Quantitative Comparison Between Dislocation Densities in Offcut 4H-SiC Wafers Measured Using Synchrotron X-ray Topography and Molten KOH Etching

Molten KOH etching and x-ray topography have been well established as two of the major characterization techniques used for observing as well as analyzing the various crystallographic defects in both substrates and homoepitaxial layers of silicon carbide. Regarding assessment of dislocation density in commercial wafers, though the two techniques show good consistency in threading dislocation density analysis, significant discrepancy is found in the case of basal plane dislocations (BPDs). In this paper we compare measurements of BPD densities in 4-inch 4H-SiC commercial wafers assessed using both etching and topography methods. The ratio of the BPD density calculated from topographic images to that from etch pits is estimated to be larger than 1/sinθ, where θ is the offcut angle of the wafer. Based on the orientations of the defects in the wafers, a theoretical model is put forward to explain this disparity and two main sources of errors in assessing the BPD density using chemical etching are discussed.     

Performance evaluation of multihop ad hoc WLANs

Ongoing technological advances in portable devices, coupled with the need for continuous connectivity while mobile, have made ad hoc networks a compelling research and development topic, particularly in a challenging multimedia multihop scenario. The ability of IEEE 802.11's ad hoc mode of operation, as a dominating wireless local area network (WLAN) protocol, to serve multihop networks requires thorough investigation. In this article, through considering crucial real-life physical phenomena and avoiding as many confining assumptions as possible, system performance measures such as delay and packet failure rate are evaluated. As a result, the importance of adequate selection of the system parameters toward performance improvement is underscored. Moreover, the simulation results imply that by complementing through priority provisions, coordination, route reservation, clustering, and optimum channel coding considerations, the IEEE 802.11 medium access control (MAC) protocol can survive in a multihop scenario. The custom simulation environment developed features modularity, comprising traffic generator, mobility, wireless channel, and IEEE 802.11 protocol modules, and is capable of accommodating many more of the physical phenomena involved.     

On the code and interleaver design of broadband OFDM systems

In this letter, we study the performance of space-frequency-coded orthogonal frequency-division modulation systems over multiple-input multiple-output frequency-selective channels. The diversity and coding advantages are derived in terms of the minimum Hamming distance and the minimum squared product distance of the code as well as the relative frequency locations (tones) where a pair of codewords with the minimum Hamming distance differ. These relationships between performance and well-defined code parameters provide new insight to code construction and interleaving design. In addition, we propose a block interleaver that yields nearly optimal coding advantage for space-frequency trellis codes.     

Performance of Hybrid ARQ Schemes with ML Code Combining over a Block-Fading Rayleigh Channel

This paper considers two well-known selective-repeat retransmission schemes, namely, hybrid type-I ARQ and hybrid type-II ARQ, using convolutional coding, in conjunction with maximum-likelihood code combining. Our theoretical analysis, based upon the concept of generalized weight distribution, shows that the use of code combining yields a significant throughput at very high channel error rates not only in constant AWGN channels but also in fading channels. To demonstrate this, we consider a widely-used block-fading Rayleigh channel model, in which the channel is assumed to be constant during each block of data and the fading is assumed to be independent from block to block. A key parameter in designing retransmission protocols for delay-limited applications in such channels is the minimum number of retransmissions, needed to achieve error-free decoding at almost all channel conditions (low outage probability). This number can be reduced significantly when code combining is employed.     

Low-power continuous-wave four-wave mixing in silicon coupled-resonator optical waveguides

We demonstrate four-wave mixing in silicon-on-insulator coupled-resonator optical waveguides consisting of 35 and 65 microring resonators, using a cw pump with coupled power below 20 mW and observed parametric conversion across more than 10 THz. The conversion efficiency is enhanced by +16 dB relative to a silicon straight waveguide of equivalent length, due to the slowing factor of the coupled-resonator structure.     

On‐Surface Synthesis of Ethynylene‐Bridged Anthracene Polymers

Engineering low‐band‐gap π‐conjugated polymers is a growing area in basic and applied research. The main synthetic challenge lies in the solubility of the starting materials, which precludes advancements in the field. Here, we report an on‐surface synthesis protocol to overcome such difficulties and produce poly(p‐anthracene ethynylene) molecular wires on Au(111). To this aim, a quinoid anthracene precursor with =CBr₂ moieties is deposited and annealed to 400 K, resulting in anthracene‐based polymers. High‐resolution nc‐AFM measurements confirm the nature of the ethynylene‐bridge bond between the anthracene moieties. Theoretical simulations illustrate the mechanism of the chemical reaction, highlighting three major steps: dehalogenation, diffusion of surface‐stabilized carbenes, and homocoupling, which enables the formation of an ethynylene bridge. Our results introduce a novel chemical protocol to design π‐conjugated polymers based on oligoacene precursors and pave new avenues for advancing the emerging field of on‐surface synthesis.     

Decoding Reed-Solomon codes generated by any generator polynomial

A Reed-Solomon code can be generated by n=2/sup m/-1 different generator polynomials, where 2/sup m/ is the size of the field. In the letter a structure for a Reed-Solomon decoder is introduced which can decode a Reed-Solomon code generated by any generator polynomial.<>     

Nonparaxial spatial solitons and propagation-invariant pattern solutions in optical Kerr media

We investigate nonlinear propagation in the presence of the optical Kerr effect by relying on a rigorous generalization of the standard parabolic equation that includes nonparaxial and vectorial terms. We show that, in the (1 + 1)-D case, both soliton and propagation-invariant pattern solutions exist (while the standard hyperbolic-secant function is not a solution).     

Design of Reed-Solomon (16,12) codec for North American AdvancedTrain Control System

The design of the codec for the ATCS radio data link is considered. The code is defined. The encoding algorithm, the decoding algorithm, and Galois field arithmetic are discussed. Implementation of the Reed-Solomon codec as a stand-alone system in order to provide a possibility of real-time bit-rate measurement is discussed. The implementation of this codec using three different 8-b and 16-b microprocessors/microcomputers is described. Their complexity and throughput are discussed