Sub-mA single ended CMOS low noise amplifier with 2.41 dB noise figure

This paper presents a single ended low noise amplifier (LNA) using 0.18 μm CMOS process packed and tested on a printed circuit board. The LNA is powered at 1.0 V supply and drains 0.95 mA only. The LNA provides a forward gain of 11.91 dB with a noise figure of only 2.41 dB operating in the 0.9 GHz band. The measured value of IIP3 is 0.7 dBm and of P1dB is −12 dBm. Zhang Liang is currently with Cyrips, Singapore. Ram Singh Rana was born in Delhi (India). Having primary education in Bijepur, Dwarahat(India), he received the B.Tech. (hons.) degree in Computer Engineering from G.B. Pant University, Pantnagar, India in 1988 and the Ph.D degree from the Indian Institute of Techonology (IIT), Delhi, India in 1996. He worked for his Ph.D in the Centre for Applied Research in Electronics, IIT Delhi in close interaction with the Semiconductor Complex Limited, Mohali, India. He was with ESPL, Mohali(India) in 1988 for a very short period and then served IIT Delhi as Senior Research Associate (88-90) and Senior Scientific Officer (90-95) where his main contributions were on CMOS analog IC design in subthreshold operation. He was a Lecturer in the Kumaon Engg. College, Dwarahat (India) before serving the IIT Roorkee (Formerly Univ. of Roorkee) in 1998 as assistant Professor. In 1999, he was a Manager (Engineering), Semiconductor Product Sector of the Motorola, Noida, India. Since joining the Institute of Microelectronics, Singapore in 2000, he worked mostly on RFICs, Fractional-N PLLs, ADCs. During 2001-2004, he worked there as IC Design Research and Training Program Manager. Currently, he is serving the institute as Senior Research Engineer in CMOS IC design (below 1V) for biomedical and bio-sensors. His current interests include design and consultancy for CMOS ICs/systems for the biomedical and high speed communication applications. Dr. Rana received Young Teacher Career Award from the All India Council for Technical Education in 1997. He was an Adjunct Asstt. Professor with the National University of Singapore (NUS), Singapore in 2004. He is sole inventor of two US granted patents and has filed several other patents. He has authored/co-authored about 40 publications. He has been reviewer for several IEEE journals and conference papers. Dr Rana is a senior member of IEEE and a member of Graduate Program in BioEngineering, NUS Singapore. He has chaired /co-chaired sessions in many international conferences. Zhang Liang was born in China in June 1978. He received the Bachelor degree and the Master degree in Electrical Engineering from the Xi’an JiaoTong University, Xi’an, China, in 2000 and 2003 respectively. Since 2003, he has been a postgraduate student in the Electrical and Computer Engineering department, National University of Singapore(NUS), Singapore and has successfully completed M.Engg degree program of the NUS. He is currently working on RFICs as a design engineer in Cyrips, Singapore. His design and research interests include integrated circuit design for communications. He has authored/co-authored several publications of international standard. Hari K Garg obtained his BTech degree in EE from IITDelhi in 1981. Subsequently, he obtained his MEng & PhD degrees from Concordia University in 1983 & 1985, and MBA from Syracuse University in 1985. He was a faculty member at Syracuse University from 1985 till 1995. He has been with the National University of Singapore since 1995 till present with the exception of 1998-1999 when he was with Philips. Hari’s research interests are in the area of digital signal/image processing, wireless communications, coding theory and digital watermarking. He has published extensively on these and related topics. He is also founder of several companies in the space of mobile telephony. In his spare time, Hari enjoys singing and a good game of Squash.     

XRD and SEM Investigation of Swift Heavy Ion-Irradiated Polyvinylidene Fluoride Thin Films

Polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) films of different thicknesses are irradiated with 100 meV Ag-ion and 75 meV Oxygen-ion beams at different fluences to study the effects of swift heavy ion (SHI) irradiation in PVDF. The change in physical, chemical, and surface morphological properties of irradiated films are investigated using x-ray diffraction, Field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM), and energy dispersive analysis by x-ray (EDAX) techniques by taking unirradiated (pristine) films as reference. The diffraction pattern shows that PVDF polymer is in semi-crystalline form and possesses crystalline α-, β-, and γ-phases. A decrease in the crystallinity and crystallite size has been observed when PVDF is irradiated with 100 meV Ag-, and also Oxygen ions at a higher fluence of 5.675 × 10¹² ions/cm². However, an increase in crystallinity and decrease in crystallite size are observed when PVDF is irradiated with oxygen-ion beam at lower fluence 5.625 × 10¹¹ ions/cm². The structural parameters such as degree of crystallinity, crystallite size, microstrain, and dislocation density have also been estimated. EDAX result shows that the chemical composition of PVDF is invariant under SHI irradiation, which is in agreement with our earlier results of FTIR. FESEM analysis shows granular microstructure with small porosity on SHI irradiation.     

The effect of adding Zn into the Sn–Ag–Cu solder on the intermetallic growth rate

Due to toxicity of lead in the commercial solder, lead-free solders were proposed. Among the potential lead-free solders, the Sn–Ag–Cu solders were considered as a potential replacement. To further improve the solder properties, a fourth element was added into the Sn–Ag–Cu solder. The present study investigates the effect of different weight percentage of Zn (up to 0.7 wt%) into the Sn-3.5Ag-1.0Cu solder on intermetallic and growth rate (k) after long time thermal aging. The solders were prepared using powder metallurgy method and X-ray diffraction analysis shows that there were Cu₆Sn₅, Cu₃Sn, CuZn and Ag₃Sn phases present after solder preparation. The solders were reacted with Cu substrate at 250 °C for 1 min and aged at 150 °C until 1,000 h. The morphology of the intermetallic was observed under scanning electron microscope and the elemental distribution was confirmed by energy dispersive X-ray. Intermetallic thickness and growth kinetic result show that the additions of 0.4 % zinc is sufficient in retarding the Cu₆Sn₅ and Cu₃Sn intermetallic growth.     

Green synthesis of silver nanoparticles-based nanofluids and investigation of their antimicrobial activities

We have proposed a facile green technique for synthesizing silver nanoparticles-based nanofluids at high temperature and pressure using low molecular weight lactulose solution, which is playing the role of a reducing as well as stabilizing agent. The particle/crystallite sizes, morphology, crystallinity of the nanoparticles are characterized using spectroscopic, microscopic, and diffraction techniques. Since the properties of nanofluids are attractive for technological applications, the investigation of their thermal and electrical conductivities is also immensely important. The material shows a significant enhancement of both thermal and electrical conductivities in comparison to the base fluid due to high surface area, enhanced Brownian motion and layering at the liquid–solid interface of the nanofluids. Moreover, these nanofluids offer excellent antimicrobial activities to different gram class bacteria.     

On characterizations of preinvex fuzzy mappings

Several characterizations about preinvex fuzzy mapping are obtained in this paper. Firstly, an equivalent condition of preinvex fuzzy mapping is established under certain conditions. Furthermore, the necessary and sufficient conditions for differentiable and twice differentiable preinvex fuzzy mapping are provided by using the given equivalent condition of preinvex fuzzy mapping. Finally, a new proof of some known important conclusions is offered. These results generalize and improve some known results.     

Poloxamer and gelatin gel guided polyaniline nanofibers: synthesis and characterization

A rapid polymerization technique was successfully employed to synthesize interconnected polyaniline (PANI) nanofibers using chemical oxidative polymerization inside a soft template. The thermoreversible hydrogels of Lutrol F 127 and gelatin were used as templates where the interstices present in the hydrogel were responsible for the formation of PANI nanofibers with a diameter in the range ca 70?75 nm and ca 50?55 nm respectively and several micrometers in length. The doped emeraldine salt of PANI was confirmed by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and ultraviolet–visible spectroscopy. The crystallinity of as‐synthesized PANI nanofibers for both cases was verified by an X‐ray diffraction study while thermogravimetric analysis was performed to compare the relative stability of the synthesized PANI nanofibers. The electrical conductivities of polymerized PANI are of the order of 10^?3 S cm^?1 and are compared with those of template fabricated PANI. The Lutrol F 127 gel guided PANI nanofibers showed a rectifying property while the gelatin gel guided PANI provided a simple ohmic nature. © 2013 Society of Chemical Industry     

Impact of Structural Interventions on Sediment Management of Large Canals: A Case Study of Marala Barrage, Pakistan

Marala Barrage was constructed in 1968 on River Chenab as a replacement of old Marala weir, which was constructed in 1912. Two canals, Marala Ravi Link (MRL) Canal and Upper Chenab Canal (UCC) off-take from left side of the barrage. It has an old history of varying sediment problems in both of these canals. Several attempts were made to investigate the problems and suggest remedial measures in the past and some of them were partially implemented as well. This paper reviews the major sediment management problems at Marala Barrage and their possible causes. The previous interventions are critically examined for their suitability and effectiveness in general and the effect of raising crest of MR Link canal in particular. The paper concludes that some of the past interventions have a positive effect on silt control entry in the off-taking canals. The analysis of data regarding sediment entry at the head of the canals indicate that the raising of crest of MR Link in the year 2000–2001 has improved the sediment intake in this canal to some extent, but its effect on the UCC is almost negligible. The data regarding sediment entry at the head of the UCC which had a scouring tendency, does not show any significant effect of this intervention as was perceived at the implementation stage. However, it is worth mentioning that analysis of data related to cross-sections and L-sections of the head reaches of these canals show a different trend, which makes it difficult to assess the long term and sustainable effect of this intervention on both of the canals. A critical review of data collection process and effective monitoring of the system is compulsory for meaningful analysis and future course of action if the present tendency seems to be changing, the possibility of which does exist.     

Comparative analysis for the corrosion susceptibility of Cu,Al, Al–Cu and C‐steel in soil solution

Corrosion of different materials (Cu, Al, Al–Cu and C‐steel) in soil solution was evaluated at ambient temperature using various techniques. The weight loss of the studied materials varied exponentially with time. Kinetic data revealed that the corrosion of Cu and Al–Cu are diffusion controlled while Al and C‐steel show gradual change from diffusion control to charge transfer control. Nonferrous materials have better durability factors than C‐steel. Good consistency between the data obtained from EIS and PDP measurements was observed. SEM showed a biogenic corrosion layer with density that depends on the metal type. Correlation between corrosion rates and the estimated soil solution corrosivity was obtained.