Noise–Power Optimization of Incremental Data Converters

Incremental data converters (IDCs) are useful in instrumentation and measurement applications, where low-frequency analog signals need to be converted into digital form with high accuracy and low power dissipation. They are particularly well suited for applications where a single analog-digital converter is multiplexed between many channels. This paper proposes an exact design methodology for IDCs, which optimizes the signal-to-noise ratio of the converter under practical design constraints. The process also allows the designer to apportion the noise budget in an arbitrary manner between thermal and quantization noise. The design process is illustrated by an example which describes the optimization of a third-order multiplexed IDC.     

Cost-Efficient SHA Hardware Accelerators

This paper presents a new set of techniques for hardware implementations of Secure Hash Algorithm (SHA) hash functions. These techniques consist mostly in operation rescheduling and hardware reutilization, therefore, significantly decreasing the critical path and required area. Throughputs from 1.3 Gbit/s to 1.8 Gbit/s were obtained for the SHA implementations on a Xilinx VIRTEX II Pro. Compared to commercial cores and previously published research, these figures correspond to an improvement in throughput/slice in the range of 29% to 59% for SHA-1 and 54% to 100% for SHA-2. Experimental results on hybrid hardware/software implementations of the SHA cores, have shown speedups up to 150 times for the proposed cores, compared to pure software implementations.      

Enhancing Chaotic Communication Performances by Manchester Coding

A numerical analysis of an optical chaotic transmission system, based on the synchronization of two chaotic lasers, in a master-slave closed loop configuration is presented. At the transmitter, the master chaotic wave is superposed on the information message; at the receiver, the message is recovered by subtracting the synchronized slave chaotic wave from the received signal. The performances are analyzed in terms of the Q-factor, considering two different message modulation formats: the nonreturn-to-zero and the Manchester coding. The Manchester coding shows enhanced performances due to the shift of the signal spectrum to higher frequencies.     

Mechanisms of rectification of a high-frequency signal by a field-effect heterotransistor with a short channel

The effect of nonlinearity of the drift velocity of free charge carriers and the gradient-and concentration-related nonlinearities in the power-voltage sensitivity of a field-effect transistor with a short channel are studied theoretically. Theoretical results are compared with experimental data on the detection of terahertz radiation. It follows from the comparison that, in order to gain deeper insight into observed systematic features in the analysis of high-frequency characteristics of the transistor, one has to take into account some other mechanisms of the current nonlinearity, in addition to the plasma-related nonlinearity.     

Investigation into Polarization of Unloaded and Loaded Microstrip Square-Ring Antennas

The polarization characteristic of unloaded and loaded square-ring microstrip antennas is investigated. Several different loading types like single-stub, dual-stub, notch, gap and shorting-pin are considered and their effects are studied. Loading enables feeding using a 50-Omega probe. The simulation and measurement results show that the loading techniques excite a loaded TMy ₁₁ mode that is orthogonal to the unloaded TMx ₁₁ mode. This indicates that by loading the ring antenna its polarization can be switched adaptively. However, the purity of the loaded and unloaded modes depends on the loading type. For some loading types like gap and shorting-pin, the excitation of the unloaded mode seems negligible, in comparison to the loadings by stub and notch. For the stub and notch loaded antennas the unloaded mode is also present, and its excitation efficiency is frequency dependent. Thus, their polarization plane, which is due to both loaded TMy ₁₁ and unloaded TMx ₁₁ modes, also becomes frequency dependant. The results of this investigation can be useful in selecting the loading methods for high-impedance microstrip ring antennas, and control of their impedance and polarization. The knowledge of the antenna polarization is essential in communications, and its dependence on the loading type can be used as an important parameter in design of adaptive antennas and sensors.     

Structural and Superconducting Property Variations with Nominal Mg Non‐Stoichiometry in MgxB2 and Its Enhancement of Upper Critical Field

By applying a combination of characterisation tools, changes in structural and superconducting properties with nominal Mg non‐stoichiometry in Mg_xB₂ are found. The non‐stoichiometry produces enhanced in‐field critical current densities (J_c's) and upper critical field / irreversibility field (H_c2/H_irr(T)) values. Upper critical fields of ～ 21 T (4.2 K) were obtained in nominal Mg‐deficient samples compared to ～ 17 T (4.2 K) for near‐stoichiometric samples.     

Anionic iron(II) alkoxides as initiators for the controlled ring‐opening polymerization of lactide

Hetero‐bimetallic Fe(II) alkoxide/aryloxides were evaluated as initiators for the ring‐opening polymerization of rac‐lactide. [(THF)NaFe(O^tBu)₃]₂ ( 1 ) and [(THF)₄Na₂Fe(2,6‐diisopropylphenolate)₄] ( 2 ) (THF = tetrahydrofuran) both polymerized lactide efficiently at room temperature, with complex 1 affording better control over the molecular weight parameters of the resultant polymer. At conversions below 70%, a linear increase in molecular weight with conversion was observed, indicative of a well‐controlled polymerization process. Complex 2 is the first example of a dianionic Fe(II) alkoxide and has been structurally characterized to reveal a distorted square planar FeO₄ array in which both Na counterions bridge two aryloxide ligands and are further complexed by two THF ligands. © 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 41: 3798–3803, 2003     

Förster energy transfer from poly(arylene–ethynylene)s to an erbium–porphyrin complex

We study the infrared emission at 1.54 μm of an organolanthanide complex, Er(III)-tetraphenylporphyrin [Er(TPP)acac], both as a result of direct optical excitation and via energy transfer from host π-conjugate polymers of type poly(arylene–ethynylene) [PAE]. In the first case, the emission of the neat complex is characterized in inert transparent materials and a value of the quantum yield at 1.54 μm φ_IR=4×10⁻⁴ is measured. Then, fluorescence resonance transfer is investigated in blends of Er(TPP)acac with PAEs by monitoring the quenching of the polymer fluorescence along with the enhancement of both the visible emission of the ligand and the near-infrared band of Er³⁺. These different procedures allow a detailed analysis of the transfer efficiency within a specific implementation of the Förster model for polymeric donors. The experimental values of the critical radius R₀, ranging from 1.3 to 2.5 nm for the different blends, are in good agreement with theory for a wide interval of the physical and spectroscopic parameters. This suggests that other mechanisms for excitation transfer do not play a significant role in these materials.     

Sulfobetaine‐containing diblock and triblock copolymers via reversible addition‐fragmentation chain transfer polymerization in aqueous media

A novel bifunctional acrylamido‐based reversible addition–fragmentation chain transfer (RAFT) chain‐transfer agent (CTA), N,N′‐ethylenebis[2‐(thiobenzoylthio)propionamide] (CTA2), has been synthesized and used for the controlled free‐radical polymerization of N,N‐dimethylacrylamide (DMA). A comparative study of CTA2 and the monofunctional CTA N,N‐dimethyl‐s‐thiobenzoylthiopropionamide (CTA1) has been conducted. Polymerizations mediated by CTA1 result in poly(N,N‐dimethylacrylamide) (PDMA) homopolymers with unimodal molecular weight distributions, whereas CTA2 yields unimodal, bimodal, and trimodal distributions according to the extent of conversion. The multimodal nature of the PDMAs has been attributed to termination events and/or chains initiated by primary radicals. The RAFT polymerization of DMA with CTA2 also results in a prolonged induction period that may be attributed to the higher local concentration of dithioester functionalities early in the polymerization. A series of ω‐ and α,ω‐dithioester‐capped PDMAs have been prepared in organic media and subsequently employed as macro‐CTAs for the synthesis of diblock and triblock copolymers in aqueous media with the zwitterionic monomer 3‐[2‐(N‐methylacrylamido)‐ethyldimethylammonio] propane sulfonate (MAEDAPS). Additionally, an ω‐dithioester‐capped MAEDAPS homopolymer has been used as a macro‐CTA for the block polymerization of DMA. To our knowledge, this is the first example of a near‐monodisperse, sulfobetaine‐containing block copolymer prepared entirely in aqueous media. The diblock and triblock copolymers form aggregates in pure water that can be dissociated by the addition of salt, as determined by ¹H NMR spectroscopy and dynamic light scattering. In pure water, highly uniform, micellelike aggregates with hydrodynamic diameters of 71–93 nm are formed. © 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 41: 1262–1281, 2003     

Investigation into the ROMP copolymerization of peptide‐ and PEG‐functionalized norbornene derivatives

The ring‐opening metathesis polymerizations (ROMP), using RuCl₂ (PCy₃)₂CHPh, of a series of peptide‐functionalized norbornene derivatives have been investigated. Incorporation of a PEG‐monomer was found to prevent premature precipitation of polymer strands during the course of polymerization reactions and yield water compatible polymers in high conversions. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 45: 3178–3190, 2007