A study on tension behavior considering thermal effects in roll-to-roll E-printing

The mathematical model for tension in a moving web by Shin [1] was extended by considering thermal strain due to temperature fluctuations in the drying of a roll-to-roll system. The extended model describes variations in tension and includes terms that represent the change of the Young’s Modulus, the thermal coefficient, and the thermal strain. In this paper, a new control scheme based on the extended model is proposed for mitigation of tension disturbances due to thermal strain in the drying process. Tension feedback control logic generally is not be applied due to the fact that register errors can be induced by speed alterations that help to compensate for tension disturbances. But in our approach, the thermal strain in the web is compensated for by means of velocity adjustments without adding extra register errors in the steady state. A computer simulation followed by an experimental validation was carried out to confirm the performance of the proposed method. The results show that the proposed model is useful for describing tension behavior and suggest that tension control logic improves control precision for the drying module of a roll-to-roll e-printing system.     

At least N+1 finite transmission zeros using frequency-variant negative source-load coupling

A second-order cross-coupled combline filter which has three finite transmission zeros is presented. The problem of the frequency-invariant coupling in a real circuit is introduced. To make extra transmission zeros, a top metalized dielectric block is used.     

High-performance 94-GHz single balanced mixer using 70-nm MHEMTs and surface micromachined technology

We reported 94-GHz, low conversion loss, and high isolation single balanced active gate mixer based on 70-nm gate length InGaAs/InAlAs metamorphic high-electron mobility transistors (MHEMTs). This mixer showed that the conversion loss and isolation characteristics were 2.5/spl sim/3.5 dB and under -29 dB in the range of 92.95/spl sim/94.5 GHz, respectively. The low conversion loss of the mixer is mainly attributed to the high-performance of the MHEMTs exhibiting a maximum drain current density of 607 mA/mm, an extrinsic transconductance of 1015 mS/mm, a current gain cutoff frequency (f/sub t/) of 330 GHz, and a maximum oscillation frequency (f/sub max/) of 425 GHz. High isolation characteristics are due to hybrid ring coupler which adopted dielectric-supported air-gapped microstrip line structure using surface micromachined technology. To our knowledge, these results are the best performance demonstrated from 94 GHz single balanced mixer utilizing GaAs-based HEMTs in terms of conversion loss as well as isolation characteristics.     

Curved Projection Integral Imaging Using an Additional Large‐Aperture Convex Lens for Viewing Angle Improvement

In this paper, we propose a curved projection integral imaging system to improve the horizontal and vertical viewing angles. The proposed system can be easily implemented by additional use of a large‐aperture convex lens in conventional projection integral imaging. To obtain the simultaneous display of 3D images through real and virtual image fields, we propose a computer‐generated pickup method based on ray optics and elemental images, which are synthesized for the proposed system. To show the feasibility of the proposed system, preliminary experiments are carried out. Experimental results indicate that our system improves the viewing angle and displays 3D images simultaneously in real and virtual image fields.     

Low‐Power Nonvolatile Charge Storage Memory Based on MoS2 and an Ultrathin Polymer Tunneling Dielectric

Low‐power, nonvolatile memory is an essential electronic component to store and process the unprecedented data flood arising from the oncoming Internet of Things era. Molybdenum disulfide (MoS₂) is a 2D material that is increasingly regarded as a promising semiconductor material in electronic device applications because of its unique physical characteristics. However, dielectric formation of an ultrathin low‐k tunneling on the dangling bond‐free surface of MoS₂ is a challenging task. Here, MoS₂‐based low‐power nonvolatile charge storage memory devices are reported with a poly(1,3,5‐trimethyl‐1,3,5‐trivinyl cyclotrisiloxane) (pV3D3) tunneling dielectric layer formed via a solvent‐free initiated chemical vapor deposition (iCVD) process. The surface‐growing polymerization and low‐temperature nature of the iCVD process enable the conformal growing of low‐k (≈2.2) pV3D3 insulating films on MoS₂. The fabricated memory devices exhibit a tunable memory window with high on/off ratio (≈10⁶), excellent retention times of 10⁵ s with an extrapolated time of possibly years, and an excellent cycling endurance of more than 10³ cycles, which are much higher than those reported previously for MoS₂‐based memory devices. By leveraging the inherent flexibility of both MoS₂ and polymer dielectric films, this research presents an important milestone in the development of low‐power flexible nonvolatile memory devices.     

Interactive plant simulation modeling for developing an operator training system in a natural gas pressure-regulating station

This study proposes a method of interactive plant simulation modeling which delivers the online simulated results to the field operators and induces them to take proper actions in the case of pre-identified accident scenarios in a chemical plant. The developed model integrates the real-time process dynamic simulation with 3DCFD accident simulation in a designed interface using object linking and embedding technology so that it can convey to trainees the online information of the accident which is not available in existing operator training systems. The model encompasses the whole process of data transfer till the end of the training at which a trainee operates an emergency shutdown system in a programmed model. In this work, an overall scenario is simulated which is from an abnormal increase in the main valve discharge (second) pressure due to valve malfunction to accidental gas release through the crack of a pressure recorder, and the magnitude of the accident with respect to the lead time of each trainee’s emergency response is analyzed. The model can improve the effectiveness of the operator training system through interactively linking the trainee actions with the simulation model resulting in different accident scenarios with respect to each trainee’s competence when facing an accident.     

Monolithic arrays of surface emitting laser NOR logic devices

Monolithic, cascadable, laser-logic-device arrays have been realized and characterized. The monolithic surface-emitting laser logic (SELL) device consists of an AlGaAs superlattice lasing around 780 nm connected to a heterojunction phototransistor (HPT) in parallel and a resistor in series. Arrays up to 8×8 have been fabricated, and 2×2 arrays show uniform characteristics. The optical logic output is switched off with 40 μW incident optical input     

A simple yet effective technique for partitioning

Partitioning is an important step in the top-down design of large complicated integrated circuits. In this paper, a simple yet effective partitioning technique is described. It is based on the clustering of “closely” connected cells and the gradual enforcement of size-constraints. At the beginning, clusters are formed in the bottom-up fashion to reduce the problem size. Then the clusters are partitioned using several different parameters to find a good starting point. The best result achieved during the cluster partitioning is used as the initial solution for the lower level partitioning. The gradual constraint enforcement technique is used to cope with the local minimum problems. It allows cells or clusters to move with more freedom among the subsets during earlier iterations and thus may effectively find a near optimum solution. Several experimental results show that the new partitioning technique produces favorable results. In particular, the method outperforms the F&M method by more than 60% in the number of crossing nets on average     

InSb,GaSb, and GaInSb grown using trisdimethylaminoantimony

GalnSb alloys as well as the constituent binaries InSb and GaSb have been grown by organometallic vapor phase epitaxy using the new antimony precursor trisdimethylaminoantimony (TDMASb) combined with conventional group III precursors trimethylindium (TMIn) and trimethylgallium (TMGa). InSb layers were grown at temperatures between 275 and 425°C. The low values of V/III ratio required to obtain good morphologies at the lowest temperatures indicate that the pyrolysis temperature is low for TDMASb. In fact, at the lowest temperatures, the InSb growth efficiency is higher than for other antimony precursors, indicating the TDMASb pyrolysis products assist with TMIn pyrolysis. A similar, but less pronounced trend is observed for GaSb growth at temperatures of less than 500°C. No excess carbon contamination is observed for either the InSb or GaSb layers. Ga_1-xIn_xSb layers with excellent morphologies with values of x between 0 and 0.5 were grown on GaSb substrates without the use of graded layers. The growth temperature was 525°C and the values of V/III ratio, optimized for each value of x, ranged between 1.25 and 1.38. Strong photoluminescence (PL) was observed for values of x of less than 0.3, with values of halfwidth ranging from 13 to 16 meV, somewhat smaller than previous reports for layers grown using conventional precursors without the use of graded layers at the interface. The PL intensity was observed to decrease significantly for higher values of x. The PL peak energies were found to track the band gap energy; thus, the luminescence is due to band edge processes. The layers were all p-type with carrier concentrations of approximately 10¹⁷ cm³. Transmission electron diffraction studies indicate that the Ga_0.5In_0.5 Sb layers are ordered. Two variants of the Cu-Pt structure are observed with nearly the same diffracted intensities. This is the first report of ordering in GalnSb alloys.