Electronic Devices and Semiconductor Manufacturing Commons^™

Development And Characterization Of Metal Contacts For Graded Composition Ingan Solar Cells, Reem E. Alhelais

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

There is an increasing demand for high-power electronic components and optoelectronic devices with low-loss and high efficiency. III-nitride semiconductor materials have demonstrated great potential for high-power, high-frequency, and high-temperature applications because of their remarkable and wide-ranging electronic and physical properties. These material systems, including alloys of AlN, GaN, and InN, are currently being explored for their potential to develop efficient photovoltaic cells. They can potentially achieve higher efficiency because of their very high direct wide band edge, absorption coefficients, and resistance to defects. The compositionally graded Group III-nitride alloy allows access to a large range of energies by varying the …

Novel Memristor Based True Random Number Generator, Scott Stoller

Boise State University Theses and Dissertations

Random numbers are an important, but often overlooked part of the modern computing environment. They are used everywhere around us for a variety of purposes, from simple decision making in video games such as a coin toss, to securing financial transactions and encrypting confidential communications. They are even useful for gambling and the lottery.

Random numbers are generated in many ways. Pseudo random number generators (PRNGs) generate numbers based on a formula. True random number generators (TRNGs) capture entropy from the environment to generate randomness. As our society and our devices become more connected in the digital world, it is …

Simulation Of An Sp8t 18 Ghz Rf Switch Using Smt Pin Diodes, Andre De Souza Vigano

Master's Theses

Radio frequency (RF) and microwave switches are widely used in several different applications including radar, measurement systems, telecommunications, and other areas. An RF switch can control a radar’s transmit vs. receive mode, select the operating band, or direct an RF signal to different paths. In this study, a single pole eight throw (SP8T) switch using only Surface Mount (SMT) components is designed and simulated in Keysight’s Advanced Design System (ADS). Single pole eight throw is defined as one input and eight possible outputs. A star network configuration with series-shunt PIN diode switches is used to create the 8-way RF switch. …

An Exploratory Study Of Pulse Width And Delta Sigma Modulators, Logan B. Penrod

Master's Theses

This paper explores the noise shaping and noise producing qualities of Delta-Sigma Modulators (DSM) and Pulse-Width Modulators (PWM). DSM has long been dominant in the Delta Sigma Analog-to-Digital Converter (DSADC) as a noise-shaped quantizer and time discretizer, while PWM, with a similar self oscillating structure, has seen use in Class D Power Amplifiers, performing a similar function. It has been shown that the PWM in Class D Amplifiers outperforms the DSM [1], but could this advantage be used in DSADC use-cases? LTSpice simulation and printed circuit board implementation and test are used to present data on four variations of these …

High-Temperature Optoelectronic Device Characterization And Integration Towards Optical Isolation For High-Density Power Modules, Syam Madhusoodhanan

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Power modules based on wide bandgap (WBG) materials enhance reliability and considerably reduce cooling requirements that lead to a significant reduction in total system cost and weight. Although these innovative properties lead power modules to higher power density, some concerns still need to be addressed to take full advantage of WBG-based modules. For example, the use of bulky transformers as a galvanic isolation system to float the high voltage gate driver limits further size reduction of the high-temperature power modules. Bulky transformers can be replaced by integrating high-temperature optocouplers to scale down power modules further and achieve disrupting performance in …

Growth And Characterization Of Semiconductor Materials And Devices For Extreme Environments Applications, Abbas Sabbar

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Numerous industries require electronics to operate reliably in harsh environments, such as extreme high temperatures (HTs), low temperature (LT), radiation rich environments, multi-extreme, etc. This dissertation is focused on two harsh environments: HT and multi-extreme.

The first study is on HT optoelectronics for future high-density power module applications. In the power modules design, galvanic isolation is required to pass through the gate control signal, reject the transient noise, and break the ground loops. The optocoupler, which consists of a lighting emitting diode (LED) and photodetector (PD), is commonly used as the solution of galvanic isolation at room temperatures. There is …

Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy For The Measurement Of Gesn/(Si)Gesn, Solomon Opeyemi Ojo

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Photoluminescence (PL) and Electroluminescence (EL) characterization techniques are important tools for studying the optical and electrical properties of (Si)GeSn. Light emission from these PL and EL measurements provides relevant information on material quality, bandgap energy, current density, and device efficiency. Prior to this work, the in-house PL set-up of this lab which involves the use of a commercially-obtained dispersive spectrometer was used for characterizing both GeSn thin film and fabricated devices, but these measurements were limited by issues bordering on low spectral resolution, spectral artifacts, and poor signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) thereby resulting in the possible loss of vital information and …

Design Of A 350 Kw Silicon Carbide Based 3-Phase Inverter With Ultra-Low Parasitic Inductance, Matthew Feurtado

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The objective of this thesis is to present a design for a low parasitic inductance, high power density 3-phase inverter using silicon-carbide power modules for traction application in the electric vehicles with a power rating of 350 kW. With the market share of electric vehicles continuing to grow, there is a great opportunity for wide bandgap semiconductors such as silicon carbide (SiC) to improve the efficiency and size of the motor drives in these applications. In order to accomplish this goal, careful design and selection of each component in the system for optimum performance from an electrical, mechanical, and thermal …

A New Method Of Statcom Controlling For Harmonic Mitigation And Power Factor Correction, Doha Jdeed

Journal of the Arab American University مجلة الجامعة العربية الامريكية للبحوث

This paper presents a control algorithm of 3ph STATic synchronous COMpensator (STATCOM). The algorithm depends on the accurate reference currents extraction from only the nonlinear load current spec-trum in frequency domain using Fast Fourier Transfer (FFT). Then the determined harmonics and reactive components of load current are added together to form the compensating reference signals, the PI controllers then generate signals which control the Pulse Width Modulation (PWM) method. The simulation of the study is carried out under MATLAB/Simulink environment to show the usefulness of this control algorithm with nonlin-ear dynamic loads. It determines exactly the phase shift between the …

Investigation Of Space-Charge-Limited Conduction Mechanisms In Fe3o4-Y-Fe2o3 Based On Sio2/N-Type Si Substrate, Nik Zumaihan Nik Nadia Aina

Student Works (2020-2029)

In this work, thin films of functionalized Fe3O4-γ-Fe2O3 NPs deposited on n-type Si substrate was formed by self-assembly. The co-precipitation method was involved to synthesis the bare iron oxide NPs and the particles were altered to optimum pH 12 by using NH4OH. Iron oxide NPs were then undergone modification process with addition of 0.4 g oleic acid and 1.63 mmol functionalization 4-pentynoic acid. For electrical characterization of self-assembled 4-pentynoic acid functionalized Fe3O4-γ-Fe2O3 NPs on SiO2/n-Si substrate, the charge conduction mechanisms were quantitatively investigated and analyzed through the oxides for different heat treatment temperatures (70-300oC). In this study, the Ohm’s Law …

Optimized Transconductance Designs To Enhance The Linearity Performance Of Rf Front-End Receiver Circuits In 130 Nm Cmos Technology, Nandini Vitee

Student Works (2020-2029)

Highly linear front-end circuits are greatly desired for wireless receivers to improve the dynamic range. However, intermodulation distortions caused by the non-linear transconductor current limits the linearity of the front-end receiver circuit in CMOS technologies. In addition to the inherent nonlinear effect, the downscaling of CMOS further exacerbates the linearity of the circuit due to lower voltage headroom and high-field mobility. Thus, it is essential to develop effective circuit techniques that can aid linearity enhancement without jeopardizing other preferred performances such as low noise, high conversion gain, and low-power consumption. In this thesis, two different high linear transconductors are presented …

System And Method For Object Recognition Based Estimation Of Planogram Compliance, Pranoy Hari, Shilpa Yadukumar Rao, Rajashree Ramakrishnan, Avishek Kumar Shaw, Archan Ray, Nishant Kumar, Dipti Prasad Mukherjee

Patents

Object recognition-based estimation of planogram compliance provides an expected arrangement of products on shelves. Identifying whether a product is placed in an appropriate location on a shelf is a challenging task due to various real-time parameters associated with image capturing. In the present disclosure, an input image associated with a shelf of a retail store is received and product images are cropped. Further, a set of reference images stored in a database are scaled corresponding to the input image. Further, one or more composite matching scores are calculated based on normalized cross-correlation and shape-based feature matching to obtain one or …

Hybrid Microwave Power Amplifiers For Broadband Communication, Sangaran Pragash

Student Works (2020-2029)

The software-defined radio is the future of radio technology. The development of a broadband power amplifier is the most challenging radio component to design in achieving software-defined radio goals due to the PA gain-bandwidth limitation. The distributed power amplifier (DPA) overcomes the limitation by combining output power from several transistors in an additive fashion. Matrix Amplifier (MA) consists of two or more DPA stacked together in a multiplicative manner. In this project, a high power and high gain DPA for a two-way radio system is demonstrated. The DPA exhibits 10W output power and 32dB gain across the frequency range of …

Performance Of Pld Grown Zno Thin Film As A Thin Film Transistor, Shahidul Asif

Graduate Theses/Dissertations

The performance of ZnO thin film (grown in different parameters) as a thin film transistor (TFT) is the focus of this study. ZnO is renowned for being n-type semiconductor naturally which was utilized in fabricating a thin film transistor here. This thesis is compared the performance of ZnO thin film transistor by growing the thin film using pulsed laser deposition (PLD) on two slightly different substrates at different temperatures in an optimal 0.1 milli bar oxygen pressure which was later analyzed using other material characterization methods. The substrates were both Si (100) but had different resistivity due to different amount …

The Effects Of Radiation On Memristor-Based Electronic Spiking Neural Networks, Sumedha Gandharava Dahl

Boise State University Theses and Dissertations

In this dissertation, memristor-based spiking neural networks (SNNs) are used to analyze the effect of radiation on the spatio-temporal pattern recognition (STPR) capability of the networks. Two-terminal resistive memory devices (memristors) are used as synapses to manipulate conductivity paths in the network. Spike-timing-dependent plasticity (STDP) learning behavior results in pattern learning and is achieved using biphasic shaped pre- and post-synaptic spikes. A TiO₂ based non-linear drift memristor model designed in Verilog-A implements synaptic behavior and is modified to include experimentally observed effects of state-altering, ionizing, and off-state degradation radiation on the device. The impact of neuron “death” (disabled neuron …

Studies On Space Grade Nano-Iconic Radiation Sensors Using Additive Manufacturing Technology, Shah Mohammad Rahmot Ullah

Boise State University Theses and Dissertations

Though Additive manufacturing technology has been developing for 30 years, in recent years, it gets researchers’ and industries’ attention for new expansion in fabricated electronics devices, especially on a flexible substrate. This technology allows fabricating complex design of electronics devices with multi-functionality. Its application has been significantly expanded to different fields such as sensors and other device prototypes for nuclear facilities, aerospace manufacturing, bio-medical, solar energy, etc. due to its low-cost efficiency and sustainable manufacturing. It has a huge advantage over traditional methods such as lower materials waste during production, avoiding complex etching system and harmful chemicals, simplified assembly system …

Comparison Of Pressure-Assist Silver Sintering To Tin Silver Solder Alloy As Die Attach Material In High Power Semiconductor, Tolentino Erik Nino

Student Works (2020-2029)

The research is focused on pressure-assisted silver sintering material that is compared to tin silver solder alloy paste as used in power electronics. Material characterization, electrical tests, and reliability tests were conducted in the experiment. After drying process, it was observed that the Ag sintering paste height was reduced to approximately 40 percent. Die attach shear test showed that the average reading is about from 200 to 600 grams which are already enough to hold the dice before proceeding to the pressure sintering process. X-ray revealed that the void percent for SnAg paste sample is about 1.5 percent while pressure-assist …

Low-Power Cmos Cross-Coupled Differential-Drive Rectifier For Ambient Radio Frequency Energy Harvesting Systems, Sing Leung Gabriel Chong

Student Works (2020-2029)

Wireless Sensor Node (WSN) for the Internet of Things (IoT) and Internet of Everything (IoE) will require harvesting low-power ambient Radio Frequency (RF) energy to achieve self-power capabilities, alleviating the need of batteries. The research title of “Low-Power CMOS Cross-Coupled Differential-Drive Rectifier for Ambient Radio Frequency Energy Harvesting Systems” relates to the design of integrated circuit (IC) rectifiers for low-power ambient RF energy harvesting (RFEH) in complementary-metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS) technology. The adoption of CMOS for the rectifier designs is to achieve small physical form factor, low-cost, and system-on-chip (SoC) integration. The rectifier is the main circuit in an ambient RFEH system …

3-Dimensional Carbon Micro-Electro Mechanical System (Mems) Electrode For Potential Dielectrophoretic Hepatic Cell Patterning Application, Wan Yahya Wan Nurlina

Student Works (2020-2029)

The maintenance of liver tissue unique pattern remains a great challenge in the generation of functional engineered liver tissue in vitro. This thesis presents a carbon dielectrophoresis (DEP) based cell patterning for generating hepatic cell constructs, mimicking biological hepatic lobule. A new design of electrode named interdigitated radiating-strips electrode (IRSE) was simulated and optimized using COMSOL Multiphysics 4.2a. The simulation result proved that IRSE is capable to provide uniform distribution of electric field for generating three-dimensional (3D) DEP force. The use of carbon electrodes has been an alternative to traditional metal electrodes and insulator structures for DEP applications since more …

Device-Level Predictive Modeling Of Extreme Electromagnetic Interference, Nishchay H. Sule

Electrical and Computer Engineering ETDs

Radio Frequency (RF) interference is a prominent issue for modern electronic devices. As device size and supply power shrink to meet the on-going demand for compact and complex Integrated Circuits (ICs), their susceptibility to external noise coupling to the input or power supply increases significantly. One such type of noise that acts upon a system to be considered is Extreme Electromagnetic Interference (EEMI). Previous works done to understand and evaluate the impact of EEMI onto a system or sub-system have been conducted on a statistical or empirical analysis level, which has led to complex and convoluted analysis, that requires significant …