Electronic Devices and Semiconductor Manufacturing Commons^™

Thermoelectrics And Thermoelectric Devices, Benjamin T. Erck

Senior Theses

The field of thermoelectrics has many applications, and more are found in everyday systems. From its current studies, it is apparent that improving the figure of merit zT (which defines a good thermoelectric material) is important in the effectiveness of power generation. Another important part of thermoelectrics is the duality of these devices. They can both move heat and generate power, depending on their role in the system. In this thesis research, a process was made to test these thermoelectric relationships for a few Peltier devices in order to understand their efficiencies and what systems they can be applied to.

Design, Fabrication, And Characterization Of All-Inorganic Quantum Dot Light Emitting Diodes, Ramesh Vasan

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Quantum dot light emitting diodes are investigated as a replacement to the existing organic light emitting diodes that are commonly used for thin film lighting and display applications. In this, all-inorganic quantum dot light emitting diodes with inorganic quantum dot emissive layer and inorganic charge transport layers are designed, fabricated, and characterized. Inorganic materials are more environmentally stable and can handle higher current densities than organic materials. The device consists of CdSe/ZnS alloyed core/shell quantum dots as the emissive layer and metal oxide charge transport layer. The charge transport in these devices is found to occur through resonant energy transfer …

Glucose Level Estimation Based On Invasive Electrochemical, And Non-Invasive Optical Sensing Methods, Sanghamitra Mandal

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this research is to design and fabricate sensors for glucose detection using inexpensive approaches. My first research approach is the fabrication of an amperometric electrochemical glucose sensor, by exploiting the optical properties of semiconductors and structural properties of nanostructures, to enhance the sensor sensitivity and response time. Enzymatic electrochemical sensors are fabricated using two different mechanisms: (1) the low-temperature hydrothermal synthesis of zinc oxide nanorods, and (2) the rapid metal-assisted chemical etching of silicon (Si) to synthesize Si nanowires. The concept of gold nano-electrode ensembles is then employed to the sensors in order to boost the current …

Evaluation Of Terahertz Imaging For Breast Cancer Detection Using Image Morphing, Tanny Andrea Chavez Esparza

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This thesis proposes the use of a mesh morphing algorithm for the quantitative evaluation of terahertz (THz) images. This work differs from traditional evaluation methods based on qualitative evaluation because it provides a fair and quantitative measurement of the THz imaging system's performance. The objective of the algorithm is to match the alignment, shape, and resolution of the THz and reference pathology images. Therefore, the proposed morphing method provides a pathology reference for a pixel-by-pixel evaluation of the region classification in the THz image. To achieve this, the morphing algorithm aligns the images using the Pearson's correlation coefficient and reshapes …

Design, Fabrication, And Characterization Of Novel Optoelectronic Devices For Near-Infrared Detection, Ahmad Nusir

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Investigating semiconductor materials and devices at the nanoscale has become crucial in order to maintain the exponential development in today’s technology. There is a critical need for making devices lower in power consumption and smaller in size. Nanoscale semiconductor materials provide a powerful platform for optoelectronic device engineers. They own interesting properties which include enhanced photoconductivity and size-tunable interband transitions.

In this research, different types of nanostructures were investigated for optoelectronic devices: nanocrystals, nanowires, and thin-films. First, lead selenide nanocrystals with narrow bandgap were synthesized, size-tailored, and functionalized with molecular ligands for the application of uncooled near-infrared photodetectors. The devices …

Challenges In Flexible Microsystem Manufacturing : Fabrication, Robotic Assembly, Control, And Packaging., Danming Wei

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Microsystems have been investigated with renewed interest for the last three decades because of the emerging development of microelectromechanical system (MEMS) technology and the advancement of nanotechnology. The applications of microrobots and distributed sensors have the potential to revolutionize micro and nano manufacturing and have other important health applications for drug delivery and minimal invasive surgery. A class of microrobots studied in this thesis, such as the Solid Articulated Four Axis Microrobot (sAFAM) are driven by MEMS actuators, transmissions, and end-effectors realized by 3-Dimensional MEMS assembly. Another class of microrobots studied here, like those competing in the annual IEEE Mobile …

Vertical Gallium Nitride Schottky Diodes For Power Switching Applications., Sowmya Kolli

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Gallium nitride (GaN) has enormous potential for use in devices operating at high power, frequency and temperature. Its wide band gap, high critical electric field and favourable carrier properties lead to lower switching losses and conduction losses in power electronic devices. However, most GaN rectifiers reported to date exhibit an ON-resistance (Ron) versus breakdown voltage much below theoretical predictions. Heteroepitaxial growth of GaN on substrates such as SiC, Si, and sapphire suffer from a high density of threading dislocations defects due to the mismatch in lattice constants and thermal expansion coefficients. Vertical devices, in which a bulk GaN substrate is …

A Novel Design For A Silicon And Cadmium Telluride Tandem Solar Cell., Jacob A Vittitow

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Application Of Modular Multilevel Converters (Mmc) Using Phase-Shifted Pwm And Selective Harmonic Elimination In Distribution Systems, Thouhidul Islam

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Reducing the size and weight of a power electric system is a prodigious challenge to researchers as the development of the latest technologies emerge in the field of electrical engineering. A similar urge is there to develop a light-weight mobile power substation (MPS) to use in the electric power distribution systems during emergency conditions. This thesis proposes a power electronics based solution using the modular multilevel converter (MMC) topology to design the MPS system. The market-available power semiconductor devices are analyzed and suitable devices are selected to design the system. The phase-shifted pulse width modulation (PS-PWM) and selective harmonic elimination …

The Eco-Smart Can V2.0, Darack B. Nanto

Appalachian Student Research Forum

I noticed that the workers had the same itinerary when emptying trashcans, meanwhile trashcans needed urgently to be emptied. Traditionally, ETSU maintenance operate on daily routes to pick trash on designated time, regardless the level of the containers. This leads to overflown trashcan in busy areas or during rush hours in certain areas. This overflown trashcan result in an unclean environment for the community and an unpleasant look of our beautiful campus. The time, resources and labor invested in collecting the trash could be saved. Therefore, I decided to use the Internet of Things (IoT) to create a device that …

Crumpling Effects And Specific Absorption Rates Of Flexible Amc Integrated Antennas, Sima Noghanian, Ala Alemaryeen

Electrical Engineering Faculty Publications

This study presents the design of a wearable textile-based monopole antenna integrated with a flexible artificial magnetic conductor (AMC). The proposed design covers the industrial, scientific, and medical 2.45 GHz band. An AMC reflector is utilised to isolate the human body from undesired electromagnetic radiation and to improve the antenna radiation characteristics. A monopole antenna was backed with an AMC reflector and tested in free space and on human body models. The inclusion of an AMC reflector increases the front-to-back ratio and antenna gain in free space. On the human body models, the AMC antenna provides stable performance and a …

Effect Of Molecular Side Groups And Local Nanoenvironment On Photodegradation And Its Reversibility, Nicole Quist, Mark Li, Ryan Tollefsen, Michael Haley, John Anthony, Oksana Ostroverkhova

Chemistry Faculty Publications

Degradation of organic semiconductors in the presence of oxygen is one of the bottlenecks preventing their wide-spread use in optoelectronic devices. The first step towards such degradation in functionalized pentacene (Pn) derivatives is formation of endoperoxide (EPO), which can either revert back to the parent molecule or proceed to molecule decomposition. We present the study of reversibility of EPO formation through probing the photophysical properties of functionalized fluorinated pentacene (Pn-R-F8) derivatives. Experiments are done in solutions and in films both at the single molecule level and in the bulk. In solutions, degradation of optical absorption and its partial recovery after …

Analog Temperature Control Circuit For A Thin-Film Piezoelectric-On-Substrate Microelectromechanical Systems Oscillator, Heather Hofstee

Honors Undergraduate Theses

The objective and motivation for this project is to design a low-power, low-noise oven-control circuit to optimize the stability of a MEMS oscillator. MEMS oscillators can be fabricated using conventional semiconductor manufacturing methods and can often be assembled in packages smaller than those of traditional crystal oscillators. However, one of their largest disadvantages currently is their high temperature coefficient of frequency (TCF), causing MEMS oscillators to be especially sensitive to temperature changes. Hence, this project focuses on designing a printed circuit board that will allow the user to manually tune a current passing through a resonator wire-bonded to the board …

Semiconductor Design And Manufacturing Interplay To Achieve Higher Yields At Reduced Costs Using Smart Techniques, Ankush Bharati Oberai

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Since the outset of IC Semiconductor market there has been a gap between its design and manufacturing communities. This gap continued to grow as the device geometries started to shrink and the manufacturing processes and tools got more complex. This gap lowered the manufacturing yield, leading to higher cost of ICs and delay in their time to market. It also impacted performance of the ICs, impacting the overall functionality of the systems they were integrated in. However, in the recent years there have been major efforts to bridge the gap between design and manufacturing using software solutions by providing closer …

Optimizing Indoor Location Based Tracking Through Proper Filter Selection And Wireless Sensor Network Design, Matthew R. Bergman

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Indoor positioning system (IPS) is a topic that is coming up more and more for various reasons, such as allowing companies to track important objects using radio frequency identification (RFID) and employees with Bluetooth devices inside a facility. Geofencing is one of the biggest topics with IPS and is meant to limit access to a network in specified areas. Devices that incorporate indoor tracking are not initially precise when objects and employees are on the move. This movement requires devices to have a reliable filter for noise and package lose. For this paper, the comparison between extended Kalman filters and …

Parameters Affecting The Resistivity Of Lp-Ebid Deposited Copper Nanowires, Gabriel Smith

Theses and Dissertations--Electrical and Computer Engineering

Electron Beam Induced Deposition (EBID) is a direct write fabrication process with applications in circuit edit and debug, mask repair, and rapid prototyping. However, it suffers from significant drawbacks, most notably low purity. Work over the last several years has demonstrated that deposition from bulk liquid precursors, rather than organometallic gaseous precursors, results in high purity deposits of low resistivity (LPEBID). In this work, it is shown that the deposits resulting from LP-EBID are only highly conductive when deposited at line doses below 25μC/cm. When the dose exceeds this value, the resulting structure is highly porous providing a poor conductive …

Fabrication And Characterization Of Organic-Inorganic Hybrid Perovskite Solar Cells, Hojjatollah Sarvari

Theses and Dissertations--Electrical and Computer Engineering

Solar energy as the most abundant source of energy is clean, non-pollutant, and completely renewable, which provides energy security, independence, and reliability. Organic-inorganic hybrid perovskite solar cells (PSCs) revolutionized the photovoltaics field not only by showing high efficiency of above 22% in just a few years but also by providing cheap and facile fabrication methods.

In this dissertation, fabrication of PSCs in both ambient air conditions and environmentally controlled N₂-filled glove-box are studied. Several characterization methods such as SEM, XRD, EDS, Profilometry, four-point probe measurement, EQE, and current-voltage measurements were employed to examine the quality of thin films …

Designing And Testing 3-D Printed Wafer-Box With Embedded Pzt Sensors To Identify The Shape Effect On Energy Harvesting, Ahmad Jami Safayet

College of Graduate Studies: Theses & Dissertations

Piezoelectric energy has been recently paid attention in the field of alternative energy. Day by day the traditional energy sources including Coal tar and oils are becoming scarce. People are heading to an alternative energy source to meet the future energy demand. Piezoelectric energy is one of the competitive energy sources compared to the conventional renewable energy sources including solar, wind, and geothermal power and so on. This energy production method bears enormous research potential because it can be used as the roadway for a new method of power generation. This research project aimed to identify which shaped wafer-box produced …

Muscle Activity-Driven Green-Oriented Random Number Generation Mechanism To Secure Wbsn Wearable Device Communications, Yuanlong Cao, Guanghe Zhang, Fanghua Liu, Ilsun You, Guanglou Zheng, Oluwarotimi W. Samuel, Shixiong Chen

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

Wireless body sensor networks (WBSNs) mostly consist of low-cost sensor nodes and implanted devices which generally have extremely limited capability of computations and energy capabilities. Hence, traditional security protocols and privacy enhancing technologies are not applicable to the WBSNs since their computations and cryptographic primitives are normally exceedingly complicated. Nowadays, mobile wearable and wireless muscle-computer interfaces have been integrated with the WBSN sensors for various applications such as rehabilitation, sports, entertainment, and healthcare. In this paper, we propose MGRNG, a novel muscle activity-driven green-oriented random number generation mechanism which uses the human muscle activity as green energy resource to generate …

Flexible Custom Electric Skateboard, Caleb Adam Kelsay

Electrical Engineering

At Cal Poly traveling long distances only accessible by foot such as across campus or from the car park to class can be tiring and time-consuming. While not physically demanding, the trek consumes time in our tight college life schedule. To improve our time efficiency this project provides a relatively lightweight, powered solution to quickly and effectively travel long distances while maintaining full control and safety even on hills, a current limitation of traditional skateboards.

This electric skateboard includes the battery capacity to travel all around campus on a single charge with a compact and flexible skateboard design that provides …