A spherical aberration-corrected 200 kV TEM

A spherical aberration (Cs)-corrected 200 kV TEM was newly developed. The column of the microscope was extended by 25 cm and the inner yoke of the objective lens was modified to insert some parts of the corrector elements. The corrector has two hexapole elements that play a main role in Cs correction and they are placed at a position equivalent to the coma-free point of the objective lens by using two transfer doublet lenses. The Cs correction was successfully carried out by means of the third-order aberration that was generated in the two extended hexapoles. The Cs can be corrected to the desired value and also can be overcompensated in order to produce a negative Cs, as with the corrected Cs of -23 microm shown in this work. The optical system of the corrector does not produce second- and fourth-order aberrations, and can correct residual aberrations up to the third order. All of the corrector elements are computer-controlled and the third-order aberrations are quite stable after they are properly corrected. The resolution of 0.135 nm was experimentally confirmed by the Young's fringe method. Image simulations of a silicon [110] single crystal were made with various Cs and defocus values to demonstrate the effectiveness of arbitral control of Cs.     

High-gain hybrid amplifier consisting of cascaded fluoride-based TDFA and silica-based EDFA in 1458-1540 nm wavelength region

A hybrid optical fibre amplifier is described that consists of a fluoride-based thulium-doped fibre amplifier and a silica-based erbium-doped fibre amplifier connected in a cascade. The amplifier has a gain of more than 25 dB and a noise figure of less than 9 dB over a wide wavelength region of 1458-1540 nm.     

A side-wall transfer-transistor cell (SWATT cell) for highlyreliable multi-level NAND EEPROMs

A multi-level NAND Flash memory cell, using a new Side-WAll Transfer-Transistor (SWATT) structure, has been developed for a high performance and low bit cost Flash EEPROM. With the SWATT cell, a relatively wide threshold voltage (V_th) distribution of about 1.1 V is sufficient for a 4-level memory cell in contrast to a narrow 0.6 V distribution that is required for a conventional 4-level NAND cell. The key technology that allows this wide V_th distribution is the Transfer Transistor which is located at the side wall of the Shallow Trench Isolation (STI) region and is connected in parallel with the floating gate transistor. During read, the Transfer Transistors of the unselected cells (connected in series with the selected cell) function as pass transistors. So, even if the V_th of the unselected floating gate transistor is higher than the control gate voltage, the unselected cell will be in the ON state. As a result, the V_th distribution of the floating gate transistor can be wider and the programming can be faster because the number of program/verify cycles can be reduced. Furthermore, the SWATT cell results in a very small cell size of 0.57 μm² for a 0.35 μm rule. Thus, the SWATT cell combines a small cell size with a multi-level scheme to realize a very low bit cost. This paper describes the process technology and the device performance of the SWATT cell, which can be used to realize NAND EEPROM's of 512 Mbit and beyond     

A 500-MHz 4-Mb CMOS pipeline-burst cache SRAM with point-to-pointnoise reduction coding I/O

A 32-b 500-MHz 4-1-1-1 operation 4-Mb pipeline burst cache SRAM has been developed. In order to achieve both high bandwidth operation and short latency operation, we developed the following technologies: 1) a prefetched pipeline-burst scheme with double late-write buffers, 2) gate size reduction and a bit-line equalization by source resetting, 3) point-to-point bidirectional coding I/O's to reduce bus noise and power consumption, and 4) a three-level metal 0.25-μm CMOS process technology with six transistor memory cells     

Temperature dependence of signal gain in Er3+-dopedoptical fiber amplifiers

Temperature-dependent signal gain characteristics at signal wavelengths of 1.536 and 1.552 μm in Er³⁺-doped optical fibers with a temperature range of -40 to 80°C are reported for 0.98 and 1.48 μm pumping. The temperature dependences of signal gain strongly depend on fiber length, pump wavelength, and signal wavelength. The fiber length at which signal gain temperature insensitivity occurs is found for the amplification of a 0.98-μm-pump-1.536-μm-signal, a 0.98-μm-pump-1.552-μm-signal, and a 1.48-μm-pump-1.536-μm-signal. It is confirmed theoretically that the temperature dependences result from linear changes in the fluorescence, and absorption cross sections at the signal and pump wavelengths, and a shift in the effective pump wavelength     

Multi-layer floorplanning for stacked ICs: Configuration number and fixed-outline constraints

3-D (stacked device layers) ICs can significantly alleviate the interconnect problem coming with the decreasing feature size and is promising for heterogeneous integration. In this paper, we concentrate on the configuration number and fixed-outline constraints in the floorplanning for 3-D ICs. Extended sequence pair, named partitioned sequence pair (in short, P-SP), is used to represent 3-D IC floorplans. We prove that the number of configuration of 3-D IC floorplans represented by P-SP is less than that of planar floorplans represented by sequence pair (SP) and decreases as the device layer number increases. Moreover, we applied the technique of block position enumeration, which have been successfully used in planar fixed-outline floorplanning, to fixed-outline multi-layer floorplanning. The experimental results demonstrate the efficiency and effectiveness of the proposed method.     

Nanoporous Copper with Tunable Nanoporosity for SERS Applications

Nanostructured materials with designable microstructure and controllable physical and chemical properties are highly desired for practical applications in nanotechnology. In this article, it is reported that nanoporous copper with a tunable nanopore size can be fabricated by controlling the dealloying process. The influence of acid concentration and etching potential on the formation of nanoprosity is systematically investigated. With optimal etching conditions, the nanopore sizes can be tailored from ～15 to ～120 nm by controlling the dealloying time. It is found that the tunable nanoporosity leads to significant improvements in surface‐enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) of nanoporous copper and peak values of SERS enhancements for both rhodamine 6G and crystal violet 10B molecules are observed at a pore size of ～30–50 nm. This study underscores the effect of complex three‐dimensional nanostructures on physical and chemical properties and is helpful in developing inexpensive SERS substrates for sensitive instrumentations in molecular diagnostics.     

Earth‐Abundant and Durable Nanoporous Catalyst for Exhaust‐Gas Conversion

Precious metals (Pt and Pd) and rare earth elements (Ce in the form of CeO₂) are typical materials for heterogeneous exhaust‐gas catalysts in automotive systems. However, their limited resources and high market‐driven prices are principal issues in realizing the path toward a more sustainable society. In this regard, herein, a nanoporous NiCuMnO catalyst, which is both abundant and durable, is synthesized by one‐step free dealloying. The catalyst thus developed exhibits catalytic activity and durability for NO reduction and CO oxidation. Microstructure characterization indicates a distinct structural feature: catalytically active Cu/CuO regions are tangled with a stable nanoporous NiMnO network after activation. The results obtained by in situ transmission electron microscopy during NO reduction clearly capture the unique reaction‐induced self‐transformation of the nanostructure. This finding can possibly pave the way for the design of new catalysts for the conversion of exhaust gas based on the element strategy.     

Highly efficient configuration of a Pr3+-doped fluoridefiber amplifier module with an optical circulator

A highly efficient Pr³⁺-doped fluoride fiber amplifier configuration with an optical circulator, in which the input signal light is amplified both forward and backward through a Pr³⁺-doped fluoride fiber, is investigated with a view to decreasing the drive current and improving the reliability of pump laser diodes (LD's). With this double-path configuration, a 25-dB signal gain is achieved at an LD drive current of 110 mA. This LD drive current is about half that needed for a conventional single-path configuration. It is also found that this double-path configuration provides a double-gain coefficient, a slightly low saturation power, and a slightly narrow spectral gain width