of several numerical analytical techniques and associated analysis tools for design optimization and damage prediction in electronics packages and microsystems. This design-for-reliability approach is based on four different types of numerical techniques that allow (1) high-fidelity modelling, (2) reduced order modelling, (3) numerical optimization and (4) uncertainty analysis. The capabilities and the characteristics of the methods that underpin these four types of modelling and analysis tools are firstly investigated. The integration of the methods and tools is then examined and a methodology for coupling the tools in an optimization process is proposed. This numerical methodology involves the following steps: (1) Define sampling points for the design of interest by design of experiments (DOE) and calculate the design response at each DOE point using high-fidelity analysis; (2) construct reduced order models (ROM) for fast analysis using the obtained response values at the DOE points; (3) Undertake deterministic optimization in the defined design space by ROM; and (4) Probabilistic optimization by including variation and uncertainty of the design in the optimization task. This approach is suitable to address design-for-reliability requirements at early design stages in a wide range of application areas. The application of this approach is demonstrated in a case for minimizing the thermal fatigue damage of flip-chip solder interconnects. Design modifications show that this approach can provide improved reliability of the package and in the same time satisfy a number of design requirements.     

薄膜无源技术和无源微电路抬头射频技术掀起革命风暴

无线电技术的不断推陈出新已成为微电子技术领域发展的强大动力,无论是在客户应用中还是关键业务应用中,都要求解决方案的体型更小、功能更强、可靠性更高、信号清晰度更好,并且始终保持更低的能耗.这无疑对新技术提出了更高的要求,而射频电路的设计无疑是所有设计中极为关键的设计之一,本文通过介绍下一代薄膜无源技术和无源微电路来揭示如何迎接射频技术挑战.     

Nonequilibrium Operation of Arsenic Diffused Long-Wavelength Infrared HgCdTe Photodiodes

We demonstrated a device with a unique planar architecture using a novel approach for obtaining low arsenic doping concentrations in long-wavelength (LW) HgCdTe on CdZnTe substrates. HgCdTe materials were grown by molecular beam epitaxy (MBE). We fabricated a p-on-n structure that we term P ⁺/π/N ⁺ where the symbol “π” is to indicate a drastically reduced extrinsic p-type carrier concentration (on the order of mid 10¹⁵ cm⁻³); P ⁺ and N ⁺ denote a higher doping density, as well as a higher energy gap, than the photosensitive base π-region. Fabricated devices indicated that Auger suppression is seen in the P ⁺/π/N ⁺ architecture at temperatures above 130 K and we obtained a saturation current on the order of 3 mA on 250-μm-diameter devices at 300 K with Auger suppression. Data shows that about a 50% reduction in dark current is achieved at 300 K due to Auger suppression. The onset of Auger suppression voltage is 450 mV at 300 K and 100 mV at 130 K. Results indicate that a reduction of the series resistance could reduce this further. A principal challenge was to obtain low p-type doping levels in the π-region. This issue was overcome using a novel deep diffusion process, thereby demonstrating successfully low-doped p-type HgCdTe in MBE-grown material. Near-classical spectral responses were obtained at 250 K and at 100 K with cut-off wavelengths of 7.4 μm and 10.4 μm, respectively. At 100 K, the measured non-antireflection-coated quantum efficiency was 0.57 at 0.1 V under backside illumination. Received November 7, 2007; accepted March 19, 2008     

Frequency selective lens antenna

A variant of the hemispherical microwave lens antenna is reported where the ground plane region is modified through use of a frequency selective surface. This allows discrimination of frequencies by two closely spaced primary feeds. A scale model is reported operating at 12 and 30 GHz     

Diindenoperylene derivatives: A model to investigate the path from molecular structure via morphology to solar cell performance

Efficient organic electronic devices require a detailed understanding of the relation between molecular structure, thin film growth, and device performance, which is only partially understood at present. Here, we show that small changes in molecular structure of a donor absorber material lead to significant changes in the intermolecular arrangement within organic solar cells. For this purpose, phenyl rings and propyl side chains are fused to the diindenoperylene (DIP) molecule. Grazing incidence X-ray diffraction and variable angle spectroscopic ellipsometry turned out to be a powerful combination to gain detailed information about the thin film growth. Planar and bulk heterojunction solar cells with C60 as acceptor and the DIP derivatives as donor are fabricated to investigate the influence of film morphology on the device performance. Due to its planar structure, DIP is found to be highly crystalline in pristine and DIP:C60 blend films while its derivatives grow liquid-like crystalline. This indicates that the molecular arrangement is strongly disturbed by the steric hindrance induced by the phenyl rings. The high fill factor (FF) of more than 75% in planar heterojunction solar cells of the DIP derivatives indicates excellent charge transport in the pristine liquid-like crystalline absorber layers. However, bulk heterojunctions of these materials surprisingly result in a low FF of only 54% caused by a weak phase separation and thus poor charge carrier percolation paths due to the lower ordered thin film growth. In contrast, crystalline DIP:C60 heterojunctions lead to high FF of up to 65% as the crystalline growth induces better percolation for the charge carriers. However, the major drawback of this crystalline growth mode is the nearly upright standing orientation of the DIP molecules in both pristine and blend films. This arrangement results in low absorption and thus a photocurrent which is significantly lower than in the DIP derivative devices, where the liquid-like crystalline growth leads to a more horizontal molecular alignment. Our results underline the complexity of the molecular structure-device performance relation in organic semiconductor devices.     

Imaging performance of A-PET: a small animal PET camera

The evolution of positron emission tomography (PET) imaging for small animals has led to the development of dedicated PET scanner designs with high resolution and sensitivity. The animal PET scanner achieves these goals for imaging small animals such as mice and rats. The scanner uses a pixelated Anger-logic detector for discriminating 2 x 2 x 10 mm3 crystals with 19-mm-diameter photomultiplier tubes. With a 19.7-cm ring diameter, the scanner has an axial length of 11.9 cm and operates exclusively in three-dimensional imaging mode, leading to very high sensitivity. Measurements show that the scanner design achieves a spatial resolution of 1.9 mm at the center of the field-of-view. Initially designed with gadolinium orthosilicate but changed to lutetium- yttrium orthosilicate, the scanner now achieves a sensitivity of 3.6% for a point source at the center of the field-of-view with an energy window of 250-665 keV. Iterative image reconstruction, together with accurate data corrections for scatter, random, and attenuation, are incorporated to achieve high-quality images and quantitative data. These results are demonstrated through our contrast recovery measurements as well as sample animal studies.     

系统模块(SiP)和三维封装(3D)在移动通讯中的应用

电子封装业界正遭受着前所未有的来自手机和其他移动通讯终端设备挑战。在这一领域里,IC封装的关键是尺寸微型化,缩减成本和市场时机。这一挑战的背后隐含着手机技术发展的两大趋势:系统模块化和日益增长的复杂性及功能。越来越多的功能正在被组合到手机上即PDA、MP3、照相机、互联网等等。功能的增加需要靠模块化来实现,而模块化又促进了更多功能的组合。同时,模块化使得移动通讯终端设备得以微型化、降低成本和缩短设计周期。业界越来越多地感受到整体射频模块和通讯模块解决方案的必要性。这些整体模块把手机设计师从电路设计的细节中解脱出来,从而能专著于高层的手机应用和系统的设计。为了满足上诉移动通讯产品的苛刻要求,大量的新兴电子封装技术和封装产品应运而生。最引人注目的例子在于对系统模块穴SiP雪和三维穴3D雪封装的重点资金和技术投入。这两项先进封装技术有着各自不同的特征和应用范围。总体介绍先进封装技术在移动通讯中的应用,重点讨论电子封装材料和工艺所面临的挑战和最新发展趋势。对移动通讯带来的新一轮集成化及其所产生的潜在供应链问题也做了适当的讨论。     

Single Molecule with Dual Function on Nanogold: Biofunctionalized Construct for In Vivo Photoacoustic Imaging and SERS Biosensing

Multimodal imaging provides complimentary information that is advantageous in studying both cellular and molecular mechanisms in vivo, which has tremendous potential in pre‐clinical research and clinical translational imaging. It is desirable to design probes for multimodal imaging that can be administered minimally but provides multifaceted information. Herein, we demonstrate the complementary dual functional ability of a nanoconstruct for molecular imaging in both photoacoustic (PA) and surface‐enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) biosensing simultaneously in tandem. To realize this, a group of NIR active organic molecules are designed and synthesized that possess both SERS and PA activity. Nanoconstructs realized by anchoring such molecules onto gold nanoparticles are demonstrated for targeting cancer biomarkers in vivo while providing complimentary information about biodistribution and targeting efficiency. In future, such nanoconstructs could play a major role in identifying surgical margins and also for disease monitoring in translational medicine.     

Global Intermedia Agenda Setting: A Big Data Analysis of International News Flow

This study contributes to international news flow literature methodologically, by significantly expanding its scope, and theoretically, by incorporating intermedia agenda-setting theory, through which we reveal how news media in different countries influence each other in covering international news. With a big data analysis of 4,708 online news sources from 67 countries in 2015, the study shows that wealthier countries not only continue to attract most of the world news attention, they are also more likely to decide how other countries perceive the world. However, international news flow is not as hierarchical and U.S.-centric as found earlier. Online-only, emerging media in core countries are not necessarily more impactful in setting the world news agenda than those in (semi)peripheral countries.     

Epidemic contact tracing with smartphone sensors

ABSTRACT

Contact tracing is widely considered as an effective procedure in the fight against epidemic diseases. However, one of the challenges for technology based contact tracing is the high number of false positives, questioning its trust-worthiness and efficiency amongst the wider population for mass adoption. To this end, this paper proposes a novel, yet practical smartphone-based contact tracing approach, employing WiFi and acoustic sound for relative distance estimate, in addition to the air pressure and the magnetic field for ambient environment matching. We present a model combining six smartphone sensors, prioritising some of them when certain conditions are met. We empirically verified our approach in various realistic environments to demonstrate an achievement of up to 95% fewer false positives, and 62% more accurate than Bluetooth-only system. To the best of our knowledge, this paper was one of the first work to propose a combination of smartphone sensors for contact tracing.