Understanding the failure mechanisms of microwave bipolar transistors caused by electrostatic discharge

Electrostatic discharge(ESD) phenomena involve both electrical and thermal effects,and a direct electrostatic discharge to an electronic device is one of the most severe threats to component reliability.Therefore, the electrical and thermal stability of multifinger microwave bipolar transistors(BJTs) under ESD conditions has been investigated theoretically and experimentally.100 samples have been tested for multiple pulses until a failure occurred.Meanwhile,the distributions of electric field,current density and lattice temperature have also been analyzed by use of the two-dimensional device simulation tool Medici.There is a good agreement between the simulated results and failure analysis.In the case of a thermal couple,the avalanche current distribution in the fingers is in general spatially unstable and results in the formation of current crowding effects and crystal defects.The experimental results indicate that a collector-base junction is more sensitive to ESD than an emitter-base junction based on the special device structure.When the ESD level increased to 1.3 kV,the collector-base junction has been burnt out first.The analysis has also demonstrated that ESD failures occur generally by upsetting the breakdown voltage of the dielectric or overheating of the aluminum-silicon eutectic.In addition,fatigue phenomena are observed during ESD testing,with devices that still function after repeated low-intensity ESDs but whose performances have been severely degraded.     

Experimental optimization of an erbium-doped super-fluorescent fiber source for fiber optic gyroscopes

Double-pass forward and double-pass backward erbium-doped super-fluorescent fiber sources(EDSFSs) were combined in one configuration.A 980 nm laser diode pumped the same erbium-doped fiber from both directions using a coupler as a power splitter.The double-pass configuration was achieved by coating the fiber end face.Firstly,an optimal fiber length was found to obtain a high stability of output light wavelength with pump power, and then 1530/1550 nm wavelength division multiplexing was used for spectrum planarization,which expanded the bandwidth to more than 22 nm.The final step was a test of temperature stability.The results show that the rate of the central wavelength change kept to below 3.5 ppm/℃in the range of -40 to 60℃and 1-2 ppm/℃in the range of 20-30℃.Considering all the three factors of the fiber optic gyro applications,we selected 80 mA as the pump current,in which case the central wavelength temperature instability was calculated as 2.70 ppm/℃, 3 dB bandwidth 22.85 nm,spectral flatness 0.2 dB,output power 5.17 mW and power efficiency up to 9.92%.This experimental result has a significant reference value to the selection of devices and proper design of ED-SFSs for the application of high-precision fiber optic gyroscopes.     

Study of hybrid orientation structure wafer

Two types of 5μm thick hybrid orientation structure wafers,which were integrated by（110）or（100） orientation silicon wafers as the substrate,have been investigated for 15-40 V voltage ICs and MEMS sensor applications.They have been obtained mainly by SOI wafer bonding and a non-selective epitaxy technique,and have been presented in China for the first time.The thickness of BOX SiO₂ buried in wafer is 220 nm.It has been found that the quality of hybrid orientation structure with（100）wafer substrate is better than that with（110）wafer substrate by"Sirtl defect etching of HOSW".     

Analysis and design of a 1.8-2.7 GHz tunable 8-band TDD LTE receiver front-end

This paper describes the analysis and design of a 0.13μm CMOS tunable receiver front-end that supports 8 TDD LTE bands,covering the 1.8-2.7 GHz frequency band and supporting the 5/10/15/20 MHz bandwidth and QPSK/16QAM/64QAM modulation schemes.The novel zero-IF receiver core consists of a tunable narrowband variable gain low-noise amplifier(LNA),a current commutating passive down-conversion mixer with a 2nd order low pass trans-impedance amplifier,an LO divider,a rough gain step variable gain pre-amplifier,a tunable 4th order Chebyshev channel select active-RC low pass filter with cutoff frequency calibration circuit and a fine gain step variable gain amplifier.The LNA can be tuned by reconfiguring the output parallel LC tank to the responding frequency band,eliminating the fixed center frequency multiple LNA array for a multi-mode receiver. The large various gain range and bandwidth of the analog baseband can also be tuned by digital configuration to satisfy the specification requirement of various bandwidth and modulation schemes.The test chip is implemented in an SMIC 0.13μm 1P8M CMOS process.The full receiver achieves 4.6 dB NF,-14.5 dBm out of band IIP3, 30-94 dB gain range and consumes 54 mA with a 1.2 V power supply.     

Photoelectron imaging and theoretical studies of silver monohalides AgX- (X = Cl, Br, I) and AuCl-

Photodetachment of AgX(-) (X = Cl, Br, I) and AuCl(-) is studied by a photoelectron velocity map imaging technique and theoretical calculations. Photoelectron spectra (PES) and photoelectron angular distributions (PADs) were obtained. The vibrationally resolved spectra provided approximately equal electron affinities (EAs) for AgX: 1.593(22) eV for AgCl, 1.623(21) eV for AgBr, and 1.603(22) eV for AgI, respectively. Franck-Condon simulations of these spectra gave the equilibrium bond lengths and vibrational frequencies of the title anions. Relativistic density functional theory (DFT) calculations using BLYP, PW91, PBE, and BP86 functionals have been performed to predict the EAs of the AgX (X = Cl, Br, I) molecules. The computed EAs at the BP86 level of theory are in good agreement with the experimental values. Energy partitioning analyses (EPA) at the BP86(ZORA)/QZ4P level of theory of both anions and their neutrals were reported.     

Interactions of single-stranded DNA on microcantilevers

The microcantilever approach has attracted considerable attention in recent years as a means of label-free detection of a variety of biomolecular and chemical reactions. The underlying physics of the intermolecular interactions that result in mechanical motions is yet to be fully explored, but it seems both rich in science and of technological importance. This paper presents an overview of experiments and theories related to interactions of single-stranded DNA immobilized on microcantilevers. Experiments and theories show that, at high grafting density, hydration forces are the dominant factor determining cantilever deflections, not electrostatics or conformational entropy.     

Ester hydrogenation catalyzed by Ru-CNN pincer complexes

We report new Ru-CNN pincer catalysts for ester hydrogenation under mild conditions.     

A three-way synergy of triple-modified Bi2WO6/Ag/N-TiO2 nanojunction film for enhanced photogenerated charges utilization

We demonstrate a general strategy to prepare Bi(2)WO(6)/Ag/N-TiO(2) film with double visible-light-active components bridged by Ag nanoparticles as an electron shuttle, which exhibits enhanced photocatalytic activity and photoelectrochemical performance under visible light.     

Manipulating DNA writhe through varying DNA sequences

It is demonstrated that the shapes and magnitudes of DNA writhe can be precisely manipulated solely through maneuvering the nucleotide sequence of DNA and without the assistance of topoisomerases.     

Optical and electrochemical responses of an anthrax biomarker based on single-walled carbon nanotubes covalently loaded with terbium complexes

An effective single-walled carbon nanotube (SWNT) covalently loaded with unsaturated terbium emissive material was designed for specific and rapid (2-3 s) detection of calcium dipicolinate (CaDPA) (detection limit 1 μM). The nanoprobe was successfully assembled onto electrodes and its sensing abilities were investigated through electrochemical measurement. Cyclic voltammetry curves were selectively responsive to calcium dipicolinate compared with benzoic acid, o-phthalic acid and m-phthalic acid. This novel material provides dual opto-electrochemical recognition of the anthrax biomarker CaDPA.