Designing the optical interface of a transcutaneous optical telemetry link

Optical telemetry has long been an option for transcutaneous data transfer and has been used in various types of implanted systems. This telemetry modality and the efficiency of these optical links are becoming ever more important as higher bandwidth sources such as cortical recording arrays are being implemented in implanted systems. The design of the transmitter-skin-receiver interface (the "optical interface") is paramount to the operation of a transcutaneous optical telemetry link. This interface functions to achieve sufficient receiver signal power for data communication. This paper describes a mathematical analysis and supporting data that quantitatively describes the relationship between the primary interface design parameters. These parameters include the thickness of the skin through which the light is transmitted, the size of the integration area of the optics, the degree of transmitter-receiver misalignment, the efficiency of the optics system, and the emitter power. The particular combination of these parameters chosen for the hardware device will determine the receiver signal power and, therefore, the data quality for the link. This paper demonstrates some of the tradeoffs involved in the selection of these design parameters and provides suggestions for link design. This analysis may also be useful for transcutaneous optical powering systems.     

采用DGS降低相位噪声和提高输出功率的倒扣集成振荡器

设计了一种新型的缺陷接地结构(DGS)并将之应用到倒扣集成毫米波振荡器中.分析并比较了具有DGS结构和没有DGS结构的两种振荡器性能.测试数据显示具有DGS结构的振荡器与没有DGS结构的振荡器相比,相位噪声降低4～6dB,输出功率增加0.8dBm.研究结果表明DGS结构嵌入到振荡器的谐振电路和输出端时,振荡器的相位噪声降低且输出功率增大.     

Making BaZrS3 Chalcogenide Perovskite Thin Films by Molecular Beam Epitaxy

The making of BaZrS₃ thin films by molecular beam epitaxy (MBE) is demonstrated. BaZrS₃ forms in the orthorhombic distorted-perovskite structure with corner-sharing ZrS₆ octahedra. The single-step MBE process results in films smooth on the atomic scale, with near-perfect BaZrS₃ stoichiometry and an atomically sharp interface with the LaAlO₃ substrate. The films grow epitaxially via two competing growth modes: buffered epitaxy, with a self-assembled interface layer that relieves the epitaxial strain, and direct epitaxy, with rotated-cube-on-cube growth that accommodates the large lattice constant mismatch between the oxide and the sulfide perovskites. This work sets the stage for developing chalcogenide perovskites as a family of semiconductor alloys with properties that can be tuned with strain and composition in high-quality epitaxial thin films, as has been long-established for other systems including Si-Ge, III-Vs, and II-VIs. The methods demonstrated here also represent a revival of gas-source chalcogenide MBE.     

Quantum‐Tunneling Metal‐Insulator‐Metal Diodes Made by Rapid Atmospheric Pressure Chemical Vapor Deposition

A quantum‐tunneling metal‐insulator‐metal (MIM) diode is fabricated by atmospheric pressure chemical vapor deposition (AP‐CVD) for the first time. This scalable method is used to produce MIM diodes with high‐quality, pinhole‐free Al₂O₃ films more rapidly than by conventional vacuum‐based approaches. This work demonstrates that clean room fabrication is not a prerequisite for quantum‐enabled devices. In fact, the MIM diodes fabricated by AP‐CVD show a lower effective barrier height (2.20 eV) at the electrode–insulator interface than those fabricated by conventional plasma‐enhanced atomic layer deposition (2.80 eV), resulting in a lower turn on voltage of 1.4 V, lower zero‐bias resistance, and better asymmetry of 107.     

Automatic detection and segmentation of lymph nodes from CT data

Lymph nodes are assessed routinely in clinical practice and their size is followed throughout radiation or chemotherapy to monitor the effectiveness of cancer treatment. This paper presents a robust learning-based method for automatic detection and segmentation of solid lymph nodes from CT data, with the following contributions. First, it presents a learning based approach to solid lymph node detection that relies on marginal space learning to achieve great speedup with virtually no loss in accuracy. Second, it presents a computationally efficient segmentation method for solid lymph nodes (LN). Third, it introduces two new sets of features that are effective for LN detection, one that self-aligns to high gradients and another set obtained from the segmentation result. The method is evaluated for axillary LN detection on 131 volumes containing 371 LN, yielding a 83.0% detection rate with 1.0 false positive per volume. It is further evaluated for pelvic and abdominal LN detection on 54 volumes containing 569 LN, yielding a 80.0% detection rate with 3.2 false positives per volume. The running time is 5-20 s per volume for axillary areas and 15-40 s for pelvic. An added benefit of the method is the capability to detect and segment conglomerated lymph nodes.     

Minimal cost one-dimensional linear hybrid cellular automata of degree through 500

This letter is a supplement of the table of the minimal cost one-dimensional linear hybrid cellular automata with the maximum length cycle by Zhang, Miller, and Muzio [IEE Electronics Letters, 27(18):1625–1627, August 1991].This work was supported in part by Research Grants and Postgraduate Scholarships from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada and by an equipment loan from the Canadian Microelectronics Corporation.     

系统级封装技术及其应用

本文介绍了系统级封装技术及其兴起背景,对比了与SoC的异同。通过分析系统级封装的技术特点,阐述了其优势;分析了系统级封装的成本构成和特点。本文从集成电路产业链整合的观点,分析了国内系统级封装的机遇与挑战;以长电科技为例,介绍了系统级封装在设计、制造上的关键技术与当前的能力,并分析了未来的趋势和挑战。本丈还对当前的系统级封装产品与应用领域做了详细介绍。     

Systematic design of wideband ΔΣ modulators for WiFi/WiMAX receivers

Modern multi-standard receivers in deep-submicron technologies pose significant design challenges on the analog baseband. Moving this analog filtering to the digital domain simplifies the design, yielding a process-scalable implementation. However, analog-to-digital converter (ADC) specifications now become more stringent and must be obtained by comprehending the standard and the system. Assuming a receiver NF of 5.96 dB and SNR degradation of 0.36 dB by the ADC, the proposed dual-mode WiFi/WiMAX receiver attains an input sensitivity of −74 dBm (20 MHz channel bandwidth). To accommodate the high dynamic range and the anti-alias rejection needed for the system, a Delta-Sigma (ΔΣ) ADC is proposed. Single-loop and Multi-Stage Noise-Shaping (MASH) architectures that achieve a SNR of 69 dB at a low oversampling ratio (OSR) of 8 for a conversion bandwidth of 40 MHz (108 Mbps, OFDM) are investigated at system level. Based on thermal noise, harmonic distortion, and power tradeoffs, a ΔΣ ADC design that meets the design specifications is presented.     

Directly Deposited Antimony on a Copper Silicide Nanowire Array as a High-Performance Potassium-Ion Battery Anode with a Long Cycle Life

Antimony (Sb) is a promising anode material for potassium-ion batteries (PIBs) due to its high capacity and moderate working potential. Achieving stable electrochemical performance for Sb is hindered by the enormous volume variation that occurs during cycling, causing a significant loss of the active material and disconnection from conventional current collectors (CCs). Herein, the direct growth of a highly dense copper silicide (Cu₁₅Si₄) nanowire (NW) array from a Cu mesh substrate to form a 3D CC is reported that facilitates the direct deposition of Sb in a core-shell arrangement (Sb@Cu₁₅Si₄ NWs). The 3D Cu₁₅Si₄ NW array provides a strong anchoring effect for Sb, while the spaces between the NWs act as a buffer zone for Sb expansion/contraction during K–cycling. The binder-free Sb@Cu₁₅Si₄ anode displays a stable capacity of 250.2 mAh g⁻¹ at 200 mA g⁻¹ for over 1250 cycles with a capacity drop of ≈0.028% per cycle. Ex situ electron microscopy revealed that the stable performance is due to the complete restructuring of the Sb shell into a porous interconnected network of mechanically robust ligaments. Notably, the 3D Cu₁₅Si₄ NW CC is expected to be widely applicable for the development of alloying-type anodes for next-generation energy storage devices.     

The Effect of Signal Activity on Propagation Delay of CMOS Logic Gates Driving Coupled On-Chip Interconnections

The effect of interconnect coupling capacitances on neighboring CMOS logic gates driving coupled interconnections strongly depends upon signal activity. A transient analysis of two capacitively coupled CMOS logic gates is presented in this paper for different combinations of signal activity. The uncertainty of the effective load capacitance and propagation delay due to signal activity is addressed. Analytical expressions characterizing the output voltage and propagation delay are also presented for different signal activity conditions. The propagation delay based on these analytical expressions is within 3% as compared to SPICE, while the estimated delay neglecting the difference between the load capacitances can exceed 45%. The logic gates should be properly sized to balance the load capacitances in order to minimize any uncertainty in the delay and load. The peak noise voltage on a quiet interconnection determined from the analytical expressions is within 4% of SPICE. The peak noise voltage on a quiet interconnection can be minimized if the effective output conductance of the quiet logic gate driving the interconnect is increased.