Novel grounded and floating high order immittance simulators using OTAs and OAs

This paper proposes novel grounded and floating high order series and parallel immittance simulators using operational transconductance amplifiers (OTAs) and operational amplifiers (OAs) with a finite gain–bandwidth (GB) product. They are composed of active devices (OTAs and OAs) and resistances, and are suitable for monolithic implementation in either CMOS or bipolar technologies. They also realize both positive and negative high order immittances. The circuit characteristics can be electronically tuned by adjusting the transconductances of OTAs and the GB products of OAs. Any transfer functions are realizable using the proposed simulators. Two examples are shown, together with simulation results.     

Structural tuning of wide‐gap chalcopyrite CuGaSe2 thin films and highly efficient solar cells: differences from narrow‐gap Cu(In,Ga)Se2

Simultaneous realization of high values of open circuit voltage (V_oc), fill factor (FF), and energy conversion efficiency (η) in wide‐gap CuGaSe₂ (CGS) solar cells has long been one of the most challenging issues in the realm of chalcopyrite photovoltaics. In this communication, structural tuning of CGS thin films by means of controlling the amount of Se flux used during CGS film growth and improvements in solar cell performance (V_oc > 0.9 V, FF > 0.7, and η > 10%) are demonstrated. Systematic variations in CGS film properties with the Se flux and correlation with device properties are shown. The unique CGS thin‐film growth kinetics, which are different from narrow‐gap Cu(In,Ga)Se₂, are also presented and discussed. This development of double digit efficiency for CGS solar cells opens a new frontier for the broad application of a new class of chalcopyrite‐based devices. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Potential remedies for the VT/Vfb-shift problem of Hf/polysilicon-based gate stacks: a solution-based survey

In this paper, we report on several different approaches that were implemented on both capacitor and scaled planar MOS transistor devices in order to prevent or undo the commonly observed V_T/V_fb-shift and –instability for Hf-based high-κ gate stacks in conjunction with a poly-Si electrode. While the latter issue can eventually be mitigated, the V_T-shift problem jeopardizes initial high-κ integration with poly-Si for the 65 nm and also for the 45 nm node. The different attempts to circumvent this problem include (1) bulk modifications of the high-κ stack/process, (2) the use of various thin capping layers at the poly/high-κ interface and (3) chemical and process modifications of the gate electrode deposition. We have observed that, although considerable improvements have been made in terms of e.g. yield, performance and instability, none of these techniques succeeded in obtaining V_T-values in line with the ITRS device specifications, i.e. avoiding Fermi Level Pinning to occur for poly-Si/Hf(Si)O(N) stacks.     

Direct Growth of Germanene at Interfaces between Van der Waals Materials and Ag(111)

Germanene, a 2D honeycomb germanium crystal, is grown at graphene/Ag(111) and hexagonal boron nitride (h-BN)/Ag(111) interfaces by segregating germanium atoms. A simple annealing process in N₂ or H₂/Ar at ambient pressure leads to the formation of germanene, indicating that an ultrahigh-vacuum condition is not necessary. The grown germanene is stable in air and uniform over the entire area covered with a van der Waals (vdW) material. As an important finding, it is necessary to use a vdW material as a cap layer for the present germanene growth method since the use of an Al₂O₃ cap layer results in no germanene formation. The present study also proves that Raman spectroscopy in air is a powerful tool for characterizing germanene at the interfaces, which is concluded by multiple analyses including first-principles density functional theory calculations. The direct growth of h-BN-capped germanene on Ag(111), which is demonstrated in the present study, is considered to be a promising technique for the fabrication of future germanene-based electronic devices.     

Interface and layer thickness dependence of the effective mass in InAs/GaSb superlattices studied by high field cyclotron resonance

The effective mass has been studied in a series of semiconducting and semimetallic InAs/GaSb superlattices as a function of superlattice period and band gap. The mass is found to be determined almost entirely by the superlattice period, and is relatively insensitive to both the ratio of the InAs to GaSb thickness, and the structure of the interface layer, which was grown as both a monolayer of InSb and GaAs. Using pulsed magnetic fields of up to 180 T it was possible to observe spin-split cyclotron resonance at room temperature for all samples studied. On cooling the spin-splitting was found to be temperature dependent. This is attributed to the importance of electron-electron interactions which couple the two spin transitions as observed recently in high purity GaAs/GaAlAs heterojunctions at low temperatures.     

Failure-analysis-based test chip design for quick yield improvement

A new design approach for a test chip developed to shorten the debugging cycle time in fabrication is described. This approach meets the requirements for failure analysis as well as parametric and statistical analyses. Particular attention is devoted to accurate defect density estimation and to locating individual defects. This is done by designing test structures suitable for both electrical measurements and failure analysis. A specially designed test chip, named YTEG, is used to evaluate 0.5-μm CMOS process technologies, and confirms the effectiveness of the chip.     

High-performance self-aligned SiGeC HBT with selectively grown Si/sub 1-x-y/Ge/sub x/C/sub y/ base by UHV/CVD

Si/sub 1-x-y/Ge/sub x/C/sub y/ selective epitaxial growth (SEG) was performed by cold-wall, ultrahigh-vacuum chemical vapor deposition, and the effects of incorporating C on the crystallinity of Si/sub 1-x-y/Ge/sub x/C/sub y/ layers and the performance of a self-aligned SiGeC heterojunction bipolar transistor (HBT) were evaluated. A Si/sub 1-x-y/Ge/sub x/C/sub y/ layer with good crystallinity was obtained by optimizing the growth conditions. Device performance was significantly improved by incorporating C, as a result of applying Si/sub 1-x-y/Ge/sub x/C/sub y/ SEG to form the base of a self-aligned HBT. Fluctuations in device performance were suppressed by alleviating the lattice strain. Furthermore, since the B out diffusion could be suppressed by incorporating C, the cutoff frequency was able to be increased with almost the same base resistance. A maximum oscillation frequency of 174 GHz and an emitter coupled logic gate-delay time of 5.65 ps were obtained at a C content of 0.4%, which shows promise for future ultrahigh-speed communication systems.     

Extending transmission bandwidth of air-core photonic bandgap fibers

Air-core photonic bandgap fibers offer many unique properties and are critical to many emerging applications. A notable property is the high nonlinear threshold which provides a foundation for applications at high peak powers. The strong interaction of light and air is also essential for a number of emerging applications, especially those based on nonlinear interactions and spectroscopy. For many of those applications, much wider transmission bandwidths are desired to accommodate a wider tuning range or the large number of optical wavelengths involved. Presently, air-core photonic bandgap fibers have a cladding of hexagonal lattice. The densely packed geometry of hexagonal stacking does not allow large nodes in the cladding, which would provide a further increase of photonic bandgaps. On the other hand, a photonic cladding with a square lattice can potentially provide much larger nodes and consequently wider bandgap. In this work, the potentials of much wider bandgap with square lattice cladding is theoretically studied and experimentally demonstrated.     

A computational investigation on the control of cavity-induced pressure oscillations using sub-cavity

A computational investigation has been conducted to determine the effectiveness of a passive control technique ofattenuating cavity-induced pressure oscillations in a confined two-dimensional supersonic flow.The passivecontrol technique is achieved by fitting two flat plates near the front wall of a square cavity at Mach number 1.83at the cavity entrance.The results showed that the flat plates attached near the front wall of the cavity,discouraged the formation of feedback loop which is widely believed to be the reason of cavity resonance.Theresultant amount of attenuation of pressure oscillations was also dependent on the length of the fiat plate used asan oscillation suppressor.     

s-Shaped Software Reliability Growth Models and Their Applications

The s-shaped growth curves of detected software errors can be observed in software testing. The delayed s-shaped and inflection s-shaped software reliability growth models based on a nonhomogeneous Poisson process are discussed. The software reliability growth types of the models are investigated in terms of the error detection rate per error. In addition, a viable method for the software quality assessment, which integrates the capture-recapture method and the models above, is discussed, and its application to actual test data is illustrated.