Stretchable Composite Acoustic Transducer for Wearable Monitoring of Vital Signs

A highly flexible, stretchable, and mechanically robust low‐cost soft composite consisting of silicone polymers and water (or hydrogels) is reported. When combined with conventional acoustic transducers, the materials reported enable high performance real‐time monitoring of heart and respiratory patterns over layers of clothing (or furry skin of animals) without the need for direct contact with the skin. The approach enables an entirely new method of fabrication that involves encapsulation of water and hydrogels with silicones and exploits the ability of sound waves to travel through the body. The system proposed outperforms commercial, metal‐based stethoscopes for the auscultation of the heart when worn over clothing and is less susceptible to motion artefacts. The system both with human and furry animal subjects (i.e., dogs), primarily focusing on monitoring the heart, is tested; however, initial results on monitoring breathing are also presented. This work is especially important because it is the first demonstration of a stretchable sensor that is suitable for use with furry animals and does not require shaving of the animal for data acquisition.     

A tool for the automatic generation and analysis of regular analog layout modules

This paper describes the characteristics of a new CAD tool that enables the creation of layout libraries of selected analog modules. This Analog Modules Generator (AMG) automatically creates multiple layout versions of two commonly used analog structures: the differential pair and arrays of series-connected or stacked devices, for the subsequent generation of layout libraries. Based on the number of devices and rows defined by the user for the layout implementation, the tool validates all possible implementations, which are later saved in a database. Additionally, an extraction process can be optionally executed over all the layout views saved in the database. The AMG generates several reports with all the characteristics of the implemented layouts, including area and parasitic components, facilitating further statistical processing. We describe the features and capabilities of the proposed AMG tool, and several test cases are presented. Results show that suitable layout implementations can be achieved by layout and circuit designers in a very reduced amount of time.     

液晶微透镜阵列研究进展

液晶微透镜阵列是基于微透镜光子技术和液晶技术而发展起来的学科交叉研究领域。就液晶微透镜阵列的工作原理、主要设计方法及其研究进展进行了论述,并对微透镜阵列的发展趋势及尚待解决的问题进行了总结。     

Programmable CMOS CNN Cell Based on Floating-gate Inverter Unit

At present, the Cellular Neural Network (CNN) is a potential parallel structure able to perform image processing tasks in real-time when is effectively implemented in CMOS technology. The CNN silicon integration success is due mainly to the local connectivity of processing cells. In this work, an alternative design based on floating-gate MOS inverters is presented, which uses unipolar signals for solving binary tasks. The approach brings a fast response in a reduced silicon area, as shown through electrical simulations. A prototype cell in CMOS technology (AMI, 1.2 micron) was fabricated and tested for eight image processing tasks.

Beating of the oscillations in the magnetocapacitance of a MODFET with Rasba spin–orbit interaction

The effect of Rasba spin–orbit interaction (SOI) on the magnetocapacitance of the 2DEG in a MODFET is investigated. We present calculations on the density of states (DOS) of the 2DEG in a MODFET under the influence of both Rasba SOI and weak two-dimensional periodic modulation. Adopting a Gaussian broadening of magnetic-field-dependent width, we present a simple expression for the DOS, valid for the relevant weak magnetic fields and modulation strengths. In the presence of Rasba SOI and for weak potential modulation strengths, a typical beating pattern of the magnetocapacitance oscillations is observed in the low magnetic filed range. A simple relation that predicts the positions of nodes in the beating patterns is obtained. The interplay between the SOI and the periodic potential modulation is discussed.     

纳米加工和纳米电子器件

介绍了电子束曝光技术、EUV光刻技术和X射线光刻技术的进展;对各种纳米电子器件如单电子器件、共振隧穿器件和分子电子器件的研究现状及面临的主要挑战进行了讨论。     

硅直接键合(SDB)技术在新型电力电子器件应用中的新进展

综述了硅直接键合（SDB）技术在绝缘栅双极晶体管（IGBT）、静电感应晶闸管（SITH）及MOS控制可关断晶闸管（MTO）等器件中的新应用,说明了SDB技术在新型电力电子器件应用中的新方法和新思路。在此基础上,提出了用SDB技术制作集成门极换流晶闸管（IGCT）和集成门极双晶体管（IGDT）的设想,并给出了相应的工艺方案。     

Characterization of an all Sol-Gel Electrochromic Device WO3/Ormolyte/CeO2-TiO2

Electrochemical lithium intercalation in thin films of CeO₂-TiO₂ and WO₃, prepared by the sol-gel technique was investigated with cyclic voltammetry and spectroelectrochemical techniques in propylene carbonate solutions. A solid state system having the configuration WO₃/Ormolyte/CeO₂-TiO₂ has been assembled. The solid electrolyte, an organically modified electrolyte (ormolyte), was prepared with different [O]/[Li] ratios. The transmittance variation of this system during a potentiostatic step from –0.7 V to 0.8 V was about 35% at 550 nm.