Neural function rebuilding on different bodies using microelectronic neural bridge technique

A microelectronic circuit is used to regenerate the neural signals between the proximal end and the distal end of an injured nerve.An experimental scheme is designed and carried out to verify the feasibility of the so-called microelectronic neural bridge（MNB）.The sciatic signals of the source spinal toad which are evoked by chemical stimuli are used as source signals to stimulate the sciatic of the controlled spinal toad.The sciatic nerve signals of the source spinal toad,the regenerated sciatic signals in the controlled spinal toad,and the resulting electromyography（EMG）signals associated with the gastrocnemius muscle movements of the controlled spinal toad are displayed and recorded by an oscilloscope.By analyzing the coherence between the source sciatic nerve signals and the regenerated sciatic nerve signals and the coherence between the regenerated nerve signals and the EMG signals,it is proved that the regenerated sciatic nerve signals have a relationship with the source sciatic nerve signals and control shrinkage of the leg of the controlled toad.

Effect of Kovar alloy oxidized in simulated N_2/H_2O atmosphere on its sealing with glass

The effect of Kovar alloy oxidized in simulated field atmosphere on its sealing with glass was studied in this article. After Kovar plates and pins were preoxidized in N2 with 0℃, 10℃ and 20℃ dew points at 1000℃ for different times, Fe304 and Fe203 existed in the oxidation products on Kovar surface, and the quantity of Fe203 increased with increasing dew point and oxidation time. Then they were sealed with borosilicate glass insulator at 1030℃ for 20 rain. The results indicated that the type and quantity of oxidation products would directly influence the quality of glass-to-metal seals. With the increase of oxidation products, gas bubbles in the glass insulator were more serious, the climbing height of glass along the pins was higher, and corrosion of Kovar pins caused from the molten glass was transformed from uniform to the localized.

Numerical simulation of a triple-junction thin-film solar cell based on μc-Si_(1-x)Ge_x :H

In this paper, a-Si：H/a-SiGe：H/μc-SiGe：H triple-junction solar cell structure is proposed. By the analyses of mi- croelectronic and photonic structures （AMPS-1D） and our TRJ-F/TRJ-M/TRJ-B tunneling-recombination junction （TRJ） model, the most preferably combined bandgap for this structure is found to be 1.85 eV/1.50 eV/1.0 eV. Using more realistic material properties, optimized thickness combination is investigated. Along this direction, a-Si：H/a-SiGe：H/μc-SiGe：H triple cell with an initial efficiency of 12.09% （Voc = 2.03 V, FF = 0.69, Jsc = 8.63 mA/cm^2, area = 1 cm^2） is achieved in our laboratory.

Microelectronic neural bridging of toad nerves to restore leg function

The present study used a microelectronic neural bridge comprised of electrode arrays for neural signal detection, functional electrical stimulation, and a microelectronic circuit including signal amplifying, processing, and functional electrical stimulation to bridge two separate nerves, and to restore the lost function of one nerve. The left leg of one spinal toad was subjected to external mechanical stimulation and functional electrical stimulation driving. The function of the left leg of one spinal toad was regenerated to the corresponding leg of another spinal toad using a microelectronic neural bridge. Oscilloscope tracings showed that the electromyographic signals from controlled spinal toads were generated by neural signals that controlled the spinal toad, and there was a delay between signals. This study demonstrates that microelectronic neural bridging can be used to restore neural function between different injured nerves.

SYNTHESIS AND APPLICATIONS OF NANOMATERIALS IN MICROELECTRONICS

The technology boom in microelectronics and telecommunication industry has presented a unique opportunity for nanomaterials. Nanomaterials enable the creation of unique devices, components and systems through the control of matter on a near molecular level. These new devices, components and systems will exhibit novel physical, chemical, mechanical, electrical, optical and biological properties. The synthesis processes of nanomaterials are reviewed and the applications of nanomatorials in microelectronics are discussed in this paper.

Exploration of the Townsend regime by discharge light emission in a gas discharge device

The Townsend discharge mechanism has been explored in a planar microelectronic gas discharge device （MGDD） with different applied voltages U and interelectrode distance d under various pressures in air. The anode and the cathode of the MGDD are formed by a transparent SnO2 covered glass and a GaAs semiconductor, respectively. In the experiments, the discharge is found to be unstable just below the breakdown voltage Ub, whereas the discharge passes through a homo- geneous stable Townsend mode beyond the breakdown voltage. The measurements are made by an electrical circuit and a CCD camera by recording the currents and light emission （LE） intensities. The intensity profiles, which are converted from the 3D light emission images along the semiconductor diameter, have been analysed for different system parameters. Dif- ferent instantaneous conductivity ~t regimes are found below and beyond the Townsend region. These regimes govern the current and spatio-temporal LE stabilities in the plasma system. It has been proven that the stable LE region increases up to 550 Torr as a function of pressure for small d. If the active area of the semiconductor becomes larger and the interlectrode distance d becomes smaller, the stable LE region stays nearly constant with pressure.

Organic-inorganic Hybrids Towards the Preparation of Nanoporous Composite Thin Films for Microelectronic Application

Silicon containing materials have traditionally been used in microelectronic fabrication. Semiconductor devices often have one or more arrays of patterned interconnect levels that serve to electrically couple the individual circuit elements forming an integrated circuit. These interconnect levels are typically separated by an insulating or dielectric film. Previously, a silicon oxide film was the most commonly used material for such dielectric films having dielectric constants( k ) near 4 0. However, as the feature size is continuously scaling down, the relatively high k of such silicon oxide films became inadequate to provide efficient electrical insulation. As such, there has been an increasing market demand for materials with even lower dielectric constant for Interlayer Dielectric(ILD) applications, yet retaining thermal and mechanical integrity. We wish to report here our investigations on the preparation of ultra low k ILD materials using a sacrificial approach whereby organic groups are burnt out to generate low k porous ORMOSIL films. We have been able to prepare a variety of organically modified silicone resins leading to highly microporous thin films, exhibiting ultra low k from 1 80 to 2 87, and good to high modulus, 1 5 to 5 5 GPa. Structure property influences on porosity, dielectric constant and modulus will be discussed.

Road vehicle-induced vibration control of microelectronics facilities

A hybrid control platform is investigated in this paper to mitigate microvibrations to a group of vibration-sensitive equipment installed in a microelectronics facility subject to nearby road vehicle-induced horizontal and vertical ground motions. The hybrid control platform, on which microelectronics equipment is installed, is mounted on a building floor through a series of passive mounts and controlled by hydraulic actuators in both horizontal and vertical directions. The control platform is an elastic body with significant bending modes of vibration, and a sub-optimal control algorithm is used to manipulate the hydraulic actuators with actuator dynamics included. The finite element model and the equations of motion of the coupled platform-building system are then established in the absolute coordinate to facilitate the feedback control and performance evaluation of the platform. The horizontal and vertical ground vibrations at the base of the building induced by nearby moving road vehicles are assumed to be stationary random processes. A typical three-story microelectronics building is selected as a case study. The case study shows that the vertical vibration of the microelectronics building is higher than the horizontal. The use of a hybrid control platform can effectively reduce both horizontal and vertical microvibrations of the microelectronics equipment to the level which satisfies the stringent microscale velocity requirement specified in the Bolt Beranek & Newman (BBN) criteria.

DESIGN AND RESEARCH OF QUASI-PLANAR SELF-ALIGNED SILICON AVALANCHE ELECTRON EMISSION ARRAY

The device structure and technical processings of quasi-planar self-aligned silicon avalanche electron emission array arc introduced. The processing step at the edge of electron emission region is about 10nm only and the width of self-aligned current channel of shallow As implantation is about 3μm. Its I-V characteristics show a larger linear region and lower series resistance than that of the previous silicon avalanche electron emission devices. Some of the electron emission characteristics are also discussed in this paper.

Thermionic electron emission in the 1D edge-to-edge limit

Thermionic emission is a tunneling phenomenon,which depicts that electrons on the surface of a conductor can be pulled out into the vacuum when they are subjected to high electrical tensions while being heated hot enough to overtake their work functions.This principle has led to the great success of the so-called vacuum tubes in the early 20 th century.To date,major challenges still remain in the miniaturization of a vacuum channel transistor for on-chip integration in modern solid-state integrated circuits.Here,by introducing nano-sized vacuum gaps(~200 nm)in a van der Waals heterostructure,we successfully fabricated a one-dimensional(1 D)edge-to-edge thermionic emission vacuum tube using graphene as the filament.With the increasing collector voltage,the emitted current exhibits a typical rectifying behavior,with the maximum emission current reaching 200 p A and an ON-OFF ratio of 10;.In addition,it is found that the maximum emission current is proportional to the number of the layers of graphene.Our results expand the research of nano-sized vacuum tubes to an unexplored physical limit of 1 D edge-to-edge emission,and hold great promise for future nano-electronic systems based on it.

NOVEL “CATHODE-ON-MEMBRANE” VME PRESSURE SENSOR

This article proposes a novel "cathode-on-membrane" vacuum microelectronic (VME)pressure sensor. Compared with conventional VME pressure sensors, the package process of the new structured sensor is easier to control, and therefore it enable greater potential of nass production and high productivity. The properties of the new sensor have been theoretically investigated by computer simulations; the practical structure has been designed and fabricated; and the package technique has been studied.

Study on the evaluation of aerospace microelectronic industry

Aerospace microelectronic technology has become the core competence of aerospace technology. For evaluating the aerospace microelectronic industry, it is necessary to change descriptive language of goal to quantitative index that can be measured. Knowing quantified goals or tree structure and array of general goal system, with certain algorithm and processing each corresponding list or array, we can bring out a quantified general goal value. The multi-objective (multi-attribute) evaluation method and the relevant weight sum algorithm have been adopted to quantitatively evaluate and forecast the developing state of the industry. A practical example illustrates that the applied decision technique and the algorithm are feasible and effective.

Mozart Chocolates and Microelectronics,Lipizzaner Stallions and Lightweight Construction.Less well-known:Austria Is A Top Research Location

Whoever thinks of Empress Sisi,Sacher cake,skiing or the Vienna Opera Ball first in connection with Austria is not wrong at all,but this individual does overlook one important factor:Austria is actually an extremely innovative and profitable business location.In addition to highly qualified and motivated employees,Austria always boasts the highest density of world market leaders in relation to the number of inhabitants.

Device Physics Research for Submicron and Deep Submicron Space Microelectronics Devices and Integrated Circuits

Device physics research for submicron and deep submicron space microelectronics devices and integrated circuits will be described in three topics.1.Thin film submicron and deep submicron SOS / CMOS devices and integrated circuits.2.Deep submicron LDD CMOS devices and integrated circuits.3.C band and Ku band microwave GaAs MESFET and III-V compound hetrojunction HEM T and HBT devices and integrated circuits.

ICT in Chile at the Beginning of the Fourth Industrial Revolution

This paper shows the current status of companies in the information and communication technology(ICT)sector in Santiago,Chile.It presents the results of interviews with 13 ICT companies,reviewing structural elements that determine the development of the sector.For this purpose,a qualitative analysis of that interviewed group is carried out to identify their different linkages and work dynamics.This sector has a great capacity for stimulating innovative development throughout the national economy,a key element in the paradigmatic change that the so-called fourth industrial revolution imposes on us.

The Challenges of Microelectronics for the Future Digital Society: The Roles of Thin Film Technologies and of the Higher Education

The new digital society is based on Internet of Things (IoT) and related connected objects are becoming more prevalent around the world. This evolution implies innovation in many areas of technology, the heart of which is microelectronics. Connected objects involve many technological components and functions that are directly dependent of the microelectronics capabilities. If the perspectives are exciting, several challenges are appearing. The first is related to the energy consumption of all these objects, which will become enormous by 2030, and unrealistic by 2040. The second is human resources concern. The future engineers and PhD will have many obstacles to overcome. A way to face these challenges is to involve more and more new thin film technologies that must be combined with VLSI ones, and to better train students to this domain with enough know-how and with a large spectrum of knowledge suitable for multidisciplinary applications. The French national network for Higher Education in microelectronics has adopted this strategy. After presentation of the challenges, this paper deals with the innovative activities of the French network focused on thin film technologies, in order to face the challenges in a short future.

A Proposed Exercise to Reinforce Abstract Thinking for Upper-Division Computer and Electrical Engineering Students: Modeling a High-Speed Inverter Using Cognitive Representations and Abstract Algebra

In mathematics, physics, and engineering, abstract concepts are an indispensable foundation for the study and comprehension of concrete models. As concepts within these fields become increasingly detached from physical entities and more associated with mental events, thinking shifts from analytical to conceptual-abstract. Fundamental topics taken from the abstract algebra (aka: modern algebra) are unquestionably abstract. Historically, fundamental concepts taught from the abstract algebra are detached from physical reality with one exception: Boolean operations. Even so, many abstract algebra texts present Boolean operations from a purely mathematical operator perspective that is detached from physical entities. Some texts on the abstract algebra introduce logic gate circuits, but treat them as perceptual symbols. For majors of pure or applied mathematics, detachments from physical entities is not relevant. For students of Computer and Electrical Engineering (CpE/EE), mental associations of Boolean operations are essential, and one might argue that studying pure Boolean axioms are unnecessary mental abstractions. But by its nature, the CpE/EE field tends to be more mentally abstract than the other engineering disciplines. The depth of the mathematical abstractions that we teach to upper-division CpE/EE majors is certainly up for questioning.

Cutting-edge technologies for diagnosis and monitoring of snoring in children

Snoring is a very common problem in children and may be an indication of obstructive sleep apnea(OSA). Appropriate diagnosis is of importance due to detrimental effects of OSA. Polysomnography is considered the gold standard for the diagnosis of OSA. However, it is impractical for several reasons and this is why other tests have been developed as alternatives to formal polysomnography(PSG) for the assessment of children with snoring. In this mini-review basic features of PSG as well as alternative tests are presented and future perspectives are provided in addition to current guideline for the diagnosis and monitoring of childhood snoring. The aim of this review is to highlight briefly currently developed technologies that seem promising for the evaluation of snoring.

A Study of Lateralized Cognitive Processes in Upper-Division Electrical Engineering Students’: Correlating Written Language Functions with Analytical Reasoning in Microelectronics

The human brain is asymmetrical in function, with each of its two hemispheres being somewhat responsible for distinct cognitive and motor tasks, to include writing. It stands to reason that engineering students who have established entrance into their upper-division programs will have demonstrated cognitive proficiency in math and logical operations, abstract and analytical reasoning and language usage, to include writing. In this study the question was asked: is there a correlation between an upper-division electrical engineering students’ analytical reasoning ability and their descriptive writing ability? Descriptive writing is taken here to mean a students’ ability to identify key physical aspects of a mathematical model and to express—in words—a concise and well-balanced description that demonstrates a deep conceptual understanding of the model. This includes more than a description of the variables or the particular application to an engineering problem;it includes a demonstrated recognition of the basic physics that govern the model, certain limitations (idealizations) inherent in the model, and an understanding of how to make practical experimental measurements to verify the governing physics in the model. A student at this level may demonstrate proficiency in their analytical reasoning skills and hence be capable of correctly solving a given problem. However, this does not guarantee that the same student is skilled in associating equations with their physical meaning on a deep conceptual level or in understanding physical limitations of the equation. Consequently, such a student may demonstrate difficulty in mapping their comprehension of the model into written language that demonstrates a sound conceptual understanding of the governing physics. The findings represent a sample of two independent class sections of Electrical and Computer Engineering junior’s first course in Microe-lectronic Devices and Circuits during fall semesters 2012 and 2013 at a private mid-size university in NW Oregon. A total of three exams were administered to each of the 2012/2013 groups. Correlations between exam scores that students achieved on their descriptive writing of microelectronics phenomena and their analytical problem-solving abilities were examined and found to be quite significant.