Reliability investigation of 0.07-/spl mu/m InGaAs-InAlAs-InP HEMT MMICs with pseudomorphic In/sub 0.75/Ga/sub 0.25/As channel

The authors have investigated the reliability performance of G-band (183 GHz) monolithic microwave integrated circuit (MMIC) amplifiers fabricated using 0.07-/spl mu/m T-gate InGaAs-InAlAs-InP HEMTs with pseudomorphic In/sub 0.75/Ga/sub 0.25/As channel on 3-in wafers. Life test was performed at two temperatures (T/sub 1/ = 200 /spl deg/C and T/sub 2/ = 215 /spl deg/C), and the amplifiers were stressed at V/sub ds/ of 1 V and I/sub ds/ of 250 mA/mm in a N/sub 2/ ambient. The activation energy is as high as 1.7 eV, achieving a projected median-time-to-failure (MTTF) /spl ap/ 2 /spl times/ 10/sup 6/ h at a junction temperature of 125 /spl deg/C. MTTF was determined by 2-temperature constant current stress using /spl Delta/G/sub mp/ = -20% as the failure criteria. The difference of reliability performance between 0.07-/spl mu/m InGaAs-InAlAs-InP HEMT MMICs with pseudomorphic In/sub 0.75/Ga/sub 0.25/As channel and 0.1-/spl mu/m InGaAs-InAlAs-InP HEMT MMICs with In/sub 0.6/Ga/sub 0.4/As channel is also discussed. The achieved high-reliability result demonstrates a robust 0.07-/spl mu/m pseudomorphic InGaAs-InAlAs-InP HEMT MMICs production technology for G-band applications.     

Improvement of AlGaInP light emitting diode by sulfide passivation

The brightness of AlGaInP light emitting diodes (LEDs) has been raised by a factor of 1.12 at 20 mA by sulfide passivation. Meanwhile, the sulfide also can decrease leakage current of AlGaInP LEDs at -2 V to nearly one thousandth of that in the as-fabricated device. The possible causes for the brightness increase of AlGaInP LEDs after sulfide treatment including surface roughness, reduction of Fresnel loss, and effective injection of carriers were demonstrated.     

Image registration by "Super-curves"

We solve the 2-D affine image registration problem by curve matching and alignment. Our approach starts with a super-curve, which is formed by superimposing two affine related curves in one coordinate system. We use B-spline fusion technique to find a single B-spline approximation of the super-curve and a registration between the two curves simultaneously. This approach achieves superior accuracy and efficiency in curve matching and alignment. We then address the occlusion problem by finding partial match between the curves segmented using inflections and cusps, which are affine invariant. The combination of edge detection and curve alignment lead to accurate image registration.     

Panchromatic Chromophore Mixtures in an AlPO4‐5 Molecular Sieve: Spatial Separation Effects and Energy Transfer Cascades

Dye‐loaded AlPO₄‐5 single crystals were prepared by microwave‐assisted hydrothermal synthesis from a batch, containing a mixture of three chromophores (Coumarin 40, Rhodamine BE50, and Oxazine 1) differing in their absorption range, molecular dimensions, and solubilities. Confocal fluorescence images reveal a spatial separation effect of the dye molecules, where the slimmer, more‐soluble dye molecule (Coumarin 40) is uniformly distributed in the body of the single crystal, and the bulky and/or less‐soluble ones (Rhodamine BE50, Oxazine 1) are situated in distinct domains. Visible spectra show good panchromatic absorption of visible light. Fluorescence lifetime measurements indicate the presence of an energy transfer cascade of the entirely fixed dye molecules from Coumarin 40 to Oxazine 1. The transfer mechanism is predominantly radiative.     

The hot compaction behaviour of woven oriented polypropylene fibres and tapes. I. Mechanical properties

The aim of this work was to establish the important parameters that control the hot compaction behaviour of woven oriented polypropylene. Five commercial woven cloths, based on four different polypropylene polymers, were selected so that the perceived important variables could be studied. These include the mechanical properties of the original oriented tapes or fibres, the geometry of the oriented reinforcement (fibres or tapes), the mechanical properties of the base polymer (which are crucially dependant on the molecular weight and morphology), and the weave style. The five cloths were chosen so as to explore the boundaries of these various parameters, i.e. low and high molecular weight: circular or rectangular reinforcement (fibres or tapes): low or high tape initial orientation: coarse or fine weave.A vital aspect of this study was the realisation that hot compacted polypropylene could be envisaged as a composite, comprising an oriented ‘reinforcement’ bound together by a matrix phase, formed by melting and recrystallisation of the original oriented material. We have established the crucial importance of the properties of the melted and recrystallised matrix phase, especially the level of ductility, in controlling the properties of the hot compacted composite.     

燕皮传统加工工艺中碱液对肉糜特性的影响

燕皮是以猪肉和甘薯粉为原料,手工制成的薄如纸且经煮不烂的传统食品。在传统制作燕皮过程中添加山榉灰配制的碱液是影响肉糜品质的关键步骤。通过测定制作燕皮过程中各工序样品的氮溶解指数、持水性、乳化稳定性、pH值和粘度,利用SDS-PAGE分析样品中的蛋白质组分、利用光学显微镜观察它们的结构变化,证实植物碱液能够提高样品的氮溶解指数、持水性和乳化稳定性并且延迟了肉糜硬化。同时实验证明碳酸碱(Na2CO3或K2CO3)可替代传统工艺中的植物碱,为后续标准化、工业化生产提供可行条件。     

High Rate Data Synchronization in GALS SoCs

Globally asynchronous, locally synchronous (GALS) systems-on-chip (SoCs) may be prone to synchronization failures if the delay of their locally-generated clock tree is not considered. This paper presents an in-depth analysis of the problem and proposes a novel solution. The problem is analyzed considering the magnitude of clock tree delays, the cycle times of the GALS module, and the complexity of the asynchronous interface controllers using a timed signal transition graph (STG) approach. In some cases, the problem can be solved by extracting all the delays and verifying whether the system is susceptible to metastability. In other cases, when high data bandwidth is not required, matched-delay asynchronous ports may be employed. A novel architecture for synchronizing inter-modular communications in GALS, based on locally delayed latching (LDL), is described. LDL synchronization does not require pausable clocking, is insensitive to clock tree delays, and supports high data rates. It replaces complex global timing constraints with simpler localized ones. Three different LDL ports are presented. The risk of metastability in the synchronizer is analyzed in a technology-independent manner     

All-optical seed pulse extraction for packet synchronization based on self-induced effects in a vertical-cavity semiconductor gate

Self-induced effects in a passive polarization-independent vertical-cavity semiconductor gate are investigated numerically and experimentally. We demonstrate all-optical seed-pulse extraction for synchronization of differential phase-shift keying and ON-OFF keying packets at 10 Gb/s. Our results provide evidence that vertical-cavity gates, exploiting saturable absorption in semiconductor quantum-wells, exhibit attractive performances in terms of efficiency, power consumption, and polarization independency.     

The colored revolution of bioimaging

This paper provides an overview of the main aspects of modern fluorescence microscopy. It covers the principles of fluorescence and highlights the key discoveries in the history of fluorescence microscopy. The paper also discusses the optics of fluorescence microscopes and examines the various types of detectors. It also discusses the signal and image processing challenges in fluorescence microscopy and highlights some of the present developments and future trends in the field.