Improvement of the cell performance in the ZnS/Cu(In,Ga)Se2 solar cells by the sputter deposition of a bilayer ZnO : Al film

ZnS is a candidate to replace CdS as the buffer layer in Cu(In,Ga)Se₂ (CIGS) solar cells for Cd‐free commercial product. However, the resistance of ZnS is too large, and the photoconductivity is too small. Therefore, the thickness of the ZnS should be as thin as possible. However, a CIGS solar cell with a very thin ZnS buffer layer is vulnerable to the sputtering power of the ZnO : Al window layer deposition because of plasma damage. To improve the efficiency of CIGS solar cells with a chemical‐bath‐deposited ZnS buffer layer, the effect of the plasma damage by the sputter deposition of the ZnO : Al window layer should be understood. We have found that the efficiency of a CIGS solar cell consistently decreases with an increase in the sputtering power for the ZnO : Al window layer deposition onto the ZnS buffer layer because of plasma damage. To protect the ZnS/CIGS interface, a bilayer ZnO : Al film was developed. It consists of a 50‐nm‐thick ZnO : Al plasma protection layer deposited at a sputtering power of 50 W and a 100‐nm‐thick ZnO : Al conducting layer deposited at a sputtering power of 200 W. The introduction of a 50‐nm‐thick ZnO : Al layer deposited at 50 W prevented plasma damage by sputtering, resulting in a high open‐circuit voltage, a large fill factor, and shunt resistance. The ZnS/CIGS solar cell with the bilayer ZnO : Al film yielded a cell efficiency of 14.68%. Therefore, the application of bilayer ZnO : Al film to the window layer is suitable for CIGS solar cells with a ZnS buffer layer. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

A 2.45 GHz CMOS up-conversion mixer design utilizing the current-reuse bleeding technique

A 2.45?GHz double-balanced modified Gilbert-type complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS) up-conversion mixer design utilizing the current-reuse bleeding p-channel mos (PMOS) transistors is examined thoroughly based on simulations to demonstrate many advantages achievable when adopting the current-reuse bleeding technique in the mixer design. It is shown that the current-reuse bleeding technique certainly provides benefits in terms of gain, linearity and noise characteristics. In the mixer incorporating the current-reuse bleeding technique, the conversion gain improves monotonically with more bleeding. The linearity also improves with bleeding by a noticeable amount when the voltage headroom is not adequate. However, with excessive bleeding, linearity degrades by the current-limiting phenomena which defines the optimal bleeding ratio. Noise performance also improves monotonically with more bleeding. Of all the benefits provided, the improvement in noise performance seems most valuable. The measurement of the fabricated chip based on the standard 0.35?µm CMOS process supports the validity of the analysis. The measured mixer performance is quite excellent, and the measured characteristics are in close agreement with the simulations, which demonstrates the adequacy of the modelling approach based on the macro models for all the active and passive devices used in the design.     

Integrated on-chip 0.35 μm BiCMOS current-mode DC–DC buck converter

A current-mode DC–DC buck converter with a fully integrated power module is presented in this article. The converter is implemented using BiCMOS technology in amplifier and power MOSFET in a current sensor. The current sensor is realised by the power lateral double-diffused MOSFET with the aspect ratio much larger than that of a matched p-MOSFET. In addition, BiCMOS technology is applied in the error amplifier for an accurate current sensing and a fast transient response. The DC–DC converter is fabricated with 0.35?µm BiCMOS process. Experimental results show that the fully integrated converter operates at 1.3?MHz switching frequency with a supply voltage of 5?V. The output DC voltage is obtained as expected and the output ripple is controlled to be within 2% with a 30?µH off-chip inductor and 100?µF off-chip capacitor.     

A complete resistance extraction methodology and circuit models for typical TSV structures

Through-silicon via (TSV) is one of the key technologies on three-dimensional integration packaging. In this article, an experimental methodology with circuit models was proposed for electrical characteristic tests on typical TSV structures. To this end, self-developed test patterns such as the via chains, the snake interconnections and the Kelvin structures with different dimensions were designed and manufactured. Suitable electrical measurement methodologies were next employed to characterise the element behaviours of the patterns. Based on the experimental data, electrical circuit models for the TSV structures were introduced and the parameters of the model were exacted. The validity and accuracy of the electrical model were finally verified and the TSV characteristic measurements can be performed through a simpler process.     

Thermally stable carboline derivative as a host material for blue phosphorescent organic light-emitting diodes

A α-carboline based high triplet energy material, 9,9′-(5′-(carbazol-9-yl)-[1,1′:3′,1″-terphenyl]-3,3″-diyl)di-α-carboline (2CbCzT), was designed and synthesized as the thermally stable host material for blue phosphorescent organic light-emitting diodes (PHOLEDs). The 2CbCzT host showed high glass transition temperature of 149 °C and high decomposition temperature of 518 °C at 5% weight loss. In addition, the 2CbCzT exhibited bipolar charge transport properties due to hole transport type carbazole and electron transport type α-carboline units. Blue PHOLEDs were developed using the high triplet energy 2CbCzT host material and a high quantum efficiency of 22.1% was obtained.     

The Interesting Influence of Nanosprings on the Viscoelasticity of Elastomeric Polymer Materials: Simulation and Experiment

Among all carbon nanostructured materials, helical nanosprings or nanocoils have attracted particular interest as a result of their special mechanical behavior. Here, carbon nanosprings are used to adjust the viscoelasticity and reduce the resulting hysteresis loss (HL) of elastomeric polymer materials. Two types of nanospring‐filled elastomer composites are constructed as follows: system I is obtained by directly blending polymer chains with nanosprings; system II is composed of the self‐assembly of a tri‐block structure such as chain‐nanospring‐chain. Coarse‐grained molecular dynamics simulations show that the incorporation of nanosprings can improve the mechanical strength of the elastomer matrix through nanoreinforcement and considerably decrease the hysteresis loss. This finding is significant for reducing fuel consumption and improving fuel efficiency in the automobile tire industry. Furthermore, it is revealed that the spring constant of nanosprings and the interfacial chemical coupling between chains and nanosprings both play crucial roles in adjusting the viscoelasticity of elastomers. It is inferred that elastomer/carbon nanostructured materials with good flexibility and reversible mechanical response (carbon nanosprings, nanocoils, nanorings, and thin graphene sheets) have both excellent mechanical and low HL properties; this may open a new avenue for fabrication of high performance automobile tires and facilitate the large‐scale industrial application of these materials.     

Amphiphilic Polymeric Nanocarriers with Luminescent Gold Nanoclusters for Concurrent Bioimaging and Controlled Drug Release

Multifunctional theranostic systems with good biocompatibility, strong clinical imaging capability, and target specificity are the desired features of future medicine. Here, the design of a theranostic nanocomposite capable of simultaneous targeting and imaging of the cancer cells is presented. It releases its drug payload by a controlled release mechanism. The nanocomposite contains luminescent gold nanocluster (L‐AuNC) photostable and biocompatible diagnostic probes conjugated to a folic acid (FA)‐modified pH‐responsive amphiphilic polymeric system for controlled drug release. The nanocomposite uses a core‐satellite structure to encapsulate hydrophobic drugs and releases the drug payload in mildly acidic endosomal/lysosomal compartments by the action of the pH‐labile linkages in the polymer. In vivo studies show the selective accumulation of the FA‐conjugated nanocomposite in tumor tissues by folate‐receptor‐mediated endocytosis. These findings demonstrate the potential of the nanocomposite as a nontoxic, folate‐targeting, pH‐responsive drug carrier that is useful for the early detection and therapy of folate‐overexpressing cancerous cells.     

Self‐Defensive Biomaterial Coating Against Bacteria and Yeasts: Polysaccharide Multilayer Film with Embedded Antimicrobial Peptide

Prevention of pathogen colonization of medical implants is a major medical and financial issue since infection by microorganisms constitutes one of the most serious complications after surgery or critical care. Immobilization of antimicrobial molecules on biomaterials surfaces is an efficient approach to prevent biofilm formation. Herein, the first self‐defensive coating against both bacteria and yeasts is reported, where the release of the antimicrobial peptide is triggered by enzymatic degradation of the film due to the pathogens themselves. Biocompatible and biodegradable polysaccharide multilayer films based on functionalized hyaluronic acid by cateslytin (CTL), an endogenous host‐defensive antimicrobial peptide, and chitosan (HA‐CTL‐C/CHI) are deposited on a planar surface with the aim of designing both antibacterial and antifungal coating. After 24 h of incubation, HA‐CTL‐C/CHI films fully inhibit the development of Gram‐positive Staphylococcus aureus bacteria and Candida albicans yeasts, which are common and virulent pathogens agents encountered in care‐associated diseases. Hyaluronidase, secreted by the pathogens, leads to the film degradation and the antimicrobial action of the peptide. Furthermore, the limited fibroblasts adhesion, without cytotoxicity, on HA‐CTL‐C/CHI films highlights a medically relevant application to prevent infections on catheters or tracheal tubes where fibrous tissue encapsulation is undesirable.     

A nonlinear filtered‐x prediction error method algorithm for digital predistortion in digital subscriber line systems

Digital predistortion of nonlinear systems is an important topic in many practical applications. This paper considers direct predistortion of a Volterra system by connecting in tandem an adaptive Volterra predistorter. The coefficients of the predistorter can be recursively estimated using the nonlinear filtered‐x least mean squares (NFxLMS) algorithm. In this paper, the prediction error method (PEM) is used to derive a novel nonlinear filtered‐x PEM (NFxPEM) algorithm. A simulation study on Volterra systems shows that the NFxPEM algorithm more significantly suppresses spectral regrowth and converges much faster than the NFxLMS algorithm. Also, the NFxPEM algorithm is used in this paper to design more efficient digital predistorter—as compared with the NFxLMS algorithm—for digital subscriber line systems. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Self‐adapting protocol tuning for multi‐hop wireless networks using Q‐learning

Today's network control systems have very limited ability to adapt to changing network conditions. The addition of reinforcement learning‐based network management agents can improve quality of service by reconfiguring the network layer protocol parameters in response to observed network performance conditions. This paper presents a closed‐loop approach to tuning the layer three protocol based upon current and previous network state observations, specifically the Hello Interval and Active Route Timeout parameters of the AODV routing protocol (AODV‐Q). Simulation results demonstrate that the self‐configuration method proposed here demonstrably improves the performance of the original Ad‐Hoc On‐Demand Distance Vector (AODV) protocol, reducing protocol overhead by 43% and end‐to‐end delay 29% while increasing the packet delivery ratio by up to 11%. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.