Suppression of boron penetration in p+ polysilicon gateP-MOSFETs using low-temperature gate-oxide N2O anneal

It has been reported that high-temperature (~1100°C) N₂ O-annealed oxide can block boron penetration from poly-Si gates to the silicon substrate. However, this high-temperature step may be inappropriate for the low thermal budgets required of deep-submicron ULSI MOSFETs. Low-temperature (900~950°C) N₂O-annealed gate oxide is also a good barrier to boron penetration. For the first time, the change in channel doping profile due to compensation of arsenic and boron ionized impurities was resolved using MOS C-V measurement techniques. It was found that the higher the nitrogen concentration incorporated at Si/SiO₂ interface, the more effective is the suppression of boron penetration. The experimental results also suggest that, for 60~110 Å gate oxides, a certain amount of nitrogen (~2.2%) incorporated near the Si/SiO₂ interface is essential to effectively prevent boron diffusing into the underlying silicon substrate     

K- and Q-bands CMOS frequency sources with X-band quadrature VCO

Fully integrated 10-, 20-, and 40-GHz frequency sources are presented, which are implemented with a 0.18-/spl mu/m CMOS process. A 10-GHz quadrature voltage-controlled oscillator (QVCO) is designed to have output with a low dc level, which can be effectively followed by a frequency multiplier. The proposed multipliers generate signals of 20 and 40 GHz using the harmonics of the QVCO. To have more harmonic power, a frequency doubler with pinchoff clipping is used without any buffers or dc-level shifters. The QVCO has a low phase noise of -118.67 dBc/Hz at a 1-MHz offset frequency with a 1.8-V power supply. The transistor size effect on phase noise is investigated. The frequency doubler has a low phase noise of -111.67 dBc/Hz at a 1-MHz offset frequency is measured, which is 7 dB higher than a phase noise of the QVCO. The doubler can be tuned between 19.8-22 GHz and the output is -6.83 dBm. A fourth-order frequency multiplier, which is used to obtain 40-GHz outputs, shows a phase noise of -102.0 dBc/Hz at 1-MHz offset frequency with the output power of -18.0 dBm. A large tuning range of 39.3-43.67 GHz (10%) is observed.     

Distributed Multirobot Exploration and Mapping

Efficient exploration of unknown environments is a fundamental problem in mobile robotics. We present an approach to distributed multirobot mapping and exploration. Our system enables teams of robots to efficiently explore environments from different, unknown locations. In order to ensure consistency when combining their data into shared maps, the robots actively seek to verify their relative locations. Using shared maps, they coordinate their exploration strategies to maximize the efficiency of exploration. This system was evaluated under extremely realistic real-world conditions. An outside evaluation team found the system to be highly efficient and robust. The maps generated by our approach are consistently more accurate than those generated by manually measuring the locations and extensions of rooms and objects.     

Synthesis and characterization of a novel proton‐exchange membrane for fuel cells operating at high temperatures and low humidities

The synthesis of a p‐toluidine/formaldehyde (PTF) resin was performed, and the effects of the molar ratio of the individual monomers and the polymerization conditions on the structure of the PTF resin were studied. Fourier transform infrared and ¹³C‐NMR spectra were used to characterize the PTF. Wide‐angle X‐ray diffraction patterns revealed the crystalline structures of various PTFs. Polarized optical microscopy revealed that the molar ratio of the monomers had a strong effect on the crystalline morphologies. A longer polymerization time turned out a polymer with a higher intrinsic viscosity and molecular weight, which led to differences in the proton conductivity. All of the PTFs showed a higher proton conductivity than a commercial Nafion membrane at 90–100°C and 0% relative humidity. The proton conductivity of the PTF series could be improved by sulfonation with sulfuric acid and could be maintained after blending with polyurethane. Pure methanol could be used as a fuel source because of the insolubility and nonwetting properties of PTF in methanol to increase the output current density for a PTF membrane electrode assembly. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 2008     

Monoclonal antibody-based competitive ELISA for simultaneous detection of rinderpest virus and peste des petits ruminants virus antibodies

An experimental competitive enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (morbillivirus cELISA) using a recombinant N antigen (rRPV N) expressed in a baculovirus and a ruminant morbillivirus (RPV and PPRV)-specific monoclonal antibody (P-13A9) was developed for simultaneous detection of rinderpest virus (RPV) and peste des petits ruminants virus (PPRV) antibodies and its diagnostic performance was evaluated. A set of known reference antisera against RPV and PPRV belonging to different lineages, experimental sera from cattle vaccinated for a RPV of Asian lineage, and field sera from cattle and sheep/goat populations known to be positive (West Africa) and negative (Korea) for RPV and PPRV were used for the evaluation. Morbillivirus cELISA results on the panel of experimental RPV and PPRV antisera showed high correlation (r=0.97) between the whole virus and the rRPV N antigens, suggesting that the rRPV N contains a ruminant morbillivirus-specific antigenic determinant recognized by the P-13A9 and it may be suitable as an ELISA antigen in place of the whole virus. Morbillivirus cELISA detected anti-RPV and anti-PPRV antibodies in all reference RPV and PPRV antisera containing VN titers >/=1:8, suggesting that the assay can simultaneously detect antibodies against RPV and PPRV. Anti-RPV antibody was detected by morbillivirus cELISA in vaccinated cattle as early as the VNT and continued to be detectable by both the cELISA and the VNT until termination of the study. When applied to field samples from Africa, morbillivirus cELISA showed good agreement with a RP cELISA kit (kappa value of 0.86) in bovine sera and with a peste des petits ruminant cELISA kit (kappa value of 0.81) in caprine/ovine sera. Usefulness of morbillivirus cELISA using the rRPV N protein was discussed.     

Monolithic integration of microlensed resonant photodetectors andvertical cavity lasers

Monolithic integration of high performance microlensed resonant photodetectors and vertical cavity lasers (VCLs) from a single epitaxial growth is presented. The VCLs have sub-200 μA threshold currents. Adjacent detectors have the same operating wavelength and responsivities of ~0.4 A/W with ~6 nm optical bandwidths     

Comparison of calcium phosphate cement mixture and pure calcium hydroxide as direct pulp-capping agents

This review reports the different genetic factors that have been identified either as risk factor for Alzheimer's disease (AD) or directly causing the disease. First are reviewed epidemiological data and biological mechanisms about the apoplipoprotein E gene allele epsilon 4 that is a major risk factor for Alzheimer's disease. The second part describes the mutations responsible for early-onset autosomal dominant AD found in three different genes. The gene located on chromosome 21 encodes the amyloid precusor protein (APP). The presenilin 1 and presenilin 2 genes, located on chromosome 14 and 1 respectively, encode not yet known membrane proteins.     

Strains of Synechocystis sp. PCC 6803 with altered PsaC. II. EPR and optical spectroscopic properties of FA and FB in aspartate, serine, and alanine replacements of cysteines 14 and 51

A psaC deletion mutant of the unicellular cyanobacterium Synechocystis sp. PCC 6803 was utilized to incorporate site-specific amino acid substitutions in the cysteine residues that ligate the FA and FB iron-sulfur clusters in Photosystem I (PS I). Cysteines 14 and 51 of PsaC were changed to aspartic acid (C14DPsaC, C51DPsaC, C14D/C51DPsaC), serine (C14SPsaC, C51SPsaC), and alanine (C14APsaC, C51APsaC), and the properties of FA and FB were characterized by electron paramagnetic resonance spectroscopy and time-resolved optical spectroscopy. The C14DPsaC-PS I and C14SPsaC-PS I complexes showed high levels of photoreduction of FA with g values of 2.045, 1. 944, and 1.852 after illumination at 15 K, but there was no evidence of reduced FB in the g = 2 region. The C51DPsaC-PS I and C51SPsaC-PS I complexes showed low levels of photoreduction of FB with g values of 2.067, 1.931, and 1.881 after illumination at 15 K, but there was no evidence of reduced FA in the g = 2 region. The presence of FB was inferred in C14DPsaC-PS I and C14SPsaC-PS I, and the presence of FA was inferred in C51DPsaC-PS I and C51SPsaC-PS I by magnetic interaction in the photoaccumulated spectra and by the equal spin concentration of the irreversible P700(+) cation generated by illumination at 77 K. Flash-induced optical absorbance changes at 298 K in the presence of a fast electron donor indicate that two electron acceptors function after FX in the four mutant PS I complexes at room temperature. These data suggest that a mixed-ligand [4Fe-4S] cluster is present in the mutant sites of C14X-PS I and C51X-PS I (where X = D or S), but that the proposed spin state of S = 3/2 renders the resonances undetectable in the g = 2 region. The C14APsaC-PS I, C51APsaC-PS I and C14D/C51DPsaC-PS I complexes show only the photoreduction of FX, consistent with the absence of PsaC. These results show that only those PsaC proteins that contain two [4Fe-4S] clusters are capable of assembling onto PS I cores in vivo.