The role of photomask resolution on the performance ofarrayed-waveguide grating devices

The crosstalk performance of an arrayed-waveguide grating (AWG) multiplexer or demultiplexer is primarily caused by random optical phase errors introduced in the arrayed waveguides. Because the layout of waveguides on a wafer is patterned via photomask through the photolithography process, the resolution of a photomask has a direct influence on the phase errors of an AWG. The paper presents a theoretical analysis on the phase error caused by photomask resolution and other basic design parameters. Both calculation and measurement results show that a high-resolution photomask (better than 25 nm) is a critical requirement to produce low-crosstalk (less than -30 dB) AWG demultiplexers. We also investigate the effect of nonideal power distribution in the arrayed waveguides because it contributes considerable phase errors when material impurity is not well controlled during wafer fabrication. Basic criteria of power profile truncation, number of grating waveguides, and material index variation are also summarized     

OMVPE growth of P-type GaN using solution Cp2Mg

Bis(cyclopentadienyl)magnesium (Cp₂Mg) is a common source for p-type doping in GaN and AlInGaP materials. It is a white crystalline solid with very low vapor pressure, leading to transport problems similar to solid trimethyindium (TMI). Some of these problems can be alleviated by a newly developed source-solution magnesocene, Cp₂Mg, dissolved in a solvent that is essentially nonvolatile. In this paper, we report the growth and comparative results of Mg-doped GaN grown by OMVPE using solid and solution Cp₂Mg. Using both sources, we optimized parameters to obtain high-quality GaN growth with hole concentrations up to 1 10¹⁸/cm³.     

Electrical characteristics of low temperature-Al0.3Ga0.7As

In this work, we present electrical characterizations of n⁺ GaAs/low temperature (LT)-Al_0.3Ga_0.7As/n⁺ GaAs resistor structures in which the LT layers are grown at nominal substrate temperatures of 250 and 300°C. The resistivity and V_tfl parameters of these LT-Al_0.3Ga_0.7As layers are compared with those of LT-GaAs and Al_0.3Ga_0.7As grown at a normal growth temperature of 720°C. Low-temperature Al_0.3Ga_0.7As layers exhibit resistivities as high as 10¹² ohm-cm, nearly four orders of magnitude higher than that of LT-GaAs, and V_tfl values as high as 45 V, over twice that of LT-GaAs. We also find that the LT-Al_0.3Ga_0.7As materials grown at 250 and 300°C appear to show opposite and contradictory trends with respect to resistivity and V_tfl. We propose that this result can be explained by residual hopping conduction in the 250°C material. Temperature dependent conductivity measurements confirm the presence of a hopping mechanism in LT-Al_0.3Ga_0.7As grown at 250°C and yield activation energies of 0.77 and 0.95 eV for LT-GaAs and LT-Al_0.3Ga_0.7As, respectively.     

AlAs/GaAs Schottky-collector resonant-tunnel-diodes

The Schottky-collector resonant-tunnel-diode (SRTD) is an resonant-tunnel-diode with the normal N⁺ collector layer and ohmic contact replaced by direct Schottky contact to the space-charge layer, thereby eliminating the associated parasitic series resistance Rins. By scaling the Schottky collector contact to submicron dimensions, the device periphery-to-area ratio is increased, decreasing the periphery-dependent components of the parasitic resistance, and substantially increasing the device's maximum frequency of oscillation. We report measured d.c. and microwave parameters of planar SRTDs fabricated with 1 μm-geometries in AlAs/GaAs.     

Six-sigma design [quality control]

The approach to customer satisfaction taken at Motorola is described. It is based on two conclusions derived from various studies: A product is built in the shortest time and at the lowest cost if no mistake is made in the process; and if no defect can be found anywhere in the process of building a product for the customer, then the customer probably will not find one either. Beginning in 1987, Motorola designers were required to adopt ±6-sigma tolerance limits, i.e., product design margins were to be twice the normal variation of the process. The way in which this was implemented in a six-step design process is described     

Computed tomographic imaging of the coronary arterial tree-use of local tomography

It has been demonstrated previously (see E.L. Ritman and A.A. Bove, in State of the Art in Quantitative Coronary Arteriography, p.67-78, 1986) that coronary artery anatomy can be visualized using high-speed, volume-scanning X-ray CT (computed tomography). In the current study it is demonstrated that local image reconstruction (i.e. the reconstruction kernel is ~2(+) mm long), as distinct from more conventional global image reconstruction (i.e. 200(+) mm kernel length), has the advantage of reducing the need for operator interactive image processing. In addition, the local reconstruction algorithm eliminates the need for recording the X-ray projection data over the full transaxial extent of the thorax because it requires only the X-ray attenuation data over the region of the heart. This latter aspect reduces the dynamic range requirements for the sensors and could reduce total X-ray exposure.     

Activation in unipolar cardiac electrograms: a frequency analysis

We have developed and tested several detectors of local activations in unipolar cardiac electrograms; the detectors are based on the frequency content of the waveforms. For this study, myocardial regions with no local electrical activity were created with cryoablation in canine ventricles, so that the characteristics of electrograms reflecting local activation could be compared with those with only distant electrical activity. For each electrogram, representations of the original signal were created using the output of bandpass filters; for each representation, the value of the maximum amplitude was taken as a measurement of the frequency content of the electrogram in that frequency band. The content of each frequency band and the first derivative of the signal were tested as discriminators between local and distant electrical activity. Combinations of frequency bands were also tested using a logistic regression technique; certain combinations provided better detection than any of the individual frequencies or the first derivative. The inclusion of frequencies between 500 and 1000 Hz improved the detection performance, suggesting that sampling rates of 1000 samples per second or less may not be adequate for optimal discrimination. A detector based on multivariate analysis of different frequency components of a signal may be more effective than single-band filtering in discriminating between local and distant electrical activity in the heart, especially when those components have very different magnitudes.     

SC and pass transistor combined circuits

The pass-transistor structure provides a powerful tool for the implementation of binary and multiple-valued logic (MVL). Circuit realisation of any general MVL function using literals, MAX and MIN is easy. However, the resulting circuits have certain limitations. A combination of pass transistors (PT) with switched-capacitor (SC) circuits is shown to provide useful improvements.<>     

The Assignment of CDMA Spreading Codes Constructed from Hadamard Matrices and Almost Bent Functions

Almost bent functions and Hadamard matrices can be used to construct spreading codes for code-division multiple-access (CDMA) systems. Four specific Hadamard matrices can be constructed and each one can be divided into eight octants in such a way that spreading codewords from certain pairs of octants have zero correlation. It is possible to assign these octants to a regular tessellation of hexagonal cells in such a way that there is zero correlation between adjacent cells, small correlation between non-adjacent cells and a large codeword re-use distance. If synchronous CDMA is used in a satellite system, interference is reduced in comparison with the use of a single Hadamard matrix. In this case the regular hexagonal tessellation is usually a good model of the areas covered by satellite spot beams. The same approach can be advantageous when the Hadamard matrices are used to construct loosely synchronized codes for a terrestrial system. The tessellation of cells is unlikely to be a regular hexagonal tessellation and the question arises of whether an assignment to an irregular tessellation with these properties can be found. In this paper a positive answer is given to this question, confirming that the approach is applicable to a terrestrial system.