Electronic Devices and Semiconductor Manufacturing Commons^™

Design An X-Band Frequency Synthesizer, Hossein Ameri Mahabadi, A. Attaran, M. Moghavvemi

Hossein Ameri Mahabadi

This frequency synthesizer design aims at achieving low phase and high reliability for X-band digital microwave radio applications, using a commercial device and frequency tripling techniques.

The Applications And Limitations Of Printable Batteries, Matthew Delmanowski

Graphic Communication

This study focuses on the potential applications for printed batteries and how they could affect the printing industry. It also analyzes the main problems associated with manufacturing this technology and what needs to be done to overcome these issues. To find the answers to these questions, two methods of research were used. The first was through the elite and specialized interviewing of Dr. Scott Williams of Rochester Institute of Technology and Professor Nancy Cullins from Cal Poly. The second form of research was a common, yet useful, method called secondary research. This entailed looking at recent written research papers about …

Enhanced Light Extraction Efficiency From Gan Light Emitting Diodes Using Photonic Crystal Grating Structures, Simeon S. Trieu

Master's Theses

Gallium nitride (GaN) light emitting diodes (LED) embody a large field of research that aims to replace inefficient, conventional light sources with LEDs that have lower power, higher luminosity, and longer lifetime. This thesis presents an international collaboration effort between the State Key Laboratory for Mesoscopic Physics in Peking University (PKU) of Beijing, China and the Electrical Engineering Department of California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo. Over the course of 2 years, Cal Poly’s side has simulated GaN LEDs within the pure blue wavelength spectrum (460nm), focusing specifically on the effects of reflection gratings, transmission gratings, top and bottom …

Negative Conductance Load Modulation Rf Power Amplifier, Cody R. Neslen

Master's Theses

The number of mobile wireless devices on the market has increased substantially over the last decade. The frequency spectrum has become crowded due to the number of devices demanding radio traffic and new modulation schemes have been developed to accommodate the number of users. These new modulation schemes have caused very poor efficiencies in power amplifiers for wireless transmission systems due to high peak-to-average power ratios (PAPR). This thesis first presents the issue with classical power amplifiers in modern modulation systems. A brief overview of current attempts to mitigate this issue is provided. A new RF power amplifier topology is …

Ultra-Thin-Film Aln Contour-Mode Resonators For Sensing Applications, Matteo Rinaldi, Chiara Zuniga, Gianluca Piazza

Departmental Papers (ESE)

This paper reports on the design and experimental verification of a new class of ultra-thin-film (250 nm) aluminum nitride (AlN) microelectromechanical system (MEMS) contour mode resonators (CMRs) suitable for the fabrication of ultra-sensitive gravimetric sensors. The device thickness was opportunely scaled in order to increase the mass sensitivity, while keeping a constant frequency of operation. In this first demonstration the resonance frequency of the device was set to 178 MHz and a mass sensitivity as high as 38.96 KHz⋅μm2/fg was attained. This device demonstrates the unique capability of the CMR-S technology to decouple resonance frequency from mass sensitivity.

Electromagnetic Solutions For The Agricultural Problems, Hadi Aliakbarian, Amin Enayati, Maryam Ashayer Soltani, Hossein Ameri Mahabadi, Mahmoud Moghavvemi

Hossein Ameri Mahabadi

Introduction In the recent years, interactive relations between various branches of science and technology have improved interdisciplinary fields of science. In fact, most of the research activities take place somewhere among these branches. Therefore, a specialist from one branch usually can propose novel methods, whenever enters a new field, based on his previous knowledge. Taking a look at the extensive problems in the field of agriculture, an expert in the field of Electromagnetic waves can easily suggest some innovative solutions to solve them. The major suffering problems with which a farmer faces are the damages caused by the harmful pests …

Pin Switch Protects Lna From Overloads, Chin-Leong Lim

Chin-Leong Lim

The objective of this paper is to describe how a Microwave Monolithic Integrated Circuit (MMIC) can be paired with an external PIN diode bypass switch in the implementation of a Low Noise Amplifier (LNA) with overload protection feature for mobile TV receiver applications. In the preliminary phase of the design, competing schemes for reducing LNA gain were reviewed and their respective cost-performance trade-offs were benchmarked against the customer’s set of requirements. Based on the selected design, a “proof of concept” prototype was then assembled and tested. The key components of this switch by-passable LNA were sourced from in-house product portfolio, …

Lna With A Bypass Mode Improves Overload Resistance For Mobile Tv, Chin-Leong Lim

Chin-Leong Lim

Objective: This paper describes how a Microwave Monolithic Integrated Circuit (MMIC) can be paired with an external PIN diode bypass switch in the implementation of a Low Noise Amplifier (LNA) with overload protection feature for mobile TV receiver applications.

Method: In the preliminary phase of the design, competing schemes for reducing LNA gain were reviewed and their respective cost-performance trade-offs were benchmarked against the customer’s set of requirements. Based on the selected design, a “proof of concept” prototype was then assembled and tested.

Material: The key components of this switch by-passable LNA were sourced from in-house product portfolio, consisting of …

Investigation Of Rf Curing Parameters In Resin Infusion Molding, Christopher K. Love

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study is to investigate RF or Radio Frequency energy as a viable alternative to traditional heating methods for the purpose of curing resins used in resin infusion molding, a molding system for polymeric composites. Traditional heating/curing methods include technologies such as room temperature, oven, microwave, infrared, and ultraviolet. Although RF curing provides far more advantages than disadvantages, its implementation into a manufacturing process can be challenging. Specifically, three critical elements must be present in order for RF to function in a manner that is profitable to the manufacturer. Those elements are: (1) the proper generator (voltage …

High Power Microwave (Hpm) And Ionizing Radiation Effects On Cmos Devices, Nicholas A. Estep

Theses and Dissertations

Integrated circuits (ICs) are inherently complicated and made worse by increasing transistor quantity and density. This trend potentially enhances concomitant effects of high energy radiation and local or impressed electromagnetic interference (EMI). The reduced margin for signal error may counter any gain in radiation hardness from smaller device dimensions. Isolated EMI and ionizing radiation studies on circuits have been conducted extensively over the past 30 years. However, little focus has been placed on the combined effects. To investigate the effect of combined EMI and ionizing radiation, two complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS) inverter technologies (CD4069 and SN74AUC1G04) were analyzed for …

Development And Demonstration Of A Field-Deployable Fast Chromotomographic Imager, Daniel C. O'Dell

Theses and Dissertations

A field deployable hyperspectral imager utilizing chromotomography (CT), with a direct vision prism (DVP) as the dispersive element, has been constructed at AFIT. This research is focused on the development and demonstration of the CT imager. An overview of hyperspectral imaging, chromotomography, a synopsis of reconstruction algorithms, and other CT instruments are given. The importance of component alignment, instrument calibration, and exact prism angular position data are discussed. A simplistic \shift and add" reconstruction algorithm was utilized for this research. Although limited in its ability to reconstruct a spatially and spectrally diverse scene, the algorithm was adequate for the testing …

Wi-Fi Evapotranspiration Irrigation Controller, Ryan Goodman

Electrical Engineering

This report discusses the applications of an Irrigation Controller with Wi-Fi connectivity, with focus on cost-effectiveness and usability. It addresses the amount to which traditional irrigation is wasteful, and proposes solutions to solve this problem. Methods for using online weather data resources to increase efficiency of residential landscaping are discussed in depth. Included is the procedural development of an irrigation controller using the Microchip Explorer 16 Development Board and TCP/IP Stack. Also discussed is web hosting and use of the scripting language PHP, and database MySQL. This project found inexpensive means for providing HTTP and FTP services. Results indicate an …

On The Radiation-Induced Soft Error Performance Of Hardened Sequential Elements In Advanced Bulk Cmos Technologies, Norbert Seifert, Vinod Ambrose, B Gill, Q Shi, R Allmon, Charles H. Recchia, S Mukherjee, N Nassif, J Krause, J Pickholtz, A Balasubramanian

Charles H Recchia

No abstract provided.

Application Of Electromagnetic Waves As A Solution To Some Agricultural Problems, B. M. Ida Idayu, Maryam Ashayer Soltani, Amin Enayati, H. Aliakbarian, Hossein Ameri Mahabadi, M. Moghawemi

Hossein Ameri Mahabadi

A review of some applications of electromagnetic waves in agriculture is presented. There are many applications in the literature which are categorized in two sections of post-harvest indoor and pre-harvest outdoor applications. Taking a look at the applications suggested, there are still works to be done to industrialize the method. However, the proposed method is promising in special cases when the cost and hazards of other methods are high.

Efficient Modeling Techniques For Time-Dependent Quantum System With Applications To Carbon Nanotubes, Zuojing Chen

Masters Theses 1911 - February 2014

The famous Moore's law states: Since the invention of the integrated circuit, the number of transistors that can be placed on an integrated circuit has increased exponentially, doubling approximately every two years. As a result of the downscaling of the size of the transistor, quantum effects have become increasingly important while affecting significantly the device performances. Nowadays, at the nanometer scale, inter-atomic interactions and quantum mechanical properties need to be studied extensively. Device and material simulations are important to achieve these goals because they are flexible and less expensive than experiments. They are also important for designing and characterizing new …

Nano-Scaled Fet Device For Cmos Technology, Prabhat Ranjan Pathak

Dissertations

In this work the 3-D structure of the Accumulation mode (ACM) and Enhance mode (ECM) FinFET was developed by the Taurus-Device Editor. The design of both ACM and ECM FinFET was optimized for high-performance IC applications to meet ITRS specification for I_off current, for 9nm gate length. The design of ACM and ECM FinFET is optimized, analyzed and compared against each other with respect to Darin Induced Barrier Lower (DIBL), Sub-threshold Swing(SS), operation and performance characteristics with varying electrical and physical parameters Silicon thickness (T_si), Source/Drain doping gradient (σ_sd), electrical channel length (L_eff ), …

Terahertz And Microwave Detection Using Metallic Single Wall Carbon Nanotubes, Enrique A. Carrion

Masters Theses 1911 - February 2014

Carbon nanotubes (CNTs) are promising nanomaterials for high frequency applications due to their unique physical characteristics. CNTs have a low heat capacity, low intrinsic capacitance, and incredibly fast thermal time constants. They can also exhibit ballistic transport at low bias, for both phonons and electrons, as evident by their fairly long mean free paths. However, despite the great potential they present, the RF behavior of these nanostructures is not completely understood. In order to explore this high frequency regime we studied the microwave (MW) and terahertz (THz) response of individual and bundled single wall nanotube based devices. This thesis is …

Super-High-Frequency Two-Port Aln Contour-Mode Resonators For Rf Applications, Matteo Rinaldi, Chiara Zuniga, Chengjie Zuo, Gianluca Piazza

Departmental Papers (ESE)

This paper reports on the design and experimental verification of a new class of thin-film (250 nm) superhigh- frequency laterally-vibrating piezoelectric microelectromechanical (MEMS) resonators suitable for the fabrication of narrow-band MEMS filters operating at frequencies above 3 GHz. The device dimensions have been opportunely scaled both in the lateral and vertical dimensions to excite a contourextensional mode of vibration in nanofeatures of an ultra-thin (250 nm) AlN film. In this first demonstration, 2-port resonators vibrating up to 4.5 GHz have been fabricated on the same die and attained electromechanical coupling, kt^2, in excess of 1.5%. These devices are employed to …

Theory Of ‘Selectivity’ Of Label-Free Nanobiosensors – A Geometro-Physical Perspective, Pradeep R. Nair, Muhammad A. Alam

Birck and NCN Publications

Modern label-free biosensors are generally far more sensitive and require orders of magnitude less incubation time compared to their classical counterparts. However, a more important characteristic regarding the viability of this technology for applications in Genomics/Proteomics is defined by the ‘Selectivity’, i.e., the ability to concurrently and uniquely detect multiple target biomolecules in the presence of interfering species. Currently, there is no theory of Selectivity that allows optimization of competing factors and there are few experiments to probe this problem systematically. In this article, we use the elementary considerations of surface exclusion, diffusion limited transport, and void distribution function to …

Giant Raman Enhancement On Nanoporous Gold Film By Conjugating With Nanoparticles For Single-Molecule Detection, Lihua Qian, Biswajit Das, Yan Li, Zhilin Yang

Electrical and Computer Engineering Faculty Publications

Hot spots have the contradictively geometrical requirements for both the narrowest interstices to provide strong near-field coupling, and sufficient space to allow entrance of the analytes. Herein, a two-step method is employed to create hot spots within hybrid nanostructures, which consist of self-supported nanoporous gold films with the absorbed probes and subsequent nanoparticle conjugates without surface agents or mechanical motion. The molecules confined into 1 nm interstice exhibit 2.9 × 10⁷ times enhancement in Raman scattering compared to pure nanoporous gold. Giant enhancement primarily results from strong near-field coupling between nanopore and nanoparticle, which is theoretically confirmed by finite-difference …