Analytical modeling and simulation of subthreshold characteristics of back-gated SSGOI and SSOI MOSFETs: A comparative study

The Silicon–Germanium-on-Insulator (SGOI) and Silicon-on-Insulator (SOI) based MOS structures are spearheading the strained-Si technology. The present work compares the subthreshold characteristics of two short-channel back-gated (BG) strained-Si-on-SGOI (SSGOI) and BG strained-Si-on-Insulator (SSOI) MOSFETs, and provides some solutions to overcome the degradation in subthreshold characteristics with the unrelenting downscaling of the devices. Subthreshold behaviors of the MOS structures are based on surface potential model which is determined by solving the 2D Poisson's equation with suitable boundary conditions by evanescent mode analysis for both of the MOS structures. The closed form expressions for threshold voltage, subthreshold current and subthreshold swing have been derived for symmetrical as well as independent gate operation (IGO). In addition, the Electrostatic integrity (EI) factors for SSOI and SSGOI MOS structures have been estimated and compared with Double-Gate (DG) MOSFET. The numerical simulation results, obtained by ATLAS?, a 2D device simulator from Silvaco, have been used to assess the validity of the models.     

Smoke triggered corona discharge sensor

This paper presents an ionic smoke sensor working without a radioactive ionization source. The presence of smoke particles reduces significantly the effective corona discharge threshold of air by a factor greater than 5. The smoke sensor consists of a wire under an intermediate continuous voltage which generates a current only in presence of smoke. The sensor electric consumption is therefore very low and can operate for a long time. Results of a prototype operating under 600 V with a 25-μm-diameter wire are shown.     

Sommerfeld Radiation Condition at Threshold

We prove Besov space bounds of the resolvent at low energies in any dimension for a class of potentials that are negative and obey a virial condition with these conditions imposed at infinity only. We do not require spherical symmetry. The class of potentials includes in dimension ≥3 the attractive Coulomb potential. There are two boundary values of the resolvent at zero energy which we characterize by radiation conditions. These radiation conditions are zero energy versions of the well-known Sommerfeld radiation condition.     

Fabrication of a MEMS inertia switch on quartz substrate and evaluation of its threshold acceleration

Based on surface micromachining technology, a micro-electro-mechanical system (MEMS) inertia switch with single sensitive direction and reverse impact protection has been designed and fabricated on quartz substrate. The switch is laterally driven (i.e. its sensitive direction is parallel to the substrate plane), in which the conjoined snake springs are used to fix and suspend the movable electrode (i.e. proof mass), and blocks are used to protect the device against reverse impact. The relationship between the threshold acceleration a_th and the intrinsic frequency has been investigated by theoretical analysis and finite element simulation, respectively, based on which the geometrical parameters of the switch can be decided to meet design objective. The proof mass thickness H was chosen as a variable, as the micro-fabrication of the device was carried out by low-cost and convenient multi-layer electroplating technology, where H can be easily adjusted while the plane geometry remains the same. The stress distribution of the switch in the contact process was also simulated. Packaged micro-switches were tested by dropping hammer experiments, which generated half-sine wave acceleration as in reality. The measured threshold acceleration generally met the design objective of 60g and the response time was in the order of 10⁻⁴ s, both agreed with the simulated results.     

Temperature-adaptive voltage tuning for enhanced energy efficiency in ultra-low-voltage circuits

Circuits optimized for minimum energy consumption operate typically in the subthreshold regime with ultra-low power-supply voltages. Speed of a subthreshold logic circuit is enhanced with an increase in the die temperature. The excessive timing slack observed in the clock period of subthreshold logic circuits at elevated temperatures provides opportunities to lower the active-mode energy consumption. A temperature-adaptive dynamic-supply voltage-tuning technique is proposed in this paper to reduce the high-temperature energy consumption without degrading the clock frequency in ultra-low-voltage subthreshold logic circuits. Results indicate that the energy consumption can be lowered by up to 40% by dynamically scaling the supply voltage at elevated temperatures. An alternative technique based on temperature-adaptive reverse body bias to exponentially reduce the subthreshold leakage currents at elevated temperatures is also investigated. The active-mode energy consumption with two temperature-adaptive voltage-tuning techniques is compared. The impact of the process parameter and supply voltage variations on the proposed temperature-adaptive voltage scaling techniques is evaluated.     

A CMOS threshold voltage reference source for very-low-voltage applications

This paper describes a CMOS voltage reference that makes use of weak inversion CMOS transistors and linear resistors, without the need for bipolar transistors. Its operation is analogous to the bandgap reference voltage, but the reference voltage is based on the threshold voltage of an nMOS transistor. The circuit implemented using 0.35 μm n-well CMOS TSMC process generates a reference of 741 mV under just 390 nW for a power supply of only 950 mV. The circuit presented a variation of 39 ppm/°C (after individual resistor trimming) for the −20 to +80 °C temperature range, and produced a line regulation of 25 mV/V for a power supply of up to 3 V.     

Security analysis and improvement of new threshold multi-Proxy multi-Signature scheme

Kang, et al. [Journal of Electronics（China）, 23（2006）4] proposed a threshold multi-proxy multi-signature scheme, and claimed the scheme satisfies the security requirements of threshold multi-proxy multi-signature. However, in this paper, two forgery attacks are proposed to show that their schemes have serious security flaws. To overcome theses flaws, an improvement on Kang, et al.＇s scheme is proposed.     

Validated multi‐drug determination using liquid chromatography with tandem mass spectrometry for the evaluation of a commercial drug disposal product

Currently, there are limited effective means of drug disposal for consumers, and this creates a gateway to illicit use and environmental contamination. Here, we evaluated the efficacy of a new drug disposal product, composed from a slurry of activated carbon, which claims to sequester up to 100% of a drug's active ingredient when the loading capacity is not exceeded, making it safe to dispose in landfill. High‐performance liquid chromatography with tandem mass spectrometry was applied to quantify as many as 24 drugs (opiates, barbiturates, statins, amphetamine, and benzodiazepine drugs) in the residual solvent solution from the product. Calibration curves were established in the concentration ranges of 0.25–7.0 μg/mL and showed good linearity. The limits of detection varied from 0.001 to 0.02 μg/mL, depending on the drug. Accuracy ranged from 80 to 111% for quality control samples, with a few minor exceptions. Precision overall varied between 0.2 to 12.7%. In sample bottles tested, where active ingredient of the loaded drug was below the maximum sorption capacity stated on the label, 98 to >99.9% of the active ingredient was sequestered. Percent active ingredient adsorbed was slightly lower in bottles loaded in excess of label specifications.