Molecular switching complexes with iron and tin as central atom

The precursor [Fe^III(L)Cl] (LH₂ = N,N′-bis(2′-hydroxy-benzyliden)-1,6-diamino-3-N-hexane is a high-spin (S = 5/2) complex. This precursor is combined with the bridging units [Sn^IV(X)₄] (X = CN^?, NCS^?) to yield star-shaped pentanuclear clusters, [(LFe^III–X)₄Sn]Cl₄. For X = CN^? the ⁵⁷Fe-Mössbauer data show a multiple spin transition between iron(III) in the high-spin and low-spin state, while the ^119mSn-Mössbauer data indicate a valence tautomerism between Sn(IV) and Sn(II). Changing the bridging unit from X = CN^? to X = NCS^? turns the switchability off.     

Frequency grid density for the design of 2-D FIR filters

In the design of a digital 2-D FIR filter, the frequency response is often optimised to satisfy a given set of specifications on a dense grid of frequency points. The accuracy of a filter design improves when there are more grid points, but this is at the expense of higher computational resources. The authors present the relationship between the accuracy and the frequency grid density in 2-D filter designs. A new formula for determining the frequency grid spacing is also proposed     

Characterization and Wideband Modeling of Miniaturized LTCC Helical Inductors

We report fabrication of miniaturized low temperature co-fired ceramic helical (3-D) inductors with more than seven layers of helices and the conductor linewidth of 100mum. We achieve the Q_maxLeff/A product ranging from 200 to 370. Such high values are possible thanks to the drastic reduction of the active area and still acceptably large Q_max and self-resonant frequency. High frequency characterization of the inductors is performed up to 12GHz, and a new equivalent circuit model considering vertical electromagnetic coupling between conductors is shown to reproduce all the measured characteristics     

Comparison of symmetric and asymmetric routing for fixed two-hop cellular relaying network

In this paper, routing strategies for fixed two-hop cellular relaying networks are discussed in terms of area spectral efficiency. We consider symmetric and asymmetric routing in uplink and downlink. Simulation results show that relaying increases the average throughput in comparison with conventional cellular networks and the area spectral efficiency of asymmetric routing is slightly better than that of the symmetric     

Improved reliability of low-temperature polysilicon TFT by post-annealing gate oxide

We have investigated the electrical characteristics of gate oxide films deposited by plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD) with respect to gate oxide integrity (GOI) and its reliability. In the investigation, post-annealed gate oxide was compared with as-deposited oxide. It was shown that the characteristics of GOI strongly depended on the charge trapping characteristics and deep level interface states generation under FN stress, which was remarkably improved by post-annealing after gate oxide deposition. Improved FN stress and hot carrier stress reliability of CMOS devices implemented on the glass substrate are also discussed.     

On the merging of millimeter-wave fiber-radio backbone with 25-GHz WDM ring networks

We present an optical modulation and distribution scheme that incorporates subcarrier-multiplexed (SCM) transport with remote local oscillator (LO) delivery for a millimeter-wave (mm-wave) fiber-radio backbone driving a sectorized antenna interface. The proposed method is compatible with a standard wavelength-division multiplexing infrastructure with a 25-GHz channel spacing. We also characterize the profiles and bandwidths of the optical filters, which are essential for the adding and dropping of the 25-GHz signal block and the optical extraction of the LO signal. The placement of the LO signal within the 25-GHz band is investigated and its effect on the filter bandwidth requirements and system performance quantified. The performance of a ring incorporating the distribution scheme is evaluated via simulation. It is established that a compromise must be made between the feasibility of the required filters and the incurred penalty due to intermodulation distortions from adjacent blocks.     

Low-Loss Polymer-Based Long-Range Surface Plasmon-Polariton Waveguide

To improve the propagation loss of polymer-based long-range surface-plasmon-polariton (LR-SPP) waveguide devices at the telecom wavelength range, low-loss LR-SPP waveguides were fabricated in an ultraviolet-curable acrylate polymer with a low refractive index and absorption loss. A propagation loss of 1.72 dB/cm at a wavelength of 1.55 mum was achieved with a 14-nm-thick and 3-mum-wide metal stripe.     

A stochastic model for risk management in global supply chain networks

With the increasing emphasis on supply chain vulnerabilities, effective mathematical tools for analyzing and understanding appropriate supply chain risk management are now attracting much attention. This paper presents a stochastic model of the multi-stage global supply chain network problem, incorporating a set of related risks, namely, supply, demand, exchange, and disruption. We provide a new solution methodology using the Moreau–Yosida regularization, and design an algorithm for treating the multi-stage global supply chain network problem with profit maximization and risk minimization objectives.     

Monolayer assembly and striped architecture of Co nanoparticles on organic functionalized Si surfaces

We present a new strategy to fabricate a monolayer assembly of Br-terminated Co nanoparticles on functionalized Si surfaces by using chemical covalent bonding and microcontact printing method. Self-assembled monolayers (SAMs) of the Co nanoparticles formed on the hydroxyl-terminated Si surface exhibit two-dimensional island networks with locally ordered arrays via covalent linkage between nanoparticles and surface. On the other hand, SAMs of the nanoparticles on the aminopropyl-terminated Si surface show an individual and random distribution over an entire surface. Furthermore, we have fabricated striped architectures of Co nanoparticles using a combination of microcontact printing and covalent linkage. Microcontact printing of octadecyltrichlorosilane and selective covalent linkage between nanoparticles and functionalized Si surfaces lead to a hybrid nanostructure with selectively assembled nanoparticles stripes on the patterned functionalized Si surfaces. PACS 81.07.Ta; 61.46.+w; 81.16.Dn; 81.16.Be; 68.37.Hk; 82.80.Pv     

Adaptive image denoising using scale and space consistency

This paper proposes a new method for image denoising with edge preservation, based on image multiresolution decomposition by a redundant wavelet transform. In our approach, edges are implicitly located and preserved in the wavelet domain, whilst image noise is filtered out. At each resolution level, the image edges are estimated by gradient magnitudes (obtained from the wavelet coefficients), which are modeled probabilistically, and a shrinkage function is assembled based on the model obtained. Joint use of space and scale consistency is applied for better preservation of edges. The shrinkage functions are combined to preserve edges that appear simultaneously at several resolutions, and geometric constraints are applied to preserve edges that are not isolated. The proposed technique produces a filtered version of the original image, where homogeneous regions appear separated by well-defined edges. Possible applications include image presegmentation, and image denoising.