Development of integrated ΔE-E silicon detector telescope using silicon planar technology

An integrated ΔE-E silicon detector telescope using silicon planar technology has been developed. The technology developed is based on standard integrated circuit technology and involves double sided wafer processing. The ΔE and E detectors have been realized in a PIN configuration with a common buried N⁺ layer. Detectors with ΔE thicknesses of 10, 15 and 25 μm, and E detector with thickness of 300 μm have been fabricated and tested with alpha particles using ²³⁸Pu-²³⁹Pu dual alpha source. The performance of the detector with ΔE detector of thickness 10 μm and E detector of thickness 300 μm has been studied for identification of charged particles using 12 MeV ⁷Li⁺ ion beam on carbon target. The results of these tests demonstrate that the integrated detector telescope clearly separates the charged particles, such as alpha particles, protons and ⁷Li. Due to good energy resolution of the E detector, discrete alpha groups corresponding to well known states of ¹⁵N populated during the reaction could be clearly identified.     

An ultra-low-power near rail-to-rail pseudo-differential subthreshold gate-driven OTA with improved small and large signal performances

Analog Integrated Circuits and Signal Processing - An efficient architecture of a high-performance ultra-low-voltage gate-driven two-stage pseudo-fully differential operational transconductance...     

Multi-fusion feature pyramid for real-time hand detection

Multimedia Tools and Applications - Real-time HI (Human Interface) systems need accurate and efficient hand detection models to meet the limited resources in budget, dimension, memory, computing,...     

Commissioning of the NPDGamma Detector Array: Counting Statistics in Current Mode Operation and Parity Violation in the Capture of Cold Neutrons on B4C and 27Al

The NPDGamma γ-ray detector has been built to measure, with high accuracy, the size of the small parity-violating asymmetry in the angular distribution of gamma rays from the capture of polarized cold neutrons by protons. The high cold neutron flux at the Los Alamos Neutron Scattering Center (LANSCE) spallation neutron source and control of systematic errors require the use of current mode detection with vacuum photodiodes and low-noise solid-state preamplifiers. We show that the detector array operates at counting statistics and that the asymmetries due to B₄C and ²⁷Al are zero to with- in 2 × 10⁻⁶ and 7 × 10⁻⁷, respectively. Boron and aluminum are used throughout the experiment. The results presented here are preliminary.     

Phase Evolution in the AuCu/Sn System by Solid-State Reactive Diffusion

The interfacial reactions between several Au(Cu) alloys and pure Sn were studied experimentally at 200°C. Amounts of Cu in the AuSn₄ and AuSn₂ phases were as low as 1 at.%. On the basis of these experimental results there is no continuous solid solution between (Au,Cu)Sn and (Cu,Au)₆Sn₅. The copper content of (Au,Cu)Sn was determined to be approximately 7–8 at.%. Substantial amounts of Au were present in the (Cu,Au)₆Sn₅ and (Cu,Au)₃Sn phases. Two ternary compounds were formed, one with stoichiometry varying from (Au_40.5Cu₃₉)Sn_20.5 to (Au_20.2Cu_59.3)Sn_20.5 (ternary “B”), the other with the composition Au₃₄Cu₃₃Sn₃₃ (ternary “C”). The measured phase boundary compositions of the product phases are plotted on the available Au–Cu–Sn isotherm and the phase equilibria are discussed. The complexity and average thickness of the diffusion zone decreases with increasing Cu content except for the Au(40 at.%Cu) couple.     

Augmentation and suppression of immune responses to an HIV-1 DNA vaccine by plasmid cytokine/Ig administration

The use of cytokines has shown promise as an approach for amplifying vaccine-elicited immune responses, but the application of these immunomodulatory molecules in this setting has not been systematically explored. In this report we investigate the use of protein- and plasmid-based cytokines to augment immune responses elicited by an HIV-1 gp120 plasmid DNA vaccine (pV1J-gp120) in mice. We demonstrate that immune responses elicited by pV1J-gp120 can be either augmented or suppressed by administration of plasmid cytokines. A dicistronic plasmid expressing both gp120 and IL-2 induced a surprisingly weaker gp120-specific immune response than did the monocistronic pV1J-gp120 plasmid. In contrast, systemic delivery of soluble IL-2/Ig fusion protein following pV1J-gp120 vaccination significantly amplified the gp120-specific immune response as measured by Ab, proliferative, and CTL levels. Administration of plasmid IL-2/Ig had different effects on the DNA vaccine-elicited immune response that depended on the temporal relationship between Ag and cytokine delivery. Injection of plasmid IL-2/Ig either before or coincident with pV1J-gp120 suppressed the gp120-specific immune response, whereas injection of plasmid IL-2/Ig after pV1J-gp120 amplified this immune response. To maximize immune responses elicited by a DNA vaccine, therefore, it appears that the immune system should first be primed with a specific Ag and then amplified with cytokines. The data also show that IL-2/Ig is more effective than native IL-2 as a DNA vaccine adjuvant.     

Optical characterization of tin oxide thin films synthesized by DC sputtering

Tin Oxide thin films have a large transmittance in the visible region of the electromagnetic spectrum, owing to the large bandgap, which varies from 3.6 eV to about 4.2 eV. In general, the films are transparent from a wavelength of 400nm to about 2000nm. The transparency decreases with increasing carrier concentration due to the larger absorbance by the electrons. The Tin Oxide films were deposited under a vacuum of 0.1 mbar on glass substrate by DC sputtering. The structural characterization was done using XRD spectral analysis which was followed by UV-VIS-NIR Spectroscopy. Optical properties of these films are investigated in the entire UV-Visible-IR region. The observed absorption edge lies at 3.8 eV for undoped tin oxide.     

Investigations of the Interaction of Nickel and Carbon Monoxide with Solid Films of C60 and C70 by UV and X-Ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy

Based on UV and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, it is shown that nickel metal clusters deposited on solid C₆₀ and C₇₀ films cause marked changes in the valence band spectra. In addition, the C 1s core-level of the fullerenes shift to lower binding energies while the Ni 2p_3/2 core level shifts towards higher binding energies, especially at small metal coverages. These observations signify the occurrence of charge-transfer from the nickel metal to the fullerene. We also show that CO adsorbs weakly on C₆₀ and C₇₀ surfaces.     

Measurement of changes in viscosity in polymers with gamma-ray dose using a differential viscometer

Although some works on changes in viscosity of liquids with gamma-ray dose have been made near the “gel point”, very little works have been done below this point. Changes in viscosities of different-grade silicone fluids below gel point have been measured using a differential viscometer developed in our laboratory, capable of measuring change in viscosities of two liquids directly. Preliminary results on viscosity changes when irradiated with energetic alpha particles will also be reported.     

Linearity improvement of source degenerated transconductance amplifiers

Mobility degradation is predominant in submicron CMOS technology. The effect of this mobility reduction in a linear operational transconductance amplifier (OTA) with signal attenuation and source degeneration is examined in this study. Theoretical analysis shows that the cubic non-linearity in the attenuator helps to improve the linearity of the source degenerated transconductor by partial cancellation of the harmonic distortion component. Such a linear transconductor and a third order low pass filter based on this linear OTA are fabricated in UMC 180 nm CMOS process technology. Experimental results show that third order intermodulation distortion of the linear OTA is less than ?60 dB for 500 mVpp differential input signal while for 2 % transconductance variation the linear range is about 1.2 Vpp. The linear transconductor consumes only 0.45 mW of power with 1.8 V supply.