Low capacitance ESD protection circuits for GaAs RF ICs

We present a novel electrostatic discharge (ESD) protection circuit for GaAs radio frequency (RF) integrated circuits (ICs), which are targeted for 10 Gb/s fiber-optic communication applications. The robustness, parasitic impedance, and loading effect of the new ESD protection circuit are studied and compared with the conventional diode-based ESD protection technique. Two versions of this type of ESD protection circuit were fabricated with a 60-GHz InGaP heterojunction bipolar transistor (HBT) technology. These two circuits can withstand, respectively, 2700 and 5000 V human body model (HBM) ESD stress and provide a similar level of ESD protection to RF ICs. The corresponding impedances of the off state are represented by an equivalent shunt capacitance and shunt resistance of 0.22 pF and 500 Ω, and 0.5 pF and 250 Ω, at 10 GHz. This ESD protection circuit can protect the 10 Gb/s RF ICs against much higher level ESD stress than conventional diode-based ESD protection circuits even with smaller size.     

Fabry–Pérot cavities based on chemical etching for high temperature and strain measurement

In this paper, two hybrid multimode/single mode fiber Fabry–Pérot (FP) cavities were compared. The cavities fabricated by chemical etching are presented as high temperature and strain sensors. In order to produce this FP cavity a single mode fiber was spliced to a graded index multimode fiber with 62.5 μm core diameter. The Fabry–Pérot cavities were tested as a high temperature sensor in the range between room temperature and 700 °C and as strain sensors. A reversible shift of the interferometric peaks with temperature allowed to estimate a sensitivity of 0.75 ± 0.03 pm/°C and 0.98 ± 0.04 pm/°C for the sensor A and B respectively. For strain measurement sensor A demonstrated a sensitivity of 1.85 ± 0.07 pm/μ? and sensor B showed a sensitivity of 3.14 ± 0.05 pm/μ?. The sensors demonstrated the feasibility of low cost fiber optic sensors for high temperature and strain.     

Investigation on different ESD protection strategies devoted to 3.3 V RF applications (2 GHz) in a 0.18 μm CMOS process

ESD protection for radio frequency (RF) applications must deal with good ESD performance, minimum capacitance, zero series resistance and good capacitance linearity. In order to fulfill these requirements, different ESD protection strategies for RF applications have been investigated in a 0.18 μm CMOS process. This paper compares different ESD protection devices and shows that a suitable ESD performance target for RF applications (200 fF max, 2 kV HBM) can be reached with a diode network scheme. The optimization of the diodes is then a key point which is detailed. A trade-off has to be found between the ESD performance, the voltage drop during ESD and the parasitic capacitance. Poly as well as shallow trench isolation (STI) bounded diodes have been studied and it appears clearly that a solution based on poly bounded diodes is the best choice.     

Mapping of left ventricle wall thickness in mice using 11.7-T magnetic resonance imaging

BackgroundThe left ventricle (LV) wall thickness is an important and routinely measured cardiologic parameter. Here we introduce three-dimensional (3D) mapping of LV wall thickness and function using a self-gated magnetic resonance (MR) sequence for ultra-high-field 11.7-T MR cine imaging of mouse hearts.Methods and resultsSix male C57BL/6-j mice were subjected to 11.7-T MR imaging (MRI). Three standard views—short axis, long axis four-chamber, and long axis two-chamber—and eight consecutive short axis scans from the apex to base were performed for each mouse. The resulting 11 self-gated cine images were used for fast low-angle shot analysis with a navigator echo over an observation period of approximately 35 min. The right ventricle (RV) and LV were identified in the short axis and four-chamber views. On 3D color-coded maps, the interventricular septum wall (diastole: 0.94 ± 0.05 mm, systole: 1.20 ± 0.09 mm) and LV free wall (diastole: 1.07 ± 0.15 mm, systole: 1.79 ± 0.11 mm) thicknesses were measured.ConclusionThis 3D wall thickness mapping technique can be used to observe regional wall thickness at the end-diastole and end-systole. Self-gated cine imaging based on ultra-high-field MRI can be used to accurately and easily measure cardiac function and wall thickness in normal mouse hearts. As in the preclinical study, this versatile and simple method will be clinically useful for the high-field-MRI evaluation of cardiac function and wall thickness.     

Dynamic temperature rise of shielded MR sensors during simulated electrostatic discharge pulses of variable pulse width

The temperature rise from electrical over-stress (EOS) and electrostatic discharge (ESD) of shielded AMR sensors used for magnetic tape storage devices is studied using square wave voltage pulses with widths from 35 ns to 2 ms. A phenomenological model has been developed to describe the dynamic stripe temperature versus pulse width and power for the time range studied as well as for a wide range in sensor geometries. The temperature required to melt the stripes was determined to be $1437\pm 69{}^{\circ }\mathrm{C}$. The activation energy required to achieve a 2% increase in stripe resistance for pulses between 100 ns and 1 ms was determined to be 2.8 eV and is associated with interdiffusion of the stripe metals.     

Thermographic diagnosis system and imaging algorithm by distributed thermal data using single infrared sensor

An infrared diagnosis device provides two-dimensional images and patient-oriented results that can be easily understood by the inspection target by using infrared cameras. However, this device has disadvantages such as large size, high price, and inconvenient maintenance. In this regard, this study has proposed a small diagnosis device for body heat using a single infrared sensor and implementing an infrared detection system using a single infrared sensor and an algorithm that represents thermography using the obtained data on the temperature of the point source. The developed system had a temperature resolution of 0.1 °C and reproducibility of ±0.1 °C. The accuracy was 90.39% at the error bound of ±0 °C and 99.98% at that of ±0.1 °C. To evaluate the proposed algorithm and system, the infrared images of the camera method were compared. To verify the device’s clinical applicability, thermal images with clinical meaning were obtained from a patient who had lesions.     

Electrical effect of soot depositions in a co-axial wire pipe flow

An investigation was performed to study the electrical effects on the soot deposition in a co-axial wire cylinder with cooled walls. Experiments were performed for applied voltages from 0 to ?5 kV or +5 kV and a diesel exhaust mass flow rate of 20 kg/h or Reynolds number of approximately 9000. The outer wall was cooled using water with a temperature of approximately 40 °C, and the experiments were performed for exposure times of 2 h. The soot deposition layer thickness was measured using a non-destructive neutron radiography technique at the end of each experiment. The results show that the electric field had a significant effect on the soot deposition and increases it by a factor of approximately 4 at the applied voltage of 5 kV before spark on-set. The soot thickness was similar for the positive and negative polarities and the results show that there was significant deposition on the wire as well as the outer wall for both polarities. Since soot deposition even occurs on both corona wire and grounded pipe below corona on-set voltages of the clean system, there may be a significant pre-charging of the diesel soot with both polarities in the diesel exhaust gas as has been observed by the recent measurements of Marieq [On the electrical charge of motor vehicle exhaust particles, Journal of Aerosol Science 37 (7) (2006) 858–874].     

Research on the possibility of ignition of materials by electrostatic discharge in pure oxygen environment at different pressures

In spacecraft environments, spacesuits materials such as textiles, leather, or other materials are used in a pure oxygen environment. The materials are in serious risk of being ignited by electrostatic discharge (ESD) and may cause fire and even disasters or death of astronauts. In this paper, a well sealed chamber was first developed for ignition test. Then, ignition tests of four textiles and leather materials were carried out under oxygen pressures of 42 kPa, 101 kPa and 142 kPa using different ESD models. It is concluded that the materials are more easily ignited at higher oxygen pressure.     

Gold nanoparticle-based signal augmentation of quartz crystal microbalance immunosensor measuring C-reactive protein

A biotinylated anti-rat C-reactive protein (CRP) antibody was ingeniously prepared by the reaction of the unmodified antibody with a water-soluble sulfosuccinimidyl-6-(biotinamido)hexanoate. The molar biotin incorporation of the resulting modified antibody was found as 5.82. A flow-type indirect-competitive quartz crystal microbalance immunosensor system was constructed with the sensor chip immobilized with 2 mg/mL CRP as the coating antigen. When 200 μL of the modified antibody having the concentration of 0.250 mg/mL was added with a streptavidin-coated gold nanoparticle (GNP) to the immunosensor system, the frequency shift obtained was 139.8 ± 0.3 Hz. Compared to the frequency shift of 91.1 ± 1.3 Hz found with the addition of the unmodified antibody only, the signal augmentation after GNP binding amounted to 53.4%, which resulted in sensitivity improvement of the current immunosensor.     

Structure relates to elastic recoil and functional role in quadriceps tendon and patellar ligament

Tendons and ligaments have similar but slightly different structure and composition. Crimps of tendons and ligaments are morphological structures related to the elastic functional properties of these connective tissues. Aim of this study was to investigate the morphological arrangement of collagen fibres, fibrils and crimping pattern of suprapatellar (rectus femoris tendon-RFT and vastus intermedius tendon-VIT) and infrapatellar connective tissues (patellar ligament-PL) to relate their structural aspects to their common function role of leg extension. RFT, VIT and PL were removed from knees of Sprague–Dawley rats and light and electron microscopy (TEM and SEM) performed. Sagittal sections showed that collagen array and crimping pattern were similar in RFT and PL but differed from VIT. Morphometric analysis confirmed that crimp number was about the same in RFT and PL (5.4 ± 1.4 and 6.1 ± 2.8 respectively), but it was almost three times higher in VIT (14.5 ± 4.7). Similarly crimp top angle in RFT and PL (141.5 ± 15.0° and 146.2 ± 12.2° respectively) was significantly higher than in VIT (122.3 ± 14.8°) and the crimp base length was more than twice as wide in RFT (75.5 ± 22.6 μm) and PL (72.3 ± 28.9 μm) than in VIT (36 ± 14.1 μm). The smaller, fewer and most crimped crimps in VIT show that this tendon has a greater elastic recoil and responds to higher forces as among quadriceps muscles the vastus intermedius belly contributes the most during knee extension. By contrast, RFT acting as a “stopper” tendon also plays a ligament role by limiting an excessive flexion of the joint during postural rest position of the knee.     

Transfer impedance and effectiveness of SMA receptacle for wideband measurement of discharge current due to human ESD

In order to investigate the effectiveness of an SMA receptacle as wideband measurement electrode for human ESD, we derived the transfer impedance of a 50-Ω SMA receptacle, and measured its frequency characteristics from 300 kHz to 20 GHz. With a 12-GHz digital oscilloscope, measurement of discharge currents through a hand-held metal bar from a charged human was made, and thereby the injected currents on the SMA receptacle were reconstructed from the measured transfer impedance. The results show that at a charge voltage of 1500 V the reconstructed current waveform agrees well with the observed voltage waveform divided by 50 Ω.     

Atomic structure of Cs grown on Si(0 0 1)(2×1) surface by coaxial impact collision ion scattering spectroscopy

The atomic structure and the saturation coverage of Cs on the Si(0 0 1)(2×1) surface at room temperature have been studied by coaxial impact collision ion scattering spectroscopy (CAICISS). For the atomic structure of saturated Cs/Si(0 0 1)(2×1) surface, it is found that Cs atoms occupy a single adsorption site at T3 on the Si(0 0 1) surface. The height of Cs atoms adsorbed at T3 site is 3.18±0.05 Å from the second layer of Si(0 0 1)(2×1) surface. The saturation coverage estimated from the measured CAICISS intensity ratio and the proposed atomic structure is found to be 0.46±0.06 ML.     

Cross-correlation Doppler global velocimetry (CC-DGV)

A flow velocimetry method, cross-correlation Doppler global velocimetry (CC-DGV), is presented as a robust, simplified, and high dynamic range implementation of the Doppler global/planar Doppler velocimetry technique. A sweep of several gigahertz of the vapor absorption spectrum is used for each velocity sample, with signals acquired from both Doppler-shifted scattered light within the flow and a non-Doppler shifted reference beam. Cross-correlation of these signals yields the Doppler shift between them, averaged over the duration of the scan. With presently available equipment, velocities from 0 ms⁻¹ to over 3000 ms⁻¹ can notionally be measured simultaneously, making the technique ideal for high speed flows. The processing routine is shown to be robust against large changes in the vapor pressure of the iodine cell, benefiting performance of the system in facilities where ambient conditions cannot be easily regulated. Validation of the system was performed with measurements of a model wind turbine blade boundary layer made in a 1.83 m by 1.83 m subsonic wind tunnel for which laser Doppler velocimetry (LDV) measurements were acquired alongside the CC-DGV results. CC-DGV uncertainties of ±1.30 ms⁻¹, ±0.64 ms⁻¹, and ±1.11 ms⁻¹ were determined for the orthogonal stream-wise, transverse-horizontal, and transverse-vertical velocity components, and root-mean-square deviations of 2.77 ms⁻¹ and 1.34 ms⁻¹ from the LDV validation results were observed for Reynolds numbers of 1.5 million and 2 million, respectively. Volumetric mean velocity measurements are also presented for a supersonic jet, with velocity uncertainties of ±4.48 ms⁻¹, ±16.93 ms⁻¹, and ±0.50 ms⁻¹ for the orthogonal components, and self-validation done by collapsing the data with a physical scaling.     

Temperature effects on the ultrasonic separation of fat from natural whole milk

This study showed that temperature influences the rate of separation of fat from natural whole milk during application of ultrasonic standing waves. In this study, natural whole milk was sonicated at 600 kHz (583 W/L) or 1 MHz (311 W/L) with a starting bulk temperature of 5, 25, or 40 °C. Comparisons on separation efficiency were performed with and without sonication. Sonication using 1 MHz for 5 min at 25 °C was shown to be more effective for fat separation than the other conditions tested with and without ultrasound, resulting in a relative change from 3.5 ± 0.06% (w/v) fat initially, of −52.3 ± 2.3% (reduction to 1.6 ± 0.07% (w/v) fat) in the skimmed milk layer and 184.8 ± 33.2% (increase to 9.9 ± 1.0% (w/v) fat) in the top layer, at an average skimming rate of ∼5 g fat/min. A shift in the volume weighted mean diameter (D[4,3]) of the milk samples obtained from the top and bottom of between 8% and 10% relative to an initial sample D[4,3] value of 4.5 ± 0.06 μm was also achieved under these conditions. In general, faster fat separation was seen in natural milk when natural creaming occurred at room temperature and this separation trend was enhanced after the application of high frequency ultrasound.     

Temperature self-compensation fiber-optic pressure sensor based on fiber Bragg grating and Fabry–Perot interference multiplexing

A high performance multiplexed fiber-optic sensor consisted of diaphragm-based extrinsic Fabry–Perot interferometer (DEFPI) and fiber Bragg grating (FBG) is proposed. The novel structure DEFPI fabricated with laser heating fusion technique possesses high sensitivity with 5.35 nm/kPa (36.89 nm/psi) and exhibits ultra-low temperature dependence with 0.015 nm/°C. But the ultra-low temperature dependence still results in small pressure measurement error of the DEFPI (0.0028 kPa/°C). The designed stainless epoxy-free packaging structure guarantees the FBG to be only sensitive to temperature. The temperature information is created to calibrate the DEFPI's pressure measurement error induced by the temperature dependence, realizing effectively temperature self-compensation of the multiplexed sensor. The sensitivity of the FBG is 10.5 pm/°C. In addition, the multiplexed sensor is also very easy to realize the pressure and the temperature high-precise high-sensitive simultaneous measurement at single point in many harsh environmental areas.     

Mechanical bioeffects of acoustic droplet vaporization in vessel-mimicking phantoms

This study investigated the mechanical bioeffects exerted by acoustic droplet vaporization (ADV) under different experimental conditions using vessel phantoms with a 200-μm inner diameter but different stiffness for imitating the microvasculature in various tumors. High-speed microscopy, passive cavitation detection, and ultrasound attenuation measurement were conducted to determine the morphological characteristics of vascular damage and clarify the mechanisms by which the damage was initiated and developed. The results show that phantom erosion was initiated under successive ultrasound exposure (2 MHz, 3 cycles) at above 8-MPa peak negative pressures (PNPs) when ADV occurred with inertial cavitation (IC), producing lesions whose morphological characteristics were dependent on the amount of vaporized droplets. Slight injury occurred at droplet concentrations below (2.6 ± 0.2) × 10⁶ droplets/mL, forming shallow and rugged surfaces on both sides of the vessel walls. Increasing the droplet concentration to up to (2.6 ± 0.2) × 10⁷ droplets/mL gradually suppressed the damage on the distal wall, and turned the rugged surface on the proximal wall into tunnels rapidly elongating in the direction opposite to ultrasound propagation. Increasing the PNP did not increase the maximum tunnel depth after the ADV efficiency reached a plateau (about 71.6 ± 2.7% at 10 MPa). Increasing the pulse duration effectively increased the maximum tunnel depth to more than 10 times the diameter of the vessel even though there was no marked enhancement in IC dose. It can be inferred that substantial bubble generation in single ADV events may simultaneously distort the acoustic pressure distribution. The backward ultrasound reinforcement and forward ultrasound shielding relative to the direction of wave propagation augment the propensity of backward erosion. The results of the present work provide information that is valuable for the prevention or utilization of ADV-mediated mechanical bioeffects in clinical applications.     

An STM study of desorption-induced thallium structures on the Si(111) surface

The scanning tunneling microscopy is used to study morphology of a Tl adlayer in various stages of Tl desorption from the Si(111) surface. Transition from the Si(111)/(1 × 1)-Tl structure through the (√3 × √3)R30° mosaic phase to domains of metastable Si reconstructions is observed. Silicon substitutional atoms are found to be intrinsic to the (√3 × √3)R30° structure. The temperature dependence of the amount of residual Tl atoms on the surface is successfully fitted by a model using the first order desorption. The same desorption energy of (2.1 ± 0.3) eV and frequency prefactor 5 × 10^14 ± 2 s^? 1 during all stages of the desorption are sufficient for the fitting. It is concluded that bonding of Tl in both (1 × 1) and (√3 × √3) configurations is of the same nature.     

Quantitative local structure determination of R,R-tartaric acid on Cu(110): Monotartrate and bitartrate phases

The local adsorption site of the monotartrate and bitartrate species of R,R-tartaric acid deposited on Cu(110) have been determined by scanned-energy mode photoelectron diffraction (PhD). In the monotartrate phase the molecule is found to adsorb upright through the O atoms of the single deprotonated carboxylic acid (carboxylate) group, which are located in different off-atop sites with associated Cu―O bond lengths of 1.92 ± 0.08 Å and 1.93 ± 0.06 Å; the plane of the carboxylate group is tilted by 17 ± 6° off the surface normal. The bitartrate species adopts a ‘lying down’ orientation, bonding to the surface through all four O atoms of the two carboxylate groups, also in off-atop sites. Three slightly different models give comparably good fits to the PhD data, but only one of these is similar to that predicted by earlier density functional theory calculations. This model is found to have Cu―O bond lengths of 1.93 ± 0.08 Å and 1.95 ± 0.08 Å, while the planes of the carboxylate groups are tilted by 38 ± 6° from the surface normal.     

Comparative ultrastructure of spermatozoa of the redclaw Cherax quadricarinatus and the yabby Cherax destructor (Decapoda,Parastacidae)

Ultrastructure of spermatozoa of redclaw Cherax quadricarinatus and yabby Cherax destructor were described and compared. The acrosome complex and nucleus are located at the anterior and posterior region of the spermatozoon, respectively. The acrosome is a complex vesicle divided into two parts: the main body of the acrosome appears as a dense cup-shaped structure in longitudinal sagittal view, with the subacrosome zone occupying the central area of the vesicle. The acrosome is larger in C. quadricarinatus (width 2.37 ± 0.27 μm, length 1.31 ± 0.23 μm) than in C. destructor (width 1.80 ± 0.27 μm, length 1.01 ± 0.15 μm). There was no significant difference in L:W ratios of the studied species. The subacrosome zone in both species consists of two areas of different electron density. The nucleus is substantially decondensed and irregular in shape, with elaborate extended processes. The examined species exhibited a well-conserved structure of crayfish spermatozoon, similar to those of Cherax cainii and Cherax albidus. Small acrosome size, the absence of radial arms, and an extracellular capsule seem to be the morphological features that mostly distinguish Cherax from the Astacidae and Cambaridae.     

Ultrasonically tailored,chemically engineered and “QbD” enabled fabrication of agomelatine nanoemulsion; optimization,characterization, ex-vivo permeation and stability study

The objective of present study was to develop a nanoemulsion formulation of agomelatine (BCS class II drug) for the solubility enhancement. Capmul MCM, Tween 80 and PEG-400 were selected as oil, surfactant and co-surfactant respectively. The high energy ultrasonication method was used for the preparation of nanoemulsion. Three-factor three-level central composite design was employed to get the best formulation. The independent variables selected for the optimization were % oil, %S_mix and sonication time (second). Based on the constraints applied to independent and dependent variables, the optimized formulation was selected with 2% oil, 10% S_mix and 45 s sonication time. The experimental values for dependent variables such as hydrodynamic diameter (nm), % transmittance and % CDR were found to be 73.72 ± 2.53 nm, 98.2 ± 0.42%, 84.71 ± 4.05% respectively. TEM and AFM−assisted morphological characterization of optimized Ago-NE was done and it was found with a spherical shape. The PDI, Zeta potential and the refractive index of optimized Ago-NE were found to be 0.137 ± 0.016, −7.40 ± 0.12 mV and 1.423 ± 0.045 respectively. The viscosity, pH and drug content of optimized Ago-NE were found as 25.12 ± 0.67 cP, 6.4 ± 0.17 and 97.83 ± 1.03% respectively. The ex-vivo permeation profile of optimized Ago-NE and agomelatine suspension through goat nasal mucosa were compared till 12 h and % cumulative drug permeated was found to be 90% and 40% respectively. The higher drug permeation profile of optimized Ago-NE confirmed that the solubility of agomelatine has been improved.