Transverse-junction-stripe GaAs-AlGaAs lasers for squeezed lightgeneration

We fabricated 850-nm GaAs transverse-junction-stripe (TJS) lasers by an improved metal-organic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD) and double Zn diffusion process. The high V/III ratio used during the MOCVD growth significantly reduced the intermixing of GaAs active layer and AlGaAs cladding layers. The modified process realized good confinement for both carriers and photons and smaller saturable loss. We measured squeezing of -2.8 dB (-4.5 dB after correction for detection efficiency) at a pumping rate of I/I_th≈20 from these lasers, which is in close agreement with the theoretical limit. This squeezing remained unchanged under injection locking, indicating almost perfect conservation of the intensity noise correlation among the longitudinal modes. These TJS lasers had very small low-frequency 1/f noise     

Interactive multimedia communication systems for next-generationeducation using asymmetrical satellite and terrestrial networks

We propose a new concept of a hierarchical network structure for remote education. This system combines broadband satellite networks and simple terrestrial communication networks effectively to meet the demands of point-to-multipoint communications. Remote education experiments have been conducted using the proposed satellite communication networks. The results of network characteristics and degree of satisfaction are discussed. Acceptable communication quality was achieved ensuring an interactive lecture environment     

Optimal operation of coreless PCB transformer-isolated gate drivecircuits with wide switching frequency range

Gate drive circuits for power MOSFETs and insulated gate bipolar transistors (IGBTs) often require electrical isolation. Coreless printed circuit board (PCB) transformers have been shown to have desirable characteristics from a few hundreds of hertz to a few megahertz and can be used for both power and signal transfer at low-power level. At low operating frequency, the magnetizing inductance has such low impedance that the driving power requirement could become excessive. This paper describes the use of a coreless PCB transformer for isolated gate drive circuits over a wide-frequency range. Based on a resonance concept, the optimal operating condition that minimizes the power consumption of the gate drive circuits is developed and verified with experiments. The coreless PCB transformer demonstrated here confirms a fundamental concept that the size and volume of a magnetic core could approach zero and become zero if the operating frequency is sufficiently high. Coreless PCB transformers do not require the manual winding procedure and thus simplify the manufacturing process of transformer-isolated gate drive circuits and low-power converters. Their sizes can be much smaller than those of typical core-based pulse transformers. The electrical isolation of a PCB is much higher than that of an optocoupler     

Surface graft copolymerization enhanced adhesion of an epoxy-basedprinted circuit board substrate (FR-4) to copper

The lamination of surface modified printed circuit board (PCB) substrate, FR-4(R), from argon plasma pretreatment and UV-induced graft copolymerization with glycidyl methacrylate (GMA), to copper foil was carried out at elevated temperature and in the presence of an epoxy adhesive. The structure and chemical composition of the graft copolymerized surfaces and interfaces of the glass fiber-reinforced and epoxy-based FR-4 substrates were studied by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). The effects of the plasma pretreatment time, the UV illumination time, as well as the curing temperature, on the adhesion strength between the FR-4 substrate and copper were investigated. The assemblies involving GMA graft copolymerized FR-4, or the FR-4-GMA/epoxy resin/Cu assemblies, exhibited a significantly higher interfacial adhesion strength and reliability, in comparison to those assemblies in which only epoxy adhesive alone was used. The enhanced adhesion in the assemblies involving GMA graft copolymerized substrate arises from the fact that the covalently tethered GMA graft chains on the FR-4 surface can become covalently incorporated into the epoxy resin, resulting in the toughening of the epoxy matrix and increased interaction with copper     

Adhesion strength of leadframe/EMC interfaces

Cu-based leadframe sheets were oxidized in alkaline solutions to produce brown and/or black oxide on the surfaces, and molded with epoxy molding compound (EMC). The adhesion strength of leadframe/EMC interface was measured using sandwiched double-cantilever beam (SDCB) specimens and pull-out specimens. Results showed that the adhesion strength of leadframe/EMC interface was inherently very poor but could be increased drastically with the nucleation of acicular CuO precipitates. The presence of smooth-faceted Cu₂O on the surface of the leadframe gave close to zero fracture toughness (G_C) and suitable pull strength (PS). A direct correlation between G_C and PS showed that PS can be a measure of G_C only in a limited range.     

Stacking number dependence of size distribution of vertically stacked InAs/GaAs quantum dots

Vertically stacked layer structure is useful for controlling the size distribution of quantum dots. The dependence of the size distribution of quantum dots on the stacking numbers is theoretically and experimentally investigated. We show that the size distribution of quantum dots decreases with increasing the stacking number, and it occurs drastically when the stacking number is changed from 1 to 2. The quantitative analysis on in-plane strain energy distribution is also performed for the explanation.     

Low-Power Parallel Video Compression Architecture for a Single-Chip Digital CMOS Camera

A low-power, large-scale parallel video compression architecture for a single-chip digital CMOS camera is discussed in this paper. This architecture is designed for highly computationally intensive image and video processing tasks necessary to support video compression. Two designs of this architecture, an MPEG2 encoder and a DV encoder, are presented. At an image resolution of 640 × 480 pixels (MPEG2) and 720 × 576 (DV) and a frame rate of 25 to 30 frames per second, a computational throughput of up to 1.8 billion operations per second (BOPS) is required. This is supported in the proposed architecture using a 40 MHz clock and an array of 40 to 45 parallel processors implemented in a 0.2 m CMOS technology and with a 1.5 V supply voltage. Power consumption is significantly reduced through the single-chip integration of the CMOS photo sensors, the embedded DRAM technology, and the proposed pipelined parallel processors. The parallel processors consume approximately 45 mW of power resulting a power efficiency of 40 BOPS/W.     

Co-channel interference in high capacity fixed wireless loops (FWL)

The importance of the incident power density pattern (IPDP) for future fixed wireless loop (FWL) systems is discussed. Also an investigation into some of the important S/I implications of the IPDP for proper system capacity simulations is presented     

Transverse optical mode patterns for an RF excited Ar-He-Xe laser

Transverse optical modes for an RF excited Ar-He-Xe laser are studied both experimentally and theoretically. A diffraction model for a waveguide with a nonsaturable gain and refractive index gradients placed between two plane mirrors is formulated. The effects of gain and diffraction index gradients and of diffraction in free space are evaluated for typical experimental conditions. A direct comparison between theoretical mode patterns and experimentally measured ones at distances of 17 and 114 cm from the output mirror demonstrated a satisfactory agreement for various laser wavelengths and gas mixture compositions     

The dynamic response analysis of a pyroelectric thin-film infraredsensor with thermal isolation improvement structure

Both theoretical and experimental studies of the substrate effect on the thermal behavior of a PbTiO₃ infrared (IR) sensor have been reported. With active cantilever dimensions of 200×100×5 μm³ formed by etching processes, the pyroelectric micro-electro-mechanical system (pyro/MEMS) structure exhibits a much superior performance to that of a traditional IR-sensing bulk structure under the 800-μW incident optical light with wavelength of 970 nm. Two-order improvement in current responsivity is obtained for the pyro/MEMS structure. This shows the substrate effect on the performance of a pyro/MEMS IR sensor is very significant. A simple model has also been proposed to illustrate the substrate effect more comprehensively