Gate and drain currents in off-state buried-type p-channel LDDMOSFETs

The buried-type p-channel LDD MOSFETs biased at high positive gate voltage exhibit novel characteristics: (1) the ratio of the drain to gate currents is about 1×10^-3 to 5×10^-3; and (2) the gate and drain currents both are functions of only the gate voltage minus the n-well bias. Such characteristics are addressed based on the formation of the surface n ⁺ inversion layer due to the punchthrough of the buried channel to the underlying shallow p-n junction. The measured gate current is due to the Fowler-Nordheim tunneling of electrons from this inversion layer surface and the holes generated within the high-field oxide constitute the drain current. The n⁺ inversion layer surface potential is found to be equal to the n-well bias plus 0.55 V. As a result, both the oxide field and the gate and drain currents are independent of drain voltage     

The prospects of non-volatile phase-change RAM

Phase-change read-and-write memory (PRAM) is a promising memory that can solve the problems of conventional memory—scalability, read/write speed, and reliability. We will review the opportunities and technical challenges of PRAM. The most important challenge of PRAM is the reduction of the writing current. Various approaches to reduce the writing current will be reviewed and the prospects of PRAM are discussed.     

The effect of pack-aluminisation on the microstructure of MCrAlY and the performance of thermal barrier coatings

Plasma spraying and pack-aluminising processes were combined and applied to the nickel-base superalloy Mar-M247 to improve its cyclic oxidation resistance. The performance tests of duplex ZrO₂-8 wt.%Y₂O₃/MCrAlY thermal barrier coatings (TBCs) were conducted at 1050 °C, 1075 °C, 1100 °C, 1150 °C and 1200 °C. The results of the experiments in this study showed that TBC specimens with the aluminised MCrAlY bond coat exhibited higher cyclic lives (except for the Ni-22Cr-10Al-1Y bond coat), at all the temperatures tested, than specimens on which the bond coat was not aluminised. The microstructures of the Co-29Cr-6Al-1Y, Co-32Ni-21Cr-8Al-0.5Y and Ni-22Cr-10Al-1Y bond coats with or without aluminising treatment were examined in detail using a scanning electron microscope equipped with an electron probe microanalyzer.     

An efficient approach for calculating the dispersions of photonic-crystal fibers: design of the nearly zero ultra-flattened dispersion

A novel and efficient approach is proposed to calculate the dispersions of the guided modes of the photonic-crystal fibers (PCFs). Based on the vector boundary-element method (VBEM), the surface integral equations for the first and second derivatives of the propagation constants with respect to the wavelength are explicitly derived. Compared with the three-point finite-difference approach, which needs to solve and search three effective indexes near the interested wavelength, this approach can determine the dispersions of the PCFs by only solving one effective index at this wavelength based on the derived formulations. This novel approach saves over 60% computing time without losing the accuracy. Based on this approach, a novel four-ring PCF is designed by optimizing only three geometrical parameters to achieve the nearly zero ultra-flattened dispersion property. Compared with previously presented dispersion-flattened PCFs, the design procedure for the four-ring structure could be more efficient and easier because relatively lesser parameters need to be optimized.