Engineering Commons^™

Semiconductor Nuclear Detectors, Lulio V. Guevara R.

Electrical and Computer Engineering ETDs

For the last 8 years the development of nuclear detectors have been shown to have the best potentialities over the other kind of nuclear counters. In this report we studied in general the characteristics of semiconductor nuclear counters and then we experimented with two types of semiconductor detectors, the surface barrier and the diffused junction detectors. Several materials were analyzed for the fabrication of these detectors. Silicon was finally chosen because of its advantages over other materials for fabrication of semiconductor counters, such as low cost and grade of purity. Silicon wafers, n-and p- type, were obtained from Monsanto Company. …

A Study Of Delta Modulation And Its Application To Control Communication, Robert H. Maschhoff

Electrical and Computer Engineering ETDs

This thesis is a study of certain aspects of delta modulation which are of particular interest or significance in control system communication. Delta Modulation is a discrete difference encoding method in which the amplitude difference between the signals occurring at two points in time can be transmitted as a plus one or a minus one bit. Such a method of encoding has a rate of change capacity limit rather than a hard amplitude bound.

A determination of the sampling rates, and therefore bit rates, necess­ary to encode several types of signals is reported. Signals which themselves have a rate-limited characteristic …

Magnetic Control Of Carrier Concentration In Semiconductors, S. Lee Hight

Electrical and Computer Engineering ETDs

Magnetic control of carrier lifetime in semiconductors has been examined from a standpoint of applying this phenomenon to low-voltage, high-current switching devices. The continuity equation is extensively examined for intrinsic semiconductors, and limits are derived on the magnitude of the switching effects in terms of material parameters. Experiments have been conducted on undoped indium antimonide which tend to verify these limits. A cursory examination is made of the control of the lifetime of injected carriers. The indications are that this effect may be useful in a wider range of materials than the effect in intrinsic semiconductors.

A Technique For Determining Transistor Spall Thresholds., Herbert L. Floyd Jr.

Electrical and Computer Engineering ETDs

ABSTRACT

The purpose of the work described in this report was to develop a technique for determining the mechanical robustness of small electronic components when subjected to short duration stress waves. Techniques employed by other experimenters., which include flyer­plate impaction and pulsed-electron deposition., are difficult to control and to analyze. The procedure described herein overcomes these difficulties by restricting the variables that control accuracy to those which can be precisely measured.

The wave equation was derived and solved for deformable bodies subjected to unidimensional strain. In addition to providing insight into the dependence of high-tensile stress es on stress -wave …

Transient Pulse Transmission Using Impedance Loaded Cyclindrical Antennas, David E. Merewether

Electrical and Computer Engineering ETDs

Two aspects of the problem of pulse transmission using impedance loaded cylindrical antennas have been considered. First, an approximate solution is obtained for the current distribution on a thin cylindrical antenna driven at an arbitrary point along its length. This solution may be applied to an antenna of any length, and its simplicity makes the current distribution rapidly computable. This solution is ideal for the prediction of the transient electromagnetic field radiated when an arbitrary voltage transient is impressed across the input terminals of a long, thin, cylindrical antenna loaded with lumped im­pedances. Second, an antenna synthesis procedure was evolved. …

The Effect Of Transient Ionizing Radiation Upon Schottky Barrier Diodes, Robert H. Schnurr

Electrical and Computer Engineering ETDs

The theory of operation of the Schottky barrier diode was reviewed. The complications caused by a more accurate space charge formulation were discussed. Consideration of image effects, tunneling, interfacial dielectric layers, surface states, and minority carrier current was also included.

The interaction of ionizing radiation with semiconducting materials was reviewed. The behavior of a Schottky barrier diode in an ionizing radiation environment was considered. The resultant model for the Schottky barrier diode is analogous to a p-n diode with one side having a very high dopant concentration.

Tests were performed upon GaAs and silicon Schottky barrier diodes, using a 2 …