Dithienylmaleimide-based D-A Conjugated Polymer Film:Photo-responsive Behavior and Application in Electrical Memory and Logic Gates

Solid-stated smart polymers responsive to external stimuli have attracted much attention for potential application in the field of photoelectron devices,logic gates,sensor,data storage and security.However,it is a bigger challenge for polymers than that for small molecules in solid state to acquire stimuli-responsive properties,because polymers with high molecular weight are not as easy to change the packing structure as small molecules under external stimulation.Here,a D-A type alternating copolymer PTMF-o containing 3,4-bisthienylmaleimide(A unit)and fluorene(D unit)is designed and synthesized.Upon irradiation of sunlight,PTMF-o film exhibits a photo-response with the color altering from purple to colorless.It is attributed to the structure of copolymer transformed from ring-opening form(PTMF-o)to ring-closure form(PTMF-c),resulting from the oxidative photocyclization of 3,4-bisthienylmaleimide unit.Consequently,the ability of charge transfer(CT)from fluorene to 3,4-bisthienylmaleimide unit in PTMF-o can be easily weakened by light stimuli.PTMF-o film displays a WORM-type resistive storage performance for the strong CT.Interestingly,after exposure,the electrical memory behavior in situ transfers into FLASH type,due to weak CT in PTMF-c.PTMF-o film can also be employed as smart material to construct NAND and NOR logic gates by using light as input condition.The work provides a simple way to modify the electronic properties of polymers and realize stimuli-response in solid states.

Design of an Electrically Written and Optically Read Non-volatile Memory Device Employing BiFeO3/Au Heterostructures with Strong Absorption Resonance

Exploiting new concepts for dense, fast, and nonvolatile random access memory with reduced energy consump- tion is a significant issue for information technology. Here we design an ＇electrically written and optically read＇ information storage device employing BiFeO3/A u heterostruetures with strong absorption resonance. The electro- optic effect is the basis for the device design, which arises from the strong absorption resonance in BiFeO3/Au heterostructures and the electrically tunable significant birefringence of the BiFeO3 film. We first construct a sim- ulation calculation of the BiFeO3/Au structure spectrum and identify absorption resonance and electro-optical modulation characteristics. Following a micro scale partition, the surface reflected light intensity of different polarization units is calculated. The results depend on electric polarization states of the BiFeO3 film, thus BiFeO3/Au heterostructures can essentially be designed as a type of electrically written and optically read infor- mation storage device by utilizing the scanning near-field optical microscopy technology based on the conductive silicon cantilever tip with nanofabricated aperture. This work will shed light on information storage technology.

Effects of subconvulsive electrical stimulation to the hippocampus on emotionality and spatial learning and memory in rats

Objective To observe the effects of repeated subconvulsive electrical stimuli to the hippocampus on the emotional behavior and spatial learning and memory ability in rats.Methods One hundred and eight male Wistar rats were randomized into 3 groups. Animals in group SE (n = 42) were given subconvulsive electrical stimulation to the hippocampus through a constant pulsating current of 100 μA with an intratrain frequency of 25 Hz, pulse duration of 1 millisecond, train duration of 10 seconds and interstimulus interval of 7 minutes, 8 times a day, for 5 days. In the electrode control group or CE group (n = 33), animals were implanted with an electrode in the hippocampus, but were not stimulated. Group NC (n =33) animals received no electrode or any stimulation. The emotional behavior of experimental rats was examined by activity in an unfamiliar open field and resistance to capture from the open field, while the spatial learning and memory ability was measured during training in a Morris water maze.Results The stimulated rats tested 1 month after the last round of stimulation displayed substantial decreases in open field activity (scale: 10. 4±2. 3, P<0. 05) and increases in resistance to capture (scale: 2. 85±0. 56, P < 0. 01 ). The amount of time for rats in group SE to find the platform (latency) as a measurement for spatial bias was prolonged (29±7) seconds after 15 trials in the water maze, P<0. 05). The experimental rats swam aimlessly in all four pool quadrants during the probe trial in the Morris water maze.Conclusions Following repeated subconvulsive electrical stimuli to the hippocampus, rats displayed long-lasting significant abnormalities in emotional behavior, increased anxiety and defensiveness, enhanced ease to and delayed habituation to startlement, transitory spatial learning and memory disorder, which parallels many of the symptoms in posttraumatic stress disorder patients.

Design of logic process based low-power 512-bit EEPROM for UHF RFID tag chip

A 512-bit EEPROM IP was designed by using just logic process based devices.To limit the voltages of the devices within 5.5 V,EEPROM core circuits,control gate(CG) and tunnel gate(TG) driving circuits,DC-DC converters:positive pumping voltage(VPP=4.75 V) ,negative pumping voltage(VNN=4.75 V) ,and VNNL(=VNN/2) generation circuit were proposed.In addition,switching powers CG high voltage(CG_HV) ,CG low voltage(CG_LV) ,TG high voltage(TG_HV) ,TG low voltage(TG_LV) ,VNNL_CG and VNNL_TG switching circuit were supplied for the CG and TG driving circuit.Furthermore,a sequential pumping scheme and a new ring oscillator with a dual oscillation period were proposed.To reduce a power consumption of EEPROM in the write mode,the reference voltages VREF_VPP for VPP and VREE_VNN for VNN were used by dividing VDD(1.2 V) supply voltage supplied from the analog block in stead of removing the reference voltage generators.A voltage level detector using a capacitive divider as a low-power DC-DC converter design technique was proposed.The result shows that the power dissipation is 0.34μW in the read mode,13.76μW in the program mode,and 13.66μW in the erase mode.

Opposite Relationship between Orientation Selection and Texture Memory in the Deformed Electrical Steel Sheets during α→γ→α Transformation

The undesired {111} texture component for the magnetic properties mainly exists in the sheets of electrical steels by the conventional process, whereas the sheets with the non-{111} texture can be obtained by α→γ→α transformation. In this paper, we mainly investigate the opposite relationship between orientation selection and texture memory in the deformed ultra-low carbon steel sheet during →→ transformation annealing. A 0.5 mm thick hot-rolled sheet is directly subjected to transformation. The result shows that the specific transformation textures are not possible to generate in the sheets without deformation. Besides, transformation annealing is conducted on the recrystallized sheets in hydrogen and vacuum, respectively. The near {100} and {110} grains have the growth advantage at the atmosphere/metal interface, and the initial ferrite textures are retained in vacuum. Cold-rolled sheets with different thicknesses are annealed for transformation in vacuum, hydrogen and nitrogen, respectively.The near {100} and {110} textures are still the preferential orientations at the atmosphere/metal interface. When the surface grains have sufficiently large growth advantage, the {111} grains developed by texture memory effect will be annexed. Otherwise, the {111} grains at the center layer of the sheets are hard to be replaced, and they are retained after α→γ→α transformation cycle. The results of deformed sheets annealed with different heating rates in hydrogen show that the growth of initial recrystallization grains has a great effect on variant selection.

Estimates of EEPROM Device Lifetime

A method was developed to estimate EEPROM device life based on the consistency for break- down charge, QBD, for constant voltage time dependent dielectric breakdown （TDDB） and constant current TDDB stress tests. Although an EEPROM works with a constant voltage, QBD for the tunnel oxide can be extracted using a constant current TDDB. Once the charge through the tunnel oxide, △QFG, is measured, the lower limit of the EEPROM life can be related to QBD/△QFG. The method is reached by erase/write cycle tests on an EEPROM.