Electronic Devices and Semiconductor Manufacturing Commons^™

Wide-Band Gap Devices For Dc Breaker Applications, Olukayode O. Sodipe

Master's Theses

With the increasing interest in wide-band gap devices, their potential benefits in power applications have been studied and explored with numerous studies conducted for both SiC and GaN devices. This thesis investigates the use of wide-band gap devices as the switching element in a semiconductor DC breaker. It involves the design of an efficient semiconductor DC breaker, its simulation in SPICE, construction of a hardware prototype and the comparative study of SiC and Si versions of the aforementioned breaker. The results obtained from the experiments conducted in the process of concluding this thesis show that the SiC version of the …

Scalable Integrated Circuit Simulation Algorithms For Energy-Efficient Teraflop Heterogeneous Parallel Computing Platforms, Lengfei Han

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports

Integrated circuit technology has gone through several decades of aggressive scaling.It is increasingly challenging to analyze growing design complexity. Post-layout SPICE simulation can be computationally prohibitive due to the huge amount of parasitic elements, which can easily boost the computation and memory cost. As the decrease in device size, the circuits become more vulnerable to process variations. Designers need to statistically simulate the probability that a circuit does not meet the performance metric, which requires millions times of simulations to capture rare failure events.

Recent, multiprocessors with heterogeneous architecture have emerged as mainstream computing platforms. The heterogeneous computing platform can …

A Feed Forward Circuit For Jitter Attenuation On High-Speed Digital Signals, Eric Rule

Electrical Engineering

In the age of high-speed digital circuitry, there exists a need for clean, precise clock signals. In generating and distributing clock signals throughout a circuit, unwanted jitter can become a serious issue. A common technique for attenuating jitter uses phase-locked-loops to treat the signal, but as the clock frequency increases, so does the cost and complexity of the designs. Following the research completed by Dr. Tina Smilkstein [1], this project examines a purely feed-forward technique for attenuating jitter that is low-complexity and robust, and aims to design an integrated circuit that implements the technique.

Mohat Tool To Illustrate Diode And Transistor Modes Of Operation Using Ltspice, Getu D. Engdaw

Electrical Engineering

This project develops a tool to identify the modes of operation of diodes and transistors in a circuit. The MoHAT tool receives schematics or circuit files generated from LTspice, and it determines the state of each diode and transistor. This tool illustrates diodes, BJT and MOS regions of operations using text or graphics accordingly. The tool also suggests necessary adjustments to switch from one mode of operation to another upon users request. Furthermore, the tool specifies if a transistor functions in amplification region. The MoHAT tool compares the nodal voltages of an element and determines the mode of operation.

High Temperature Silicon Carbide Mixed-Signal Circuits For Integrated Control And Data Acquisition, Ashfaqur Rahman

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Wide bandgap semiconductor materials such as gallium nitride (GaN) and silicon carbide have grown in popularity as a substrate for power devices for high temperature and high voltage applications over the last two decades. Recent research has been focused on the design of integrated circuits for protection and control in these wide bandgap materials. The ICs developed in SiC and GaN can not only complement the power devices in high voltage and high frequency applications, but can also be used for standalone high temperature control and data acquisition circuitry.

This dissertation work aims to explore the possibilities in high temperature …

Skin Effect Suppression In Infrared-Laser Irradiated Planar Multi-Walled Carbon Nanotube/Cu Conductors, Kamran Keramatnejad, Yang Gao, Yunshen Zhou, Hossein Rabiee Glogir, Mengmeng Wang, Yongfeng Lu

Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Skin effect suppression in planar multi-walled carbon nanotube (MWCNT)/Copper (Cu) conductors was realized at the 0-10 MHz frequency range through infrared laser irradiation of MWCNTs, which were coated on the surface of the Cu substrate via the electrophoretic deposition (EPD) method. The effect of laser irradiation and its power density on electrical and structural properties of the MWCNT/Cu conductors was investigated using a wavelength-tunable CO2 laser and then comparing the performance of the samples prepared at different conditions with that of pristine Cu. The irradiation at λ=9.219 μm proved to be effective in selective delivery of energy towards depths close …

Monitoring The Threat Of Sinkhole Formation Under A Portion Of Us 18 In Cerro Gordo County, Iowa Using Tdr Measurements, Kevin O'Connor, Matthew Trainum

Sinkhole Conference 2015

Sinkhole formation is a common occurrence in northeast Iowa, and U.S. 18 in Cerro Gordo County was constructed over an area where sinkhole formation had only been locally known. It had not been recorded or identified in the Iowa DNR database at the time. Since 2004, sinkholes have developed along the right of way. Geophysical surveys contributed very little in the identifying the cause. However a Soil Survey (drilling program) identified numerous voids within carbonate bedrock. The soil borings indicated that shale overlying the carbonate rock has been removed/eroded, and resulted in the development of a karst subsurface through the …

Synthesis And Characterization Of 2d Atomic Layers, Adam Charnas, Gang Qiu, Peide Ye

The Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship (SURF) Symposium

As electronic devices have continued to become smaller, a pressing need has developed for new technologies in order to surpass current size constraints. As such, 2-dimensional materials have become a topic of great interest in experimental device research. Monolayer black phosphorus, or phosphorene, is one such 2D material which shows significant potential as a p-type semiconductor. Phosphorene exhibits a number of unique and desirable electrical properties such as a layer-dependent band gap, high carrier mobility, and anisotropic conductivity. An investigation into optimal growth of black phosphorus, the precursor material to phosphorene, as well as characterization of phosphorene-based devices will be …

Simulating Nanowires And Ultra-Thin Body Transistors Using Nemo5 On Nanohub.Org, Liang Yuan Dai, James E. Fonseca, Chu Yuan Chen, Gerhard Klimeck

The Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship (SURF) Symposium

During the past twenty years, the most important aspects of semiconductor electronics have advanced into the nanometer range, resulting in exponential increases of microprocessor computing performance. As the size of electrical components continues to shrink, the cost of experimental research and industrial fabrication in this field has increased dramatically. Thus, the development of accurate nanoscale model simulations becomes necessary as a measure to decrease the high financial expenses of advancing semiconductor technology. This simulator supports atomistic modeling in order to provide an accurate description of the nanoscale devices, as current electrical components operate in the quantum regime and are affected …

Common Mode Voltage Mitigation Strategies Using Pwm In Neutral-Point-Clamped Multilevel Inverters, Chad Alexander Somogyi

Master's Theses (2009 -)

Over the last several decades, there has been consistent growth in the research and development of multilevel voltage-source inverter-based adjustable speed motor drives (ASDs) as a result of low cost, high reliability power semiconductors. The three-level neutral-point-clamped (NPC) ASD is a popular multilevel inverter used in low and medium voltage applications because of its ability to produce lower levels of total harmonic distortion (THD) and withstand higher voltages while preserving the rated output power compared to two-level ASDs. As with other voltage-source inverters, three-level NPC ASDs produce common-mode voltage (CMV) that can cause motor shaft voltages, bearing currents, and excess …

Design, Fabrication, And Measurement Of A Multiple-Input Multiple-Output (Mimo) Antenna For Mobile Communication, Christopher Charles Arnold

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This thesis presents the design, fabrication and characterization of a multiband uniplanar MIMO antenna for hand-held mobile communication devices on LTE, WLAN, and WMAN networks. The antenna design methodology combined a variety of broadbanding techniques that resulted in a single-layer hybrid monopole antenna coupled to a meander line element and parasitic structures. The 115×55×1.54 mm antenna was fabricated using an FR4 composite material and occupies only a fractional volume within the size of an average cellular phone allowing ample space to integrate with existing hardware. Characterization of the MIMO antenna included input impedance, scattering parameters and radiation pattern cross sections …

Chipper: Capacitive Bed Occupancy Sensing For An Intelligent Alarm Clock, David Levi

Electrical Engineering

What if your alarm clock knew when you got out—and stayed out—of bed? Current alarm clocks happily let you go back to bed after turning them off. In this project, I build an alarm which only stops ringing when you get out bed, and starts ringing again if you lie back in bed.

This project uses capacitance to detect bed occupancy. A person on or near the bed creates a tiny, picofarads level increase in capacitance, as seen by a sensor placed under the mattress. A microprocessor interprets this signal, and also drives an audio alarm. Shielding of the sensor …

Phase Locked Loop Integrated Circuit, Scott Buchanan, Jonathan Bonello

Electrical Engineering

No abstract provided.

Design And Fabrication Techniques Of Devices For Embedded Power Active Contact Lens, Errol Heradio Leon

Master's Theses

This thesis designed and fabricated various devices that were interfaced to an IC for an active contact lens that notifies the user of an event by detection of an external wireless signal. The contact lens consisted of an embedded antenna providing communication with a 2.4GHz system, as well as inductive charging at an operating frequency of 13.56 MHz. The lens utilized a CBC005 5µAh thin film battery by Cymbet and a manufactured graphene super capacitor as a power source. The custom integrated circuit (IC) was designed using the On Semiconductor CMOS C5 0.6 µm process to manage …

Characterization Of Two Vernier-Tuned Distributed Bragg Reflector (Vt-Dbr) Lasers Used In Swept Source Optical Coherence Tomography (Ss-Oct), Greg M. Bergdoll

Master's Theses

Insight Photonic Solutions Inc. has continued to develop their patented VT-DBR laser design; these wavelength tunable lasers promise marked image-quality and acquisition time improvements in SS-OCT applications.

To be well suited for SS-OCT, tunable lasers must be capable of producing a highly linear wavelength sweep across a tuning range well-matched to the medium being imaged; many different tunable lasers used in SS-OCT are compared to identify the optimal solution.

This work electrically and spectrally characterizes two completely new all-semiconductor VT-DBR designs to compare, as well. The Neptune VT-DBR, an O-band laser, operates around the 1310 nm range and is a …

Design Of Integrated Current Reference Circuits For A 180-Nanometer Bicmos Silicon Process, Timothy Max Megee

Electrical Engineering Undergraduate Honors Theses

The goal of this thesis is to provide design analysis, simulation results, and physical layout structure for three current references that are to be physically fabricated in a 180- nanometer BICMOS silicon process. The report briefly discusses the need for voltage and current references in analog circuit applications, before zooming in to examine three topologies being tailored to the needs of an integrated solar micro-inverter system. These topologies are: proportional to absolute temperature (PTAT), complementary to absolute temperature (CTAT), and constant across temperature (Constant) bias circuits. First, each topology is designed schematically to meet the needs of the micro-inverter system. …

Characterization Of Silicon Phosphorus Alloy For Device Applications, Larry C. Cousar

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

A new material of highly-phosphorus doped silicon for device applications was characterized and analyzed for new material properties. Devices such as NMOS transistors and other CMOS compatible devices may benefit from new materials that reduce external resistances and increase drive currents.

Material characterization requires numerous techniques and technologies to determine electrical, optical, and physical characteristics. For this work, Hall measurement, X-ray Diffraction, Raman Spectroscopy, Photoluminescence Characterization, and Spectroscopic Ellipsometry were used to better understand this new material. The results may lead to new models for silicon phosphorus alloys.

Single-Walled Carbon Nanotube Arrays For High Frequency Applications, Asmaa Elkadi

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation presents a thorough analysis of semiconducting Single-Walled Carbon Nanotube-based devices, followed by a test structure fabrication and measurements.

The analysis starts by developing an individual nanotube model, which is then generalized for many nanotubes and adding the parasitic elements. The parasitic elements appear when forming the device electrodes degrade the overall performance.

The continuum model of an individual nanotube is developed. A unique potential function is presented to effectively describe the electron distribution in the carbon nanotube subsequently facilitating solving Schrödinger's equation to obtain the energy levels, and to generalize the model for many nanotubes.

It is shown …

Environmental Reliability Of Thin Film Sealing On Thick Film Ltcc, Charles R. Bourland

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

As electronic components and systems become more intricate and expand into new realms of use case scenarios, new materials systems must be explored. With new systems comes the balancing acts of cost and reliability. Presented here is a thesis that explores a new hybrid-electronics packaging system using low temperature co-fired ceramics, referred to as LTCC. An LTCC system was designed to explore the environmental reliability of numerous thick film LTCC features and parameters. A key element was to explore how a thin film metallization stack up used to cap or seal underlying thick film structures would decrease environmental susceptibility while …

Hand Pattern Recognition Using Smart Band, Theerth Raj Munusamy

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The Importance of gesture recognition has widely spread around the world. Many research strategies have been proposed to study and recognize gestures, especially facial and hand gestures. Distinguishing and recognizing hand gestures is vital in hotspot fields such as bionic parts, powered exoskeleton, diagnosing muscle disorders, etc. Recognizing such gesture patterns can also create a stress-free and fancy user interface for mobile phones, gaming consoles and other such devices.

The objective is to design a simple yet efficient wearable hand gesture recognizing system. This thesis also shows that by taking both EMG and accelerometer data into account, can improve the …