Beam test of CSES silicon strip detector module

Science.gov (United States)

Zhang, Da-Li; Lu, Hong; Wang, Huan-Yu; Li, Xin-Qiao; Xu, Yan-Bing; An, Zheng-Hua; Yu, Xiao-xia; Wang, Hui; Shi, Feng; Wang, Ping; Zhao, Xiao-Yun

2017-05-01

The silicon-strip tracker of the China Seismo-Electromagnetic Satellite (CSES) consists of two double-sided silicon strip detectors (DSSDs) which provide incident particle tracking information. A low-noise analog ASIC VA140 was used in this study for DSSD signal readout. A beam test on the DSSD module was performed at the Beijing Test Beam Facility of the Beijing Electron Positron Collider (BEPC) using a 400-800 MeV/c proton beam. The pedestal analysis results, RMSE noise, gain correction, and intensity distribution of incident particles of the DSSD module are presented. Supported by the XXX Civil Space Programme

Surface plasmons based terahertz modulator consisting of silicon-air-metal-dielectric-metal layers

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Wei; Yang, Dongxiao; Qian, Zhenhai

2018-05-01

An optically controlled modulator of the terahertz wave, which is composed of a metal-dielectric-metal structure etched with circular loop arrays on both the metal layers and a photoexcited silicon wafer separated by an air layer, is proposed. Simulation results based on experimentally measured complex permittivities predict that modification of complex permittivity of the silicon wafer through excitation laser leads to a significant tuning of transmission characteristics of the modulator, forming the modulation depths of 59.62% and 96.64% based on localized surface plasmon peak and propagating surface plasmon peak, respectively. The influences of the complex permittivity of the silicon wafer and the thicknesses of both the air layer and the silicon wafer are numerically studied for better understanding the modulation mechanism. This study proposes a feasible methodology to design an optically controlled terahertz modulator with large modulation depth, high speed and suitable insertion loss, which is useful for terahertz applications in the future.

Proposed method of assembly for the BCD silicon strip vertex detector modules

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lindenmeyer, C.

1989-01-01

The BCD Silicon strip Vertex Detector is constructed of 10 identical central region modules and 18 similar forward region modules. This memo describes a method of assembling these modules from individual silicon wafers. Each wafer is fitted with associated front end electronics and cables and has been tested to insure that only good wafers reach the final assembly stage. 5 figs

Investigating reliability attributes of silicon photovoltaic cells - An overview

Science.gov (United States)

Royal, E. L.

1982-01-01

Reliability attributes are being developed on a wide variety of advanced single-crystal silicon solar cells. Two separate investigations: cell-contact integrity (metal-to-silicon adherence), and cracked cells identified with fracture-strength-reducing flaws are discussed. In the cell-contact-integrity investigation, analysis of contact pull-strength data shows that cell types made with different metallization technologies, i.e., vacuum, plated, screen-printed and soldered, have appreciably different reliability attributes. In the second investigation, fracture strength was measured using Czochralski wafers and cells taken at various stages of processing and differences were noted. Fracture strength, which is believed to be governed by flaws introduced during wafer sawing, was observed to improve (increase) after chemical polishing and other process steps that tend to remove surface and edge flaws.

Field performance of a polycrystalline silicon module

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Adegboyega, G.A.; Kuku, T.A.; Salau, A.A.M.

1985-12-01

The field performance of a polycrystalline silicon module is reported. The recorded data include the ambient temperature, solar insolation and the module output power. The module has given efficiencies in the range of 2-4% and has demonstrated good stability over a ten month period. From the field data, equations that could be used to predict performance for various seasons of the year for this location have been developed and the fit between predicted and actual performance has been found to be quite good. (author)

Comparison of silicon strip tracker module size using large sensors from 6 inch wafers

CERN Multimedia

Honma, Alan

1999-01-01

Two large silicon strip sensor made from 6 inch wafers are placed next to each other to simulate the size of a CMS outer silicon tracker module. On the left is a prototype 2 sensor CMS inner endcap silicon tracker module made from 4 inch wafers.

Advanced reliability improvement of AC-modules (ARIA)

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Rooij, P.; Real, M.; Moschella, U.; Sample, T.; Kardolus, M.

2001-09-01

The AC-module is a relatively new development in PV-system technology and offers significant advantages over conventional PV-systems with a central inverter : e.g. increased modularity, ease of installation and freedom of system design. The Netherlands and Switzerland have a leading position in the field of AC-modules, both in terms of technology and of commercial and large-scale application. An obstacle towards large-scale market introduction of AC-modules is that the reliability and operational lifetime of AC-modules and the integrated inverters in particular are not yet proven. Despite the advantages, no module-integrated inverter has yet achieved large scale introduction. The AC-modules will lower the barrier towards market penetration. But due to the great interest in the new AC-module technology there is the risk of introducing a not fully proven product. This may damage the image of PV-systems. To speed up the development and to improve the reliability, research institutes and PV-industry will address the aspects of reliability and operational lifetime of AC-modules. From field experiences we learn that in general the inverter is still the weakest point in PV-systems. The lifetime of inverters is an important factor on reliability. Some authors are indicating a lifetime of 1.5 years, whereas the field experiences in Germany and Switzerland have shown that for central inverter systems, an availability of 97% has been achieved in the last years. From this point of view it is highly desirable that the operational lifetime and reliability of PV-inverters and especially AC-modules is demonstrated/improved to make large scale use of PV a success. Module Integrated Inverters will most likely be used in modules in the power range between 100 and 300 Watt DC-power. These are modules with more than 100 cells in series, assuming that the module inverter will benefit from the higher voltage. Hot-spot is the phenomenon that can occur when one or more cells of a string

The impact of silicon feedstock on the PV module cost

NARCIS (Netherlands)

del Coso, G.; del Cañizo, C.; Sinke, W.C.

2010-01-01

The impact of the use of new (solar grade) silicon feedstock materials on the manufacturing cost of wafer-based crystalline silicon photovoltaic modules is analyzed considering effects of material cost, efficiency of utilisation, and quality. Calculations based on data provided by European industry

Simulation of thermal properties of the silicon detector modules in ATLAS

CERN Document Server

Duerdoth, I P; Yuldashev, B S

2002-01-01

The temperature distribution and power flow from cell on the Silicon Module of the Forward Semiconductor Tracker in the ATLAS experiment have been simulated for irradiated detector. Power generated by conduction was compared for the modules with one and two cooling points. To obtain an optimal cooling temperature, the temperature of the hottest cell was plotted against power on the silicon module. The analysis of the approximation function and values for the critical power for each cooling temperature are presented. The optimal value of the cooling temperature occurred to be 260 K. (author)

Design and test of a prototype silicon detector module for ATLAS Semiconductor Tracker endcaps

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Clark, A.G.; Donega, M.; D'Onofrio, M.

2005-01-01

The ATLAS Semiconductor Tracker (SCT) will be a central part of the tracking system of the ATLAS experiment. The SCT consists of four concentric barrels of silicon detectors as well as two silicon endcap detectors formed by nine disks each. The layout of the forward silicon detector module presented in this paper is based on the approved layout of the silicon detectors of the SCT, their geometry and arrangement in disks, but uses otherwise components identical to the barrel modules of the SCT. The module layout is optimized for excellent thermal management and electrical performance, while keeping the assembly simple and adequate for a large scale module production. This paper summarizes the design and layout of the module and present results of a limited prototype production, which has been extensively tested in the laboratory and testbeam. The module design was not finally adopted for series production because a dedicated forward hybrid layout was pursued

Development and implementation of quality control strategies for CMS silicon strip tracker modules

CERN Document Server

Dirkes, Guido

The LHC will explore physics at the energy frontier and will address many open questions in particle physics, like the search for the Higgs boson or Supersymmetry. For both high resolution track and vertex reconstruction is vital. The CMS silicon tracker consists of 15232 detector modules. Production and assembly of these will span two and a half years period, during which the quality control chain has to ensure functionality and reliability of the modules produced. The CMS group in Karlsruhe will produce and qualify 1600 modules. Therefore automatic test systems are developed and test strategies are worked out. Already during the RnD phase, first prototype tests were performed and some weak points of the design were uncovered. Two test stations are built. One focuses on a fast functionality test, including an active thermal cycle. The other focuses on debugging and repair requirements, including additional test options with lasers, radioactive sources, probes and infrared LEDs. For quality control measuremen...

77 FR 35425 - Crystalline Silicon Photovoltaic Cells and Modules From China; Scheduling of the Final Phase of...

Science.gov (United States)

2012-06-13

... Silicon Photovoltaic Cells and Modules From China; Scheduling of the Final Phase of Countervailing Duty... silicon photovoltaic cells and modules, provided for in subheadings 8501.31.80, 8501.61.00, 8507.20.80... photovoltaic cells, and modules, laminates, and panels, consisting of crystalline silicon photovoltaic cells...

Optical modulation in silicon-vanadium dioxide photonic structures

Science.gov (United States)

Miller, Kevin J.; Hallman, Kent A.; Haglund, Richard F.; Weiss, Sharon M.

2017-08-01

All-optical modulators are likely to play an important role in future chip-scale information processing systems. In this work, through simulations, we investigate the potential of a recently reported vanadium dioxide (VO2) embedded silicon waveguide structure for ultrafast all-optical signal modulation. With a VO2 length of only 200 nm, finite-differencetime- domain simulations suggest broadband (200 nm) operation with a modulation greater than 12 dB and an insertion loss of less than 3 dB. Predicted performance metrics, including modulation speed, modulation depth, optical bandwidth, insertion loss, device footprint, and energy consumption of the proposed Si-VO2 all-optical modulator are benchmarked against those of current state-of-the-art all-optical modulators with in-plane optical excitation.

Reliability improvement of multiversion software by exchanging modules

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Shima, Kazuyuki; Matsumoto, Ken-ichi; Torii, Koji

1996-01-01

In this paper, we proposes a method to improve reliability of multiversion software. In CER proposed in, checkpoints are put in versions of program and errors of versions are detected and recovered at the checkpoints. It prevent versions from failing and improve the reliability of multiversion software. But it is point out that CER decreases the reliability of the multiversion software if the detection and recovery of errors are assumed to be able to fail. In the method proposed in this paper, versions of program are developed following the same module specifications. When failures of versions of program are detected, faulty modules are identified and replaced them to other modules. It create versions without faulty modules and improve the reliability of multiversion software. The failure probability of multiversion software is estimated to become about a hundredth of the failure probability by the proposed method where the failure probability of each version is 0.000698, the number of versions is 5 and the number of modules is 20. (author)

Photovoltaic Module Reliability Workshop 2010: February 18-19, 2010

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kurtz, J.

2013-11-01

NREL's Photovoltaic (PV) Module Reliability Workshop (PVMRW) brings together PV reliability experts to share information, leading to the improvement of PV module reliability. Such improvement reduces the cost of solar electricity and promotes investor confidence in the technology--both critical goals for moving PV technologies deeper into the electricity marketplace.

Photovoltaic Module Reliability Workshop 2011: February 16-17, 2011

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kurtz, S.

2013-11-01

NREL's Photovoltaic (PV) Module Reliability Workshop (PVMRW) brings together PV reliability experts to share information, leading to the improvement of PV module reliability. Such improvement reduces the cost of solar electricity and promotes investor confidence in the technology--both critical goals for moving PV technologies deeper into the electricity marketplace.

Photovoltaic Module Reliability Workshop 2013: February 26-27, 2013

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kurtz, S.

2013-10-01

NREL's Photovoltaic (PV) Module Reliability Workshop (PVMRW) brings together PV reliability experts to share information, leading to the improvement of PV module reliability. Such improvement reduces the cost of solar electricity and promotes investor confidence in the technology--both critical goals for moving PV technologies deeper into the electricity marketplace.

Photovoltaic Module Reliability Workshop 2014: February 25-26, 2014

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kurtz, S.

2014-02-01

NREL's Photovoltaic (PV) Module Reliability Workshop (PVMRW) brings together PV reliability experts to share information, leading to the improvement of PV module reliability. Such improvement reduces the cost of solar electricity and promotes investor confidence in the technology--both critical goals for moving PV technologies deeper into the electricity marketplace.

Silicon nanowire networks for multi-stage thermoelectric modules

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Norris, Kate J.; Garrett, Matthew P.; Zhang, Junce; Coleman, Elane; Tompa, Gary S.; Kobayashi, Nobuhiko P.

2015-01-01

Highlights: • Fabricated flexible single, double, and quadruple stacked Si thermoelectric modules. • Measured an enhanced power production of 27%, showing vertical stacking is scalable. • Vertically scalable thermoelectric module design of semiconducting nanowires. • Design can utilize either p or n-type semiconductors, both types are not required. • ΔT increases with thickness therefore power/area can increase as modules are stacked. - Abstract: We present the fabrication and characterization of single, double, and quadruple stacked flexible silicon nanowire network based thermoelectric modules. From double to quadruple stacked modules, power production increased 27%, demonstrating that stacking multiple nanowire thermoelectric devices in series is a scalable method to generate power by supplying larger temperature gradient. We present a vertically scalable multi-stage thermoelectric module design using semiconducting nanowires, eliminating the need for both n-type and p-type semiconductors for modules

Cryogenic Silicon Microstrip Detector Modules for LHC

CERN Document Server

Perea-Solano, B

2004-01-01

CERN is presently constructing the LHC, which will produce collisions of 7 TeV protons in 4 interaction points at a design luminosity of 1034 cm-2 s-1. The radiation dose resulting from the operation at high luminosity will cause a serious deterioration of the silicon tracker performance. The state-of-art silicon microstrip detectors can tolerate a fluence of about 3 1014 cm-2 of hadrons or charged leptons. This is insufficient, however, for long-term operation in the central parts of the LHC trackers, in particular after the possible luminosity upgrade of the LHC. By operating the detectors at cryogenic temperatures the radiation hardness can be improved by a factor 10. This work proposes a cryogenic microstrip detector module concept which has the features required for the microstrip trackers of the upgraded LHC experiments at CERN. The module can hold an edgeless sensor, being a good candidate for improved luminosity and total cross-section measurements in the ATLAS, CMS and TOTEM experiments. The design o...

Large-scale module production for the CMS silicon strip tracker

CERN Document Server

Cattai, A

2005-01-01

The Silicon Strip Tracker (SST) for the CMS experiment at LHC consists of 210 m**2 of silicon strip detectors grouped into four distinct sub-systems. We present a brief description of the CMS Tracker, the industrialised detector module production methods and the current status of the SST with reference to some problems encountered at the factories and in the construction centres.

76 FR 81914 - Crystalline Silicon Photovoltaic Cells, Whether or Not Assembled Into Modules, From the People's...

Science.gov (United States)

2011-12-29

... Photovoltaic Cells, Whether or Not Assembled Into Modules, From the People's Republic of China: Postponement of... investigation of crystalline silicon photovoltaic cells, whether or not assembled into modules, from the People..., 2012. \\1\\ See Crystalline Silicon Photovoltaic Cells, Whether or Not Assembled Into Modules, From the...

76 FR 66748 - Crystalline Silicon Photovoltaic Cells and Modules From China; Institution of Antidumping and...

Science.gov (United States)

2011-10-27

... INTERNATIONAL TRADE COMMISSION [Investigation Nos. 701-TA-481 and 731-TA-1190 (Preliminary)] Crystalline Silicon Photovoltaic Cells and Modules From China; Institution of Antidumping and Countervailing... imports from China of crystalline silicon photovoltaic cells and modules, provided for in subheadings 8541...

Test setup for long term reliability investigation of Silicon Carbide MOSFETs

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Baker, Nick; Munk-Nielsen, Stig; Beczkowski, Szymon

2013-01-01

Silicon Carbide MOSFETs are now widely available and have frequently been demonstrated to offer numerous advantages over Silicon based devices. However, reliability issues remain a significant concern in their realisation in commercial power electronic systems. In this paper, a test bench...... is designed that enables an accelerated power cycling test to be performed on packaged Silicon Carbide MOSFETs (TO-247) under realistic operating conditions. An accelerated power cycling test is then performed, with on-state resistance selected as the observed parameter to detect degradation. On......-state resistance is routinely monitored online through the use of an innovative voltage measurement system. The packaged Silicon Carbide MOSFET is shown to exhibit a 25% increase in on-state resistance as the device ages throughout its lifetime, with the test still on-going....

Thin film silicon modules on plastic superstrates

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Rath, J.K.; Liu, Y; Borreman, A.; Hamers, E.A.G.; Schlatmann, R.; Jongerden, G.J.; Schropp, R.E.I.

2008-01-01

The aim of this research is to fabricate high efficiency a-Si/μc-Si tandem solar cell modules on flexible (polymer) superstrates using the Helianthos concept. As a first step we began by depositing the top cell which contains an amorphous silicon (a-Si:H) i-layer of 350 nm made by VHF PECVD at 50

26+ Year Old Photovoltaic Power Plant: Degradation and Reliability Evaluation of Crystalline Silicon Modules -- South Array

Science.gov (United States)

Olakonu, Kolapo

As the use of photovoltaic (PV) modules in large power plants continues to increase globally, more studies on degradation, reliability, failure modes, and mechanisms of field aged modules are needed to predict module life expectancy based on accelerated lifetime testing of PV modules. In this work, a 26+ year old PV power plant in Phoenix, Arizona has been evaluated for performance, reliability, and durability. The PV power plant, called Solar One, is owned and operated by John F. Long's homeowners association. It is a 200 kW dc, standard test conditions (STC) rated power plant comprised of 4000 PV modules or frameless laminates, in 100 panel groups (rated at 175 kW ac). The power plant is made of two center-tapped bipolar arrays, the north array and the south array. Due to a limited time frame to execute this large project, this work was performed by two masters students (Jonathan Belmont and Kolapo Olakonu) and the test results are presented in two masters theses. This thesis presents the results obtained on the south array and the other thesis presents the results obtained on the north array. Each of these two arrays is made of four sub arrays, the east sub arrays (positive and negative polarities) and the west sub arrays (positive and negative polarities), making up eight sub arrays. The evaluation and analyses of the power plant included in this thesis consists of: visual inspection, electrical performance measurements, and infrared thermography. A possible presence of potential induced degradation (PID) due to potential difference between ground and strings was also investigated. Some installation practices were also studied and found to contribute to the power loss observed in this investigation. The power output measured in 2011 for all eight sub arrays at STC is approximately 76 kWdc and represents a power loss of 62% (from 200 kW to 76 kW) over 26+ years. The 2011 measured power output for the four south sub arrays at STC is 39 kWdc and represents a power

Crystalline Silicon Interconnected Strips (XIS). Introduction to a New, Integrated Device and Module Concept

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Van Roosmalen, J.; Bronsveld, P.; Mewe, A.; Janssen, G.; Stodolny, M.; Cobussen-Pool, E.; Bennett, I.; Weeber, A.; Geerligs, B. [ECN Solar Energy, P.O. Box 1, NL-1755 ZG, Petten (Netherlands)

2012-06-15

A new device concept for high efficiency, low cost, wafer based silicon solar cells is introduced. To significantly lower the costs of Si photovoltaics, high efficiencies and large reductions of metals and silicon costs are required. To enable this, the device architecture was adapted into low current devices by applying thin silicon strips, to which a special high efficiency back-contact heterojunction cell design was applied. Standard industrial production processes can be used for our fully integrated cell and module design, with a cost reduction potential below 0.5 euro/Wp. First devices have been realized demonstrating the principle of a series connected back contact hybrid silicon heterojunction module concept.

Compact temperature-insensitive modulator based on a silicon microring assistant Mach—Zehnder interferometer

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zhang Xue-Jian; Feng Xue; Zhang Deng-Ke; Huang Yi-Dong

2012-01-01

On the silicon-on-insulator platform, an ultra compact temperature-insensitive modulator based on a cascaded microring assistant Mach—Zehnder interferometer is proposed and demonstrated with numerical simulation. According to the calculated results, the tolerated variation of ambient temperature can be as high as 134 °C while the footprint of such a silicon modulator is only 340 μm 2 . (electromagnetism, optics, acoustics, heat transfer, classical mechanics, and fluid dynamics)

Digital Processor Module Reliability Analysis of Nuclear Power Plant

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lee, Sang Yong; Jung, Jae Hyun; Kim, Jae Ho; Kim, Sung Hun

2005-01-01

The system used in plant, military equipment, satellite, etc. consists of many electronic parts as control module, which requires relatively high reliability than other commercial electronic products. Specially, Nuclear power plant related to the radiation safety requires high safety and reliability, so most parts apply to Military-Standard level. Reliability prediction method provides the rational basis of system designs and also provides the safety significance of system operations. Thus various reliability prediction tools have been developed in recent decades, among of them, the MI-HDBK-217 method has been widely used as a powerful tool for the prediction. In this work, It is explained that reliability analysis work for Digital Processor Module (DPM, control module of SMART) is performed by Parts Stress Method based on MIL-HDBK-217F NOTICE2. We are using the Relex 7.6 of Relex software corporation, because reliability analysis process requires enormous part libraries and data for failure rate calculation

Investigation of the impact of mechanical stress on the properties of silicon sensor modules for the ATLAS Phase II upgrade

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Stegler, Martin; Polay, Luise; Spehrlich, Dennis; Bloch, Ingo [DESY, Zeuthen (Germany)

2016-07-01

The new ATLAS tracker for phase II will be composed of silicon pixel and strip sensor modules. Such a module consists of silicon sensors, boards and readout chips. In a currently ongoing study new adhesives to connect the modular components thermally and mechanically are examined. It was shown that the silicon sensor is exposed to mechanical stress when part of a module. Mechanical stress can cause damage to a sensor and can change the tensors of electrical properties. The study of the effects of mechanical stress on characteristics of the silicon sensor modules are the focus in this presentation. The thermal induced tensile stress near to the surface of a silicon sensor build in a module was simulated. A four point bending setup was used to measure the maximum tensile stress of silicon and to verify the piezoresistive effect on ATLAS07 sensors. The results of the electrical measurements and simulations of stressed silicon sensor modules are shown in the presentation.

Mass productions of thin film silicon PV modules

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tawada, Y.; Yamagishi, H.; Yamamoto, K.

2003-01-01

Mass production technologies of a-Si single junction and a-Si/poly-Si hybrid modules with stable 8% and 10% efficiency were developed in the Shiga factory of Kaneka Corporation. Kaneka instituted Kaneka Solartech Corporation (KST) as a subsidiary company of 100% shareholder and invested 20 MW production plant in Toyooka City in 1999. There are fully automatic thin film fabrication equipments. KST started the manufacturing amorphous silicon PV modules in 1999 and those of hybrid type PV modules in 2001. The largest size glass substrates used for these modules are 95x98 cm and variable size of modules are being produced by cutting these large area base modules. Recent production yields are higher than 98%. Production technologies of a-Si, thin c-Si and solar cells, performances of modules, applications to the rooftop PV systems will be presented. We estimate the production cost of a-Si solar modules and a-Si/thin c-Si hybrid solar modules. The future business plan of our new type solar modules and our production lines will be discussed. (author)

Thermal conductivity engineering in width-modulated silicon nanowires and thermoelectric efficiency enhancement

Science.gov (United States)

Zianni, Xanthippi

2018-03-01

Width-modulated nanowires have been proposed as efficient thermoelectric materials. Here, the electron and phonon transport properties and the thermoelectric efficiency are discussed for dimensions above the quantum confinement regime. The thermal conductivity decreases dramatically in the presence of thin constrictions due to their ballistic thermal resistance. It shows a scaling behavior upon the width-modulation rate that allows for thermal conductivity engineering. The electron conductivity also decreases due to enhanced boundary scattering by the constrictions. The effect of boundary scattering is weaker for electrons than for phonons and the overall thermoelectric efficiency is enhanced. A ZT enhancement by a factor of 20-30 is predicted for width-modulated nanowires compared to bulk silicon. Our findings indicate that width-modulated nanostructures are promising for developing silicon nanostructures with high thermoelectric efficiency.

Photovoltaic Module Reliability Workshop 2012: February 28 - March 1, 2012

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kurtz, S.

2013-11-01

NREL's Photovoltaic (PV) Module Reliability Workshop (PVMRW) brings together PV reliability experts to share information, leading to the improvement of PV module reliability. Such improvement reduces the cost of solar electricity and promotes investor confidence in the technology--both critical goals for moving PV technologies deeper into the electricity marketplace.

77 FR 4764 - Crystalline Silicon Photovoltaic Cells, Whether or Not Assembled Into Modules, From the People's...

Science.gov (United States)

2012-01-31

... Photovoltaic Cells, Whether or Not Assembled Into Modules, From the People's Republic of China: Second... preliminary determination of the countervailing duty investigation of crystalline silicon photovoltaic cells... February 13, 2012.\\1\\ \\1\\ See Crystalline Silicon Photovoltaic Cells, Whether or Not Assembled Into Modules...

77 FR 37877 - Crystalline Silicon Photovoltaic Cells, Whether or Not Assembled Into Modules, From the People's...

Science.gov (United States)

2012-06-25

... Photovoltaic Cells, Whether or Not Assembled Into Modules, From the People's Republic of China: Preliminary... crystalline silicon photovoltaic cells, whether or not assembled into modules (``solar cells''), from the.... Correction In the Federal Register notice Crystalline Silicon Photovoltaic Cells, Whether or Not Assembled...

Reliability and Energy Output of Bifacial Modules

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Van Aken, B.B.; Jansen, M.J.; Dekker, N.J.J. [ECN Solar Energy, Petten (Netherlands)

2013-06-15

Although flash tests under standard test conditions yields lower power due to transmittance of the back sheet, bifacial modules are expected to outperform their monofacial equivalents in terms of yearly energy output in the field. We compare flash tests for bifacial modules with and without a light scattering panel directly behind the modules: 3% more power output is obtained. We also report on the damp-heat reliability of modules with transparent back sheet. Finally we will present the results of an outdoor study comparing modules with transparent back sheet and modules with state-of-the-art AR coating on the front glass.

15th Workshop on Crystalline Silicon Solar Cells and Modules: Materials and Processes; Extended Abstracts and Papers

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Sopori, B. L.

2005-11-01

The National Center for Photovoltaics sponsored the 15th Workshop on Crystalline Silicon Solar Cells & Modules: Materials and Processes, held in Vail, CO, August 7-10, 2005. This meeting provided a forum for an informal exchange of technical and scientific information between international researchers in the photovoltaic and relevant non-photovoltaic fields. The workshop addressed the fundamental properties of PV silicon, new solar cell designs, and advanced solar cell processing techniques. A combination of oral presentations by invited speakers, poster sessions, and discussion sessions reviewed recent advances in crystal growth, new cell designs, new processes and process characterization techniques, and cell fabrication approaches suitable for future manufacturing demands. The theme of this year's meeting was 'Providing the Scientific Basis for Industrial Success.' Specific sessions during the workshop included: Advances in crystal growth and material issues; Impurities and defects in Si; Advanced processing; High-efficiency Si solar cells; Thin Si solar cells; and Cell design for efficiency and reliability module operation. The topic for the Rump Session was ''Si Feedstock: The Show Stopper'' and featured a panel discussion by representatives from various PV companies.

Production and Quality Assurance of Detector Modules for the LHCb Silicon Tracker

CERN Document Server

Volyanskyy, D; Agari, M; Bauer, C; Blouw, J; Hofmann, W; Löchner, S; Maciuc, F; Schmelling, M; Smale, N; Schwingenheuer, B; Voss, H; Borysova, M; Ohrimenko, O; Pugatch, V; Yakovenko, V; Bay, A; Bettler, M O; Fauland, P; Frei, R; Nicolas, L; Knecht, M; Perrin, A; Schneider, O; Tran, M T; Van Hunen, J; Vervink, K; Adeva, B; Esperante-Pereira, D; Gallas, A; Fungueirino-Pazos, J L; Lois, C; Pazos-Alvarez, A; Pérez-Trigo, E; Pló-Casasus, M; Vázquez, P; Bernhard, R P; Bernet, R; Gassner, J; Köstner, S; Lehner, F; Needham, M; Sakhelashvili, T; Steiner, S; Straumann, U; Van Tilburg, J; Vollhardt, A; Wenger, A

2007-01-01

The LHCb experiment, which is currently under construction at the Large Hadron Collider~(CERN, Geneva), is designed to study $CP$ violation and find rare decays in the $B$ meson system. To achieve the physics goals the LHCb detector must have excellent tracking performance. An important element of the LHCb tracking system is the Silicon Tracker, which covers a sensitive surface of about 12~m$^2$ with silicon microstrip detectors and includes about 272k readout channels. It uses up to 132~cm long detector modules with readout strips of up to 38~cm in length and up to 57~cm long Kapton interconnects in between sensors and readout hybrids. The production of detector modules has been completed recently and the detector is currently under installation. A rigorous quality assurance programme has been performed to ensure that the detector modules meet the mechanical and electrical requirements and study their various characteristics. In this paper, the detector design, the module production steps, and the module qua...

77 FR 10478 - Crystalline Silicon Photovoltaic Cells, Whether or Not Assembled Into Modules, From the People's...

Science.gov (United States)

2012-02-22

... Photovoltaic Cells, Whether or Not Assembled Into Modules, From the People's Republic of China: Postponement of... determination in the countervailing duty investigation of crystalline silicon photovoltaic cells, whether or not... Crystalline Silicon Photovoltaic Cells, Whether or Not Assembled Into Modules, From the People's Republic of...

Effects of excitation intensity on the photocurrent response of thin film silicon solar modules

Science.gov (United States)

Kim, Q.; Shumka, A.; Trask, J.

1986-01-01

Photocurrent responses of amorphous thin film silicon solar modules at room temperature were studied at different excitation intensities using various monochromatic light sources. Photocurrent imaging techniques have been effectively used to locate rapidly, and non-destructively, failure and defect sites in the multilayer thin film device. Differences observed in the photocurrent response characteristics for two different cells in the same amorphous thin film silicon solar module suggest the possibility of the formation of dissimilarly active devices, even though the module is processed in the same fabrication process. Possible mechanisms are discussed.

A 240-channel thick film multi-chip module for readout of silicon drift detectors

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lynn, D.; Bellwied, R.; Beuttenmueller, R.; Caines, H.; Chen, W.; DiMassimo, D.; Dyke, H.; Elliott, D.; Grau, M.; Hoffmann, G.W.; Humanic, T.; Jensen, P.; Kleinfelder, S.A.; Kotov, I.; Kraner, H.W.; Kuczewski, P.; Leonhardt, B.; Li, Z.; Liaw, C.J.; LoCurto, G.; Middelkamp, P.; Minor, R.; Mazeh, N.; Nehmeh, S.; O'Conner, P.; Ott, G.; Pandey, S.U.; Pruneau, C.; Pinelli, D.; Radeka, V.; Rescia, S.; Rykov, V.; Schambach, J.; Sedlmeir, J.; Sheen, J.; Soja, B.; Stephani, D.; Sugarbaker, E.; Takahashi, J.; Wilson, K.

2000-01-01

We have developed a thick film multi-chip module for readout of silicon drift (or low capacitance ∼200 fF) detectors. Main elements of the module include a custom 16-channel NPN-BJT preamplifier-shaper (PASA) and a custom 16-channel CMOS Switched Capacitor Array (SCA). The primary design criteria of the module were the minimizations of the power (12 mW/channel), noise (ENC=490 e - rms), size (20.5 mmx63 mm), and radiation length (1.4%). We will discuss various aspects of the PASA design, with emphasis on the preamplifier feedback network. The SCA is a modification of an integrated circuit that has been previously described [1]; its design features specific to its application in the SVT (Silicon Vertex Tracker in the STAR experiment at RHIC) will be discussed. The 240-channel multi-chip module is a circuit with five metal layers fabricated in thick film technology on a beryllia substrate and contains 35 custom and commercial integrated circuits. It has been recently integrated with silicon drift detectors in both a prototype system assembly for the SVT and a silicon drift array for the E896 experiment at the Alternating Gradient Synchrotron at the Brookhaven National Laboratory. We will discuss features of the module's design and fabrication, report the test results, and emphasize its performance both on the bench and under experimental conditions

Reliability Analysis on NPP's Safety-Related Control Module with Field Data

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lee, Sang Yong; Jung, Jae Hyun; Kim, Seong Hun

2006-01-01

The automatic control systems used in nuclear power plant (NPP) consists of numerous control modules that can be considered to be a network of components various complex ways. The control modules require relatively high reliability than industrial electronic products. Reliability prediction provides the rational basis of system designs and also provides the safety significance of system operations. The aim of this paper is to minimize the deficiencies of the traditional reliability prediction method calculation using the available field return data. This way is possible to do more realistic reliability assessment. SAMCHANG Enterprise Company (SEC) has established database containing high quality data at the module and component level from module maintenance in NPP. On the basis of these, this paper compares results that add failure record (field data) to Telcordia-SR-332 reliability prediction model with MIL-HDBK-217F prediction results

SLAC modulator system improvements and reliability results

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Donaldson, A.R.

1998-06-01

In 1995, an improvement project was completed on the 244 klystron modulators in the linear accelerator. The modulator system has been previously described. This article offers project details and their resulting effect on modulator and component reliability. Prior to the project, the authors had collected four operating cycles (1991 through 1995) of MTTF data. In this discussion, the '91 data will be excluded since the modulators operated at 60 Hz. The five periods following the '91 run were reviewed due to the common repetition rate at 120 Hz

Development and evaluation of test stations for the quality assurance of the silicon micro-strip detector modules for the CMS experiment

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Poettgens, M.

2007-01-01

CMS (Compact Muon Solenoid) is one of four large-scale detectors which will be operated at the LHC (Large Hadron Collider) at the European Laboratory for Particle Physics (CERN). For the search for new physics the reconstruction of the collision products and their properties is essential. In the innermost part of the CMS detector the traces of ionizing particles are measured utilizing a silicon tracker. A large fraction of this detector is equipped with silicon micro-strip modules which provide a precise space resolution in 1-dimension. A module consists of a sensor for detection of particles, the corresponding read-out electronics (hybrid) and a mechanical support structure. Since the 15,148 modules, which will be installed in the silicon micro-strip detector, have a total sensitive surface area of about 198 m 2 , the inner tracker of CMS is the largest silicon tracking detector, which has ever been built. While the sensors and hybrids are produced in industry, the construction of the modules and the control of the quality is done by the members of the 21 participating institutes. Since the access to the silicon micro-strip tracker will be very limited after the installation in the CMS detector the installed modules must be of high quality. For this reason the modules are thoroughly tested and the test results are uploaded to a central database. By the development of a read-out system and the corresponding software the III. Physikalisches Institut made an important contribution for the electrical and functional quality control of hybrids and modules. The read-out system provides all features for the operation and test of hybrids and modules and stands out due to high reliability and simple handling. Because a very user-friedly and highly automated software it became the official test tool and was integrated in various test stands. The test stands, in which the read-out system is integrated in, are described and the tests which are implemented in the corresponding

Development and evaluation of test stations for the quality assurance of the silicon micro-strip detector modules for the CMS experiment

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Poettgens, M.

2007-11-22

CMS (Compact Muon Solenoid) is one of four large-scale detectors which will be operated at the LHC (Large Hadron Collider) at the European Laboratory for Particle Physics (CERN). For the search for new physics the reconstruction of the collision products and their properties is essential. In the innermost part of the CMS detector the traces of ionizing particles are measured utilizing a silicon tracker. A large fraction of this detector is equipped with silicon micro-strip modules which provide a precise space resolution in 1-dimension. A module consists of a sensor for detection of particles, the corresponding read-out electronics (hybrid) and a mechanical support structure. Since the 15,148 modules, which will be installed in the silicon micro-strip detector, have a total sensitive surface area of about 198 m{sup 2}, the inner tracker of CMS is the largest silicon tracking detector, which has ever been built. While the sensors and hybrids are produced in industry, the construction of the modules and the control of the quality is done by the members of the 21 participating institutes. Since the access to the silicon micro-strip tracker will be very limited after the installation in the CMS detector the installed modules must be of high quality. For this reason the modules are thoroughly tested and the test results are uploaded to a central database. By the development of a read-out system and the corresponding software the III. Physikalisches Institut made an important contribution for the electrical and functional quality control of hybrids and modules. The read-out system provides all features for the operation and test of hybrids and modules and stands out due to high reliability and simple handling. Because a very user-friedly and highly automated software it became the official test tool and was integrated in various test stands. The test stands, in which the read-out system is integrated in, are described and the tests which are implemented in the

Beam tests of ATLAS SCT silicon strip detector modules

CERN Document Server

Campabadal, F; Key, M; Lozano, M; Martínez, C; Pellegrini, G; Rafí, J M; Ullán, M; Johansen, L; Pommeresche, B; Stugu, B; Ciocio, A; Fadeev, V; Gilchriese, M G D; Haber, C; Siegrist, J; Spieler, H; Vu, C; Bell, P J; Charlton, D G; Dowell, John D; Gallop, B J; Homer, R J; Jovanovic, P; Mahout, G; McMahon, T J; Wilson, J A; Barr, A J; Carter, J R; Fromant, B P; Goodrick, M J; Hill, J C; Lester, C G; Palmer, M J; Parker, M A; Robinson, D; Sabetfakhri, A; Shaw, R J; Anghinolfi, F; Chesi, Enrico Guido; Chouridou, S; Fortin, R; Grosse-Knetter, J; Gruwé, M; Ferrari, P; Jarron, P; Kaplon, J; MacPherson, A; Niinikoski, T O; Pernegger, H; Roe, S; Rudge, A; Ruggiero, G; Wallny, R; Weilhammer, P; Bialas, W; Dabrowski, W; Grybos, P; Koperny, S; Blocki, J; Brückman, P; Gadomski, S; Godlewski, J; Górnicki, E; Malecki, P; Moszczynski, A; Stanecka, E; Stodulski, M; Szczygiel, R; Turala, M; Wolter, M; Ahmad, A; Benes, J; Carpentieri, C; Feld, L; Ketterer, C; Ludwig, J; Meinhardt, J; Runge, K; Mikulec, B; Mangin-Brinet, M; D'Onofrio, M; Donega, M; Moêd, S; Sfyrla, A; Ferrère, D; Clark, A G; Perrin, E; Weber, M; Bates, R L; Cheplakov, A P; Saxon, D H; O'Shea, V; Smith, K M; Iwata, Y; Ohsugi, T; Kohriki, T; Kondo, T; Terada, S; Ujiie, N; Ikegami, Y; Unno, Y; Takashima, R; Brodbeck, T; Chilingarov, A G; Hughes, G; Ratoff, P; Sloan, T; Allport, P P; Casse, G L; Greenall, A; Jackson, J N; Jones, T J; King, B T; Maxfield, S J; Smith, N A; Sutcliffe, P; Vossebeld, Joost Herman; Beck, G A; Carter, A A; Lloyd, S L; Martin, A J; Morris, J; Morin, J; Nagai, K; Pritchard, T W; Anderson, B E; Butterworth, J M; Fraser, T J; Jones, T W; Lane, J B; Postranecky, M; Warren, M R M; Cindro, V; Kramberger, G; Mandic, I; Mikuz, M; Duerdoth, I P; Freestone, J; Foster, J M; Ibbotson, M; Loebinger, F K; Pater, J; Snow, S W; Thompson, R J; Atkinson, T M; Bright, G; Kazi, S; Lindsay, S; Moorhead, G F; Taylor, G N; Bachindgagyan, G; Baranova, N; Karmanov, D; Merkine, M; Andricek, L; Bethke, Siegfried; Kudlaty, J; Lutz, Gerhard; Moser, H G; Nisius, R; Richter, R; Schieck, J; Cornelissen, T; Gorfine, G W; Hartjes, F G; Hessey, N P; de Jong, P; Muijs, A J M; Peeters, S J M; Tomeda, Y; Tanaka, R; Nakano, I; Dorholt, O; Danielsen, K M; Huse, T; Sandaker, H; Stapnes, S; Bargassa, Pedrame; Reichold, A; Huffman, T; Nickerson, R B; Weidberg, A; Doucas, G; Hawes, B; Lau, W; Howell, D; Kundu, N; Wastie, R; Böhm, J; Mikestikova, M; Stastny, J; Broklová, Z; Broz, J; Dolezal, Z; Kodys, P; Kubík, P; Reznicek, P; Vorobel, V; Wilhelm, I; Chren, D; Horazdovsky, T; Linhart, V; Pospísil, S; Sinor, M; Solar, M; Sopko, B; Stekl, I; Ardashev, E N; Golovnya, S N; Gorokhov, S A; Kholodenko, A G; Rudenko, R E; Ryadovikov, V N; Vorobev, A P; Adkin, P J; Apsimon, R J; Batchelor, L E; Bizzell, J P; Booker, P; Davis, V R; Easton, J M; Fowler, C; Gibson, M D; Haywood, S J; MacWaters, C; Matheson, J P; Matson, R M; McMahon, S J; Morris, F S; Morrissey, M; Murray, W J; Phillips, P W; Tyndel, M; Villani, E G; Dorfan, D E; Grillo, A A; Rosenbaum, F; Sadrozinski, H F W; Seiden, A; Spencer, E; Wilder, M; Booth, P; Buttar, C M; Dawson, I; Dervan, P; Grigson, C; Harper, R; Moraes, A; Peak, L S; Varvell, K E; Chu Ming Lee; Hou Li Shing; Lee Shih Chang; Teng Ping Kun; Wan Chang Chun; Hara, K; Kato, Y; Kuwano, T; Minagawa, M; Sengoku, H; Bingefors, N; Brenner, R; Ekelöf, T J C; Eklund, L; Bernabeu, J; Civera, J V; Costa, M J; Fuster, J; García, C; García, J E; González-Sevilla, S; Lacasta, C; Llosa, G; Martí i García, S; Modesto, P; Sánchez, J; Sospedra, L; Vos, M; Fasching, D; González, S; Jared, R C; Charles, E

2005-01-01

The design and technology of the silicon strip detector modules for the Semiconductor Tracker (SCT) of the ATLAS experiment have been finalised in the last several years. Integral to this process has been the measurement and verification of the tracking performance of the different module types in test beams at the CERN SPS and the KEK PS. Tests have been performed to explore the module performance under various operating conditions including detector bias voltage, magnetic field, incidence angle, and state of irradiation up to 3 multiplied by 1014 protons per square centimetre. A particular emphasis has been the understanding of the operational consequences of the binary readout scheme.

Beam loss studies on silicon strip detector modules for the CMS experiment

CERN Document Server

Fahrer, Manuel

2006-01-01

The large beam energy of the LHC demands for a save beam abort system. Nevertheless, failures cannot be excluded with last assurance and are predicted to occur once per year. As the CMS experiment is placed in the neighboured LHC octant, it is affected by such events. The effect of an unsynchronized beam abort on the silicon strip modules of the CMS tracking detector has been investigated in this thesis by performing one accelerator and two lab experiments. The dynamical behaviour of operational parameters of modules and components has been recorded during simulated beam loss events to be able to disentangle the reasons of possible damages. The first study with high intensive proton bunches at the CERN PS ensured the robustness of the module design against beam losses. A further lab experiment with pulsed IR LEDs clarified the physical and electrical processes during such events. The silicon strip sensors on a module are protected against beam losses by a part of the module design that originally has not been...

High-speed and efficient silicon modulator based on forward-biased pin diodes

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Suguru eAkiyama

2014-11-01

Full Text Available Silicon modulators, which use the free-carrier-plasma effect, were studied, both analytically and experimentally. It was demonstrated that the loss-efficiency product, a-VpL, was a suitable figure of merit for silicon modulators that enabled their intrinsic properties to be compared. Subsequently, the dependence of VpL on frequency was expressed by using the electrical parameters of a phase shifter when the modulator was operated by assuming a simple driving configuration. A diode-based modulator operated in forward biased mode was expected from analyses to provide more efficient operation than that in reversed mode at high frequencies due to its large capacitance. We obtained an a-VpL of 9.5 dB-V at 12.5 GHz in experiments by using the fabricated phase shifter with pin diodes operated in forward biased mode. This a-VpL was comparable to the best modulators operated in depletion mode. The modulator exhibited a clear eye opening at 56 Gb/s operated by 2 V peak-to-peak signals that was achieved by incorporating such a phase shifter into a ring resonator.

Reliable and repeatable bonding technology for high temperature automotive power modules for electrified vehicles

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yoon, Sang Won; Shiozaki, Koji; Glover, Michael D; Mantooth, H Alan

2013-01-01

This paper presents the feasibility of highly reliable and repeatable copper–tin transient liquid phase (Cu–Sn TLP) bonding as applied to die attachment in high temperature operational power modules. Electrified vehicles are attracting particular interest as eco-friendly vehicles, but their power modules are challenged because of increasing power densities which lead to high temperatures. Such high temperature operation addresses the importance of advanced bonding technology that is highly reliable (for high temperature operation) and repeatable (for fabrication of advanced structures). Cu–Sn TLP bonding is employed herein because of its high remelting temperature and desirable thermal and electrical conductivities. The bonding starts with a stack of Cu–Sn–Cu metal layers that eventually transforms to Cu–Sn alloys. As the alloys have melting temperatures (Cu 3 Sn: > 600 °C, Cu 6 Sn 5 : > 400 °C) significantly higher than the process temperature, the process can be repeated without damaging previously bonded layers. A Cu–Sn TLP bonding process was developed using thin Sn metal sheets inserted between copper layers on silicon die and direct bonded copper substrates, emulating the process used to construct automotive power modules. Bond quality is characterized using (1) proof-of-concept fabrication, (2) material identification using scanning electron microscopy and energy-dispersive x-ray spectroscopy analysis, and (3) optical analysis using optical microscopy and scanning acoustic microscope. The feasibility of multiple-sided Cu–Sn TLP bonding is demonstrated by the absence of bondline damage in multiple test samples fabricated with double- or four-sided bonding using the TLP bonding process. (paper)

Monolithic amorphous silicon modules on continuous polymer substrate

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Grimmer, D.P. (Iowa Thin Film Technologies, Inc., Ames, IA (United States))

1992-03-01

This report examines manufacturing monolithic amorphous silicon modules on a continuous polymer substrate. Module production costs can be reduced by increasing module performance, expanding production, and improving and modifying production processes. Material costs can be reduced by developing processes that use a 1-mil polyimide substrate and multilayers of low-cost material for the front encapsulant. Research to speed up a-Si and ZnO deposition rates is needed to improve throughputs. To keep throughput rates compatible with depositions, multibeam fiber optic delivery systems for laser scribing can be used. However, mechanical scribing systems promise even higher throughputs. Tandem cells and production experience can increase device efficiency and stability. Two alternative manufacturing processes are described: (1) wet etching and sheet handling and (2) wet etching and roll-to-roll fabrication.

Planar Silicon Optical Waveguide Light Modulators

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Leistiko, Otto; Bak, H.

1994-01-01

that values in the nanosecond region should be possible, however, the measured values are high, 20 microseconds, due to the large area of the injector junctions, 1× 10¿2 cm2, and the limitations imposed by the detection circuit. The modulating properties of these devices are impressive, measurements......The results of an experimental investigation of a new type of optical waveguide based on planar technology in which the liglht guiding and modulation are achieved by exploiting free carrier effects in silicon are presented. Light is guided between the n+ substrate and two p+ regions, which also...... serve as carrier injectors for controling absorption. Light confinement of single mode devices is good, giving spot sizes of 9 ¿m FWHM. Insertion loss measurements indicate that the absorption losses for these waveguides are extremely low, less 1 dB/cm. Estimates of the switching speed indicate...

SLAC modulator operation and reliability in the SLC Era

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Donaldson, A.R.; Ashton, J.R.

1992-06-01

A discussion of the operation and reliability of the 244 modulators in the SLAC linac with an emphasis on the past three years of operation. The linac modulators were designed and built in the 60's, upgraded for the SLAC Linear Collider (SLC) in the mid 80s, and despite their age are still reliable accelerator components. The 60s modulator operated at 65 MW peak and 83 kW average power. The upgrade resulted in 150 MW peak output at an average power of 87 kW, a modest increase since the repetition rate was dropped from 360 to 120 Hz. In the present accelerator configuration, the Linac operates as a source of electrons and positrons to a single pass coillider. The classic collider is a storage ring filled with oppositely charged, counter-rotating particles which are allowed to collide until an accelerator fault occurs and the stored beams are aborted. A reasonable storage ring can store and collide particles for as long as eight hours with a 10 or 20 minute filling time. A single pass collider, + on the other hand, can only produce e - and e + collisions at whatever rate the source operates. To be effective the SLC must operate at 120 Hz with a very high degree of reliability and on a continuous basis. Fortunately, the linac has a modest excess of modulator/klystron systems which allows some measure of redundancy and hence some freedom from the constraint that all 244 modulator/klystrons operate simultaneously. Nonetheless, high importance is placed on modulator MTBF and MTRR or, in the parlance of reliability experts and accelerator physicists, availability. This is especially true of the modulators associated with the fundamental requirements of a collider such as injection, compression and positron production

Reduction of the environmental impacts in crystalline silicon module manufacturing

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Alsema, E.A.|info:eu-repo/dai/nl/073416258; de Wild-Schoten, M.J.

2007-01-01

In this paper we review the most important options to reduce environmental impacts of crystalline silicon modules. We investigate which are the main barriers for implementation of the measure. Finally we review which measures to reduce environmental impacts could also lead to a cost reduction.

Improved ATIR concentrator photovoltaic module

Science.gov (United States)

Adriani, Paul M.; Mao, Erwang

2013-09-01

Novel aggregated total internal reflection (ATIR) concentrator photovoltaic module design comprises 2-D shaped primary and secondary optics that effectively combine optical efficiency, low profile, convenient range of acceptance angles, reliability, and manufacturability. This novel optical design builds upon previous investigations by improving the shapes of primary and secondary optics to enable improved long-term reliability and manufacturability. This low profile, low concentration (5x to 10x) design fits well with one-axis trackers that are often used for flat plate crystalline silicon photovoltaic modules in large scale ground mount installations. Standard mounting points, materials, and procedures apply without changes from flat plate modules.

Advanced Functionalities for Highly Reliable Optical Networks

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

An, Yi

This thesis covers two research topics concerning optical solutions for networks e.g. avionic systems. One is to identify the applications for silicon photonic devices for cost-effective solutions in short-range optical networks. The other one is to realise advanced functionalities in order...... to increase the availability of highly reliable optical networks. A cost-effective transmitter based on a directly modulated laser (DML) using a silicon micro-ring resonator (MRR) to enhance its modulation speed is proposed, analysed and experimentally demonstrated. A modulation speed enhancement from 10 Gbit...... interconnects and network-on-chips. A novel concept of all-optical protection switching scheme is proposed, where fault detection and protection trigger are all implemented in the optical domain. This scheme can provide ultra-fast establishment of the protection path resulting in a minimum loss of data...

Radiation Hard Silicon Photonics Mach-Zehnder Modulator for HEP applications: all-Synopsys SentaurusTM Pre-Irradiation Simulation

CERN Document Server

Cammarata, Simone

2017-01-01

Silicon Photonics may well provide the opportunity for new levels of integration between detectors and their readout electronics. This technology is thus being evaluated at CERN in order to assess its suitability for use in particle physics experiments. In order to check the agreement with measurements and the validity of previous device simulations, a pure Synopsys SentaurusTM simulation of an un-irradiated Mach-Zehnder silicon modulator has been carried out during the Summer Student project. Index Terms—Silicon Photonics, Mach-Zehnder modulator, electro-optic simulation, Synopsys SentaurusTM, electro-optic measurement, HEP.

12.5 Gb/s carrier-injection silicon Mach—Zehnder optical modulator

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Chen Hongtao; Ding Jianfeng; Yang Lin

2012-01-01

We demonstrate a 12.5 Gb/s carrier-injection silicon Mach—Zehnder optical modulator. Under a nonreturn-zero (NRZ) pre-emphasized electrical drive signal with voltage swing of 6.3 V and forward bias of 0.7 V, the eye is clearly opened with an extinction ratio of 8.4 dB. The device exhibits high modulation efficiency, with a figure of merit V π L of 0.036 V·mm. (semiconductor devices)

Monolithically interconnected Silicon-Film{trademark} module technology: Annual technical report, 25 November 1997--24 November 1998

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Hall, R.B.; Ford, D.H.; Rand, J.A.; Ingram, A.E.

1999-11-11

AstroPower continued its development of an advanced thin-silicon-based photovoltaic module product. This module combines the performance advantages of thin, light-trapped silicon layers with the capability of integration into a low-cost, monolithically interconnected array. This report summarizes the work carried out over the first year of a three-year, cost-shared contract, which has yielded the following results: Development of a low-cost, insulating, ceramic substrate that provides mechanical support at silicon growth temperatures, is matched to the thermal expansion of silicon, provides the optical properties required for light trapping through random texturing, and can be formed in large areas on a continuous basis. Different deposition techniques have been investigated, and AstroPower has developed deposition processes for the back conductive layer, the p-type silicon layer, and the mechanical/chemical barrier layer. Polycrystalline films of silicon have been grown on ceramics using AstroPower's Silicon-Film{trademark} process. These films are from 50 to 75 {micro}m thick, with columnar grains extending through the thickness of the film. Aspect ratios from 5:1 to 20:1 have been observed in these films.

Preliminary modulation transfer function study on amorphous silicon

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Khairul Anuar Mohd Salleh; Ab Razak Hamzah; Mohd Ashhar Khalid

2006-01-01

Modulation Transfer Function, (MTF) is the scientific means of evaluating the fundamental spatial resolution performance of an imaging system. In the study, the modulation transfer function of an amorphous silicon (aSi) sensor array is measured by using Edge Spread Function (ESF) Technique which is extracting a profile from the linearised image of the sharp edge. The Platinum foil is used to determine the ESF. The detector under study was a 2,304 (h) x 3,200 (v) total pixel matrix, 127 μm2 pixel pitch, 57% fill factor and using Gd2O2S:Tb Kodak Lanex Regular as the conversion screen. The ESF measurement is done by using 75 - 100 kV range of x-ray with constant mA. (Author)

ATLAS silicon module assembly and qualification tests at IFIC Valencia

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bernabeu, J; Civera, J V; Costa, M J; Escobar, C; Fuster, J; Garcia, C; Garcia-Navarro, J E; Gonzalez, F; Gonzalez-Sevilla, S; Lacasta, C; Llosa, G; Marti-Garcia, S; Minano, M; Mitsou, V A; Modesto, P; Nacher, J; Rodriguez-Oliete, R; Sanchez, F J; Sospedra, L; Strachko, V

2007-01-01

ATLAS experiment, designed to probe the interactions of particles emerging out of proton proton collisions at energies of up to 14 TeV, will assume operation at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) at CERN in 2007. This paper discusses the assembly and the quality control tests of forward detector modules for the ATLAS silicon microstrip detector assembled at the Instituto de Fisica Corpuscular (IFIC) in Valencia. The construction and testing procedures are outlined and the laboratory equipment is briefly described. Emphasis is given on the module quality achieved in terms of mechanical and electrical stability

Design of thermoelectric modules for both mechanical reliability and performance using FE simulation

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Sarhadi, Ali; Bjørk, Rasmus; Pryds, Nini

for these two objectives. The current study deals with FE simulation of the TE modules to optimize their geometrical dimension in terms of mechanical reliability and performance. First, FE simulation of a TE module consisting of bismuth telluride alloys is carried out and the induced thermal stresses, output......, the geometrical dimensions of the TE elements for both mechanical reliability and performance are optimized to obtain a compromise design. The present work provides a basis for optimizing the TE modules in terms of their life time and performance.......Thermo-mechanical modeling of the TE modules provides an efficient tool for assessing the mechanical strength of the modules against the induced thermal stresses and subsequently optimizing them in terms of the mechanical reliability. However, the design of TE modules in terms of mechanical...

Modulated surface textures for enhanced scattering in thin-film silicon solar cells

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Isabella, O.; Battaglia, C.; Ballif, C.; Zeman, M.

2012-01-01

Nano-scale randomly textured front transparent oxides are superposed on micro-scale etched glass substrates to form modulated surface textures. The resulting enhanced light scattering is implemented in single and double junction thin-film silicon solar cells.

Characterization of Ni/SnPb-TiW/Pt Flip Chip Interconnections in Silicon Pixel Detector Modules

CERN Document Server

Karadzhinova, Aneliya; Härkönen, Jaakko; Luukka, Panja-riina; Mäenpää, Teppo; Tuominen, Eija; Haeggstrom, Edward; Kalliopuska, Juha; Vahanen, Sami; Kassamakov, Ivan

2014-01-01

In contemporary high energy physics experiments, silicon detectors are essential for recording the trajectory of new particles generated by multiple simultaneous collisions. Modern particle tracking systems may feature 100 million channels, or pixels, which need to be individually connected to read-out chains. Silicon pixel detectors are typically connected to readout chips by flip-chip bonding using solder bumps. High-quality electro-mechanical flip-chip interconnects minimizes the number of dead read-out channels in the particle tracking system. Furthermore, the detector modules must endure handling during installation and withstand heat generation and cooling during operation. Silicon pixel detector modules were constructed by flip-chip bonding 16 readout chips to a single sensor. Eutectic SnPb solder bumps were deposited on the readout chips and the sensor chips were coated with TiW/Pt thin film UBM (under bump metallization). The modules were assembled at Advacam Ltd, Finland. We studied the uniformity o...

Potential-Induced Degradation-Delamination Mode in Crystalline Silicon Modules: Preprint

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Hacke, Peter L [National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), Golden, CO (United States); Kempe, Michael D [National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), Golden, CO (United States); Wohlgemuth, John [National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), Golden, CO (United States); Li, Jichao [SunPower Corporation; Shen, Yu-Chen [SunPower Corporation

2018-03-21

A test sequence producing potential-induced degradation-delamination (PID-d) in crystalline silicon modules has been tested and found comparable under visual inspection to cell/encapsulant delamination seen in some fielded modules. Four commercial modules were put through this sequence, 85 degrees C, 85%, 1000 h damp heat, followed by an intensive PID stress sequence of 72 degrees C, 95% RH, and -1000 V, with the module face grounded using a metal foil. The 60 cell c-Si modules exhibiting the highest current transfer (4.4 center dot 10-4 A) exhibited PID-d at the first inspection after 156 h of PID stress. Effects promoting PID-d are reduced adhesion caused by damp heat, sodium migration further reducing adhesion to the cells, and gaseous products of electrochemical reactions driven by the applied system voltage. A new work item proposal for an IEC test standard to evaluate for PID-d is anticipated.

77 FR 25400 - Crystalline Silicon Photovoltaic Cells, Whether or Not Assembled Into Modules, From the People's...

Science.gov (United States)

2012-04-30

... Photovoltaic Cells, Whether or Not Assembled Into Modules, From the People's Republic of China: Alignment of... crystalline silicon photovoltaic cells, whether or not assembled into modules (solar cells) from the People's... Photovoltaic Cells, Whether or Not Assembled Into Modules, From the People's Republic of China: Initiation of...

77 FR 14732 - Crystalline Silicon Photovoltaic Cells, Whether or Not Assembled Into Modules, From the People's...

Science.gov (United States)

2012-03-13

... Photovoltaic Cells, Whether or Not Assembled Into Modules, From the People's Republic of China: Postponement of... of an antidumping duty investigation of crystalline silicon photovoltaic cells, whether or not... currently due no later than March 27, 2012. \\1\\ See Crystalline Silicon Photovoltaic Cells, Whether or Not...

The vital role of manufacturing quality in the reliability of PV modules

Science.gov (United States)

Rusch, Peter

2014-10-01

The influence of manufacturing quality on the reliability of PV modules coming out of today's factories has been, and is still, under estimated among investors and buyers. The main reason is perception. Contrary to popular belief, PV modules are not a commodity. Module quality does differ among module brands. Certification alone does not guarantee the quality or reliability of a module. Cost reductions in manufacturing have unequivocally affected module quality. And the use of new, cheaper materials has had a measureable impact on module reliability. The need for meaningful manufacturing quality standards has been understood by the leading technical institutions and important industry players. The fact that most leading PV panel manufacturers have been certified according to ISO 9001 has led to some level of improvement and higher effectiveness. The new ISO 9001 PV QMS standards will be a major step in providing a tool to assess PV manufacturers' quality management systems. The current lack of sufficient standards has still got a negative influence on the quality of modules being installed today. Today every manufacturer builds their modules in their own way with little standardization or adherence to quality processes and methods, which are commonplace in other manufacturing industries. Although photovoltaic technology is to a great extent mature, the way modules are being produced has changed significantly over the past few years and it continues to change at a rapid pace. Investors, financiers and lenders stand the most to gain from PV systems over the long-term, but also the most to lose. Investors, developers, EPC, O&M and solar asset management companies must all manage manufacturing quality more proactively or they will face unexpected risks and failures down the road. Manufacturing quality deserves more transparency and attention, as it is a major driver of module performance and reliability. This paper will explain the benefits of good manufacturing

Investigating PID Shunting in Polycrystalline Silicon Modules via Multiscale, Multitechnique Characterization

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Harvey, Steven P [National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), Golden, CO (United States); Moseley, John [National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), Golden, CO (United States); Norman, Andrew [National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), Golden, CO (United States); Hacke, Peter L [National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), Golden, CO (United States); Johnston, Steven [National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), Golden, CO (United States); Al-Jassim, Mowafak M [National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), Golden, CO (United States); Stokes, Adam [Colorado School of Mines; Gorman, Brian [Colorado School of Mines

2018-02-27

We investigated the potential-induced degradation (PID) shunting mechanism in multicrystalline-silicon photovoltaic modules by using a multiscale, multitechnique characterization approach. Both field-stressed modules and laboratory-stressed mini modules were studied. We used photoluminescence, electroluminescence, and dark lock-in thermography imaging to identify degraded areas at the module scale. Small samples were then removed from degraded areas, laser marked, and imaged by scanning electron microscopy. We used simultaneous electron-beam induced current imaging and focused ion beam milling to mark around PID shunts for chemical analysis by time-of-flight secondary-ion mass spectrometry or to isolate individual shunt defects for transmission electron microscopy and atom-probe tomography analysis. By spanning a range of 10 orders of magnitude in size, this approach enabled us to investigate the root-cause mechanisms for PID shunting. We observed a direct correlation between recombination active shunts and sodium content. The sodium content in shunted areas peaks at the SiNX/Si interface and is consistently observed at a concentration of 0.1% to 2% in shunted areas. Analysis of samples subjected to PID recovery, either activated by electron beam or thermal effects only, reveals that recovery of isolated shunts correlates with diffusion of sodium out of the structural defects to the silicon surface. We observed the role of oxygen and chlorine in PID shunting and found that those species - although sometimes present in structural defects where PID shunting was observed - do not play a consistent role in PID shunting.

Evaluation of a high resolution silicon PET insert module

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Grkovski, Milan, E-mail: milan.grkovski@ijs.si [Jožef Stefan Institute, Ljubljana (Slovenia); Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, New York, NY (United States); Brzezinski, Karol [IFIC/CSIC, Valencia (Spain); Cindro, Vladimir [Jožef Stefan Institute, Ljubljana (Slovenia); Clinthorne, Neal H. [University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI (United States); Kagan, Harris [Ohio State University, Columbus, OH (United States); Lacasta, Carlos [IFIC/CSIC, Valencia (Spain); Mikuž, Marko [Jožef Stefan Institute, Ljubljana (Slovenia); Solaz, Carles [IFIC/CSIC, Valencia (Spain); Studen, Andrej [Jožef Stefan Institute, Ljubljana (Slovenia); Weilhammer, Peter [Ohio State University, Columbus, OH (United States); Žontar, Dejan [Jožef Stefan Institute, Ljubljana (Slovenia)

2015-07-11

Conventional PET systems can be augmented with additional detectors placed in close proximity of the region of interest. We developed a high resolution PET insert module to evaluate the added benefit of such a combination. The insert module consists of two back-to-back 1 mm thick silicon sensors, each segmented into 1040 1 mm{sup 2} pads arranged in a 40 by 26 array. A set of 16 VATAGP7.1 ASICs and a custom assembled data acquisition board were used to read out the signal from the insert module. Data were acquired in slice (2D) geometry with a Jaszczak phantom (rod diameters of 1.2–4.8 mm) filled with {sup 18}F-FDG and the images were reconstructed with ML-EM method. Both data with full and limited angular coverage from the insert module were considered and three types of coincidence events were combined. The ratio of high-resolution data that substantially improves quality of the reconstructed image for the region near the surface of the insert module was estimated to be about 4%. Results from our previous studies suggest that such ratio could be achieved at a moderate technological expense by using an equivalent of two insert modules (an effective sensor thickness of 4 mm)

All-Optical 40 Gbit/s Regenerative Wavelength Conversion Based on Cross-Phase Modulation in a Silicon Nanowire

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Jensen, Asger Sellerup; Hu, Hao; Ji, Hua

2013-01-01

We successfully demonstrate all-optical regeneration of a 40 Gbit/s signal based on cross-phase modulation in a silicon nanowire. Bit-error-rate measurements show an average of 1.7dB improvement in receiver sensitivity after the regeneration.......We successfully demonstrate all-optical regeneration of a 40 Gbit/s signal based on cross-phase modulation in a silicon nanowire. Bit-error-rate measurements show an average of 1.7dB improvement in receiver sensitivity after the regeneration....

10 Gb/s operation of photonic crystal silicon optical modulators.

Science.gov (United States)

Nguyen, Hong C; Sakai, Yuya; Shinkawa, Mizuki; Ishikura, Norihiro; Baba, Toshihiko

2011-07-04

We report the first experimental demonstration of 10 Gb/s modulation in a photonic crystal silicon optical modulator. The device consists of a 200 μm-long SiO2-clad photonic crystal waveguide, with an embedded p-n junction, incorporated into an asymmetric Mach-Zehnder interferometer. The device is integrated on a SOI chip and fabricated by CMOS-compatible processes. With the bias voltage set at 0 V, we measure a V(π)L pseudo-random bit sequence signal. An open eye pattern is observed at bitrates of 10 Gb/s and 2 Gb/s, with and without pre-emphasis of the drive signal, respectively.

THE INFLUENCE OF SUNLIGHT AND WIND ON THE POLYCRYSTALLINE SILICON MODULES

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Piotr Lichograj

2016-12-01

Full Text Available Changing conditions have a significant impact on the efficiency and durability of photovoltaic cells. On photovoltaic modules have also influence such external factors as temperature of the module, which changes during the long exposure to light radiation, wind, pollution and the frequency of rainfall. Parameters of PV modules provided by the manufacturers differ significantly from the results achieved under natural conditions. This work presents the laboratory study on the impact of temperature of the polycrystalline silicon module to the change of generated voltage tested with no load. Research confirms the correlation of temperature increase during the long exposure to light radiation with a voltage drop. At the same time simulation of wind causes the cooling of the module and increase the voltage circuit. Further development of research on the effects of environmental conditions will allow for accurate placement optimization of photovoltaic farms.

Reliability of conditioned pain modulation: a systematic review

Science.gov (United States)

Kennedy, Donna L.; Kemp, Harriet I.; Ridout, Deborah; Yarnitsky, David; Rice, Andrew S.C.

2016-01-01

Abstract A systematic literature review was undertaken to determine if conditioned pain modulation (CPM) is reliable. Longitudinal, English language observational studies of the repeatability of a CPM test paradigm in adult humans were included. Two independent reviewers assessed the risk of bias in 6 domains; study participation; study attrition; prognostic factor measurement; outcome measurement; confounding and analysis using the Quality in Prognosis Studies (QUIPS) critical assessment tool. Intraclass correlation coefficients (ICCs) less than 0.4 were considered to be poor; 0.4 and 0.59 to be fair; 0.6 and 0.75 good and greater than 0.75 excellent. Ten studies were included in the final review. Meta-analysis was not appropriate because of differences between studies. The intersession reliability of the CPM effect was investigated in 8 studies and reported as good (ICC = 0.6-0.75) in 3 studies and excellent (ICC > 0.75) in subgroups in 2 of those 3. The assessment of risk of bias demonstrated that reporting is not comprehensive for the description of sample demographics, recruitment strategy, and study attrition. The absence of blinding, a lack of control for confounding factors, and lack of standardisation in statistical analysis are common. Conditioned pain modulation is a reliable measure; however, the degree of reliability is heavily dependent on stimulation parameters and study methodology and this warrants consideration for investigators. The validation of CPM as a robust prognostic factor in experimental and clinical pain studies may be facilitated by improvements in the reporting of CPM reliability studies. PMID:27559835

Generation of tunable, high repetition rate frequency combs with equalized spectra using carrier injection based silicon modulators

Science.gov (United States)

Nagarjun, K. P.; Selvaraja, Shankar Kumar; Supradeepa, V. R.

2016-03-01

High repetition-rate frequency combs with tunable repetition rate and carrier frequency are extensively used in areas like Optical communications, Microwave Photonics and Metrology. A common technique for their generation is strong phase modulation of a CW-laser. This is commonly implemented using Lithium-Niobate based modulators. With phase modulation alone, the combs have poor spectral flatness and significant number of missing lines. To overcome this, a complex cascade of multiple intensity and phase modulators are used. A comb generator on Silicon based on these principles is desirable to enable on-chip integration with other functionalities while reducing power consumption and footprint. In this work, we analyse frequency comb generation in carrier injection based Silicon modulators. We observe an interesting effect in these comb generators. Enhanced absorption accompanying carrier injection, an undesirable effect in data modulators, shapes the amplitude here to enable high quality combs from a single modulator. Thus, along with reduced power consumption to generate a specific number of lines, the complexity has also been significantly reduced. We use a drift-diffusion solver and mode solver (Silvaco TCAD) along with Soref-Bennett relations to calculate the variations in refractive indices and absorption of an optimized Silicon PIN - waveguide modulator driven by an unbiased high frequency (10 Ghz) voltage signal. Our simulations demonstrate that with a device length of 1 cm, a driving voltage of 2V and minor shaping with a passive ring-resonator filter, we obtain 37 lines with a flatness better than 5-dB across the band and power consumption an order of magnitude smaller than Lithium-Niobate modulators.

Decade of PV Industry R and D Advances in Silicon Module Manufacturing

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Symko-Davis, M.; Mitchell, R.L.; Witt, C.E.; Thomas, H.P. [National Renewable Energy Laboratory; King, R.[U.S. Department of Energy; Ruby, D.S. [Sandia National Laboratories

2001-01-18

The US Photovoltaic (PV) industry has made significant technical advances in crystalline silicon (Si) module manufacturing through the PV Manufacturing R and D Project during the past decade. Funded Si technologies in this project have been Czochralski, cast polycrystalline, edge-defined film-fed growth (EFG) ribbon, string ribbon, and Si-film. Specific R and D Si module-manufacturing categories that have shown technical growth and will be discussed are in crystal growth and processing, wafering, cell fabrication, and module manufacturing. These R and D advancements since 1992 have contributed to a 30% decrease in PV manufacturing costs and stimulated a sevenfold increase in PV production capacity.

Development in fiscal 1999 of technologies to put photovoltaic power generation systems into practical use. Development of thin film solar cell manufacturing technologies (Development of low-cost large-area module manufacturing technologies, and development of technologies to manufacture amorphous silicon/thin film poly-crystalline silicon hybrid thin film solar cells); 1999 nendo taiyoko hatsuden system jitsuyoka gijutsu kaihatsu seika hokokusho. Usumaku taiyo denchi no seizo gijutsu kaihatsu (tei cost daimenseki module seizo kaihatsu (oyogata shinkozo usumaku taiyo denchi no seizo gijutsu kaihatsu (amorphous silicon / usumaku takessho silicon hybrid usumaku taiyo denchi no seizo gijutsu kaihatsu))

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

NONE

2000-03-01

Developmental research has been performed on large-area low-cost manufacturing technologies on hybrid thin film solar cells of amorphous silicon and poly-crystalline silicon. This paper summarizes the achievements in fiscal 1999. The research has been performed on a texture construction formed naturally on silicon surface, and thin film poly-crystalline silicon cells with STAR structure having a rear side reflection layer to increase light absorption. The research achievements during the current fiscal year may be summarized as follows: the laser scribing technology for thin film poly-crystalline silicon was established, which is important for modularization, making fabrication of low-cost and large-area modules possible; a stabilization efficiency of 11.3% was achieved in a hybrid mini module comprising of ten-stage series integrated amorphous silicon and thin film poly-crystalline silicon; structures different hybrid modules were discussed, whereas an initial efficiency of 10.3% (38.78W) was achieved in a sub-module having a substrate size of 910 mm times 455 mm; and feasibility of forming large-area hybrid modules was demonstrated. (NEDO)

Behavior of the potential-induced degradation of photovoltaic modules fabricated using flat mono-crystalline silicon cells with different surface orientations

Science.gov (United States)

Yamaguchi, Seira; Masuda, Atsushi; Ohdaira, Keisuke

2016-04-01

This paper deals with the dependence of the potential-induced degradation (PID) of flat, p-type mono-crystalline silicon solar cell modules on the surface orientation of solar cells. The investigated modules were fabricated from p-type mono-crystalline silicon cells with a (100) or (111) surface orientation using a module laminator. PID tests were performed by applying a voltage of -1000 V to shorted module interconnector ribbons with respect to an Al plate placed on the cover glass of the modules at 85 °C. A decrease in the parallel resistance of the (100)-oriented cell modules is more significant than that of the (111)-oriented cell modules. Hence, the performance of the (100)-oriented-cell modules drastically deteriorates, compared with that of the (111)-oriented-cell modules. This implies that (111)-oriented cells offer a higher PID resistance.

High-Efficiency Amorphous Silicon Alloy Based Solar Cells and Modules; Final Technical Progress Report, 30 May 2002--31 May 2005

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Guha, S.; Yang, J.

2005-10-01

The principal objective of this R&D program is to expand, enhance, and accelerate knowledge and capabilities for development of high-efficiency hydrogenated amorphous silicon (a-Si:H) and amorphous silicon-germanium alloy (a-SiGe:H) related thin-film multijunction solar cells and modules with low manufacturing cost and high reliability. Our strategy has been to use the spectrum-splitting triple-junction structure, a-Si:H/a-SiGe:H/a-SiGe:H, to improve solar cell and module efficiency, stability, and throughput of production. The methodology used to achieve the objectives included: (1) explore the highest stable efficiency using the triple-junction structure deposited using RF glow discharge at a low rate, (2) fabricate the devices at a high deposition rate for high throughput and low cost, and (3) develop an optimized recipe using the R&D batch large-area reactor to help the design and optimization of the roll-to-roll production machines. For short-term goals, we have worked on the improvement of a-Si:H and a-SiGe:H alloy solar cells. a-Si:H and a-SiGe:H are the foundation of current a-Si:H based thin-film photovoltaic technology. Any improvement in cell efficiency, throughput, and cost reduction will immediately improve operation efficiency of our manufacturing plant, allowing us to further expand our production capacity.

77 FR 73017 - Crystalline Silicon Photovoltaic Cells, Whether or Not Assembled Into Modules, From the People's...

Science.gov (United States)

2012-12-07

... photovoltaic cells, whether or not assembled into modules (solar cells), from the People's Republic of China... published its final determination in the countervailing duty investigation of solar cells from the PRC.\\2... covered by this order is crystalline silicon photovoltaic cells, and modules, laminates, and panels...

System tests with silicon strip module prototypes for the Phase-2-upgrade of the CMS tracker

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Feld, Lutz; Karpinski, Waclaw; Klein, Katja; Preuten, Marius [I. Physikalisches Institut B, RWTH Aachen University (Germany)

2016-07-01

To prepare the CMS experiment for the High Luminosity LHC and its instantaneous luminosity of 5 . 10{sup 34} cm{sup -2}s{sup -1}, in the Long Shutdown 3 (around 2024) the CMS Silicon Tracker will be replaced. The Silicon Strip Modules for the new Tracker will host two vertically stacked sensors. The combination of hit information from both sensors will allow the estimation of the transverse momentum (p{sub T}) of charged particles in the module front-end. This can be used to identify hits from potential interesting high-p{sub T} tracks (above 2 GeV) for the first trigger level. The CMS Binary Chip (CBC) provides the analogue readout of two sensors and a digital section, into which the momentum discrimination is integrated. The modules will host a new DC-DC converter chain, which will allow individual powering of each module. First measurements with early prototypes on the interplay between DC-DC powering and the read-out functions of the module are presented in this talk.

Development and Evaluation of Test Stations for the Quality Assurance of the Silicon Micro-Strip Detector Modules for the CMS Experiment

CERN Document Server

Pöttgens, Michael

2007-01-01

CMS (Compact Muon Solenoid) is one of four large-scale detectors which will be operated at the LHC (Large Hadron Collider) at the European Laboratory for Particle Physics (CERN). For the search for new physics the reconstruction of the collision products and their properties is essential. In the innermost part of the CMS detector the traces of ionizing particles are measured utilizing a silicon tracker. A large fraction of this detector is equipped with silicon micro-strip modules which provide a precise space resolution in 1-dimension. A module consists of a sensor for detection of particles, the corresponding read-out electronics (hybrid) and a mechanical support structure. Since the 15,148 modules, which will be installed in the silicon micro-strip detector, have a total sensitive surface area of about 198 m2, the inner tracker of CMS is the largest silicon tracking detector, which has ever been built. While the sensors and hybrids are produced in industry, the construction of the modules and the control o...

Electrical production testing of the D0 Silicon microstrip tracker detector modules

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

D0, SMT Production Testing Group; /Fermilab

2006-03-01

The D0 Silicon Microstrip Tracker (SMT) is the innermost system of the D0 detector in Run 2. It consists of 912 detector units, corresponding to 5 different types of assemblies, which add up to a system with 792,576 readout channels. The task entrusted to the Production Testing group was to thoroughly debug, test and grade each detector module before its installation in the tracker. This note describes the production testing sequence and the procedures by which the detector modules were electrically tested and characterized at the various stages of their assembly.

77 FR 17439 - Crystalline Silicon Photovoltaic Cells, Whether or Not Assembled Into Modules, From the People's...

Science.gov (United States)

2012-03-26

... cells or solar cells assembled into modules or panels, and thus quantity is not recorded consistently in... silicon photovoltaic cells, whether or not assembled into modules (solar cells) from the People's Republic... History The Department initiated a countervailing duty (CVD) investigation of solar cells from the PRC on...

Photovoltaic module reliability improvement through application testing and failure analysis

Science.gov (United States)

Dumas, L. N.; Shumka, A.

1982-01-01

During the first four years of the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) National Photovoltatic Program, the Jet Propulsion Laboratory Low-Cost Solar Array (LSA) Project purchased about 400 kW of photovoltaic modules for test and experiments. In order to identify, report, and analyze test and operational problems with the Block Procurement modules, a problem/failure reporting and analysis system was implemented by the LSA Project with the main purpose of providing manufacturers with feedback from test and field experience needed for the improvement of product performance and reliability. A description of the more significant types of failures is presented, taking into account interconnects, cracked cells, dielectric breakdown, delamination, and corrosion. Current design practices and reliability evaluations are also discussed. The conducted evaluation indicates that current module designs incorporate damage-resistant and fault-tolerant features which address field failure mechanisms observed to date.

Modulation of thermal conductivity in kinked silicon nanowires: phonon interchanging and pinching effects.

Science.gov (United States)

Jiang, Jin-Wu; Yang, Nuo; Wang, Bing-Shen; Rabczuk, Timon

2013-04-10

We perform molecular dynamics simulations to investigate the reduction of the thermal conductivity by kinks in silicon nanowires. The reduction percentage can be as high as 70% at room temperature. The temperature dependence of the reduction is also calculated. By calculating phonon polarization vectors, two mechanisms are found to be responsible for the reduced thermal conductivity: (1) the interchanging effect between the longitudinal and transverse phonon modes and (2) the pinching effect, that is, a new type of localization, for the twisting and transverse phonon modes in the kinked silicon nanowires. Our work demonstrates that the phonon interchanging and pinching effects, induced by kinking, are brand-new and effective ways in modulating heat transfer in nanowires, which enables the kinked silicon nanowires to be a promising candidate for thermoelectric materials.

The all-optical modulator in dielectric-loaded waveguide with graphene-silicon heterojunction structure

Science.gov (United States)

Sun, Feiying; Xia, Liangping; Nie, Changbin; Shen, Jun; Zou, Yixuan; Cheng, Guiyu; Wu, Hao; Zhang, Yong; Wei, Dongshan; Yin, Shaoyun; Du, Chunlei

2018-04-01

All-optical modulators based on graphene show great promise for on-chip optical interconnects. However, the modulation performance of all-optical modulators is usually based on the interaction between graphene and the fiber, limiting their potential in high integration. Based on this point, an all-optical modulator in a dielectric-loaded waveguide (DLW) with a graphene-silicon heterojunction structure (GSH) is proposed. The DLW raises the waveguide mode, which provides a strong light-graphene interaction. Sufficient tuning of the graphene Fermi energy beyond the Pauli blocking effect is obtained with the presented GSH structure. Under the modulation light with a wavelength of 532 nm and a power of 60 mW, a modulation efficiency of 0.0275 dB µm-1 is achieved for light with a communication wavelength of 1.55 µm in the experiment. This modulator has the advantage of having a compact footprint, which may make it a candidate for achieving a highly integrated all-optical modulator.

Characterization of cell mismatch in a multi-crystalline silicon photovoltaic module

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Crozier, J.L.; Dyk, E.E. van; Vorster, F.J.

2012-01-01

In this study the causes and effects of cell mismatch were identified in a multi-crystalline silicon photovoltaic module. Different techniques were used to identify the causes of the mismatch, including Electroluminescence (EL) imaging, Infrared (IR) imaging, current–voltage (I–V) characteristics, worst-case cell determination and Large Area Laser Beam Induced Current (LA-LBIC) scans. In EL images the cracked cells, broken fingers and material defects are visible. The presence of poorly contacted cells results in the formation of hot-spots. LA-LBIC line scans give the relative photoresponse of the cells in the module. However, this technique is limited due to the penetration depth of the laser beam. The worst case cell determination compares the I–V curves of the whole module with the I–V curve of the module with one cell covered, allowing the evaluation of the performance of each cell in a series-connected string. These methods allowed detection of the poorly performing cells in the module. Using all these techniques an overall view of the photoresponse in the cells and their performance is obtained.

Characterization of cell mismatch in a multi-crystalline silicon photovoltaic module

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Crozier, J.L., E-mail: s207094248@live.nmmu.ac.za [Department of Physics, P.O. Box 77000, Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University, Port Elizabeth 6031 (South Africa); Dyk, E.E. van; Vorster, F.J. [Department of Physics, P.O. Box 77000, Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University, Port Elizabeth 6031 (South Africa)

2012-05-15

In this study the causes and effects of cell mismatch were identified in a multi-crystalline silicon photovoltaic module. Different techniques were used to identify the causes of the mismatch, including Electroluminescence (EL) imaging, Infrared (IR) imaging, current-voltage (I-V) characteristics, worst-case cell determination and Large Area Laser Beam Induced Current (LA-LBIC) scans. In EL images the cracked cells, broken fingers and material defects are visible. The presence of poorly contacted cells results in the formation of hot-spots. LA-LBIC line scans give the relative photoresponse of the cells in the module. However, this technique is limited due to the penetration depth of the laser beam. The worst case cell determination compares the I-V curves of the whole module with the I-V curve of the module with one cell covered, allowing the evaluation of the performance of each cell in a series-connected string. These methods allowed detection of the poorly performing cells in the module. Using all these techniques an overall view of the photoresponse in the cells and their performance is obtained.

Quality Assurance and Performance Tests of Silicon Detector Modules for the CMS/Tracker

CERN Document Server

Dragicevic, Marko

2005-01-01

After providing a short overview of the LHC accelerator, the CMS experiment and it’s various detector systems, we will have an in-depth look on silicon semiconductor particle detectors. Various important aspects like theoretical principles, radiation damage and actual design considerations are discussed and the quality assurance scheme for the sensor and module production is introduced. A strong emphasis is made on the ARC module teststand which was set up and operated be the author. Another important aspect in establishing a good quality assurance scheme is flexibility and keeping an eye on the unexpected. At one such occasion, the author had to gather custom made test equipment, to investigate certain effects in silicon sensors manufactured by ST Microelectronics. Conclusions from these measurement could only be drawn very cautiously, as the manufacturing process and many of its subtle changes, remained a well kept secret of the company. Nevertheless, the investigations proofed to be useful and ST Microel...

Overview of CMS robotic silicon module assembly hardware based on Aerotech Gantry Positioning system.

CERN Multimedia

Honma, Alan

1999-01-01

The goal of the robotic silicon module assembly pilot project is to fully automate the gluing and pick and placement of silicon sensors and front-end hybrid onto a carbon-fibre frame. The basis for thesystem is the Aerotech Gantry Positioning System (AGS10000) machineshown in the centre of the picture. To the left is the PC which contains the controller card and runs the user interface. To the rightis the rack of associated electronics which interfaces with the CERNbuilt tooling and vacuum chuck system.

Development of a multi-channel front-end electronics module based on ASIC for silicon strip array detectors

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zhao Xingwen; Yan Duo; Su Hong; Qian Yi; Kong Jie; Zhang Xueheng; Li Zhankui; Li Haixia

2014-01-01

The silicon strip array detector is one of external target facility subsystems in the Cooling Storage Ring on the Heavy Ion Research Facility at Lanzhou (HIRFL-CSR). Using the ASICs, the front-end electronics module has been developed for the silicon strip array detectors and can implement measurement of energy of 96 channels. The performance of the front-end electronics module has been tested. The energy linearity of the front-end electronics module is better than 0.3% for the dynamic range of 0.1∼0.7 V. The energy resolution is better than 0.45%. The maximum channel crosstalk is better than 10%. The channel consistency is better than 1.3%. After continuously working for 24 h at room temperature, the maximum drift of the zero-peak is 1.48 mV. (authors)

Investigation of the degradation of a thin-film hydrogenated amorphous silicon photovoltaic module

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

van Dyk, E.E.; Audouard, A.; Meyer, E.L. [Department of Physics, Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University, P.O. Box 77000, Port Elizabeth 6031 (South Africa); Woolard, C.D. [Department of Chemistry, Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University, P.O. Box 77000, Port Elizabeth 6031 (South Africa)

2007-01-23

The degradation of a thin-film hydrogenated single-junction amorphous silicon (a-Si:H) photovoltaic (PV) module has been studied. We investigated the different modes of electrical and physical degradation of a-Si:H PV modules by employing a degradation and failure assessment procedure used in conjunction with analytical techniques, including, scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and thermogravimetry. This paper reveals that due to their thickness, thin films are very sensitive to the type of degradation observed. Moreover, this paper deals with the problems associated with the module encapsulant, poly(ethylene-co-vinylacetate) (EVA). The main objective of this study was to establish the influence of outdoor environmental conditions on the performance of a thin-film PV module comprising a-Si:H single-junction cells. (author)

In-Situ Measurement of Power Loss for Crystalline Silicon Modules Undergoing Thermal Cycling and Mechanical Loading Stress Testing

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Spataru, Sergiu; Hacke, Peter; Sera, Dezso

We analyze the degradation of multi-crystalline silicon photovoltaic modules undergoing simultaneous thermal, mechanical, and humidity-freeze stress testing to develop a dark environmental chamber in-situ measurement procedure for determining module power loss. We analyze dark I-V curves measured...

Radiation Hard Silicon Photonics Mach-Zehnder Modulator for HEP applications: all-Synopsys Sentaurus™ Pre-Irradiation Simulation

CERN Document Server

Cammarata, Simone

2017-01-01

Silicon Photonics may well provide the opportunity for new levels of integration between detectors and their readout electronics. This technology is thus being evaluated at CERN in order to assess its suitability for use in particle physics experiments. In order to check the agreement with measurements and the validity of previous device simulations, a pure Synopsys Sentaurus™ simulation of an un-irradiated Mach-Zehnder silicon modulator has been carried out during the Summer Student project.

Progress in amorphous silicon based large-area multijunction modules

Science.gov (United States)

Carlson, D. E.; Arya, R. R.; Bennett, M.; Chen, L.-F.; Jansen, K.; Li, Y.-M.; Maley, N.; Morris, J.; Newton, J.; Oswald, R. S.; Rajan, K.; Vezzetti, D.; Willing, F.; Yang, L.

1996-01-01

Solarex, a business unit of Amoco/Enron Solar, is scaling up its a-Si:H/a-SiGe:H tandem device technology for the production of 8 ft2 modules. The current R&D effort is focused on improving the performance, reliability and cost-effectiveness of the tandem junction technology by systematically optimizing the materials and interfaces in small-area single- and tandem junction cells. Average initial conversion efficiencies of 8.8% at 85% yield have been obtained in pilot production runs with 4 ft2 tandem modules.

Modulator reliability and bandwidth improvement: replacing tetrodes with MOSFETs

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Donaldson, A.R.

1982-01-01

Three types of power MOS field effect transistors were studied with the intent of replacing a parallel pair of vacuum tube tetrodes in a linear modulator. The tetrodes have the shortest lifetimes of any other tubes in the system. The FETs offer definite performance advantages when compared to bipolar transistors and definite cost advantages when compared to vacuum tubes. Replacement of the tetrodes does however require careful consideration of voltage, current and to a lesser extent bandwidth capability in order to enhance overall modulator reliability without compromising present performance

Testbeam evaluation of silicon strip modules for ATLAS Phase - II Strip Tracker Upgrade

CERN Document Server

Blue, Andrew; The ATLAS collaboration; Ai, Xiaocong; Allport, Phillip; Arling, Jan-Hendrik; Atkin, Ryan Justin; Bruni, Lucrezia Stella; Carli, Ina; Casse, Gianluigi; Chen, Liejian; Chisholm, Andrew; Cormier, Kyle James Read; Cunningham, William Reilly; Dervan, Paul; Diez Cornell, Sergio; Dolezal, Zdenek; Dopke, Jens; Dreyer, Etienne; Dreyling-Eschweiler, Jan Linus Roderik; Escobar, Carlos; Fabiani, Veronica; Fadeyev, Vitaliy; Fernandez Tejero, Javier; Fleta Corral, Maria Celeste; Gallop, Bruce; Garcia-Argos, Carlos; Greenall, Ashley; Gregor, Ingrid-Maria; Greig, Graham George; Guescini, Francesco; Hara, Kazuhiko; Hauser, Marc Manuel; Huang, Yanping; Hunter, Robert Francis Holub; Keller, John; Klein, Christoph; Kodys, Peter; Koffas, Thomas; Kotek, Zdenek; Kroll, Jiri; Kuehn, Susanne; Lee, Steven Juhyung; Liu, Yi; Lohwasser, Kristin; Meszarosova, Lucia; Mikestikova, Marcela; Mi\\~nano Moya, Mercedes; Mori, Riccardo; Moser, Brian; Nikolopoulos, Konstantinos; Peschke, Richard; Pezzullo, Giuseppe; Phillips, Peter William; Poley, Anne-luise; Queitsch-Maitland, Michaela; Ravotti, Federico; Rodriguez Rodriguez, Daniel

2018-01-01

The planned HL-LHC (High Luminosity LHC) is being designed to maximise the physics potential of the LHC with 10 years of operation at instantaneous luminosities of \\mbox{$7.5\\times10^{34}\\;\\mathrm{cm}^{-2}\\mathrm{s}^{-1}$}. A consequence of this increased luminosity is the expected radiation damage requiring the tracking detectors to withstand hadron equivalences to over $1x10^{15}$ 1 MeV neutron equivalent per $cm^{2}$ in the ATLAS Strips system. The silicon strip tracker exploits the concept of modularity. Fast readout electronics, deploying 130nm CMOS front-end electronics are glued on top of a silicon sensor to make a module. The radiation hard n-in-p micro-strip sensors used have been developed by the ATLAS ITk Strip Sensor collaboration and produced by Hamamatsu Photonics. A series of tests were performed at the DESY-II test beam facility to investigate the detailed performance of a strip module with both 2.5cm and 5cm length strips before irradiation. The DURANTA telescope was used to obtain a pointing...

Performance of a PET detector module utilizing an array of silicon photodiodes to identify the crystal of interaction

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Moses, W.W.; Derenzo, S.E.; Nutt, R.; Digby, W.M.; Williams, C.W.; Andreaco, M.

1993-01-01

The authors initial performance results for a new multi-layer PET detector module consisting of an array of 3 mm square by 30 mm deep BGO crystals coupled on one end to a single photomultiplier tube and on the opposite end to an array of 3 mm square silicon photodiodes. The photomultiplier tube provides an accurate timing pulse and energy discrimination for all the crystals in the module, while the silicon photodiodes identify the crystal of interaction. When a single BGO crystal at +25 C is excited with 511 keV photons, the authors measure a photodiode signal centered at 700 electrons (e - ) with noise of 375 e - fwhm. When a four crystal/photodiode module is excited with a collimated line source of 511 keV photons, the crystal of interaction is correctly identified 82% of the time. The misidentification rate can be greatly reduced and an 8 x 8 crystal/photodiode module constructed by using thicker depletion layer photodiodes or cooling to 0 C

Current and future priorities for mass and material in silicon PV module recycling

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Olson, C.L.; Geerligs, L.J.; Goris, M.J.A.A.; Bennett, I.J. [ECN Solar Energy, P.O. Box 1, 1755 ZG Petten (Netherlands); Clyncke, J. [PV CYCLE, Rue Montoyer 23, 1000 Brussels (Belgium)

2013-10-15

A full description of the state-of-the-art PV recycling methods and their rationale is presented, which discusses the quality of the recycled materials and the fate of the substances which end up in the landfill. The aim is to flag the PV module components currently not recycled, which may have a priority in terms of their embedded energy, chemical nature or scarcity, for the next evolution of recycling. The sustainability of different recycling options, emerging in the literature on electronic waste recycling, and the possible improvement of the environmental footprint of silicon PV modules, will be discussed.

High-Performance Silicon-Germanium-Based Thermoelectric Modules for Gas Exhaust Energy Scavenging

Science.gov (United States)

Romanjek, K.; Vesin, S.; Aixala, L.; Baffie, T.; Bernard-Granger, G.; Dufourcq, J.

2015-06-01

Some of the energy used in transportation and industry is lost as heat, often at high-temperatures, during conversion processes. Thermoelectricity enables direct conversion of heat into electricity, and is an alternative to the waste-heat-recovery technology currently used, for example turbines and other types of thermodynamic cycling. The performance of thermoelectric (TE) materials and modules has improved continuously in recent decades. In the high-temperature range ( T hot side > 500°C), silicon-germanium (SiGe) alloys are among the best TE materials reported in the literature. These materials are based on non-toxic elements. The Thermoelectrics Laboratory at CEA (Commissariat à l'Energie Atomique et aux Energies Alternatives) has synthesized n and p-type SiGe pellets, manufactured TE modules, and integrated these into thermoelectric generators (TEG) which were tested on a dedicated bench with hot air as the source of heat. SiGe TE samples of diameter 60 mm were created by spark-plasma sintering. For n-type SiGe doped with phosphorus the peak thermoelectric figure of merit reached ZT = 1.0 at 700°C whereas for p-type SiGe doped with boron the peak was ZT = 0.75 at 700°C. Thus, state-of-the-art conversion efficiency was obtained while also achieving higher production throughput capacity than for competing processes. A standard deviation high reproducibility. A silver-paste-based brazing technique was used to assemble the TE elements into modules. This assembly technique afforded low and repeatable electrical contact resistance (high temperatures (up to 600°C), and thirty 20 mm × 20 mm TE modules were produced and tested. The results revealed the performance was reproducible, with power output reaching 1.9 ± 0.2 W for a 370 degree temperature difference. When the temperature difference was increased to 500°C, electrical power output increased to >3.6 W. An air-water heat exchanger was developed and 30 TE modules were clamped and connected electrically

Practical issues for testing thin film PV modules at standard test conditions.

OpenAIRE

Marín González, Omar; Raga Arroyo, Manuela Pilar; Alonso Garcia, M. Carmen; Muñoz-García, Miguel Angel

2013-01-01

Thin film photovoltaic (TF) modules have gained importance in the photovoltaic (PV) market. New PV plants increasingly use TF technologies. In order to have a reliable sample of a PV module population, a huge number of modules must be measured. There is a big variety of materials used in TF technology. Some of these modules are made of amorphous or microcrystalline silicon. Other are made of CIS or CdTe. Not all these materials respond the same under standard test conditions (STC) of power...

Time-resolved single-photon detection module based on silicon photomultiplier: A novel building block for time-correlated measurement systems

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Martinenghi, E., E-mail: edoardo.martinenghi@polimi.it; Di Sieno, L.; Contini, D.; Dalla Mora, A. [Dipartimento di Fisica, Politecnico di Milano, Piazza Leonardo da Vinci 32, 20133 Milano (Italy); Sanzaro, M. [Dipartimento di Elettronica, Informazione e Bioingegneria, Politecnico di Milano, Piazza Leonardo da Vinci 32, 20133 Milano (Italy); Pifferi, A. [Dipartimento di Fisica, Politecnico di Milano, Piazza Leonardo da Vinci 32, 20133 Milano (Italy); Istituto di Fotonica e Nanotecnologie, Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche, Piazza Leonardo da Vinci 32, 20133 Milano (Italy)

2016-07-15

We present the design and preliminary characterization of the first detection module based on Silicon Photomultiplier (SiPM) tailored for single-photon timing applications. The aim of this work is to demonstrate, thanks to the design of a suitable module, the possibility to easily exploit SiPM in many applications as an interesting detector featuring large active area, similarly to photomultipliers tubes, but keeping the advantages of solid state detectors (high quantum efficiency, low cost, compactness, robustness, low bias voltage, and insensitiveness to magnetic field). The module integrates a cooled SiPM with a total photosensitive area of 1 mm{sup 2} together with the suitable avalanche signal read-out circuit, the signal conditioning, the biasing electronics, and a Peltier cooler driver for thermal stabilization. It is able to extract the single-photon timing information with resolution better than 100 ps full-width at half maximum. We verified the effective stabilization in response to external thermal perturbations, thus proving the complete insensitivity of the module to environment temperature variations, which represents a fundamental parameter to profitably use the instrument for real-field applications. We also characterized the single-photon timing resolution, the background noise due to both primary dark count generation and afterpulsing, the single-photon detection efficiency, and the instrument response function shape. The proposed module can become a reliable and cost-effective building block for time-correlated single-photon counting instruments in applications requiring high collection capability of isotropic light and detection efficiency (e.g., fluorescence decay measurements or time-domain diffuse optics systems).

Time-resolved single-photon detection module based on silicon photomultiplier: A novel building block for time-correlated measurement systems

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Martinenghi, E.; Di Sieno, L.; Contini, D.; Dalla Mora, A.; Sanzaro, M.; Pifferi, A.

2016-01-01

We present the design and preliminary characterization of the first detection module based on Silicon Photomultiplier (SiPM) tailored for single-photon timing applications. The aim of this work is to demonstrate, thanks to the design of a suitable module, the possibility to easily exploit SiPM in many applications as an interesting detector featuring large active area, similarly to photomultipliers tubes, but keeping the advantages of solid state detectors (high quantum efficiency, low cost, compactness, robustness, low bias voltage, and insensitiveness to magnetic field). The module integrates a cooled SiPM with a total photosensitive area of 1 mm"2 together with the suitable avalanche signal read-out circuit, the signal conditioning, the biasing electronics, and a Peltier cooler driver for thermal stabilization. It is able to extract the single-photon timing information with resolution better than 100 ps full-width at half maximum. We verified the effective stabilization in response to external thermal perturbations, thus proving the complete insensitivity of the module to environment temperature variations, which represents a fundamental parameter to profitably use the instrument for real-field applications. We also characterized the single-photon timing resolution, the background noise due to both primary dark count generation and afterpulsing, the single-photon detection efficiency, and the instrument response function shape. The proposed module can become a reliable and cost-effective building block for time-correlated single-photon counting instruments in applications requiring high collection capability of isotropic light and detection efficiency (e.g., fluorescence decay measurements or time-domain diffuse optics systems).

Photovoltaic Cells and Modules towards Terawatt Era

Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

Vitezslav Benda

2017-01-01

Progresses in photovoltaic technologies over the past years are evident from the lower costs,the rising efficiency,to the great improvements in system reliability and yield.Cumulative installed power yearly growths were on an average more than 40％ in the period from 2007 to 2016 and in 2016,the global cumulative photovoltaic power installed has reached 320 GWp.The level 0.5 TWp could be reached before 2020.The production processes in the solar industry still have great potential for optimization both wafer based and thin film technologies.Trends following from the present technology levels are discussed,also taking into account other parts of photovoltaic systems that influence the cost of electrical energy produced.Present developments in the three generations of photovoltaic modules are discussed along with the criteria for the selection of appropriate photovoltaic module manufacturing technologies.The wafer based crystalline silicon (c-silicon) technologies have the role of workhorse of present photovoltaic power generation,representing more than 90％ of total module production.Further technology improvements have to be implemented without significantly increasing costs per unit,despite the necessarily more complex manufacturing processes involved.The tandem of c-silicon and thin film cells is very promising.Durability may be a limiting factor of this technology due to the dependence of the produced electricity cost on the module service time.

Life cycle assessment of grid-connected photovoltaic power generation from crystalline silicon solar modules in China

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hou, Guofu; Sun, Honghang; Jiang, Ziying; Pan, Ziqiang; Wang, Yibo; Zhang, Xiaodan; Zhao, Ying; Yao, Qiang

2016-01-01

Graphical abstract: Comparison of life cycle GHG emissions of various power sources. - Highlights: • The LCA study of grid-connected PV generation with silicon solar modules in China has been performed. • The energy payback times range from 1.6 to 2.3 years. • The GHG emissions are in the range of 60.1–87.3 g-CO_2,eq/kW h. • The PV manufacturing process occupied about 85% or higher of total energy usage and total GHG emission. • The SoG-Si production process accounted for more than 35% of total energy consumption and GHG emissions. - Abstract: The environmental impacts of grid-connected photovoltaic (PV) power generation from crystalline silicon (c-Si) solar modules in China have been investigated using life cycle assessment (LCA). The life cycle inventory was first analyzed. Then the energy consumption and greenhouse gas (GHG) emission during every process were estimated in detail, and finally the life-cycle value was calculated. The results showed that the energy payback time (T_E_P_B_T) of grid-connected PV power with crystalline silicon solar modules ranges from 1.6 to 2.3 years, while the GHG emissions now range from 60.1 to 87.3 g-CO_2,eq/kW h depending on the installation methods. About 84% or even more of the total energy consumption and total GHG emission occupied during the PV manufacturing process. The solar grade silicon (SoG-Si) production is the most energy-consuming and GHG-emitting process, which accounts for more than 35% of the total energy consumption and the total GHG emission. The results presented in this study are expected to provide useful information to enact reasonable policies, development targets, as well as subsidies for PV technology in China.

On-chip all-optical wavelength conversion of multicarrier, multilevel modulation (OFDM m-QAM) signals using a silicon waveguide.

Science.gov (United States)

Li, Chao; Gui, Chengcheng; Xiao, Xi; Yang, Qi; Yu, Shaohua; Wang, Jian

2014-08-01

We report on-chip all-optical wavelength conversion of multicarrier multilevel modulation signals in a silicon waveguide. Using orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing (OFDM) combined with advanced multilevel quadrature amplitude modulation (QAM) signals (i.e., OFDM m-QAM), we experimentally demonstrate all-optical wavelength conversions of 3.2 Gbaud/s OFDM 16/32/64/128-QAM signals based on the degenerate four-wave mixing (FWM) nonlinear effect in a silicon waveguide. The measured optical signal-to-noise ratio (OSNR) penalties of wavelength conversion are ∼3  dB for OFDM 16-QAM and ∼4  dB for OFDM 32-QAM at 7% forward error correction (FEC) threshold and ∼3.5  dB for OFDM 64-QAM and ∼4.5  dB for OFDM 128-QAM at 20% FEC threshold. The observed clear constellations of converted idlers imply favorable performance obtained for silicon-waveguide-based OFDM 16/32/64/128-QAM wavelength conversions.

Silicon carbide devices: more reliability for transmission and distribution systems; Dispositivos de SiC: mais confiabilidade para sistemas de transmissao e distribuicao

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Basset, Roger; Ballad, John [Areva T and D Tecnology Centre (United Kingdom)

2006-05-15

The silicon carbide power semiconductors will represent an essential role in relation to electrical nets in the future. Counting with higher voltage levels, more rapid commutations and allowing higher temperatures then the current silicon semiconductors, they will result in power electronic equipment with lower dissipation and smaller amount of components, becoming more compacts and reliable.

Microstructural and reliability in grinding of silicon nitride

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Liu, C.-C.

2004-01-01

A sintered Si 3 N 4 matrix has been characterized by TEM. The film thickness distribution of Si 3 N 4 was measured by high resolution transmission electron microscopy (HREM). Surface grinding is performed on two table speeds of 0.08 and 0.25 m s -1 with different depth of cut. The ground surfaces were observed with scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The surface texture was found to have greater dependence on depth of cut and table speed. The surface roughness is improved after smaller depth of cut. The flexural strength of ground specimens were measured by four-point flexure tests. The effect of depth of cut during grinding on the flexural strength and reliability of silicon nitride is investigated. The large depth of cut of 30 μm/pass resulted in a further decreased in strength of 540 MPa and a Weibull modulus of 7.5. When the depth of cut of 5 μm/pass were subjected to the ground specimens, the average strength was increased to 670 MPa and Weibull modulus to 9.1

High-speed carrier-depletion silicon Mach-Zehnder optical modulators with lateral PN junctions

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Graham Trevor Reed

2014-12-01

Full Text Available This paper presents new experimental data from a lateral PN junction silicon Mach-Zehnder optical modulator. Efficiencies in the 1.4V.cm to 1.9V.cm range are demonstrated for drive voltages between 0V and 6V. High speed operation up to 52Gbit/s is also presented. The performance of the device which has its PN junction positioned in the centre of the waveguide is then compared to previously reported data from a lateral PN junction device with the junction self-aligned to the edge of the waveguide rib. An improvement in modulation efficiency is demonstrated when the junction is positioned in the centre of the waveguide. Finally we propose schemes for achieving high modulation efficiency whilst retaining self-aligned formation of the PN junction.

Solar concentrator modules with silicone-onglass Fresnel lens panels and multijunction cells.

Science.gov (United States)

Rumyantsev, Valery D

2010-04-26

High-efficiency multijunction (MJ) solar cells, being very expensive to manufacture, should only be used in combination with solar concentrators in terrestrial applications. An essential cost reduction of electric power produced by photovoltaic (PV) installations with MJ cells, may be expected by the creation of highly-effective, but inexpensive, elements for optical concentration and sun tracking. This article is an overview of the corresponding approach under development at the Ioffe Physical Technical Institute. The approach to R&D of the solar PV modules is based on the concepts of sunlight concentration by small-aperture area Fresnel lenses and "all-glass" module design. The small-aperture area lenses are arranged as a panel with silicone-on-glass structure where the glass plate serves as the front surface of a module. In turn, high-efficiency InGaP/(In)GaAs/Ge cells are arranged on a rear module panel mounted on a glass plate which functions as a heat sink and integrated protective cover for the cells. The developed PV modules and sun trackers are characterized by simple design, and are regarded as the prototypes for further commercialization.

Investigation of innovative silicon detector assembling solutions for hadron calorimeter modules

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cai, G.; Ammannati, N.

1995-01-01

The application of large areas of silicon detector mosaics in calorimetry for high energy particles measurement in Physics has grown in the last few years and is still in progress. The high number of mosaic units in the calorimeter implies the following main requirements to be satisfied: a simple low cost for manufacturing and assembling, easy mountable/dismountable units, possibility to move or change silicon detectors easily, reliability of the electrical contacts between the aluminium layer on the silicon detector surface and the PCB breaker points.In order to satisfy the above requirements several assembling solutions have been investigated and tested recently, as fixed contact by using conducting epoxy-glues, mechanically dismountable contacts of gold-plated PCB copper to the silicon detectors, and others.The results of the tests show a general degradation of the original electrical characteristics of the contacts after of varying lengths operating times.This fact, due to corrosion phenomena assisted by chemical residuals in the contact interface, causes an irreversible damage of the detectors in the long term.In addition we found a room temperature interdiffusion of gold and copper.A promising solution to these problems can be achieved by careful removal of chemical, increase of golden layer of the PCB electrical copper contacts or aluminising them by pure aluminium vapour deposition in vacuum chamber.Thee estimated degradation time between the PCB copper and the aluminium film is very low in this case, and the risk of diffusion in the detector aluminium film surface is low along the whole operating life of the calorimeter. (orig.)

A bonding study toward the quality assurance of Belle-II silicon vertex detector modules

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kang, K.H.; Jeon, H.B. [RSRI, Department of Physics, Kyungpook National University, Daegu 702-701 (Korea, Republic of); Park, H., E-mail: sunshine@knu.ac.kr [RSRI, Department of Physics, Kyungpook National University, Daegu 702-701 (Korea, Republic of); Uozumi, S. [RSRI, Department of Physics, Kyungpook National University, Daegu 702-701 (Korea, Republic of); Adamczyk, K. [H. Niewodniczanski Institute of Nuclear Physics, Krakow 31-342 (Poland); Aihara, H. [Department of Physics, University of Tokyo, Tokyo 113-0033 (Japan); Angelini, C. [Dipartimento di Fisica, Universitá di Pisa, I-56127 Pisa (Italy); INFN Sezione di Pisa, I-56127 Pisa (Italy); Aziz, T.; Babu, V. [Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, Mumbai 400005 (India); Bacher, S. [H. Niewodniczanski Institute of Nuclear Physics, Krakow 31-342 (Poland); Bahinipati, S. [Indian Institute of Technology Bhubaneswar, Satya Nagar (India); Barberio, E.; Baroncelli, T. [School of Physics, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Victoria 3010 (Australia); Basith, A.K. [Indian Institute of Technology Madras, Chennai 600036 (India); Batignani, G. [Dipartimento di Fisica, Universitá di Pisa, I-56127 Pisa (Italy); INFN Sezione di Pisa, I-56127 Pisa (Italy); Bauer, A. [Institute of High Energy Physics, Austrian Academy of Sciences, 1050 Vienna (Austria); Behera, P.K. [Indian Institute of Technology Madras, Chennai 600036 (India); Bergauer, T. [Institute of High Energy Physics, Austrian Academy of Sciences, 1050 Vienna (Austria); Bettarini, S. [Dipartimento di Fisica, Universitá di Pisa, I-56127 Pisa (Italy); INFN Sezione di Pisa, I-56127 Pisa (Italy); Bhuyan, B. [Indian Institute of Technology Guwahati, Assam 781039 (India); and others

2016-09-21

A silicon vertex detector (SVD) for the Belle-II experiment comprises four layers of double-sided silicon strip detectors (DSSDs), assembled in a ladder-like structure. Each ladder module of the outermost SVD layer has four rectangular and one trapezoidal DSSDs supported by two carbon-fiber ribs. In order to achieve a good signal-to-noise ratio and minimize material budget, a novel chip-on-sensor “Origami” method has been employed for the three rectangular sensors that are sandwiched between the backward rectangular and forward (slanted) trapezoidal sensors. This paper describes the bonding procedures developed for making electrical connections between sensors and signal fan-out flex circuits (i.e., pitch adapters), and between pitch adapters and readout chips as well as the results in terms of the achieved bonding quality and pull force. - Highlights: • Gluing and wire binding for Belle-II SVD are studied. • Gluing robot and Origami module are used. • QA are satisfied in terms of the achieved bonding throughput and the pull force. • Result will be applied for L6 ladder assembly.

A bonding study toward the quality assurance of Belle-II silicon vertex detector modules

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kang, K.H.; Jeon, H.B.; Park, H.; Uozumi, S.; Adamczyk, K.; Aihara, H.; Angelini, C.; Aziz, T.; Babu, V.; Bacher, S.; Bahinipati, S.; Barberio, E.; Baroncelli, T.; Basith, A.K.; Batignani, G.; Bauer, A.; Behera, P.K.; Bergauer, T.; Bettarini, S.; Bhuyan, B.

2016-01-01

A silicon vertex detector (SVD) for the Belle-II experiment comprises four layers of double-sided silicon strip detectors (DSSDs), assembled in a ladder-like structure. Each ladder module of the outermost SVD layer has four rectangular and one trapezoidal DSSDs supported by two carbon-fiber ribs. In order to achieve a good signal-to-noise ratio and minimize material budget, a novel chip-on-sensor “Origami” method has been employed for the three rectangular sensors that are sandwiched between the backward rectangular and forward (slanted) trapezoidal sensors. This paper describes the bonding procedures developed for making electrical connections between sensors and signal fan-out flex circuits (i.e., pitch adapters), and between pitch adapters and readout chips as well as the results in terms of the achieved bonding quality and pull force. - Highlights: • Gluing and wire binding for Belle-II SVD are studied. • Gluing robot and Origami module are used. • QA are satisfied in terms of the achieved bonding throughput and the pull force. • Result will be applied for L6 ladder assembly.

STUDIES ON IGBT MODULE TO IMPROVE THE RELIABILITY OF POWER ELECTRONIC SYSTEMS

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Choi, Uimin

component level to converter level. It is divided into two main parts: the first part, which consists of Chapters 2 and 3, is reliability studies of the IGBT module regarding thermal stresses and the second part, composed of Chapters 4 and 5, discusses strategies to improve the reliability and availability...... are presented. Then, in Chapter 3, the effect of junction temperature swing duration t△Tj on the lifetime of the transfer molded Intelligent Power IGBT Module is investigated and modeled based on the power cycling test results. In addition, the physics-of-failure analysis results of the tested modules...... are presented. Finally, in Chapters 4 and 5, open-circuit fault detection and fault-tolerant control methods are proposed for two kinds of neutral-point clamped three-level inverters T-type and NPC inverters. One of main contributions in this project is the development of an apparatus and methodology...

Characterization and Diagnostics for Photovoltaic Modules and Arrays

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Spataru, Sergiu

part of this work were developed based on two well-known module characterization techniques, namely current-voltage (I-V) characterization, and electroluminescence imaging. he I-V based module diagnostic methods were developed by combining the strengths of light I-V and dark I-V characterization......, characterization and diagnostic methods are increasingly important in identifying and understanding the failures and degradation modes affecting PV modules and arrays, as well as developing relevant tools and tests for assessing the reliability and lifetime of PV modules. This thesis investigates diagnostic...... methods for characterizing and detecting degradation modes in crystalline silicon photovoltaic modules and arrays, and is structured into two parts. The first part of this work is focused on developing PV module characterization and diagnostic methods for use in module diagnostics and failure...

Reliability assessment of ultra-thin HfO2 films deposited on silicon wafer

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Fu, Wei-En; Chang, Chia-Wei; Chang, Yong-Qing; Yao, Chih-Kai; Liao, Jiunn-Der

2012-01-01

Highlights: ► Nano-mechanical properties on annealed ultra-thin HfO 2 film are studied. ► By AFM analysis, hardness of the crystallized HfO 2 film significantly increases. ► By nano-indention, the film hardness increases with less contact stiffness. ► Quality assessment on the annealed ultra-thin films can thus be achieved. - Abstract: Ultra-thin hafnium dioxide (HfO 2 ) is used to replace silicon dioxide to meet the required transistor feature size in advanced semiconductor industry. The process integration compatibility and long-term reliability for the transistors depend on the mechanical performance of ultra-thin HfO 2 films. The criteria of reliability including wear resistance, thermal fatigue, and stress-driven failure rely on film adhesion significantly. The adhesion and variations in mechanical properties induced by thermal annealing of the ultra-thin HfO 2 films deposited on silicon wafers (HfO 2 /SiO 2 /Si) are not fully understood. In this work, the mechanical properties of an atomic layer deposited HfO 2 (nominal thickness ≈10 nm) on a silicon wafer were characterized by the diamond-coated tip of an atomic force microscope and compared with those of annealed samples. The results indicate that the annealing process leads to the formation of crystallized HfO 2 phases for the atomic layer deposited HfO 2 . The HfSi x O y complex formed at the interface between HfO 2 and SiO 2 /Si, where the thermal diffusion of Hf, Si, and O atoms occurred. The annealing process increases the surface hardness of crystallized HfO 2 film and therefore the resistance to nano-scratches. In addition, the annealing process significantly decreases the harmonic contact stiffness (or thereafter eliminate the stress at the interface) and increases the nano-hardness, as measured by vertically sensitive nano-indentation. Quality assessments on as-deposited and annealed HfO 2 films can be thereafter used to estimate the mechanical properties and adhesion of ultra-thin HfO 2

Electrical leakage phenomenon in heteroepitaxial cubic silicon carbide on silicon

Science.gov (United States)

Pradeepkumar, Aiswarya; Zielinski, Marcin; Bosi, Matteo; Verzellesi, Giovanni; Gaskill, D. Kurt; Iacopi, Francesca

2018-06-01

Heteroepitaxial 3C-SiC films on silicon substrates are of technological interest as enablers to integrate the excellent electrical, electronic, mechanical, thermal, and epitaxial properties of bulk silicon carbide into well-established silicon technologies. One critical bottleneck of this integration is the establishment of a stable and reliable electronic junction at the heteroepitaxial interface of the n-type SiC with the silicon substrate. We have thus investigated in detail the electrical and transport properties of heteroepitaxial cubic silicon carbide films grown via different methods on low-doped and high-resistivity silicon substrates by using van der Pauw Hall and transfer length measurements as test vehicles. We have found that Si and C intermixing upon or after growth, particularly by the diffusion of carbon into the silicon matrix, creates extensive interstitial carbon traps and hampers the formation of a stable rectifying or insulating junction at the SiC/Si interface. Although a reliable p-n junction may not be realistic in the SiC/Si system, we can achieve, from a point of view of the electrical isolation of in-plane SiC structures, leakage suppression through the substrate by using a high-resistivity silicon substrate coupled with deep recess etching in between the SiC structures.

Silicon heterojunction transistor

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Matsushita, T.; Oh-uchi, N.; Hayashi, H.; Yamoto, H.

1979-01-01

SIPOS (Semi-insulating polycrystalline silicon) which is used as a surface passivation layer for highly reliable silicon devices constitutes a good heterojunction for silicon. P- or B-doped SIPOS has been used as the emitter material of a heterojunction transistor with the base and collector of silicon. An npn SIPOS-Si heterojunction transistor showing 50 times the current gain of an npn silicon homojunction transistor has been realized by high-temperature treatments in nitrogen and low-temperature annealing in hydrogen or forming gas

Modulation Doping of Silicon using Aluminium-induced Acceptor States in Silicon Dioxide

OpenAIRE

K?nig, Dirk; Hiller, Daniel; Gutsch, Sebastian; Zacharias, Margit; Smith, Sean

2017-01-01

All electronic, optoelectronic or photovoltaic applications of silicon depend on controlling majority charge carriers via doping with impurity atoms. Nanoscale silicon is omnipresent in fundamental research (quantum dots, nanowires) but also approached in future technology nodes of the microelectronics industry. In general, silicon nanovolumes, irrespective of their intended purpose, suffer from effects that impede conventional doping due to fundamental physical principles such as out-diffusi...

Evanescent field phase shifting in a silicon nitride waveguide using a coupled silicon slab

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Jensen, Asger Sellerup; Oxenløwe, Leif Katsuo; Green, William M. J.

2015-01-01

An approach for electrical modulation of low-loss silicon nitride waveguides is proposed, using a silicon nitride waveguide evanescently loaded with a thin silicon slab. The thermooptic phase-shift characteristics are investigated in a racetrack resonator configuration....

High speed all-silicon optical modulator

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Marris-Morini, Delphine; Le Roux, Xavier; Pascal, Daniel; Vivien, Laurent; Cassan, Eric; Fedeli, Jean Marc; Damlencourt, Jean Francois; Bouville, David; Palomo, Jose; Laval, Suzanne

2006-01-01

Electrorefractive effect is experimentally demonstrated in an all-silicon optical structure. A highly doped Si P + layer is embedded in the intrinsic region of a PIN diode integrated in a SOI waveguide. Holes are confined at equilibrium around the P + layer. By applying a reverse bias to the diode, electrical field sweeps the carriers out of the active region. Free carrier concentration variations are responsible for local refractive index variations leading to an effective index variation of the waveguide optical mode and to an optical absorption variation. As a figure of merit, the product V π L π , determined from the measured effective index variation, is equal to 3.1 V cm. Furthermore, the device performances have theoretically been investigated. Estimations show that V π L π as small as 1 V cm are feasible using optimized structures. Response times lower than 2 ps are predicted, which gives the possibility to achieve very high-speed modulation. Furthermore, a temperature increases from 300 to 400 K does not change the index variation amplitude, and despite the carrier mobility reduction, response times are still lower than 2 ps

Development of a PET detector module incorporating a silicon photodiode array

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Rosenfeld, A.B.; Takacs, G.J.; Lerch, M.L.F.; Simmonds, P.E.

2000-01-01

Full text: We are developing a new Positron Emission Tomography (PET) detection sub-module with depth of interaction capability. The new sub-module is simple and robust to minimise module assembly complications and is completely independent of photomultiplier tubes. The new sub-module has also been designed to maximise its flexibility for easy sub-module coupling so as to form a complete, customised, detection module to be used in PET scanners dedicated to human brain and breast, and small animal studies. Blue enhanced, silicon 8x8 detector arrays are used to read out the scintillation crystals, and form the basis of the new module. The new detectors were designed by the Centre for Medical Radiation Physics (CMRP) at the University of Wollongong in collaboration with the High Energy Physics Department, University of Melbourne and produced by SPO D etector , Ukraine. Complementing the work on the silicon photodetectors, we have also carried out simulations of the propagation of the scintillation light in the crystals, and the effect of crystal dimensions and surface treatment on the distribution of light detected by the photodiode array. The distribution of light over the photodiodes has then been used to test various algorithms for calculating the point of interaction of the gamma ray in the crystal. Simulations of the light propagation show that for a crystal of dimensions 25mm x 25mm x 3mm, it is possible to determine the point of interaction in 2 dimensions with an average accuracy of just over 0.5mm. The resulting photon distribution detected by the array. The surface treatment, while having a large effect on the light output, does not have a great effect on the accuracy. If these dimensions change to 25mm x 25mm x 6mm then the surface conditions have a greater effect on the accuracy. It is possible however, with careful surface treatment, to achieve an accuracy of around 0.6mm, only marginally worse than the case for the 3mm thick crystal. Gamma ray

A Study on the Thermomechanical Reliability Risks of Through-Silicon-Vias in Sensor Applications

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Shuai Shao

2017-02-01

Full Text Available Reliability risks for two different types of through-silicon-vias (TSVs are discussed in this paper. The first is a partially-filled copper TSV, if which the copper layer covers the side walls and bottom. A polymer is used to fill the rest of the cavity. Stresses in risk sites are studied and ranked for this TSV structure by FEA modeling. Parametric studies for material properties (modulus and thermal expansion of TSV polymer are performed. The second type is a high aspect ratio TSV filled by polycrystalline silicon (poly Si. Potential risks of the voids in the poly Si due to filling defects are studied. Fracture mechanics methods are utilized to evaluate the risk for two different assembly conditions: package assembled to printed circuit board (PCB and package assembled to flexible substrate. The effect of board/substrate/die thickness and the size and location of the void are discussed.

Electro-optical modulator in a polymerinfiltrated silicon slotted photonic crystal waveguide heterostructure resonator.

Science.gov (United States)

Wülbern, Jan Hendrik; Petrov, Alexander; Eich, Manfred

2009-01-05

We present a novel concept of a compact, ultra fast electro-optic modulator, based on photonic crystal resonator structures that can be realized in two dimensional photonic crystal slabs of silicon as core material employing a nonlinear optical polymer as infiltration and cladding material. The novel concept is to combine a photonic crystal heterostructure cavity with a slotted defect waveguide. The photonic crystal lattice can be used as a distributed electrode for the application of a modulation signal. An electrical contact is hence provided while the optical wave is kept isolated from the lossy metal electrodes. Thereby, well known disadvantages of segmented electrode designs such as excessive scattering are avoided. The optical field enhancement in the slotted region increases the nonlinear interaction with an external electric field resulting in an envisaged switching voltage of approximately 1 V at modulation speeds up to 100 GHz.

14th Workshop on Crystalline Silicon Solar Cells& Modules: Materials and Processes; Extended Abstracts and Papers

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Sopori, B. L.

2004-08-01

The 14th Workshop will provide a forum for an informal exchange of technical and scientific information between international researchers in the photovoltaic and relevant non-photovoltaic fields. It will offer an excellent opportunity for researchers in private industry and at universities to prioritize mutual needs for future collaborative research. The workshop is intended to address the fundamental properties of PV silicon, new solar cell designs, advanced solar cell processing techniques, and cell-related module issues. A combination of oral presentations by invited speakers, poster sessions, and discussion sessions will review recent advances in crystal growth, new cell designs, new processes and process characterization techniques, cell fabrication approaches suitable for future manufacturing demands, and solar cell encapsulation. This year's theme, ''Crystalline Si Solar Cells: Leapfrogging the Barriers,'' reflects the continued success of crystalline Si PV in overcoming technological barriers to improve solar cell performance and lower the cost of Si PV. The workshop will consist of presentations by invited speakers, followed by discussion sessions. In addition, there will be two poster sessions presenting the latest research and development results. Some presentations will address recent technologies in the microelectronics field that may have a direct bearing on PV. The sessions will include: Advances in crystal growth and material issues; Impurities and defects; Dynamics during device processing; Passivation; High-efficiency Si solar cells; Advanced processing; Thin Si solar cells; and Solar cell reliability and module issues.

Solar concentrator modules with silicone-on-glass Fresnel lens panels and multijunction cells.

Science.gov (United States)

Rumyantsev, Valery D

2010-04-26

High-efficiency multijunction (MJ) solar cells, being very expensive to manufacture, should only be used in combination with solar concentrators in terrestrial applications. An essential cost reduction of electric power produced by photovoltaic (PV) installations with MJ cells, may be expected by the creation of highly-effective, but inexpensive, elements for optical concentration and sun tracking. This article is an overview of the corresponding approach under development at the Ioffe Physical Technical Institute. The approach to R&D of the solar PV modules is based on the concepts of sunlight concentration by small-aperture area Fresnel lenses and "all-glass" module design. The small-aperture area lenses are arranged as a panel with silicone-on-glass structure where the glass plate serves as the front surface of a module. In turn, high-efficiency InGaP/(In)GaAs/Ge cells are arranged on a rear module panel mounted on a glass plate which functions as a heat sink and integrated protective cover for the cells. The developed PV modules and sun trackers are characterized by simple design, and are regarded as the prototypes for further commercialization.

Performance of CMS TOB Silicon Detector Modules on a Double Sided Prototype ROD

CERN Document Server

Valls, Juan

2004-01-01

In this paper we summarize results of the performance of CMS TOB silicon detector modules mounted on the first assembled double-sided rod at CERN. Results are given in terms of noise, noise occupancies, signal to noise ratios and signal efficiencies. The noise figures from the rod optical setup are compared to the single module setup with electrical read out. Both test setups show a small or negligible common mode noise picked up by the modules. Similar noise results are obtained in both setups after full calibration gain values are applied. We measure total noise values of ~1600 electrons in peak mode and ~2600 electrons in deconvolution mode. Signal to noise ratios of the order of 15 (25) for deconvolution (peak) operation modes are found. The noise occupancies on the modules have important implications for the zero suppression algorithms which the CMS Tracker FEDs will use to reduce t he data volume flowing to the DAQ. The detector signal efficiencies and noise occupancies are also shown as a function of t...

Increasing the efficiency of silicon heterojunction solar cells and modules by light soaking

KAUST Repository

Kobayashi, Eiji

2017-06-24

Silicon heterojunction solar cells use crystalline silicon (c-Si) wafers as optical absorbers and employ bilayers of doped/intrinsic hydrogenated amorphous silicon (a-Si:H) to form passivating contacts. Recently, we demonstrated that such solar cells increase their operating voltages and thus their conversion efficiencies during light exposure. We found that this performance increase is due to improved passivation of the a-Si:H/c-Si interface and is induced by injected charge carriers (either by light soaking or forward-voltage biasing of the device). Here, we discuss this counterintuitive behavior and establish that: (i) the performance increase is observed in solar cells as well as modules; (ii) this phenomenon requires the presence of doped a-Si:H films, but is independent from whether light is incident from the a-Si:H(p) or the a-Si:H(n) side; (iii) UV and blue photons do not play a role in this effect; (iv) the performance increase can be observed under illumination intensities as low as 20Wm (0.02-sun) and appears to be almost identical in strength when under 1-sun (1000Wm); (v) the underlying physical mechanism likely differs from annealing-induced surface passivation.

Economic Feasibility for Recycling of Waste Crystalline Silicon Photovoltaic Modules

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Idiano D’Adamo

2017-01-01

Full Text Available Cumulative photovoltaic (PV power installed in 2016 was equal to 305 GW. Five countries (China, Japan, Germany, the USA, and Italy shared about 70% of the global power. End-of-life (EoL management of waste PV modules requires alternative strategies than landfill, and recycling is a valid option. Technological solutions are already available in the market and environmental benefits are highlighted by the literature, while economic advantages are not well defined. The aim of this paper is investigating the financial feasibility of crystalline silicon (Si PV module-recycling processes. Two well-known indicators are proposed for a reference 2000 tons plant: net present value (NPV and discounted payback period (DPBT. NPV/size is equal to −0.84 €/kg in a baseline scenario. Furthermore, a sensitivity analysis is conducted, in order to improve the solidity of the obtained results. NPV/size varies from −1.19 €/kg to −0.50 €/kg. The absence of valuable materials plays a key role, and process costs are the main critical variables.

Construction and first beam-tests of silicon-tungsten prototype modules for the CMS High Granularity Calorimeter for HL-LHC

CERN Document Server

Romeo, Francesco

2017-01-01

The High Granularity Calorimeter (HGCAL) is the technology choice of the CMS collaboration for the endcap calorimetry upgrade planned to cope with the harsh radiation and pileup environment at the High Luminosity-LHC. The HGCAL is realized as a sampling calorimeter, including an electromagnetic compartment comprising 28 layers of silicon pad detectors with pad areas of 0.5 - 1.0 square centimetres interspersed with absorbers. Prototype modules, based on hexagonal silicon pad sensors, with 128 channels, have been constructed and tested in beams at FNAL and at CERN. The modules include many of the features required for this challenging detector, including a PCB glued directly to the sensor, using through-hole wire-bonding for signal readout and ~5mm spacing between layers - including the front-end electronics and all services. Tests in 2016 have used an existing front-end chip - Skiroc2 (designed for the CALICE experiment for ILC). We present results from first tests of these modules both in the laboratory and ...

Innovative Characterization of Amorphous and Thin-Film Silicon for Improved Module Performance: 1 February 2005 - 31 July 2008

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Taylor, P. C.; Williams, G. A.

2009-09-01

Electron spin resonance and nuclear magnetic resonance was done on amorphous silicon samples (modules with a-Si:H and a-SixGe1-x:H intrinsic layer) to study defects that contribute to Staebler-Wronski effect.

Test beam demonstration of silicon microstrip modules with transverse momentum discrimination for the future CMS tracking detector

Science.gov (United States)

Adam, W.; Bergauer, T.; Brondolin, E.; Dragicevic, M.; Friedl, M.; Frühwirth, R.; Hoch, M.; Hrubec, J.; König, A.; Steininger, H.; Treberspurg, W.; Waltenberger, W.; Alderweireldt, S.; Beaumont, W.; Janssen, X.; Lauwers, J.; Van Mechelen, P.; Van Remortel, N.; Van Spilbeeck, A.; Beghin, D.; Brun, H.; Clerbaux, B.; De Lentdecker, G.; Delannoy, H.; Fasanella, G.; Favart, L.; Goldouzian, R.; Grebenyuk, A.; Karapostoli, G.; Lenzi, T.; Léonard, A.; Luetic, J.; Maerschalk, T.; Marinov, A.; Postiau, N.; Randle-Conde, A.; Seva, T.; Vanlaer, P.; Vannerom, D.; Yonamine, R.; Wang, Q.; Yang, Y.; Zenoni, F.; Zhang, F.; Abu Zeid, S.; Blekman, F.; De Bruyn, I.; De Clercq, J.; D'Hondt, J.; Deroover, K.; Lowette, S.; Moortgat, S.; Moreels, L.; Python, Q.; Skovpen, K.; Van Mulders, P.; Van Parijs, I.; Bakhshiansohi, H.; Bondu, O.; Brochet, S.; Bruno, G.; Caudron, A.; Delaere, C.; Delcourt, M.; De Visscher, S.; Francois, B.; Giammanco, A.; Jafari, A.; Cabrera Jamoulle, J.; De Favereau De Jeneret, J.; Komm, M.; Krintiras, G.; Lemaitre, V.; Magitteri, A.; Mertens, A.; Michotte, D.; Musich, M.; Piotrzkowski, K.; Quertenmont, L.; Szilasi, N.; Vidal Marono, M.; Wertz, S.; Beliy, N.; Caebergs, T.; Daubie, E.; Hammad, G. H.; Härkönen, J.; Lampén, T.; Luukka, P.; Peltola, T.; Tuominen, E.; Tuovinen, E.; Eerola, P.; Baulieu, G.; Boudoul, G.; Caponetto, L.; Combaret, C.; Contardo, D.; Dupasquier, T.; Gallbit, G.; Lumb, N.; Mirabito, L.; Perries, S.; Vander Donckt, M.; Viret, S.; Agram, J.-L.; Andrea, J.; Bloch, D.; Bonnin, C.; Brom, J.-M.; Chabert, E.; Chanon, N.; Charles, L.; Conte, E.; Fontaine, J.-Ch.; Gross, L.; Hosselet, J.; Jansova, M.; Tromson, D.; Autermann, C.; Feld, L.; Karpinski, W.; Kiesel, K. M.; Klein, K.; Lipinski, M.; Ostapchuk, A.; Pierschel, G.; Preuten, M.; Rauch, M.; Schael, S.; Schomakers, C.; Schulz, J.; Schwering, G.; Wlochal, M.; Zhukov, V.; Pistone, C.; Fluegge, G.; Kuensken, A.; Pooth, O.; Stahl, A.; Aldaya, M.; Asawatangtrakuldee, C.; Beernaert, K.; Bertsche, D.; Contreras-Campana, C.; Eckerlin, G.; Eckstein, D.; Eichhorn, T.; Gallo, E.; Garay Garcia, J.; Hansen, K.; Haranko, M.; Harb, A.; Hauk, J.; Keaveney, J.; Kalogeropoulos, A.; Kleinwort, C.; Lohmann, W.; Mankel, R.; Maser, H.; Mittag, G.; Muhl, C.; Mussgiller, A.; Pitzl, D.; Reichelt, O.; Savitskyi, M.; Schuetze, P.; Walsh, R.; Zuber, A.; Biskop, H.; Buhmann, P.; Centis-Vignali, M.; Garutti, E.; Haller, J.; Hoffmann, M.; Klanner, R.; Matysek, M.; Perieanu, A.; Scharf, Ch.; Schleper, P.; Schmidt, A.; Schwandt, J.; Sonneveld, J.; Steinbrück, G.; Vormwald, B.; Wellhausen, J.; Abbas, M.; Amstutz, C.; Barvich, T.; Barth, Ch.; Boegelspacher, F.; De Boer, W.; Butz, E.; Casele, M.; Colombo, F.; Dierlamm, A.; Freund, B.; Hartmann, F.; Heindl, S.; Husemann, U.; Kornmeyer, A.; Kudella, S.; Muller, Th.; Printz, M.; Simonis, H. J.; Steck, P.; Weber, M.; Weiler, Th.; Anagnostou, G.; Asenov, P.; Assiouras, P.; Daskalakis, G.; Kyriakis, A.; Loukas, D.; Paspalaki, L.; Siklér, F.; Veszprémi, V.; Bhardwaj, A.; Dalal, R.; Jain, G.; Ranjan, K.; Dutta, S.; Chowdhury, S. Roy; Bakhshiansohl, H.; Behnamian, H.; Khakzad, M.; Naseri, M.; Cariola, P.; Creanza, D.; De Palma, M.; De Robertis, G.; Fiore, L.; Franco, M.; Loddo, F.; Sala, G.; Silvestris, L.; Maggi, G.; My, S.; Selvaggi, G.; Albergo, S.; Costa, S.; Di Mattia, A.; Giordano, F.; Potenza, R.; Saizu, M. A.; Tricomi, A.; Tuve, C.; Barbagli, G.; Brianzi, M.; Ciaranfi, R.; Ciulli, V.; Civinini, C.; D'Alessandro, R.; Focardi, E.; Latino, G.; Lenzi, P.; Meschini, M.; Paoletti, S.; Russo, L.; Scarlini, E.; Sguazzoni, G.; Strom, D.; Viliani, L.; Ferro, F.; Lo Vetere, M.; Robutti, E.; Dinardo, M. E.; Fiorendi, S.; Gennai, S.; Malvezzi, S.; Manzoni, R. A.; Menasce, D.; Moroni, L.; Pedrini, D.; Azzi, P.; Bacchetta, N.; Bisello, D.; Dall'Osso, M.; Pozzobon, N.; Tosi, M.; De Canio, F.; Gaioni, L.; Manghisoni, M.; Nodari, B.; Riceputi, E.; Re, V.; Traversi, G.; Comotti, D.; Ratti, L.; Alunni Solestizi, L.; Biasini, M.; Bilei, G. M.; Cecchi, C.; Checcucci, B.; Ciangottini, D.; Fanò, L.; Gentsos, C.; Ionica, M.; Leonardi, R.; Manoni, E.; Mantovani, G.; Marconi, S.; Mariani, V.; Menichelli, M.; Modak, A.; Morozzi, A.; Moscatelli, F.; Passeri, D.; Placidi, P.; Postolache, V.; Rossi, A.; Saha, A.; Santocchia, A.; Storchi, L.; Spiga, D.; Androsov, K.; Azzurri, P.; Arezzini, S.; Bagliesi, G.; Basti, A.; Boccali, T.; Borrello, L.; Bosi, F.; Castaldi, R.; Ciampa, A.; Ciocci, M. A.; Dell'Orso, R.; Donato, S.; Fedi, G.; Giassi, A.; Grippo, M. T.; Ligabue, F.; Lomtadze, T.; Magazzu, G.; Martini, L.; Mazzoni, E.; Messineo, A.; Moggi, A.; Morsani, F.; Palla, F.; Palmonari, F.; Raffaelli, F.; Rizzi, A.; Savoy-Navarro, A.; Spagnolo, P.; Tenchini, R.; Tonelli, G.; Venturi, A.; Verdini, P. G.; Bellan, R.; Costa, M.; Covarelli, R.; Da Rocha Rolo, M.; Demaria, N.; Rivetti, A.; Dellacasa, G.; Mazza, G.; Migliore, E.; Monteil, E.; Pacher, L.; Ravera, F.; Solano, A.; Fernandez, M.; Gomez, G.; Jaramillo Echeverria, R.; Moya, D.; Gonzalez Sanchez, F. J.; Vila, I.; Virto, A. L.; Abbaneo, D.; Ahmed, I.; Albert, E.; Auzinger, G.; Berruti, G.; Bianchi, G.; Blanchot, G.; Bonnaud, J.; Caratelli, A.; Ceresa, D.; Christiansen, J.; Cichy, K.; Daguin, J.; D'Auria, A.; Detraz, S.; Deyrail, D.; Dondelewski, O.; Faccio, F.; Frank, N.; Gadek, T.; Gill, K.; Honma, A.; Hugo, G.; Jara Casas, L. M.; Kaplon, J.; Kornmayer, A.; Kottelat, L.; Kovacs, M.; Krammer, M.; Lenoir, P.; Mannelli, M.; Marchioro, A.; Marconi, S.; Mersi, S.; Martina, S.; Michelis, S.; Moll, M.; Onnela, A.; Orfanelli, S.; Pavis, S.; Peisert, A.; Pernot, J.-F.; Petagna, P.; Petrucciani, G.; Postema, H.; Rose, P.; Tropea, P.; Troska, J.; Tsirou, A.; Vasey, F.; Vichoudis, P.; Verlaat, B.; Zwalinski, L.; Bachmair, F.; Becker, R.; di Calafiori, D.; Casal, B.; Berger, P.; Djambazov, L.; Donega, M.; Grab, C.; Hits, D.; Hoss, J.; Kasieczka, G.; Lustermann, W.; Mangano, B.; Marionneau, M.; Martinez Ruiz del Arbol, P.; Masciovecchio, M.; Meinhard, M.; Perozzi, L.; Roeser, U.; Starodumov, A.; Tavolaro, V.; Wallny, R.; Zhu, D.; Amsler, C.; Bösiger, K.; Caminada, L.; Canelli, F.; Chiochia, V.; de Cosa, A.; Galloni, C.; Hreus, T.; Kilminster, B.; Lange, C.; Maier, R.; Ngadiuba, J.; Pinna, D.; Robmann, P.; Taroni, S.; Yang, Y.; Bertl, W.; Deiters, K.; Erdmann, W.; Horisberger, R.; Kaestli, H.-C.; Kotlinski, D.; Langenegger, U.; Meier, B.; Rohe, T.; Streuli, S.; Chen, P.-H.; Dietz, C.; Grundler, U.; Hou, W.-S.; Lu, R.-S.; Moya, M.; Cussans, D.; Flacher, H.; Goldstein, J.; Grimes, M.; Jacob, J.; Seif El Nasr-Storey, S.; Cole, J.; Hoad, C.; Hobson, P.; Morton, A.; Reid, I. D.; Auzinger, G.; Bainbridge, R.; Dauncey, P.; Fulcher, J.; Hall, G.; James, T.; Magnan, A.-M.; Pesaresi, M.; Raymond, D. M.; Uchida, K.; Braga, D.; Coughlan, J. A.; Harder, K.; Jones, L.; Ilic, J.; Murray, P.; Prydderch, M.; Tomalin, I. R.; Garabedian, A.; Heintz, U.; Narain, M.; Nelson, J.; Sagir, S.; Speer, T.; Swanson, J.; Tersegno, D.; Watson-Daniels, J.; Chertok, M.; Conway, J.; Conway, R.; Flores, C.; Lander, R.; Pellett, D.; Ricci-Tam, F.; Squires, M.; Thomson, J.; Yohay, R.; Burt, K.; Ellison, J.; Hanson, G.; Olmedo, M.; Si, W.; Yates, B. R.; Gerosa, R.; Sharma, V.; Vartak, A.; Yagil, A.; Zevi Della Porta, G.; Dutta, V.; Gouskos, L.; Incandela, J.; Kyre, S.; Mullin, S.; Qu, H.; White, D.; Dominguez, A.; Bartek, R.; Cumalat, J. P.; Ford, W. T.; Jensen, F.; Johnson, A.; Krohn, M.; Leontsinis, S.; Mulholland, T.; Stenson, K.; Wagner, S. R.; Apresyan, A.; Bolla, G.; Burkett, K.; Butler, J. N.; Cheung, H. W. K.; Chramowicz, J.; Christian, D.; Cooper, W. E.; Deptuch, G.; Derylo, G.; Gingu, C.; Grünendahl, S.; Hasegawa, S.; Hoff, J.; Howell, J.; Hrycyk, M.; Jindariani, S.; Johnson, M.; Kahlid, F.; Lei, C. M.; Lipton, R.; Lopes De Sá, R.; Liu, T.; Los, S.; Matulik, M.; Merkel, P.; Nahn, S.; Prosser, A.; Rivera, R.; Schneider, B.; Sellberg, G.; Shenai, A.; Spiegel, L.; Tran, N.; Uplegger, L.; Voirin, E.; Berry, D. R.; Chen, X.; Ennesser, L.; Evdokimov, A.; Evdokimov, O.; Gerber, C. E.; Hofman, D. J.; Makauda, S.; Mills, C.; Sandoval Gonzalez, I. D.; Alimena, J.; Antonelli, L. J.; Francis, B.; Hart, A.; Hill, C. S.; Parashar, N.; Stupak, J.; Bortoletto, D.; Bubna, M.; Hinton, N.; Jones, M.; Miller, D. H.; Shi, X.; Tan, P.; Baringer, P.; Bean, A.; Khalil, S.; Kropivnitskaya, A.; Majumder, D.; Wilson, G.; Ivanov, A.; Mendis, R.; Mitchell, T.; Skhirtladze, N.; Taylor, R.; Anderson, I.; Fehling, D.; Gritsan, A.; Maksimovic, P.; Martin, C.; Nash, K.; Osherson, M.; Swartz, M.; Xiao, M.; Acosta, J. G.; Cremaldi, L. M.; Oliveros, S.; Perera, L.; Summers, D.; Bloom, K.; Claes, D. R.; Fangmeier, C.; Gonzalez Suarez, R.; Monroy, J.; Siado, J.; Hahn, K.; Sevova, S.; Sung, K.; Trovato, M.; Bartz, E.; Gershtein, Y.; Halkiadakis, E.; Kyriacou, S.; Lath, A.; Nash, K.; Osherson, M.; Schnetzer, S.; Stone, R.; Walker, M.; Malik, S.; Norberg, S.; Ramirez Vargas, J. E.; Alyari, M.; Dolen, J.; Godshalk, A.; Harrington, C.; Iashvili, I.; Kharchilava, A.; Nguyen, D.; Parker, A.; Rappoccio, S.; Roozbahani, B.; Alexander, J.; Chaves, J.; Chu, J.; Dittmer, S.; McDermott, K.; Mirman, N.; Rinkevicius, A.; Ryd, A.; Salvati, E.; Skinnari, L.; Soffi, L.; Tao, Z.; Thom, J.; Tucker, J.; Zientek, M.; Akgün, B.; Ecklund, K. M.; Kilpatrick, M.; Nussbaum, T.; Zabel, J.; Betchart, B.; Covarelli, R.; Demina, R.; Hindrichs, O.; Petrillo, G.; Eusebi, R.; Patel, R.; Perloff, A.; Ulmer, K. A.; Delannoy, A. G.; D'Angelo, P.; Johns, W.

2018-03-01

A new CMS Tracker is under development for operation at the High Luminosity LHC from 2026 onwards. It includes an outer tracker based on dedicated modules that will reconstruct short track segments, called stubs, using spatially coincident clusters in two closely spaced silicon sensor layers. These modules allow the rejection of low transverse momentum track hits and reduce the data volume before transmission to the first level trigger. The inclusion of tracking information in the trigger decision is essential to limit the first level trigger accept rate. A customized front-end readout chip, the CMS Binary Chip (CBC), containing stub finding logic has been designed for this purpose. A prototype module, equipped with the CBC chip, has been constructed and operated for the first time in a 4 GeemVem/emc positron beam at DESY. The behaviour of the stub finding was studied for different angles of beam incidence on a module, which allows an estimate of the sensitivity to transverse momentum within the future CMS detector. A sharp transverse momentum threshold around 2 emVem/emc was demonstrated, which meets the requirement to reject a large fraction of low momentum tracks present in the LHC environment on-detector. This is the first realistic demonstration of a silicon tracking module that is able to select data, based on the particle's transverse momentum, for use in a first level trigger at the LHC . The results from this test are described here.

Development of the integrated system reliability analysis code MODULE

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Han, S.H.; Yoo, K.J.; Kim, T.W.

1987-01-01

The major components in a system reliability analysis are the determination of cut sets, importance measure, and uncertainty analysis. Various computer codes have been used for these purposes. For example, SETS and FTAP are used to determine cut sets; Importance for importance calculations; and Sample, CONINT, and MOCUP for uncertainty analysis. There have been problems when the codes run each other and the input and output are not linked, which could result in errors when preparing input for each code. The code MODULE was developed to carry out the above calculations simultaneously without linking input and outputs to other codes. MODULE can also prepare input for SETS for the case of a large fault tree that cannot be handled by MODULE. The flow diagram of the MODULE code is shown. To verify the MODULE code, two examples are selected and the results and computation times are compared with those of SETS, FTAP, CONINT, and MOCUP on both Cyber 170-875 and IBM PC/AT. Two examples are fault trees of the auxiliary feedwater system (AFWS) of Korea Nuclear Units (KNU)-1 and -2, which have 54 gates and 115 events, 39 gates and 92 events, respectively. The MODULE code has the advantage that it can calculate the cut sets, importances, and uncertainties in a single run with little increase in computing time over other codes and that it can be used in personal computers

Bending cyclic load test for crystalline silicon photovoltaic modules

Science.gov (United States)

Suzuki, Soh; Doi, Takuya; Masuda, Atsushi; Tanahashi, Tadanori

2018-02-01

The failures induced by thermomechanical fatigue within crystalline silicon photovoltaic modules are a common issue that can occur in any climate. In order to understand these failures, we confirmed the effects of compressive or tensile stresses (which were cyclically loaded on photovoltaic cells and cell interconnect ribbons) at subzero, moderate, and high temperatures. We found that cell cracks were induced predominantly at low temperatures, irrespective of the compression or tension applied to the cells, although the orientation of cell cracks was dependent on the stress applied. The fracture of cell interconnect ribbons was caused by cyclical compressive stress at moderate and high temperatures, and this failure was promoted by the elevation of temperature. On the basis of these results, the causes of these failures are comprehensively discussed in relation to the viscoelasticity of the encapsulant.

MEMS Reliability Assurance Activities at JPL

Science.gov (United States)

Kayali, S.; Lawton, R.; Stark, B.

2000-01-01

An overview of Microelectromechanical Systems (MEMS) reliability assurance and qualification activities at JPL is presented along with the a discussion of characterization of MEMS structures implemented on single crystal silicon, polycrystalline silicon, CMOS, and LIGA processes. Additionally, common failure modes and mechanisms affecting MEMS structures, including radiation effects, are discussed. Common reliability and qualification practices contained in the MEMS Reliability Assurance Guideline are also presented.

3D silicon neural probe with integrated optical fibers for optogenetic modulation.

Science.gov (United States)

Kim, Eric G R; Tu, Hongen; Luo, Hao; Liu, Bin; Bao, Shaowen; Zhang, Jinsheng; Xu, Yong

2015-07-21

Optogenetics is a powerful modality for neural modulation that can be useful for a wide array of biomedical studies. Penetrating microelectrode arrays provide a means of recording neural signals with high spatial resolution. It is highly desirable to integrate optics with neural probes to allow for functional study of neural tissue by optogenetics. In this paper, we report the development of a novel 3D neural probe coupled simply and robustly to optical fibers using a hollow parylene tube structure. The device shanks are hollow tubes with rigid silicon tips, allowing the insertion and encasement of optical fibers within the shanks. The position of the fiber tip can be precisely controlled relative to the electrodes on the shank by inherent design features. Preliminary in vivo rat studies indicate that these devices are capable of optogenetic modulation simultaneously with 3D neural signal recording.

Laser tests of silicon detectors

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Dolezal, Zdenek; Escobar, Carlos; Gadomski, Szymon; Garcia, Carmen; Gonzalez, Sergio; Kodys, Peter; Kubik, Petr; Lacasta, Carlos; Marti, Salvador; Mitsou, Vasiliki A.; Moorhead, Gareth F.; Phillips, Peter W.; Reznicek, Pavel; Slavik, Radan

2007-01-01

This paper collects experiences from the development of a silicon sensor laser testing setup and from tests of silicon strip modules (ATLAS End-cap SCT), pixel modules (DEPFET) and large-area diodes using semiconductor lasers. Lasers of 1060 and 680 nm wavelengths were used. A sophisticated method of focusing the laser was developed. Timing and interstrip properties of modules were measured. Analysis of optical effects involved and detailed discussion about the usability of laser testing for particle detectors are presented

Linear signal processing using silicon micro-ring resonators

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Peucheret, Christophe; Ding, Yunhong; Ou, Haiyan

2012-01-01

We review our recent achievements on the use of silicon micro-ring resonators for linear optical signal processing applications, including modulation format conversion, phase-to-intensity modulation conversion and waveform shaping.......We review our recent achievements on the use of silicon micro-ring resonators for linear optical signal processing applications, including modulation format conversion, phase-to-intensity modulation conversion and waveform shaping....

Building integration photovoltaic module with reference to Ghana: using triple junction amorphous silicon

OpenAIRE

Essah, Emmanuel Adu

2010-01-01

This paper assesses the potential for using building integrated photovoltaic (BIPV) \\ud roof shingles made from triple-junction amorphous silicon (3a-Si) for electrification \\ud and as a roofing material in tropical countries, such as Accra, Ghana. A model roof \\ud was constructed using triple-junction amorphous (3a-Si) PV on one section and \\ud conventional roofing tiles on the other. The performance of the PV module and tiles \\ud were measured, over a range of ambient temperatures and solar...

The dark side of silicon energy efficient computing in the dark silicon era

CERN Document Server

Liljeberg, Pasi; Hemani, Ahmed; Jantsch, Axel; Tenhunen, Hannu

2017-01-01

This book presents the state-of-the art of one of the main concerns with microprocessors today, a phenomenon known as "dark silicon". Readers will learn how power constraints (both leakage and dynamic power) limit the extent to which large portions of a chip can be powered up at a given time, i.e. how much actual performance and functionality the microprocessor can provide. The authors describe their research toward the future of microprocessor development in the dark silicon era, covering a variety of important aspects of dark silicon-aware architectures including design, management, reliability, and test. Readers will benefit from specific recommendations for mitigating the dark silicon phenomenon, including energy-efficient, dedicated solutions and technologies to maximize the utilization and reliability of microprocessors. Enables readers to understand the dark silicon phenomenon and why it has emerged, including detailed analysis of its impacts; Presents state-of-the-art research, as well as tools for mi...

Reliability of planar silicon transistors exposed to 60Co γ rays

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Blin, A.; Le Ber, J.

1966-01-01

This report gives an account of results obtained during investigations on the reliability of silicon Planar Transistors, irradiated by the 60 Co γ rays. We consider in a first part the variation of the average values of the parameters of the lots under test. Then, a more complete statistical study is carried out (distribution of the values of the parameters within the lots; research of correlations, etc. ). It is clearly stated and shown that evaluation of the degradation of the gain of transistors depends on: the conditions of measurement (voltage, current), after irradiation; the polarisation of the elements during irradiation; the origin of manufacture of the lots under test (4 manufacturers). We show then the difficulties met to predict the behaviour of the transistors under radiation stress, and attempt is made to define practical rules for design engineers. (author) [fr

Mechanical studies towards a silicon micro-strip super module for the ATLAS inner detector upgrade at the high luminosity LHC

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Barbier, G; Cadoux, F; Clark, A; Favre, Y; Ferrere, D; Gonzalez-Sevilla, S; Iacobucci, G; Marra, D La; Perrin, E; Seez, W; Endo, M; Hanagaki, K; Hara, K; Ikegami, Y; Nakamura, K; Takubo, Y; Terada, S; Jinnouchi, O; Nishimura, R; Takashima, R

2014-01-01

It is expected that after several years of data-taking, the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) physics programme will be extended to the so-called High-Luminosity LHC, where the instantaneous luminosity will be increased up to 5 × 10 34  cm −2  s −1 . For the general-purpose ATLAS experiment at the LHC, a complete replacement of its internal tracking detector will be necessary, as the existing detector will not provide the required performance due to the cumulated radiation damage and the increase in the detector occupancy. The baseline layout for the new ATLAS tracker is an all-silicon-based detector, with pixel sensors in the inner layers and silicon micro-strip detectors at intermediate and outer radii. The super-module (SM) is an integration concept proposed for the barrel strip region of the future ATLAS tracker, where double-sided stereo silicon micro-strip modules (DSM) are assembled into a low-mass local support (LS) structure. Mechanical aspects of the proposed LS structure are described

High-silicon 238PuO2 fuel characterization study: Half module impact tests

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Reimus, M.A.H.

1997-01-01

The General-Purpose Heat Source (GPHS) provides power for space missions by transmitting the heat of [sup 238]Pu decay to an array of thermoelectric elements. The modular GPHS design was developed to address both survivability during launch abort and return from orbit. Previous testing conducted in support of the Galileo and Ulysses missions documented the response of GPHSs to a variety of fragment- impact, aging, atmospheric reentry, and Earth-impact conditions. The evaluations documented in this report are part of an ongoing program to determine the effect of fuel impurities on the response of the heat source to conditions baselined during the Galileo/Ulysses test program. In the first two tests in this series, encapsulated GPHS fuel pellets containing high levels of silicon were aged, loaded into GPHS module halves, and impacted against steel plates. The results show no significant differences between the response of these capsules and the behavior of relatively low-silicon fuel pellets tested previously

Assembly procedure of the module (half-stave) of the ALICE Silicon Pixel Detector

CERN Document Server

Caselle, M; Antinori, F; Burns, M; Campbell, M; Chochula, P; Dinapoli, R; Elia, D; Formenti, F; Fini, R A; Ghidini, B; Kluge, A; Lenti, V; Manzari, V; Meddi, F; Morel, M; Navach, F; Nilsson, P; Pepato, Adriano; Riedler, P; Santoro, R; Stefanini, G; Viesti, G; Wyllie, K

2004-01-01

The Silicon Pixel Detector (SPD) forms the two innermost layers of the ALICE Inner Tracking System (ITS). The detector includes 1200 readout ASICs, each containing 8192 pixel cells, bump-bonded to Si sensor elements. The thickness of the readout chip and the sensor element is 150mum and 200mum, respectively. Low-mass solutions are implemented for the bus and the mechanical support. In this contribution, we describe the basic module (half-stave) of the two SPD layers and we give an overview of its assembly procedure.

Rabi oscillation and electron-spin-echo envelope modulation of the photoexcited triplet spin system in silicon

Science.gov (United States)

Akhtar, Waseem; Sekiguchi, Takeharu; Itahashi, Tatsumasa; Filidou, Vasileia; Morton, John J. L.; Vlasenko, Leonid; Itoh, Kohei M.

2012-09-01

We report on a pulsed electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) study of the photoexcited triplet state (S=1) of oxygen-vacancy centers in silicon. Rabi oscillations between the triplet sublevels are observed using coherent manipulation with a resonant microwave pulse. The Hahn echo and stimulated echo decay profiles are superimposed with strong modulations known as electron-spin-echo envelope modulation (ESEEM). The ESEEM spectra reveal a weak but anisotropic hyperfine coupling between the triplet electron spin and a 29Si nuclear spin (I=1/2) residing at a nearby lattice site, that cannot be resolved in conventional field-swept EPR spectra.

18th Workshop on Crystalline Silicon Solar Cells and Modules: Materials and Processes; Workshop Proceedings, 3-6 August 2008, Vail, Colorado

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Sopori, B. L.

2008-09-01

The National Center for Photovoltaics sponsored the 18th Workshop on Crystalline Silicon Solar Cells & Modules: Materials and Processes, held in Vail, CO, August 3-6, 2008. This meeting provided a forum for an informal exchange of technical and scientific information between international researchers in the photovoltaic and relevant non-photovoltaic fields. The theme of this year's meeting was 'New Directions for Rapidly Growing Silicon Technologies.'

Technology for the large-scale production of multi-crystalline silicon solar cells and modules

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Weeber, A.W.; De Moor, H.H.C.

1997-06-01

In cooperation with Shell Solar Energy (formerly R and S Renewable Energy Systems) and the Research Institute for Materials of the Catholic University Nijmegen the Netherlands Energy Research Foundation (ECN) plans to develop a competitive technology for the large-scale manufacturing of solar cells and solar modules on the basis of multi-crystalline silicon. The project will be carried out within the framework of the Economy, Ecology and Technology (EET) program of the Dutch ministry of Economic Affairs and the Dutch ministry of Education, Culture and Sciences. The aim of the EET-project is to reduce the costs of a solar module by 50% by means of increasing the conversion efficiency as well as the development of cheap processes for large-scale production

Study on Mitigation Method of Solder Corrosion for Crystalline Silicon Photovoltaic Modules

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ju-Hee Kim

2014-01-01

Full Text Available The corrosion of 62Sn36Pb2Ag solder connections poses serious difficulties for outdoor-exposed photovoltaic (PV modules, as connection degradation contributes to the increase in series resistance (RS of PV modules. In this study, we investigated a corrosion mitigation method based on the corrosion mechanism. The effect of added sacrificial metal on the reliability of PV modules was evaluated using the oxidation-reduction (redox reaction under damp heat (DH conditions. Experimental results after exposure to DH show that the main reason for the decrease in power was a drop in the module’s fill factor. This drop was attributed to the increase of RS. The drop in output power of the PV module without added sacrificial metal is greater than that of the sample with sacrificial metal. Electroluminescence and current-voltage mapping analysis also show that the PV module with sacrificial metal experienced less degradation than the sample without sacrificial metal.

Reliability assessment of ultra-thin HfO{sub 2} films deposited on silicon wafer

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Fu, Wei-En [Center for Measurement Standards, Industrial Technology Research Institute, Room 216, Building 8, 321 Kuang Fu Road Sec. 2, Hsinchu, Taiwan (China); Chang, Chia-Wei [Department of Materials Science and Engineering, National Cheng Kung University, 1 University Road, Tainan 70101, Taiwan (China); Chang, Yong-Qing [Center for Measurement Standards, Industrial Technology Research Institute, Room 216, Building 8, 321 Kuang Fu Road Sec. 2, Hsinchu, Taiwan (China); Yao, Chih-Kai [Department of Materials Science and Engineering, National Cheng Kung University, 1 University Road, Tainan 70101, Taiwan (China); Liao, Jiunn-Der, E-mail: jdliao@mail.ncku.edu.tw [Department of Materials Science and Engineering, National Cheng Kung University, 1 University Road, Tainan 70101, Taiwan (China)

2012-09-01

Highlights: Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer Nano-mechanical properties on annealed ultra-thin HfO{sub 2} film are studied. Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer By AFM analysis, hardness of the crystallized HfO{sub 2} film significantly increases. Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer By nano-indention, the film hardness increases with less contact stiffness. Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer Quality assessment on the annealed ultra-thin films can thus be achieved. - Abstract: Ultra-thin hafnium dioxide (HfO{sub 2}) is used to replace silicon dioxide to meet the required transistor feature size in advanced semiconductor industry. The process integration compatibility and long-term reliability for the transistors depend on the mechanical performance of ultra-thin HfO{sub 2} films. The criteria of reliability including wear resistance, thermal fatigue, and stress-driven failure rely on film adhesion significantly. The adhesion and variations in mechanical properties induced by thermal annealing of the ultra-thin HfO{sub 2} films deposited on silicon wafers (HfO{sub 2}/SiO{sub 2}/Si) are not fully understood. In this work, the mechanical properties of an atomic layer deposited HfO{sub 2} (nominal thickness Almost-Equal-To 10 nm) on a silicon wafer were characterized by the diamond-coated tip of an atomic force microscope and compared with those of annealed samples. The results indicate that the annealing process leads to the formation of crystallized HfO{sub 2} phases for the atomic layer deposited HfO{sub 2}. The HfSi{sub x}O{sub y} complex formed at the interface between HfO{sub 2} and SiO{sub 2}/Si, where the thermal diffusion of Hf, Si, and O atoms occurred. The annealing process increases the surface hardness of crystallized HfO{sub 2} film and therefore the resistance to nano-scratches. In addition, the annealing process significantly decreases the harmonic contact stiffness (or thereafter eliminate the stress at the interface) and increases the nano-hardness, as measured by vertically

Monolithic electrically injected nanowire array edge-emitting laser on (001) silicon

KAUST Repository

Frost, Thomas; Jahangir, Shafat; Stark, Ethan; Deshpande, Saniya; Hazari, Arnab Shashi; Zhao, Chao; Ooi, Boon S.; Bhattacharya, Pallab K.

2014-01-01

A silicon-based laser, preferably electrically pumped, has long been a scientific and engineering goal. We demonstrate here, for the first time, an edge-emitting InGaN/GaN disk-in-nanowire array electrically pumped laser emitting in the green (λ = 533 nm) on (001) silicon substrate. The devices display excellent dc and dynamic characteristics with values of threshold current density, differential gain, T0 and small signal modulation bandwidth equal to 1.76 kA/cm2, 3 × 10-17 cm2, 232 K, and 5.8 GHz respectively under continuous wave operation. Preliminary reliability measurements indicate a lifetime of 7000 h. The emission wavelength can be tuned by varying the alloy composition in the quantum disks. The monolithic nanowire laser on (001)Si can therefore address wide-ranging applications such as solid state lighting, displays, plastic fiber communication, medical diagnostics, and silicon photonics. © 2014 American Chemical Society.

Monolithic electrically injected nanowire array edge-emitting laser on (001) silicon

KAUST Repository

Frost, Thomas

2014-08-13

A silicon-based laser, preferably electrically pumped, has long been a scientific and engineering goal. We demonstrate here, for the first time, an edge-emitting InGaN/GaN disk-in-nanowire array electrically pumped laser emitting in the green (λ = 533 nm) on (001) silicon substrate. The devices display excellent dc and dynamic characteristics with values of threshold current density, differential gain, T0 and small signal modulation bandwidth equal to 1.76 kA/cm2, 3 × 10-17 cm2, 232 K, and 5.8 GHz respectively under continuous wave operation. Preliminary reliability measurements indicate a lifetime of 7000 h. The emission wavelength can be tuned by varying the alloy composition in the quantum disks. The monolithic nanowire laser on (001)Si can therefore address wide-ranging applications such as solid state lighting, displays, plastic fiber communication, medical diagnostics, and silicon photonics. © 2014 American Chemical Society.

The ALICE Silicon Pixel Detector System (SPD)

CERN Document Server

Kluge, A; Antinori, Federico; Burns, M; Cali, I A; Campbell, M; Caselle, M; Ceresa, S; Dima, R; Elias, D; Fabris, D; Krivda, Marian; Librizzi, F; Manzari, Vito; Morel, M; Moretto, Sandra; Osmic, F; Pappalardo, G S; Pepato, Adriano; Pulvirenti, A; Riedler, P; Riggi, F; Santoro, R; Stefanini, G; Torcato De Matos, C; Turrisi, R; Tydesjo, H; Viesti, G; PH-EP

2007-01-01

The ALICE silicon pixel detector (SPD) comprises the two innermost layers of the ALICE inner tracker system. The SPD includes 120 detector modules (half-staves) each consisting of 10 ALICE pixel chips bump bonded to two silicon sensors and one multi-chip read-out module. Each pixel chip contains 8192 active cells, so that the total number of pixel cells in the SPD is ≈ 107. The on-detector read-out is based on a multi-chip-module containing 4 ASICs and an optical transceiver module. The constraints on material budget and detector module dimensions are very demanding.

Installation of the light tight cover for the SSD modules (the modules are behind the aluminium plate). The silicon sensors are sensitive to light tight, so ambient light will increase the noise and may even damage them.

CERN Multimedia

Nooren, G.

2004-01-01

Installation of the light tight cover for the SSD modules (the modules are behind the aluminium plate). The silicon sensors are sensitive to light tight , so ambient light will increase the noise and may even damage them.

Test-beam evaluation of heavily irradiated silicon strip modules for ATLAS Phase-II Strip Tracker Upgrade

CERN Document Server

Blue, Andrew; The ATLAS collaboration

2018-01-01

The planned HL-LHC (High Luminosity LHC) is being designed to maximise the physics potential of the LHC with 10 years of operation at instantaneous luminosities of 7.5x1034cm−2s−1. A consequence of this increased luminosity is the expected radiation damage requiring the tracking detectors to withstand hadron equivalences to over 1x1015 1 MeV neutron equivalent per cm2 in the ATLAS Strips system. The silicon strip tracker exploits the concept of modularity. Fast readout electronics, deploying 130nm CMOS front-end electronics are glued on top of a silicon sensor to make a module. The radiation hard n-in-p micro-strip sensors used have been developed by the ATLAS ITk Strip Sensor collaboration and produced by Hamamatsu Photonics. A series of tests were performed at the DESY-II and CERN SPS test beam facilities to investigate the detailed performance of a strip module with both 2.5cm and 5cm length strips before and after irradiation with 8x1014neqcm−2 protons and a total ionising dose of 37.2MRad. The DURA...

Analytical and Experimental Evaluation of Joining Silicon Carbide to Silicon Carbide and Silicon Nitride to Silicon Nitride for Advanced Heat Engine Applications Phase II

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Sundberg, G.J.

1994-01-01

Techniques were developed to produce reliable silicon nitride to silicon nitride (NCX-5101) curved joins which were used to manufacture spin test specimens as a proof of concept to simulate parts such as a simple rotor. Specimens were machined from the curved joins to measure the following properties of the join interlayer: tensile strength, shear strength, 22 C flexure strength and 1370 C flexure strength. In parallel, extensive silicon nitride tensile creep evaluation of planar butt joins provided a sufficient data base to develop models with accurate predictive capability for different geometries. Analytical models applied satisfactorily to the silicon nitride joins were Norton's Law for creep strain, a modified Norton's Law internal variable model and the Monkman-Grant relationship for failure modeling. The Theta Projection method was less successful. Attempts were also made to develop planar butt joins of siliconized silicon carbide (NT230).

Small signal modulation characteristics of red-emitting (λ = 610 nm) III-nitride nanowire array lasers on (001) silicon

KAUST Repository

Jahangir, Shafat; Frost, Thomas; Hazari, Arnab; Yan, Lifan; Stark, Ethan; LaMountain, Trevor; Millunchick, Joanna M.; Ooi, Boon S.; Bhattacharya, Pallab

2015-01-01

The small signal modulation characteristics of an InGaN/GaN nanowire array edge- emitting laser on (001) silicon are reported. The emission wavelength is 610 nm. Lattice matched InAlN cladding layers were incorporated in the laser heterostructure for better mode confinement. The suitability of the nanowire lasers for use in plastic fiber communication systems with direct modulation is demonstrated through their modulation bandwidth of f-3dB,max = 3.1 GHz, very low values of chirp (0.8 Å) and α-parameter, and large differential gain (3.1 × 10-17 cm2).

Small signal modulation characteristics of red-emitting (λ = 610 nm) III-nitride nanowire array lasers on (001) silicon

KAUST Repository

Jahangir, Shafat

2015-02-16

The small signal modulation characteristics of an InGaN/GaN nanowire array edge- emitting laser on (001) silicon are reported. The emission wavelength is 610 nm. Lattice matched InAlN cladding layers were incorporated in the laser heterostructure for better mode confinement. The suitability of the nanowire lasers for use in plastic fiber communication systems with direct modulation is demonstrated through their modulation bandwidth of f-3dB,max = 3.1 GHz, very low values of chirp (0.8 Å) and α-parameter, and large differential gain (3.1 × 10-17 cm2).

17th Workshop on Crystalline Silicon Solar Cells and Modules: Materials and Processes; Workshop Proceedings

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Sopori, B. L.

2007-08-01

The National Center for Photovoltaics sponsored the 17th Workshop on Crystalline Silicon Solar Cells & Modules: Materials and Processes, held in Vail, CO, August 5-8, 2007. This meeting provided a forum for an informal exchange of technical and scientific information between international researchers in the photovoltaic and relevant non-photovoltaic fields. The theme of this year's meeting was 'Expanding Technology for a Future Powered by Si Photovoltaics.'

A high Reliability Module with Thermoelectric Device by Molding Technology for M2M Wireless Sensor Network

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Nakagawa, K; Tanaka, T; Suzuki, T

2014-01-01

This paper presents the fabrication of a new energy harvesting module that used the thermoelectric device (TED) by using molding technology. The output voltage per heater temperature of the TED module at 20 °C ambient temperature is 8mV/K and similar to the result with the aluminium heat sink which is almost the same fin size as the TED module. The accelerated environmental tests are performed on damp heat test that is an aging test under high temperature and high humidity, cold test and highly accelerated temperature and humidity stress test (HAST) for the purpose of evaluating the electrical reliability in harsh environments. Every result of tests indicates that the TED and circuit board can be properly protected from harsh temperature and humidity by using molding technology, because the output voltage of after tested modules is reduced by less than 5%.This study presents a novel fabrication method for a high reliability TED-installed module appropriate for Machine to Machine wireless sensor networks

Production and characterization of SLID interconnected n-in-p pixel modules with 75 micron thin silicon sensors

CERN Document Server

Andricek, L; Macchiolo, A; Moser, H.G; Nisius, R; Richter, R.H; Terzo, S; Weigell, P

2014-01-01

The performance of pixel modules built from 75 micrometer thin silicon sensors and ATLAS read-out chips employing the Solid Liquid InterDiffusion (SLID) interconnection technology is presented. This technology, developed by the Fraunhofer EMFT, is a possible alternative to the standard bump-bonding. It allows for stacking of different interconnected chip and sensor layers without destroying the already formed bonds. In combination with Inter-Chip-Vias (ICVs) this paves the way for vertical integration. Both technologies are combined in a pixel module concept which is the basis for the modules discussed in this paper. Mechanical and electrical parameters of pixel modules employing both SLID interconnections and sensors of 75 micrometer thickness are covered. The mechanical features discussed include the interconnection efficiency, alignment precision and mechanical strength. The electrical properties comprise the leakage currents, tuning characteristics, charge collection, cluster sizes and hit efficiencies. T...

Production and Characterisation of SLID Interconnected n-in-p Pixel Modules with 75 Micrometer Thin Silicon Sensors

CERN Document Server

Andricek, L; Macchiolo, A.; Moser, H.-G.; Nisius, R.; Richter, R.H.; Terzo, S.; Weigell, P.

2014-01-01

The performance of pixel modules built from 75 micrometer thin silicon sensors and ATLAS read-out chips employing the Solid Liquid InterDiffusion (SLID) interconnection technology is presented. This technology, developed by the Fraunhofer EMFT, is a possible alternative to the standard bump-bonding. It allows for stacking of different interconnected chip and sensor layers without destroying the already formed bonds. In combination with Inter-Chip-Vias (ICVs) this paves the way for vertical integration. Both technologies are combined in a pixel module concept which is the basis for the modules discussed in this paper. Mechanical and electrical parameters of pixel modules employing both SLID interconnections and sensors of 75 micrometer thickness are covered. The mechanical features discussed include the interconnection efficiency, alignment precision and mechanical strength. The electrical properties comprise the leakage currents, tunability, charge collection, cluster sizes and hit efficiencies. Targeting at ...

Design and operation of grid-interactive thin-film silicon PV systems

Science.gov (United States)

Marion, Bill; Atmaram, Gobind; Lashway, Clin; Strachan, John W.

Results are described from the operation of 11 thin-film amorphous silicon photovoltaic systems at three test facilities: the Florida Solar Energy Center, the New Mexico Solar Energy Institute, and Sandia National Laboratories. Commercially available modules from four US manufacturers are used in these systems, with array sizes from 133 to 750 W peak. Measured array efficiencies are from 3.1 to 4.8 percent. Except for one manufacturer, array peak power is in agreement with the calculated design ratings. For certain grid-connected systems, nonoptimal operation exists because the array peak power voltage is below the lower voltage limit of the power conditioning system. Reliability problems are found in two manufacturers' modules when shorts to ground and terminal corrosion occur. Array leakage current data are presented.

Construction and beam-tests of silicon-tungsten prototype modules for the CMS High Granularity Calorimeter for HL-LHC

CERN Document Server

Quast, Thorben

2017-01-01

As part of its HL-LHC upgrade program, CMS is developing a High Granularity Calorimeter (HGCAL) to replace the existing endcap calorimeters. The HGCAL will be realised as a sampling calorimeter, including an electromagnetic compartment comprising 28 layers of silicon pad detectors with pad areas of 0.5 - 1.0 cm$^2$ interspersed with absorbers.Prototype modules, based on 6-inch hexagonal silicon pad sensors with 128 channels, have been constructed and include many of the features required for this challenging detector. In 2016, beam tests of sampling configurations made from these modules have been conducted both at FNAL and at CERN using the Skiroc2 front-end chip (designed for the CALICE experiment for ILC). This year, the setup is extended with CALICE's AHCAL prototype and it is further tested in dedicated beam tests at CERN. There, the new Skiroc2-CMS front-end chip is used for the first time.We present final results from our studies in 2016, including noise performance, calibration with MIPs, energy and p...

OC19 - Measuring feasibility, reliability and validity of the Greek version of PedsQL cardiac module.

Science.gov (United States)

Drakouli, Maria; Petsios, Konstantinos; Matziou, Vasiliki

2016-05-09

Theme: Cardiology Introduction: Measuring quality of life (QoL) in children and adolescents with congenital heart disease (CHD) is of great clinical importance. The aim of the study was: (a) to adapt the PedsQL Cardiac Module for children aged two to 18 years with CHD in a sample of the Greek population; (b) to determine its reliability and validity. Forward and backward translation methodology was used. Parents and children completed the instrument during: (a) hospitalization and (b) visits in the paediatric cardiology outpatient department. Cross-informant variance between children and parents was thoroughly assessed. Missing item responses did not exceed 5%. All internal consistency reliability coefficients for the inventory exceeded the minimum standards for group comparisons, over 0.75. Hypothesized correlations between cardiac module and core scales were statistically significant, (pModule in children with congenital heart defect (CHD).

Monolithic amorphous silicon modules on continuous polymer substrate. Final subcontract report, 9 January 1991--14 April 1991

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Grimmer, D.P. [Iowa Thin Film Technologies, Inc., Ames, IA (US)

1992-03-01

This report examines manufacturing monolithic amorphous silicon modules on a continuous polymer substrate. Module production costs can be reduced by increasing module performance, expanding production, and improving and modifying production processes. Material costs can be reduced by developing processes that use a 1-mil polyimide substrate and multilayers of low-cost material for the front encapsulant. Research to speed up a-Si and ZnO deposition rates is needed to improve throughputs. To keep throughput rates compatible with depositions, multibeam fiber optic delivery systems for laser scribing can be used. However, mechanical scribing systems promise even higher throughputs. Tandem cells and production experience can increase device efficiency and stability. Two alternative manufacturing processes are described: (1) wet etching and sheet handling and (2) wet etching and roll-to-roll fabrication.

Study on the graphene/silicon Schottky diodes by transferring graphene transparent electrodes on silicon

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wang, Xiaojuan; Li, Dong; Zhang, Qichong; Zou, Liping; Wang, Fengli; Zhou, Jun; Zhang, Zengxing

2015-01-01

Graphene/silicon heterostructures present a Schottky characteristic and have potential applications for solar cells and photodetectors. Here, we fabricated graphene/silicon heterostructures by using chemical vapor deposition derived graphene and n-type silicon, and studied the electronic and optoelectronic properties through varying their interface and silicon resistivity. The results exhibit that the properties of the fabricated configurations can be effectively modulated. The graphene/silicon heterostructures with a Si (111) interface and high resistivity show a better photovoltaic behavior and should be applied for high-performance photodetectors. With the combined atomic force microscopy and theoretical analysis, the possible origination is discussed. The work here should be helpful on exploring high-performance graphene/silicon photoelectronics. - Highlights: • Different graphene/silicon heterostructures were fabricated. • Electronic and optoelectronic properties of the heterostructures were studied. • Graphene/silicon heterostructures were further explored for photodetectors.

Study on the graphene/silicon Schottky diodes by transferring graphene transparent electrodes on silicon

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Wang, Xiaojuan [MOE Key Laboratory of Advanced Micro-structured Materials & Shanghai Key Laboratory of Special Artificial Microstructure Materials and Technology, School of Physics Science and Engineering, Tongji University, Shanghai 200092 (China); School of Physics and Electronics, Henan University, Kaifeng 475004 (China); Li, Dong; Zhang, Qichong; Zou, Liping; Wang, Fengli [MOE Key Laboratory of Advanced Micro-structured Materials & Shanghai Key Laboratory of Special Artificial Microstructure Materials and Technology, School of Physics Science and Engineering, Tongji University, Shanghai 200092 (China); Zhou, Jun, E-mail: zhoujunzhou@tongji.edu.cn [Center for Phononics and Thermal Energy Science, School of Physics Science and Engineering, Tongji University, Shanghai 200092 (China); Zhang, Zengxing, E-mail: zhangzx@tongji.edu.cn [MOE Key Laboratory of Advanced Micro-structured Materials & Shanghai Key Laboratory of Special Artificial Microstructure Materials and Technology, School of Physics Science and Engineering, Tongji University, Shanghai 200092 (China)

2015-10-01

Graphene/silicon heterostructures present a Schottky characteristic and have potential applications for solar cells and photodetectors. Here, we fabricated graphene/silicon heterostructures by using chemical vapor deposition derived graphene and n-type silicon, and studied the electronic and optoelectronic properties through varying their interface and silicon resistivity. The results exhibit that the properties of the fabricated configurations can be effectively modulated. The graphene/silicon heterostructures with a Si (111) interface and high resistivity show a better photovoltaic behavior and should be applied for high-performance photodetectors. With the combined atomic force microscopy and theoretical analysis, the possible origination is discussed. The work here should be helpful on exploring high-performance graphene/silicon photoelectronics. - Highlights: • Different graphene/silicon heterostructures were fabricated. • Electronic and optoelectronic properties of the heterostructures were studied. • Graphene/silicon heterostructures were further explored for photodetectors.

Optoelectronic transport properties in amorphous/crystalline silicon solar cell heterojunctions measured by frequency-domain photocarrier radiometry: Multi-parameter measurement reliability and precision studies

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zhang, Y.; Melnikov, A.; Mandelis, A.; Halliop, B.; Kherani, N. P.; Zhu, R.

2015-01-01

A theoretical one-dimensional two-layer linear photocarrier radiometry (PCR) model including the presence of effective interface carrier traps was used to evaluate the transport parameters of p-type hydrogenated amorphous silicon (a-Si:H) and n-type crystalline silicon (c-Si) passivated by an intrinsic hydrogenated amorphous silicon (i-layer) nanolayer. Several crystalline Si heterojunction structures were examined to investigate the influence of the i-layer thickness and the doping concentration of the a-Si:H layer. The experimental data of a series of heterojunction structures with intrinsic thin layers were fitted to PCR theory to gain insight into the transport properties of these devices. The quantitative multi-parameter results were studied with regard to measurement reliability (uniqueness) and precision using two independent computational best-fit programs. The considerable influence on the transport properties of the entire structure of two key parameters that can limit the performance of amorphous thin film solar cells, namely, the doping concentration of the a-Si:H layer and the i-layer thickness was demonstrated. It was shown that PCR can be applied to the non-destructive characterization of a-Si:H/c-Si heterojunction solar cells yielding reliable measurements of the key parameters

Optoelectronic transport properties in amorphous/crystalline silicon solar cell heterojunctions measured by frequency-domain photocarrier radiometry: multi-parameter measurement reliability and precision studies.

Science.gov (United States)

Zhang, Y; Melnikov, A; Mandelis, A; Halliop, B; Kherani, N P; Zhu, R

2015-03-01

A theoretical one-dimensional two-layer linear photocarrier radiometry (PCR) model including the presence of effective interface carrier traps was used to evaluate the transport parameters of p-type hydrogenated amorphous silicon (a-Si:H) and n-type crystalline silicon (c-Si) passivated by an intrinsic hydrogenated amorphous silicon (i-layer) nanolayer. Several crystalline Si heterojunction structures were examined to investigate the influence of the i-layer thickness and the doping concentration of the a-Si:H layer. The experimental data of a series of heterojunction structures with intrinsic thin layers were fitted to PCR theory to gain insight into the transport properties of these devices. The quantitative multi-parameter results were studied with regard to measurement reliability (uniqueness) and precision using two independent computational best-fit programs. The considerable influence on the transport properties of the entire structure of two key parameters that can limit the performance of amorphous thin film solar cells, namely, the doping concentration of the a-Si:H layer and the i-layer thickness was demonstrated. It was shown that PCR can be applied to the non-destructive characterization of a-Si:H/c-Si heterojunction solar cells yielding reliable measurements of the key parameters.

Silicon dioxide etching process for fabrication of micro-optics employing pulse-modulated electron-beam-excited plasma

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Takeda, Keigo; Ohta, Takayuki; Ito, Masafumi; Hori, Masaru

2006-01-01

Silicon dioxide etching process employing a pulse-modulated electron-beam-excited plasma (EBEP) has been developed for a fabrication process of optical micro-electro-mechanical systems (MEMSs). Nonplanar dielectric materials were etched by using self-bias induced by the electron beam generating the plasma. In order to investigate the effect of pulse modulation on electron beam, plasma diagnostics were carried out in the EBEP employing C 4 F 8 gas diluted with Ar gas by using a Langmuir single probe and time resolved optical emission spectroscopy. It was found that the pulse-modulated EBEP has an excellent potential to reduce the plasma-induced thermal damage on a photoresist film on a substrate to get the uniform etching and the anisotropic SiO 2 etching in comparison with the conventional EBEP. The pulse-modulated EBEP enabled us to get the high etch rate of SiO 2 of 375 nm/min without any additional bias power supply. Furthermore, the microfabrication on the core area of optical fiber was realized. These results indicate that the pulse-modulated EBEP will be a powerful tool for the application to optical MEMS process

Nanostructured silicon for thermoelectric

Science.gov (United States)

Stranz, A.; Kähler, J.; Waag, A.; Peiner, E.

2011-06-01

Thermoelectric modules convert thermal energy into electrical energy and vice versa. At present bismuth telluride is the most widely commercial used material for thermoelectric energy conversion. There are many applications where bismuth telluride modules are installed, mainly for refrigeration. However, bismuth telluride as material for energy generation in large scale has some disadvantages. Its availability is limited, it is hot stable at higher temperatures (>250°C) and manufacturing cost is relatively high. An alternative material for energy conversion in the future could be silicon. The technological processing of silicon is well advanced due to the rapid development of microelectronics in recent years. Silicon is largely available and environmentally friendly. The operating temperature of silicon thermoelectric generators can be much higher than of bismuth telluride. Today silicon is rarely used as a thermoelectric material because of its high thermal conductivity. In order to use silicon as an efficient thermoelectric material, it is necessary to reduce its thermal conductivity, while maintaining high electrical conductivity and high Seebeck coefficient. This can be done by nanostructuring into arrays of pillars. Fabrication of silicon pillars using ICP-cryogenic dry etching (Inductive Coupled Plasma) will be described. Their uniform height of the pillars allows simultaneous connecting of all pillars of an array. The pillars have diameters down to 180 nm and their height was selected between 1 micron and 10 microns. Measurement of electrical resistance of single silicon pillars will be presented which is done in a scanning electron microscope (SEM) equipped with nanomanipulators. Furthermore, measurement of thermal conductivity of single pillars with different diameters using the 3ω method will be shown.

The Application of Approximate Entropy Theory in Defects Detecting of IGBT Module

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Shengqi Zhou

2012-01-01

Full Text Available Defect is one of the key factors in reducing the reliability of the insulated gate bipolar transistor (IGBT module, so developing the diagnostic method for defects inside the IGBT module is an important measure to avoid catastrophic failure and improves the reliability of power electronic converters. For this reason, a novel diagnostic method based on the approximate entropy (ApEn theory is presented in this paper, which can provide statistical diagnosis and allow the operator to replace defective IGBT modules timely. The proposed method is achieved by analyzing the cross ApEn of the gate voltages before and after the occurring of defects. Due to the local damage caused by aging, the intrinsic parasitic parameters of packaging materials or silicon chips inside the IGBT module such as parasitic inductances and capacitances may change over time, which will make remarkable variation in the gate voltage. That is to say the gate voltage is close coupled with the defects. Therefore, the variation is quantified and used as a precursor parameter to evaluate the health status of the IGBT module. Experimental results validate the correctness of the proposed method.

Alternative glues for the production of ATLAS silicon strip modules for the Phase-II upgrade of the ATLAS Inner Detector

CERN Document Server

INSPIRE-00407830; Bloch, Ingo; Edwards, Sam; Friedrich, Conrad; Gregor, Ingrid M.; Jones, T; Lacker, Heiko; Pyatt, Simon; Rehnisch, Laura; Sperlich, Dennis; Wilson, John

2016-05-24

The Phase-II upgrade of the ATLAS detector for the High Luminosity Large Hadron Collider (HL-LHC) includes the replacement of the current Inner Detector with an all-silicon tracker consisting of pixel and strip detectors. The current Phase-II detector layout requires the construction of 20,000 strip detector modules consisting of sensor, circuit boards and readout chips, which are connected mechanically using adhesives. The adhesive between readout chips and circuit board is a silver epoxy glue as was used in the current ATLAS SemiConductor Tracker (SCT). This glue has several disadvantages, which motivated the search for an alternative. This paper presents a study concerning the use of six ultra-violet (UV) cure glues and a glue pad for use in the assembly of silicon strip detector modules for the ATLAS upgrade. Trials were carried out to determine the ease of use, the thermal conduction and shear strength, thermal cycling, radiation hardness, corrosion resistance and shear strength tests. These investigatio...

Development and Evaluation of a Test System for the Quality Assurance during the Mass Production of Silicon Microstrip Detector Modules for the CMS Experiment

CERN Document Server

Franke, Torsten

2005-01-01

The Compact Muon Solenoid (CMS) is one of four large-scale experiments that is going to be installed at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) at the European Laboratory for Particle Physics (CERN). For CMS an inner tracking system entirely equipped with silicon microstrip detectors was chosen. With an active area of about 198 m2 it will be the largest tracking device of the world that was ever constructed using silicon sensors. The basic components in the construction of the tracking system are approximately 16,000 so-called modules, which are pre-assembled units consisting of the sensors, the readout electronics and a support structure. The module production is carried out by a cooperation of number of institutes and industrial companies. To ensure the operation of the modules within the harsh radiation environment extensive tests have to be performed on all components. An important contribution to the quality assurance of the modules is made by a test system of which all components were developed in Aachen. In ad...

Seventh workshop on the role of impurities and defects in silicon device processing

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

NONE

1997-08-01

This workshop is the latest in a series which has looked at technological issues related to the commercial development and success of silicon based photovoltaic (PV) modules. PV modules based on silicon are the most common at present, but face pressure from other technologies in terms of cell performance and cell cost. This workshop addresses a problem which is a factor in the production costs of silicon based PV modules.

Data acquisition and PV module power production in upgraded TEP/AzRISE solar test yard

Science.gov (United States)

Bennett, Whit E.; Fishgold, Asher D.; Lai, Teh; Potter, Barrett G.; Simmons-Potter, Kelly

2017-08-01

The Tucson Electric Power (TEP)/University of Arizona AzRISE (Arizona Research Institute for Solar Energy) solar test yard is continuing efforts to improve standardization and data acquisition reliability throughout the facility. Data reliability is ensured through temperature-insensitive data acquisition devices with battery backups in the upgraded test yard. Software improvements allow for real-time analysis of collected data, while uploading to a web server. Sample data illustrates high fidelity monitoring of the burn-in period of a polycrystalline silicon photovoltaic module test string with no data failures over 365 days of data collection. In addition to improved DAQ systems, precision temperature monitoring has been implemented so that PV module backside temperatures are routinely obtained. Weather station data acquired at the test yard provides local ambient temperature, humidity, wind speed, and irradiance measurements that have been utilized to enable characterization of PV module performance over an extended test period

Construction and beam-tests of silicon-tungsten prototype modules for the CMS High Granularity Calorimeter for HL-LHC

Science.gov (United States)

Quast, Thorben

2018-02-01

As part of its HL-LHC upgrade program, CMS is developing a High Granularity Calorimeter (HGCAL) to replace the existing endcap calorimeters. The HGCAL will be realised as a sampling calorimeter, including an electromagnetic compartment comprising 28 layers of silicon pad detectors with pad areas of 0.5-1.0 cm2 interspersed with absorbers. Prototype modules, based on 6-inch hexagonal silicon pad sensors with 128 channels, have been constructed and include many of the features required for this challenging detector. In 2016, beam tests of sampling configurations made from these modules have been conducted both at FNAL and at CERN using the Skiroc2 front-end ASIC (designed by the CALICE collaboration for ILC). In 2017, the setup has been extended with CALICE's AHCAL prototype, a scinitillator based sampling calorimeter, and it was further tested in dedicated beam tests at CERN. There, the new Skiroc2-CMS front-end ASIC was used for the first time. We highlight final results from our studies in 2016, including position resolution as well as precision timing-measurements. Furthermore, the extended setup in 2017 is discussed and first results from beam tests with electrons and pions are shown.

Optical modulation techniques for analog signal processing and CMOS compatible electro-optic modulation

Science.gov (United States)

Gill, Douglas M.; Rasras, Mahmoud; Tu, Kun-Yii; Chen, Young-Kai; White, Alice E.; Patel, Sanjay S.; Carothers, Daniel; Pomerene, Andrew; Kamocsai, Robert; Beattie, James; Kopa, Anthony; Apsel, Alyssa; Beals, Mark; Mitchel, Jurgen; Liu, Jifeng; Kimerling, Lionel C.

2008-02-01

Integrating electronic and photonic functions onto a single silicon-based chip using techniques compatible with mass-production CMOS electronics will enable new design paradigms for existing system architectures and open new opportunities for electro-optic applications with the potential to dramatically change the management, cost, footprint, weight, and power consumption of today's communication systems. While broadband analog system applications represent a smaller volume market than that for digital data transmission, there are significant deployments of analog electro-optic systems for commercial and military applications. Broadband linear modulation is a critical building block in optical analog signal processing and also could have significant applications in digital communication systems. Recently, broadband electro-optic modulators on a silicon platform have been demonstrated based on the plasma dispersion effect. The use of the plasma dispersion effect within a CMOS compatible waveguide creates new challenges and opportunities for analog signal processing since the index and propagation loss change within the waveguide during modulation. We will review the current status of silicon-based electrooptic modulators and also linearization techniques for optical modulation.

Alternative glues for the production of ATLAS silicon strip modules for the Phase-II upgrade of the ATLAS inner detector

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Poley, Luise; Bloch, Ingo; Edwards, Sam

2016-04-01

The Phase-II upgrade of the ATLAS detector for the High Luminosity Large Hadron Collider (HL-LHC) includes the replacement of the current Inner Detector with an all-silicon tracker consisting of pixel and strip detectors. The current Phase-II detector layout requires the construction of 20,000 strip detector modules consisting of sensor, circuit boards and readout chips, which are connected mechanically using adhesives. The adhesive between readout chips and circuit board is a silver epoxy glue as was used in the current ATLAS SemiConductor Tracker (SCT). This glue has several disadvantages, which motivated the search for an alternative. This paper presents a study concerning the use of six ultra-violet (UV) cure glues and a glue pad for use in the assembly of silicon strip detector modules for the ATLAS upgrade. Trials were carried out to determine the ease of use, the thermal conduction and shear strength, thermal cycling, radiation hardness, corrosion resistance and shear strength tests. These investigations led to the exclusion of three UV cure glues as well as the glue pad. Three UV cure glues were found to be possible better alternatives. Results from electrical tests of first prototype modules constructed using these glues are presented.

Alternative glues for the production of ATLAS silicon strip modules for the Phase-II upgrade of the ATLAS inner detector

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Poley, Luise [DESY, Zeuthen (Germany); Humboldt Univ. Berlin (Germany); Bloch, Ingo [DESY, Zeuthen (Germany); Edwards, Sam [Birmingham Univ. (United Kingdom); and others

2016-04-15

The Phase-II upgrade of the ATLAS detector for the High Luminosity Large Hadron Collider (HL-LHC) includes the replacement of the current Inner Detector with an all-silicon tracker consisting of pixel and strip detectors. The current Phase-II detector layout requires the construction of 20,000 strip detector modules consisting of sensor, circuit boards and readout chips, which are connected mechanically using adhesives. The adhesive between readout chips and circuit board is a silver epoxy glue as was used in the current ATLAS SemiConductor Tracker (SCT). This glue has several disadvantages, which motivated the search for an alternative. This paper presents a study concerning the use of six ultra-violet (UV) cure glues and a glue pad for use in the assembly of silicon strip detector modules for the ATLAS upgrade. Trials were carried out to determine the ease of use, the thermal conduction and shear strength, thermal cycling, radiation hardness, corrosion resistance and shear strength tests. These investigations led to the exclusion of three UV cure glues as well as the glue pad. Three UV cure glues were found to be possible better alternatives. Results from electrical tests of first prototype modules constructed using these glues are presented.

Alternative glues for the production of ATLAS silicon strip modules for the Phase-II upgrade of the ATLAS Inner Detector

Science.gov (United States)

Poley, L.; Bloch, I.; Edwards, S.; Friedrich, C.; Gregor, I.-M.; Jones, T.; Lacker, H.; Pyatt, S.; Rehnisch, L.; Sperlich, D.; Wilson, J.

2016-05-01

The Phase-II upgrade of the ATLAS detector for the High Luminosity Large Hadron Collider (HL-LHC) includes the replacement of the current Inner Detector with an all-silicon tracker consisting of pixel and strip detectors. The current Phase-II detector layout requires the construction of 20,000 strip detector modules consisting of sensor, circuit boards and readout chips, which are connected mechanically using adhesives. The adhesive used initially between readout chips and circuit board is a silver epoxy glue as was used in the current ATLAS SemiConductor Tracker (SCT). However, this glue has several disadvantages, which motivated the search for an alternative. This paper presents a study of six ultra-violet (UV) cure glues and a glue pad for possible use in the assembly of silicon strip detector modules for the ATLAS upgrade. Trials were carried out to determine the ease of use, thermal conduction and shear strength. Samples were thermally cycled, radiation hardness and corrosion resistance were also determined. These investigations led to the exclusion of three UV cure glues as well as the glue pad. Three UV cure glues were found to be possible better alternatives than silver loaded glue. Results from electrical tests of first prototype modules constructed using these glues are presented.

Alternative glues for the production of ATLAS silicon strip modules for the Phase-II upgrade of the ATLAS Inner Detector

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Poley, L.; Bloch, I.; Friedrich, C.; Gregor, I.-M.; Edwards, S.; Pyatt, S.; Wilson, J.; Jones, T.; Lacker, H.; Rehnisch, L.; Sperlich, D.

2016-01-01

The Phase-II upgrade of the ATLAS detector for the High Luminosity Large Hadron Collider (HL-LHC) includes the replacement of the current Inner Detector with an all-silicon tracker consisting of pixel and strip detectors. The current Phase-II detector layout requires the construction of 20,000 strip detector modules consisting of sensor, circuit boards and readout chips, which are connected mechanically using adhesives. The adhesive used initially between readout chips and circuit board is a silver epoxy glue as was used in the current ATLAS SemiConductor Tracker (SCT). However, this glue has several disadvantages, which motivated the search for an alternative. This paper presents a study of six ultra-violet (UV) cure glues and a glue pad for possible use in the assembly of silicon strip detector modules for the ATLAS upgrade. Trials were carried out to determine the ease of use, thermal conduction and shear strength. Samples were thermally cycled, radiation hardness and corrosion resistance were also determined. These investigations led to the exclusion of three UV cure glues as well as the glue pad. Three UV cure glues were found to be possible better alternatives than silver loaded glue. Results from electrical tests of first prototype modules constructed using these glues are presented.

Highly-reliable laser diodes and modules for spaceborne applications

Science.gov (United States)

Deichsel, E.

2017-11-01

Laser applications become more and more interesting in contemporary missions such as earth observations or optical communication in space. One of these applications is light detection and ranging (LIDAR), which comprises huge scientific potential in future missions. The Nd:YAG solid-state laser of such a LIDAR system is optically pumped using 808nm emitting pump sources based on semiconductor laser-diodes in quasi-continuous wave (qcw) operation. Therefore reliable and efficient laser diodes with increased output powers are an important requirement for a spaceborne LIDAR-system. In the past, many tests were performed regarding the performance and life-time of such laser-diodes. There were also studies for spaceborne applications, but a test with long operation times at high powers and statistical relevance is pending. Other applications, such as science packages (e.g. Raman-spectroscopy) on planetary rovers require also reliable high-power light sources. Typically fiber-coupled laser diode modules are used for such applications. Besides high reliability and life-time, designs compatible to the harsh environmental conditions must be taken in account. Mechanical loads, such as shock or strong vibration are expected due to take-off or landing procedures. Many temperature cycles with high change rates and differences must be taken in account due to sun-shadow effects in planetary orbits. Cosmic radiation has strong impact on optical components and must also be taken in account. Last, a hermetic sealing must be considered, since vacuum can have disadvantageous effects on optoelectronics components.

Adopting a customer-focused team approach to amorphous silicon multijunction module R ampersand D

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Peterson, T.M.; Luft, W.

1993-01-01

Informed observers of energy markets now generally believe that photovoltaics (PV) will not significantly penetrate the utility bulk-power sector before price and performance approach $50/m 2 for 15% efficient modules in flat-plate systems. Recent progress toward such ''utility grade'' modules using amorphous thin films has been slow. The important amorphous thin-film research issues have been well known for some years. These have not been promptly and conclusively addressed, at least in part, because of inadequate PV industry involvement in academic research. In view of this situation, the authors recently modified their research programs seeking to improve the efficiency of amorphous silicon PV research, conclusively address the key issues, and accelerate commercial introduction of utility-grade products. They began this by seeking ''customer'' (PV industry) specification of research priorities and forming mission-oriented teams to pursue the high-priority issues (customer requirements). This paper describes the process and results to date

Systems reliability analysis: applications of the SPARCS System-Reliability Assessment Computer Program

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Locks, M.O.

1978-01-01

SPARCS-2 (Simulation Program for Assessing the Reliabilities of Complex Systems, Version 2) is a PL/1 computer program for assessing (establishing interval estimates for) the reliability and the MTBF of a large and complex s-coherent system of any modular configuration. The system can consist of a complex logical assembly of independently failing attribute (binomial-Bernoulli) and time-to-failure (Poisson-exponential) components, without regard to their placement. Alternatively, it can be a configuration of independently failing modules, where each module has either or both attribute and time-to-failure components. SPARCS-2 also has an improved super modularity feature. Modules with minimal-cut unreliabiliy calculations can be mixed with those having minimal-path reliability calculations. All output has been standardized to system reliability or probability of success, regardless of the form in which the input data is presented, and whatever the configuration of modules or elements within modules

Effects of spectral variation on the device performance of copper indium diselenide and multi-crystalline silicon photovoltaic modules

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Okullo, W.; Munji, M.K.; Vorster, F.J.; van Dyk, E.E. [Department of Physics, Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University, Box 77000, Port Elizabeth (South Africa)

2011-02-15

We present results of an experimental investigation of the effects of the daily spectral variation on the device performance of copper indium diselenide and multi-crystalline silicon photovoltaic modules. Such investigations are of importance in characterization of photovoltaic devices. The investigation centres on the analysis of outdoor solar spectral measurements carried out at 10 min intervals on clear-sky days. We have shown that the shift in the solar spectrum towards infrared has a negative impact on the device performance of both modules. The spectral bands in the visible region contribute more to the short circuit current than the bands in the infrared region while the ultraviolet region contributes least. The quantitative effects of the spectral variation on the performance of the two photovoltaic modules are reflected on their respective device performance parameters. The decrease in the visible and the increase in infrared of the late afternoon spectra in each case account for the decreased current collection and hence power and efficiency of both modules. (author)

Strong quantum-confined stark effect in germanium quantum-well structures on silicon

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kuo, Y.; Lee, Y. K.; Gei, Y.; Ren, S; Roth, J. E.; Miller, D. A.; Harris, J. S.

2006-01-01

Silicon is the dominant semiconductor for electronics, but there is now a growing need to integrate such component with optoelectronics for telecommunications and computer interconnections. Silicon-based optical modulators have recently been successfully demonstrated but because the light modulation mechanisms in silicon are relatively weak, long (for example, several millimeters) devices or sophisticated high-quality-factor resonators have been necessary. Thin quantum-well structures made from III-V semiconductors such as GaAs, InP and their alloys exhibit the much stronger Quantum-Confined Stark Effect (QCSE) mechanism, which allows modulator structures with only micrometers of optical path length. Such III-V materials are unfortunately difficult to integrate with silicon electronic devices. Germanium is routinely integrated with silicon in electronics, but previous silicon-germanium structures have also not shown strong modulation effects. Here we report the discovery of the QCSE, at room temperature, in thin germanium quantum-well structures grown on silicon. The QCSE here has strengths comparable to that in III-V materials. Its clarity and strength are particularly surprising because germanium is an indirect gap semiconductor, such semiconductors often display much weak optical effects than direct gap materials (such as the III-V materials typically used for optoelectronics). This discovery is very promising for small, high-speed, low-power optical output devices fully compatible with silicon electronics manufacture. (author)

Radiation hard cryogenic silicon detectors

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Casagrande, L.; Abreu, M.C.; Bell, W.H.; Berglund, P.; Boer, W. de; Borchi, E.; Borer, K.; Bruzzi, M.; Buontempo, S.; Chapuy, S.; Cindro, V.; Collins, P.; D'Ambrosio, N.; Da Via, C.; Devine, S.; Dezillie, B.; Dimcovski, Z.; Eremin, V.; Esposito, A.; Granata, V.; Grigoriev, E.; Hauler, F.; Heijne, E.; Heising, S.; Janos, S.; Jungermann, L.; Konorov, I.; Li, Z.; Lourenco, C.; Mikuz, M.; Niinikoski, T.O.; O'Shea, V.; Pagano, S.; Palmieuri, V.G.; Paul, S.; Pirollo, S.; Pretzl, K.; Rato, P.; Ruggiero, G.; Smith, K.; Sonderegger, P.; Sousa, P.; Verbitskaya, E.; Watts, S.; Zavrtanik, M.

2002-01-01

It has been recently observed that heavily irradiated silicon detectors, no longer functional at room temperature, 'resuscitate' when operated at temperatures below 130 K. This is often referred to as the 'Lazarus effect'. The results presented here show that cryogenic operation represents a new and reliable solution to the problem of radiation tolerance of silicon detectors

Continuous-wave operation and 10-Gb/s direct modulation of InAsP/InP sub-wavelength nanowire laser on silicon photonic crystal

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Masato Takiguchi

2017-04-01

Full Text Available We demonstrated sub-wavelength (∼111 nm diameter single nanowire (NW continuous wave (CW lasers on silicon photonic crystal in the telecom-band with direct modulation at 10 Gb/s by optical pumping at cryogenic temperatures. To estimate the small signal response and pseudo-random bit sequence (PRBS modulation of our CW lasers, we employed a new signal detection technique that employs a superconducting single photon detector and a time-correlated single photon counting module. The results showed that our NW laser was unambiguously modulated at above 10 Gb/s and an open eye pattern was obtained. This is the first demonstration of a telecom-band CW NW laser with high-speed PRBS modulation.

Practical photon number detection with electric field-modulated silicon avalanche photodiodes.

Science.gov (United States)

Thomas, O; Yuan, Z L; Shields, A J

2012-01-24

Low-noise single-photon detection is a prerequisite for quantum information processing using photonic qubits. In particular, detectors that are able to accurately resolve the number of photons in an incident light pulse will find application in functions such as quantum teleportation and linear optics quantum computing. More generally, such a detector will allow the advantages of quantum light detection to be extended to stronger optical signals, permitting optical measurements limited only by fluctuations in the photon number of the source. Here we demonstrate a practical high-speed device, which allows the signals arising from multiple photon-induced avalanches to be precisely discriminated. We use a type of silicon avalanche photodiode in which the lateral electric field profile is strongly modulated in order to realize a spatially multiplexed detector. Clearly discerned multiphoton signals are obtained by applying sub-nanosecond voltage gates in order to restrict the detector current.

arXiv Construction and beam-tests of silicon-tungsten prototype modules for the CMS High Granularity Calorimeter for HL-LHC

CERN Document Server

INSPIRE-00664095

2018-02-26

As part of its HL-LHC upgrade program, CMS is developing a High Granularity Calorimeter (HGCAL) to replace the existing endcap calorimeters. The HGCAL will be realised as a sampling calorimeter, including an electromagnetic compartment comprising 28 layers of silicon pad detectors with pad areas of 0.5–1.0 cm2 interspersed with absorbers. Prototype modules, based on 6-inch hexagonal silicon pad sensors with 128 channels, have been constructed and include many of the features required for this challenging detector. In 2016, beam tests of sampling configurations made from these modules have been conducted both at FNAL and at CERN using the Skiroc2 front-end ASIC (designed by the CALICE collaboration for ILC). In 2017, the setup has been extended with CALICE's AHCAL prototype, a scinitillator based sampling calorimeter, and it was further tested in dedicated beam tests at CERN. There, the new Skiroc2-CMS front-end ASIC was used for the first time. We highlight final results from our studies in 2016, including ...

End user reliability assessment of 1.2-1.7 kV commercial SiC MOSFET power modules

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Ionita, Claudiu; Nawaz, Muhammad

2017-01-01

This paper is a first attempt to offer reliability evaluation of full SiC power modules where several dies are connected in parallel to increase power rating capability. Here, five different power modules with voltage rating from 1.2-1.7 kV and current rating from 120-800 A from three vendors hav......, which is connected in parallel with the MOSFET chip. For another module, there has also been recorded a failure of the gate oxide during H3TRB....

A high reliability module with thermoelectric device by molding technology for M2M wireless sensor network

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Nakagawa, K; Tanaka, T; Suzuki, T

2015-01-01

This paper presents the fabrication of a new energy harvesting module that uses a thermoelectric device (TED) by using molding technology. Through molding technology, the TED and circuit board can be properly protected and a heat-radiating fin structure can be simultaneously constructed. The output voltage per heater temperature of the TED module at 20 °C ambient temperature is 8 mV K −1 , similar to the result with the aluminum heat sink which is almost the same fin size as the TED module. The accelerated environmental tests are performed on a damp heat test, which is an aging test under high temperature and high humidity, highly accelerated temperature, and humidity stress test (HAST) for the purpose of evaluating the electrical reliability in harsh environments, cold test and thermal cycle test to evaluate degrading characteristics by cycling through two temperatures. All test results indicate that the TED and circuit board can be properly protected from harsh temperature and humidity by using molding technology because the output voltage of after-tested modules is reduced by less than 5%. This study presents a novel fabrication method for a high reliability TED-installed module appropriate for Machine to Machine wireless sensor networks. (paper)

Hybrid Design, Procurement and Testing for the LHCb Silicon Tracker

CERN Document Server

Bay, A; Frei, R; Jiménez-Otero, S; Perrin, A; Tran, MT; Van Hunen, J J; Vervink, K; Vollhardt, A; Agari, M; Bauer, C; Blouw, J; Hofmann, W; Knöpfle, K T; Löchner, S; Schmelling, M; Schwingenheuer, B; Smale, N J; Adeva, B; Esperante-Pereira, D; Lois, C; Vázquez, P; Lehner, F; Bernhard, R P; Bernet, R; Gassner, J; Köstner, S; Needham, M; Steinkamp, O; Straumann, U; Volyanskyy, D; Voss, H; Wenger, A

2005-01-01

The Silicon Tracker of the LHCb experiment consists of four silicon detector stations positioned along the beam line of the experiment. The detector modules of each station are constructed from wide pitch silicon microstrip sensors. Located at the module's end, a polyimide hybrid is housing the front-end electronics. The assembly of the more than 600 hybrids has been outsourced to industry. We will report on the design and production status of the hybrids for the LHCb Silicon Tracker and describe the quality assurance tests. Particular emphasis is laid on the vendor qualifying and its impact on our hybrid design that we experienced during the prototyping phase.

Development of thin-film Si HYBRID solar module

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Nakajima, Akihiko; Gotoh, Masahiro; Sawada, Toru; Fukuda, Susumu; Yoshimi, Masashi; Yamamoto, Kenji; Nomura, Takuji [Kaneka Corporation, 2-1-1, Hieitsuji, Otsu, Shiga 520-0104 (Japan)

2009-06-15

The device current-voltage (I-V) characteristics of thin-film silicon stacked tandem solar modules (HYBRID modules), consisting of a hydrogenated amorphous silicon (a-Si:H) cell and a thin-film crystalline silicon solar cell ({mu}c-Si), have been investigated under various spectral irradiance distributions. The performance of the HYBRID module varied periodically in natural sunlight due to the current-limiting property of the HYBRID module and the environmental effects. The behavior based on the current-limiting property was demonstrated by the modelling of the I-V curves using the linear interpolation method for each component cell. The improvement of the performance for the HYBRID module in natural sunlight will also be discussed from the viewpoint of the device design of the component cells. (author)

Monitoring the performance of single and triple junction amorphous silicon modules in two building integrated photovoltaic (BIPV) installations

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Eke, Rustu; Senturk, Ali

2013-01-01

Highlights: • The first and the largest BIPV of Turkey were installed. • Single and triple junction amorphous module performances in BIPV applications are analyzed. • Total generated electricity of the BIPV system is measured as 103,702 kW h for 36 months of operation. • Annual energy rating is calculated as 856 kW h/kWp for a non-optimally oriented plant. • The PR of the system is found 0.74 and 0.81 for PV systems on towers and facade respectively. - Abstract: Mugla is located in south west Turkey at 37°13′N latitude and 28°36′E longitude with yearly sum of horizontal global irradiation exceeding 1700 kW h per square meter. Mugla has a Mediterranean Climate which is characterized by long, hot and dry summers with cool and wet winters. Mugla Sıtkı Kocman University is the largest “PV Park” in Turkey consisting of 100 kWp installed Photovoltaic Power Systems (PVPSs) with different PV applications. The 40 kWp building integrated photovoltaic (BIPV) system which is the first and largest in Turkey was installed on the façade and the two towers of the “Staff Block of the Education Faculty’s Building” of Mugla Sıtkı Kocman University in February 2008. Triple junction amorphous silicon photovoltaic modules are used on the façade and single junction amorphous silicon PV modules are used on the East and West towers of the building. In this paper, the 40 kWp BIPV system in Mugla, Turkey is presented, and its performance is evaluated. Energy rating (kW h/kWp energy yield), efficiencies and performance ratios of both applications are also evaluated for 36 months of operation. Daily, monthly and seasonal variations in performance parameters of the BIPV system in relation to solar data and meteorological parameters and outdoor performance of two reference modules (representing the modules on façade and towers) in a summer and a winter day are also investigated

The CMS silicon tracker

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Focardi, E.; Albergo, S.; Angarano, M.; Azzi, P.; Babucci, E.; Bacchetta, N.; Bader, A.; Bagliesi, G.; Basti, A.; Biggeri, U.; Bilei, G.M.; Bisello, D.; Boemi, D.; Bosi, F.; Borrello, L.; Bozzi, C.; Braibant, S.; Breuker, H.; Bruzzi, M.; Buffini, A.; Busoni, S.; Candelori, A.; Caner, A.; Castaldi, R.; Castro, A.; Catacchini, E.; Checcucci, B; Ciampolini, P.; Civinini, C.; Creanza, D.; D'Alessandro, R.; Da Rold, M.; Demaria, N.; De Palma, M.; Dell'Orso, R.; Della Marina, R.; Dutta, S.; Eklund, C.; Feld, L.; Fiore, L.; French, M.; Freudenreich, K.; Frey, A.; Fuertjes, A.; Giassi, A.; Giorgi, M.; Giraldo, A.; Glessing, B.; Gu, W.H.; Hall, G.; Hammarstrom, R.; Hebbeker, T.; Honma, A.; Hrubec, J.; Huhtinen, M.; Kaminsky, A.; Karimaki, V.; Koenig, St.; Krammer, M.; Lariccia, P.; Lenzi, M.; Loreti, M.; Leubelsmeyer, K.; Lustermann, W.; Maettig, P.; Maggi, G.; Mannelli, M.; Mantovani, G.; Marchioro, A.; Mariotti, C.; Martignon, G.; Evoy, B.Mc; Meschini, M.; Messineo, A.; Migliore, E.; My, S.; Paccagnella, A.; Palla, F.; Pandoulas, D.; Papi, A.; Parrini, G.; Passeri, D.; Pieri, M.; Piperov, S.; Potenza, R.; Radicci, V.; Raffaelli, F.; Raymond, M.; Rizzo, F.; Santocchia, A.; Schmitt, B.; Selvaggi, G.; Servoli, L.; Sguazzoni, G.; Siedling, R.; Silvestris, L.; Starodumov, A.; Stavitski, I.; Stefanini, G.; Surrow, B.; Tempesta, P.; Tonelli, G.; Tricomi, A.; Tuuva, T.; Vannini, C.; Verdini, P.G.; Viertel, G.; Xie, Z.; Yahong, Li; Watts, S.; Wittmer, B.

2000-01-01

This paper describes the Silicon microstrip Tracker of the CMS experiment at LHC. It consists of a barrel part with 5 layers and two endcaps with 10 disks each. About 10 000 single-sided equivalent modules have to be built, each one carrying two daisy-chained silicon detectors and their front-end electronics. Back-to-back modules are used to read-out the radial coordinate. The tracker will be operated in an environment kept at a temperature of T=-10 deg. C to minimize the Si sensors radiation damage. Heavily irradiated detectors will be safely operated due to the high-voltage capability of the sensors. Full-size mechanical prototypes have been built to check the system aspects before starting the construction

Establishment of a PID Pass/Fail Test for Crystalline Silicon Modules by Examining Field Performance for Five Years: Preprint

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Hacke, Peter L [National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), Golden, CO (United States)

2017-11-27

In an experiment with five module designs and multiple replicas, it is found that crystalline silicon cell modules that can pass a criterion of less than 5 percent power degradation in stress test conditions of 60 degrees Celsius, 85 percent relative humidity (RH), 96 h, and nameplate-rated system voltage bias show no power degradation by potential induced degradation in the range of 4-6 years duration in the Florida, USA environment. This data suggests that this chamber stress level is useful as a pass/fail criterion for PID, and will help ensure against degradation by system voltage stress in Florida, or less stressful climates, for at least 5 years.

Development and implementation of quality control strategies for CMS silicon strip tracker modules

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Dirkes, G.

2003-01-01

The CMS group in Karlsruhe is involved in the construction of the silicon trackers end-caps and will produce and qualify the 1 600 modules of ring 5. Therefore automatic test systems for module qualification are developed and test strategies are worked out. For the electrical tests a complete readout system is developed, based on readout modules available within the collaboration and extended by home build modules. These are based on a modular approach with less complex functional units attached to a motherboard and includes key functionalities like clock and trigger generation and their distribution, high and low voltage supply and test signal generation usable with lasers or infrared LEDs. The motherboard is connected to a standard PC, hosting a fast ADC, interface cards to the motherboard and the front-end electronics. Already during the R and D phase of this readout system, first prototype tests were performed and some weak points of the design were uncovered, resulting in changes of the electronics design of the front end hybrids. Two test stations are built. The first one focuses on a fast functionality test, which includes an active thermal cycle with readout at -10 C performed for each individual module. The other test station focuses on debugging and repair requirements. It disposes of sufficient space for a flexible use of the system, including the possibility of additional test options with lasers, radioactive sources, probes and LEDs. For quality control measurements at module level it turned out, that LEDs are of good use: Besides external signal generation by running them in a pulsed way, they can be used for constant illumination of sensors, inducing an artificial leakage current. This led to the discovery of gain losses of complete readout chips induced by shorted AC coupling capacitances of several readout channels, which are called pinholes. Therefore pinholes must be unbonded from the front end preamplifier, which requires faultless

Ultrafast Silicon Photonics with Visible to Mid-Infrared Pumping of Silicon Nanocrystals.

Science.gov (United States)

Diroll, Benjamin T; Schramke, Katelyn S; Guo, Peijun; Kortshagen, Uwe R; Schaller, Richard D

2017-10-11

Dynamic optical control of infrared (IR) transparency and refractive index is achieved using boron-doped silicon nanocrystals excited with mid-IR optical pulses. Unlike previous silicon-based optical switches, large changes in transmittance are achieved without a fabricated structure by exploiting strong light coupling of the localized surface plasmon resonance (LSPR) produced from free holes of p-type silicon nanocrystals. The choice of optical excitation wavelength allows for selectivity between hole heating and carrier generation through intraband or interband photoexcitation, respectively. Mid-IR optical pumping heats the free holes of p-Si nanocrystals to effective temperatures greater than 3500 K. Increases of the hole effective mass at high effective hole temperatures lead to a subpicosecond change of the dielectric function, resulting in a redshift of the LSPR, modulating mid-IR transmission by as much as 27%, and increasing the index of refraction by more than 0.1 in the mid-IR. Low hole heat capacity dictates subpicosecond hole cooling, substantially faster than carrier recombination, and negligible heating of the Si lattice, permitting mid-IR optical switching at terahertz repetition frequencies. Further, the energetic distribution of holes at high effective temperatures partially reverses the Burstein-Moss effect, permitting the modulation of transmittance at telecommunications wavelengths. The results presented here show that doped silicon, particularly in micro- or nanostructures, is a promising dynamic metamaterial for ultrafast IR photonics.

Environmentally benign silicon solar cell manufacturing

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Tsuo, Y.S. [National Renewable Energy Lab., Golden, CO (United States); Gee, J.M. [Sandia National Labs., Albuquerque, NM (United States); Menna, P. [National Agency for New Technologies Energy and Environment, Portici (Italy); Strebkov, D.S.; Pinov, A.; Zadde, V. [Intersolarcenter, Moscow (Russian Federation)

1998-09-01

The manufacturing of silicon devices--from polysilicon production, crystal growth, ingot slicing, wafer cleaning, device processing, to encapsulation--requires many steps that are energy intensive and use large amounts of water and toxic chemicals. In the past two years, the silicon integrated-circuit (IC) industry has initiated several programs to promote environmentally benign manufacturing, i.e., manufacturing practices that recover, recycle, and reuse materials resources with a minimal consumption of energy. Crystalline-silicon solar photovoltaic (PV) modules, which accounted for 87% of the worldwide module shipments in 1997, are large-area devices with many manufacturing steps similar to those used in the IC industry. Obviously, there are significant opportunities for the PV industry to implement more environmentally benign manufacturing approaches. Such approaches often have the potential for significant cost reduction by reducing energy use and/or the purchase volume of new chemicals and by cutting the amount of used chemicals that must be discarded. This paper will review recent accomplishments of the IC industry initiatives and discuss new processes for environmentally benign silicon solar-cell manufacturing.

Investigation of the impact of mechanical stress on the properties of silicon strip sensors

CERN Document Server

Affolder, Tony; The ATLAS collaboration

2017-01-01

The new ATLAS tracker for phase II will be composed of silicon pixel and strip sensor modules. The strip sensor module consists of silicon sensors, boards and readout chips. Adhesives are used to connect the modular components thermally and mechanically. It was shown that the silicon sensor is exposed to mechanical stress, due to temperature difference between construction and operation. Mechanical stress can damage the sensor and can change the electrical properties. The thermal induced tensile stress near to the surface of a silicon sensor in a module was simulated and the results are compared to a cooled module. A four point bending setup was used to measure the maximum tensile stress of silicon detectors and to verify the piezoresistive effects on two recent development sensor types used in ATLAS (ATLAS07 and ATLAS12). Changes in the interstrip, bulk and bias resistance and capacitance as well as the coupling capacitance and the implant resistance were measured. The Leakage current was observed to decreas...

Production and characterisation of SLID interconnected n-in-p pixel modules with 75 μm thin silicon sensors

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Andricek, L. [Halbleiterlabor der Max-Planck-Gesellschaft, Otto Hahn Ring 6, D-81739 München (Germany); Beimforde, M.; Macchiolo, A.; Moser, H.-G. [Max-Planck-Institut für Physik (Werner-Heisenberg-Institut), Föhringer Ring 6, D-80805 München (Germany); Nisius, R., E-mail: Richard.Nisius@mpp.mpg.de [Max-Planck-Institut für Physik (Werner-Heisenberg-Institut), Föhringer Ring 6, D-80805 München (Germany); Richter, R.H. [Halbleiterlabor der Max-Planck-Gesellschaft, Otto Hahn Ring 6, D-81739 München (Germany); Terzo, S.; Weigell, P. [Max-Planck-Institut für Physik (Werner-Heisenberg-Institut), Föhringer Ring 6, D-80805 München (Germany)

2014-09-11

The performance of pixel modules built from 75 μm thin silicon sensors and ATLAS read-out chips employing the Solid Liquid InterDiffusion (SLID) interconnection technology is presented. This technology, developed by the Fraunhofer EMFT, is a possible alternative to the standard bump-bonding. It allows for stacking of different interconnected chip and sensor layers without destroying the already formed bonds. In combination with Inter-Chip-Vias (ICVs) this paves the way for vertical integration. Both technologies are combined in a pixel module concept which is the basis for the modules discussed in this paper. Mechanical and electrical parameters of pixel modules employing both SLID interconnections and sensors of 75 μm thickness are covered. The mechanical features discussed include the interconnection efficiency, alignment precision and mechanical strength. The electrical properties comprise the leakage currents, tuning characteristics, charge collection, cluster sizes and hit efficiencies. Targeting at a usage at the high luminosity upgrade of the LHC accelerator called HL-LHC, the results were obtained before and after irradiation up to fluences of 10{sup 16}n{sub eq}/cm{sup 2}.

Environmental Life Cycle Inventory of Crystalline Silicon Photovoltaic System Production. Status 2005-2006 (Excel File)

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

De Wild - Scholten, M.J.; Alsema, E.A.

2007-03-01

The authors have assembled this LCI data set to the best of their knowledge and in their opinion it gives a reliable representation of the crystalline silicon module production technology in Western-Europe in the year 2005/2006 and Balance-of-System components of the year 2006. However, most of the data were provided to them by the companies that helped them. Although they have cross-checked the data from different sources they cannot guarantee that it does not contain any errors. Therefore they cannot accept any responsibility for the use of these data

Reliability issues at the LHC

CERN Multimedia

CERN. Geneva. Audiovisual Unit; Gillies, James D

2002-01-01

The Lectures on reliability issues at the LHC will be focused on five main Modules on five days. Module 1: Basic Elements in Reliability Engineering Some basic terms, definitions and methods, from components up to the system and the plant, common cause failures and human factor issues. Module 2: Interrelations of Reliability & Safety (R&S) Reliability and risk informed approach, living models, risk monitoring. Module 3: The ideal R&S Process for Large Scale Systems From R&S goals via the implementation into the system to the proof of the compliance. Module 4: Some Applications of R&S on LHC Master logic, anatomy of risk, cause - consequence diagram, decomposition and aggregation of the system. Module 5: Lessons learned from R&S Application in various Technologies Success stories, pitfalls, constrains in data and methods, limitations per se, experienced in aviation, space, process, nuclear, offshore and transport systems and plants. The Lectures will reflect in summary the compromise in...

High Volume Manufacturing of Silicon-Film Solar Cells and Modules; Final Subcontract Report, 26 February 2003 - 30 September 2003

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Rand, J. A.; Culik, J. S.

2005-10-01

The objective of the PV Manufacturing R&D subcontract was to continue to improve AstroPower's technology for manufacturing Silicon-Film* wafers, solar cells, and modules to reduce costs, and increase production yield, throughput, and capacity. As part of the effort, new technology such as the continuous back metallization screen-printing system and the laser scribing system were developed and implemented. Existing processes, such as the silicon nitride antireflection coating system and the fire-through process were optimized. Improvements were made to the statistical process control (SPC) systems of the major manufacturing processes: feedstock preparation, wafer growth, surface etch, diffusion, and the antireflection coating process. These process improvements and improved process control have led to an increase of 5% relative power, and nearly 15% relative improvement in mechanical and visual yield.

Galvanic corrosion of structural non-stoichiometric silicon nitride thin films and its implications on reliability of microelectromechanical devices

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Broas, M., E-mail: mikael.broas@aalto.fi; Mattila, T. T.; Paulasto-Kröckel, M. [Department of Electrical Engineering and Automation, Aalto University, Espoo, P.O. Box 13500, FIN-00076 Aalto (Finland); Liu, X.; Ge, Y. [Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Aalto University, Espoo, P.O. Box 16200, FIN-00076 Aalto (Finland)

2015-06-28

This paper describes a reliability assessment and failure analysis of a poly-Si/non-stoichiometric silicon nitride thin film composite structure. A set of poly-Si/SiN{sub x} thin film structures were exposed to a mixed flowing gas (MFG) environment, which simulates outdoor environments, for 90 days, and an elevated temperature and humidity (85 °C/95% R.H.) test for 140 days. The mechanical integrity of the thin films was observed to degrade during exposure to the chemically reactive atmospheres. The degree of degradation was analyzed with nanoindentation tests. Statistical analysis of the forces required to initiate a fracture in the thin films indicated degradation due to the exposure to the MFG environment in the SiN{sub x} part of the films. Scanning electron microscopy revealed a porous-like reaction layer on top of SiN{sub x}. The morphology of the reaction layer resembled that of galvanically corroded poly-Si. Transmission electron microscopy further clarified the microstructure of the reaction layer which had a complex multi-phase structure extending to depths of ∼100 nm. Furthermore, the layer was oxidized two times deeper in a 90 days MFG-tested sample compared to an untested reference. The formation of the layer is proposed to be caused by galvanic corrosion of elemental silicon in non-stoichiometric silicon nitride during hydrofluoric acid etching. The degradation is proposed to be due uncontrolled oxidation of the films during the stress tests.

Silicon Optical Modulator Simulation

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Soon Thor LIM

2015-04-01

Full Text Available We developed a way of predicting and analyzing high speed optical modulator. Our research adopted a bottom-up approach to consider high-speed optical links using an eye diagram. Our method leverages on modular mapping of electrical characteristics to optical characteristics, while attaining the required accuracy necessary for device footprint approaching sub-micron scales where electrical data distribution varies drastically. We calculate for the bias dependent phase shift (2pi/mm and loss (dB/mm for the optical modulator based on the real and imaginary part of complex effective indices. Subsequently, combine effectively both the electrical and optical profiles to construct the optical eye diagram which is the essential gist of signal integrity of such devices.

Strained silicon as a new electro-optic material

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Jacobsen, Rune Shim; Andersen, Karin Nordström; Borel, Peter Ingo

2006-01-01

For decades, silicon has been the material of choice for mass fabrication of electronics. This is in contrast to photonics, where passive optical components in silicon have only recently been realized1, 2. The slow progress within silicon optoelectronics, where electronic and optical...... functionalities can be integrated into monolithic components based on the versatile silicon platform, is due to the limited active optical properties of silicon3. Recently, however, a continuous-wave Raman silicon laser was demonstrated4; if an effective modulator could also be realized in silicon, data...... processing and transmission could potentially be performed by all-silicon electronic and optical components. Here we have discovered that a significant linear electro-optic effect is induced in silicon by breaking the crystal symmetry. The symmetry is broken by depositing a straining layer on top...

Flexible integration of free-standing nanowires into silicon photonics.

Science.gov (United States)

Chen, Bigeng; Wu, Hao; Xin, Chenguang; Dai, Daoxin; Tong, Limin

2017-06-14

Silicon photonics has been developed successfully with a top-down fabrication technique to enable large-scale photonic integrated circuits with high reproducibility, but is limited intrinsically by the material capability for active or nonlinear applications. On the other hand, free-standing nanowires synthesized via a bottom-up growth present great material diversity and structural uniformity, but precisely assembling free-standing nanowires for on-demand photonic functionality remains a great challenge. Here we report hybrid integration of free-standing nanowires into silicon photonics with high flexibility by coupling free-standing nanowires onto target silicon waveguides that are simultaneously used for precise positioning. Coupling efficiency between a free-standing nanowire and a silicon waveguide is up to ~97% in the telecommunication band. A hybrid nonlinear-free-standing nanowires-silicon waveguides Mach-Zehnder interferometer and a racetrack resonator for significantly enhanced optical modulation are experimentally demonstrated, as well as hybrid active-free-standing nanowires-silicon waveguides circuits for light generation. These results suggest an alternative approach to flexible multifunctional on-chip nanophotonic devices.Precisely assembling free-standing nanowires for on-demand photonic functionality remains a challenge. Here, Chen et al. integrate free-standing nanowires into silicon waveguides and show all-optical modulation and light generation on silicon photonic chips.

Hydrogenated amorphous silicon coatings may modulate gingival cell response

Science.gov (United States)

Mussano, F.; Genova, T.; Laurenti, M.; Munaron, L.; Pirri, C. F.; Rivolo, P.; Carossa, S.; Mandracci, P.

2018-04-01

Silicon-based materials present a high potential for dental implant applications, since silicon has been proven necessary for the correct bone formation in animals and humans. Notably, the addition of silicon is effective to enhance the bioactivity of hydroxyapatite and other biomaterials. The present work aims to expand the knowledge of the role exerted by hydrogen in the biological interaction of silicon-based materials, comparing two hydrogenated amorphous silicon coatings, with different hydrogen content, as means to enhance soft tissue cell adhesion. To accomplish this task, the films were produced by plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD) on titanium substrates and their surface composition and hydrogen content were analyzed by means of X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and Fourier-transform infrared spectrophotometry (FTIR) respectively. The surface energy and roughness were measured through optical contact angle analysis (OCA) and high-resolution mechanical profilometry respectively. Coated surfaces showed a slightly lower roughness, compared to bare titanium samples, regardless of the hydrogen content. The early cell responses of human keratinocytes and fibroblasts were tested on the above mentioned surface modifications, in terms of cell adhesion, viability and morphometrical assessment. Films with lower hydrogen content were endowed with a surface energy comparable to the titanium surfaces. Films with higher hydrogen incorporation displayed a lower surface oxidation and a considerably lower surface energy, compared to the less hydrogenated samples. As regards mean cell area and focal adhesion density, both a-Si coatings influenced fibroblasts, but had no significant effects on keratinocytes. On the contrary, hydrogen-rich films increased manifolds the adhesion and viability of keratinocytes, but not of fibroblasts, suggesting a selective biological effect on these cells.

High-density oxidized porous silicon

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gharbi, Ahmed; Souifi, Abdelkader; Remaki, Boudjemaa; Halimaoui, Aomar; Bensahel, Daniel

2012-01-01

We have studied oxidized porous silicon (OPS) properties using Fourier transform infraRed (FTIR) spectroscopy and capacitance–voltage C–V measurements. We report the first experimental determination of the optimum porosity allowing the elaboration of high-density OPS insulators. This is an important contribution to the research of thick integrated electrical insulators on porous silicon based on an optimized process ensuring dielectric quality (complete oxidation) and mechanical and chemical reliability (no residual pores or silicon crystallites). Through the measurement of the refractive indexes of the porous silicon (PS) layer before and after oxidation, one can determine the structural composition of the OPS material in silicon, air and silica. We have experimentally demonstrated that a porosity approaching 56% of the as-prepared PS layer is required to ensure a complete oxidation of PS without residual silicon crystallites and with minimum porosity. The effective dielectric constant values of OPS materials determined from capacitance–voltage C–V measurements are discussed and compared to FTIR results predictions. (paper)

ATLAS Silicon Microstrip Tracker Operation and Performance

CERN Document Server

Chalupkova, I; The ATLAS collaboration

2012-01-01

The Semi-Conductor Tracker (SCT) is a silicon strip detector and one of the key precision tracking devices in the Inner Detector of the ATLAS experiment at CERN LHC. The SCT is constructed of 4088 silicon detector modules for a total of 6.3 million strips. Each module is designed, constructed and tested to operate as a stand-alone unit, mechanically, electrically, optically and thermally. The modules are mounted into two types of structures: one barrel (4 cylinders) and two end-cap systems (9 disks on each end of the barrel). The SCT silicon micro-strip sensors are processed in the planar p-in-n technology. The signals from the strips are processed in the front-end ASICS ABCD3TA, working in the binary readout mode. Data is transferred to the off-detector readout electronics via optical fibers. The completed SCT has been installed inside the ATLAS experimental cavern since 2007 and has been operational since then. Calibration data has been taken regularly and analyzed to determine the noise performance of the ...

ATLAS Silicon Microstrip Tracker Operation and Performance

CERN Document Server

NAGAI, K; The ATLAS collaboration

2012-01-01

The Semi-Conductor Tracker (SCT) is a silicon strip detector and one of the key precision tracking devices in the Inner Detector of the ATLAS experiment at CERN LHC. The SCT is constructed of 4088 silicon detector modules for a total of 6.3 million strips. Each module is designed, constructed and tested to operate as a stand-alone unit, mechanically, electrically, optically and thermally. The modules are mounted into two types of structures: one barrel (4 cylinders) and two end-cap systems (9 disks on each end of the barrel). The SCT silicon micro-strip sensors are processed in the planar p-in-n technology. The signals from the strips are processed in the front-end ASICS ABCD3TA, working in the binary readout mode. Data is transferred to the off-detector readout electronics via optical fibres. The completed SCT has been installed inside the ATLAS experimental cavern since 2007 and has been operational since then. Calibration data has been taken regularly and analysed to determine the noise performance of the ...

ATLAS Silicon Microstrip Tracker Operation and Performance

CERN Document Server

Chalupkova, I; The ATLAS collaboration

2012-01-01

The Semi-Conductor Tracker (SCT) is a silicon strip detector and one of the key precision tracking devices in the Inner Detector (ID) of the ATLAS experiment at CERN LHC. The SCT is constructed of 4088 silicon detector modules with a total of 6.3 million strips. Each module is designed, constructed and tested to operate as a stand-alone unit, mechanically, electrically, optically and thermally. The modules are mounted into two types of structures: one barrel (4 cylinders) and two end-cap systems (9 disks on each side of the barrel). The SCT silicon microstrip sensors are processed in the planar p-in-n technology. The signals from the strips are processed in the front-end ASICs ABCD3TA, working in the binary readout mode. Data is transferred to the off-detector readout electronics via optical fibres. SCT has been installed inside the ATLAS experimental cavern since 2007 and has been operational ever since. Calibration data has been taken regularly and analysed to determine the noise performance of the system. ...

Investigation and optimization of series connection of thin-film silicon solar modules; Untersuchung und Optimierung der Serienverschaltung von Silizium-Duennschicht-Solarmodulen

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Haas, Stefan

2010-07-01

The integrated series connection is an important and elementary part of a thin-film silicon solar module. The series connection leads to a reduction of Ohmic losses and an increase of the module voltage. After their deposition the different functional layers of a solar module must be patterned selectively to form a series connection. First the front contact, then the absorber, and finally the back contact is locally removed. The first step and the last step are needed to separate the contact layers (isolation step), the absorber patterning is used to expose the front contact and prepare the series interconnection. Usually laser ablation is used for patterning. The patterning of the front contact is overall a noncritical step. Therefore, this thesis exclusively investigates mechanisms that limit the process window of the absorber patterning and the back contact patterning. Especially for the absorber patterning on SnO{sub 2}-substrates the process window is very narrow. As too high pulse energies create a barrier layer on the SnO{sub 2}-window layer, which restricts the current flow in a series connected module. This barrier layer probably consists of SiO{sub 2} or an alloy of (Sn,Si)O{sub 2}. It arrises from redeposition of evaporated silicon. Ablation of the absorber without creating a barrier layer is only possible, when the silicon is not evaporated. Here the ablation is induced by the explosive out-diffusion of hydrogen from the silicon layer. On ZnO-substrates no significant barrier formation occurs. For this reason the process window is very broad. Patterning the back contact is the last isolation step. It is mainly restricted by an unavoidable deterioration of the absorber as well as a possible ablation of the window layer. The deterioration of the absorber in the vicinity of the patterning groove leads to parasitic dark currents for amorphous and for microcrystalline solar cells. The parasitic dark currents decrease the efficiency {eta} of a patterned

Telepsychiatry clinical decision support system used by non-psychiatrists in remote areas: Validity & reliability of diagnostic module

Science.gov (United States)

Malhotra, Savita; Chakrabarti, Subho; Shah, Ruchita; Sharma, Minali; Sharma, Kanu Priya; Malhotra, Akanksha; Upadhyaya, Suneet K.; Margoob, Mushtaq A.; Maqbool, Dar; Jassal, Gopal D.

2017-01-01

Background & objectives: A knowledge-based, logically-linked online telepsychiatric decision support system for diagnosis and treatment of mental disorders was developed and validated. We evaluated diagnostic accuracy and reliability of the application at remote sites when used by non-psychiatrists who underwent a brief training in its use through video-conferencing. Methods: The study was conducted at a nodal telepsychiatry centre, and three geographically remote peripheral centres. The diagnostic tool of application had a screening followed by detailed criteria-wise diagnostic modules for 18 psychiatric disorders. A total of 100 consecutive consenting adult outpatients attending remote telepsychiatry centres were included. To assess inter-rater reliability, patients were interviewed face to face by non-specialists at remote sites using the application (active interviewer) and simultaneously on online application via video-conferencing by a passive assessor at nodal centre. Another interviewer at the nodal centre rated the patient using Mini-International Neuropsychiatric Interview (MINI) for diagnostic validation. Results: Screening sub-module had high sensitivity (80-100%), low positive predictive values (PPV) (0.10-0.71) but high negative predictive value (NPV) (0.97-1) for most disorders. For the diagnostic sub-modules, Cohen's kappa was >0.4 for all disorders, with kappa of 0.7-1.0 for most disorders. PPV and NPV were high for most disorders. Inter-rater agreement analysis revealed kappa >0.6 for all disorders. Interpretation & conclusions: Diagnostic tool showed acceptable to good validity and reliability when used by non-specialists at remote sites. Our findings show that diagnostic tool of the telepsychiatry application has potential to empower non-psychiatrist doctors and paramedics to diagnose psychiatric disorders accurately and reliably in remote sites. PMID:29265020

Floating Silicon Method

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kellerman, Peter

2013-12-21

The Floating Silicon Method (FSM) project at Applied Materials (formerly Varian Semiconductor Equipment Associates), has been funded, in part, by the DOE under a “Photovoltaic Supply Chain and Cross Cutting Technologies” grant (number DE-EE0000595) for the past four years. The original intent of the project was to develop the FSM process from concept to a commercially viable tool. This new manufacturing equipment would support the photovoltaic industry in following ways: eliminate kerf losses and the consumable costs associated with wafer sawing, allow optimal photovoltaic efficiency by producing high-quality silicon sheets, reduce the cost of assembling photovoltaic modules by creating large-area silicon cells which are free of micro-cracks, and would be a drop-in replacement in existing high efficiency cell production process thereby allowing rapid fan-out into the industry.

Multifunctional microstructured polymer films for boosting solar power generation of silicon-based photovoltaic modules.

Science.gov (United States)

Leem, Jung Woo; Choi, Minkyu; Yu, Jae Su

2015-02-04

We propose two-dimensional periodic conical micrograting structured (MGS) polymer films as a multifunctional layer (i.e., light harvesting and self-cleaning) at the surface of outer polyethylene terephthalate (PET) cover-substrates for boosting the solar power generation in silicon (Si)-based photovoltaic (PV) modules. The surface of ultraviolet-curable NOA63 MGS polymer films fabricated by the soft imprint lithography exhibits a hydrophobic property with water contact angle of ∼121° at no inclination and dynamic advancing/receding water contact angles of ∼132°/111° at the inclination angle of 40°, respectively, which can remove dust particles or contaminants on the surface of PV modules in real outdoor environments (i.e., self-cleaning). The NOA63 MGS film coated on the bare PET leads to the reduction of reflection as well as the enhancement of both the total and diffuse transmissions at wavelengths of 300-1100 nm, indicating lower solar weighted reflectance (RSW) of ∼8.2%, higher solar weighted transmittance (TSW) of ∼93.1%, and considerably improved average haze ratio (HAvg) of ∼88.3% as compared to the bare PET (i.e., RSW ≈ 13.5%, TSW ≈ 86.9%, and HAvg ≈ 9.1%), respectively. Additionally, it shows a relatively good durability at temperatures of ≤160 °C. The resulting Si PV module with the NOA63 MGS/PET has an enhanced power conversion efficiency (PCE) of 13.26% (cf., PCE = 12.55% for the reference PV module with the bare PET) due to the mainly improved short circuit current from 49.35 to 52.01 mA, exhibiting the PCE increment percentage of ∼5.7%. For light incident angle-dependent PV module current-voltage characteristics, superior solar energy conversion properties are also obtained in a broad angle range of 10-80°.

Size modulation of nanocrystalline silicon embedded in amorphous silicon oxide by Cat-CVD

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Matsumoto, Y.; Godavarthi, S.; Ortega, M.; Sanchez, V.; Velumani, S.; Mallick, P.S.

2011-01-01

Different issues related to controlling size of nanocrystalline silicon (nc-Si) embedded in hydrogenated amorphous silicon oxide (a-SiO x :H) deposited by catalytic chemical vapor deposition (Cat-CVD) have been reported. Films were deposited using tantalum (Ta) and tungsten (W) filaments and it is observed that films deposited using tantalum filament resulted in good control on the properties. The parameters which can affect the size of nc-Si domains have been studied which include hydrogen flow rate, catalyst and substrate temperatures. The deposited samples are characterized by X-ray diffraction, HRTEM and micro-Raman spectroscopy, for determining the size of the deposited nc-Si. The crystallite formation starts for Ta-catalyst around the temperature of 1700 o C.

1366 Project Silicon: Reclaiming US Silicon PV Leadership

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Lorenz, Adam [1366 Technologies, Bedford, MA (United States)

2016-02-16

1366 Technologies’ Project Silicon addresses two of the major goals of the DOE’s PV Manufacturing Initiative Part 2 program: 1) How to reclaim a strong silicon PV manufacturing presence and; 2) How to lower the levelized cost of electricity (“LCOE”) for solar to $0.05-$0.07/kWh, enabling wide-scale U.S. market adoption. To achieve these two goals, US companies must commercialize disruptive, high-value technologies that are capable of rapid scaling, defensible from foreign competition, and suited for US manufacturing. These are the aims of 1366 Technologies Direct Wafer ™ process. The research conducted during Project Silicon led to the first industrial scaling of 1366’s Direct Wafer™ process – an innovative, US-friendly (efficient, low-labor content) manufacturing process that destroys the main cost barrier limiting silicon PV cost-reductions: the 35-year-old grand challenge of making quality wafers (40% of the cost of modules) without the cost and waste of sawing. The SunPath program made it possible for 1366 Technologies to build its demonstration factory, a key and critical step in the Company’s evolution. The demonstration factory allowed 1366 to build every step of the process flow at production size, eliminating potential risk and ensuring the success of the Company’s subsequent scaling for a 1 GW factory to be constructed in Western New York in 2016 and 2017. Moreover, the commercial viability of the Direct Wafer process and its resulting wafers were established as 1366 formed key strategic partnerships, gained entry into the $8B/year multi-Si wafer market, and installed modules featuring Direct Wafer products – the veritable proving grounds for the technology. The program also contributed to the development of three Generation 3 Direct Wafer furnaces. These furnaces are the platform for copying intelligently and preparing our supply chain – large-scale expansion will not require a bigger machine but more machines. SunPath filled the

Failure rates for accelerated acceptance testing of silicon transistors

Science.gov (United States)

Toye, C. R.

1968-01-01

Extrapolation tables for the control of silicon transistor product reliability have been compiled. The tables are based on a version of the Arrhenius statistical relation and are intended to be used for low- and medium-power silicon transistors.

Assembly and validation of the SSD silicon microstrip detector of ALICE

NARCIS (Netherlands)

de Haas, A.P.; Kuijer, P.G.; Nooren, G.J.L.; Oskamp, C.J.; Sokolov, A.N.; van den Brink, A.

2006-01-01

The Silicon Strip Detector (SSD) forms the two outermost layers of the Inner Tracking System (ITS) of ALICE. The SSD detector consists of 1698 double-sided silicon microstrip modules. The electrical connection between silicon sensor and front-end electronics is made via TAB-bonded

Ultra-high-speed Optical Signal Processing using Silicon Photonics

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Oxenløwe, Leif Katsuo; Ji, Hua; Jensen, Asger Sellerup

with a photonic layer on top to interconnect them. For such systems, silicon is an attractive candidate enabling both electronic and photonic control. For some network scenarios, it may be beneficial to use optical on-chip packet switching, and for high data-density environments one may take advantage...... of the ultra-fast nonlinear response of silicon photonic waveguides. These chips offer ultra-broadband wavelength operation, ultra-high timing resolution and ultra-fast response, and when used appropriately offer energy-efficient switching. In this presentation we review some all-optical functionalities based...... on silicon photonics. In particular we use nano-engineered silicon waveguides (nanowires) [1] enabling efficient phasematched four-wave mixing (FWM), cross-phase modulation (XPM) or self-phase modulation (SPM) for ultra-high-speed optical signal processing of ultra-high bit rate serial data signals. We show...

Quantum conductance in silicon quantum wires

CERN Document Server

Bagraev, N T; Klyachkin, L E; Malyarenko, A M; Gehlhoff, W; Ivanov, V K; Shelykh, I A

2002-01-01

The results of investigations of electron and hole quantum conductance staircase in silicon quantum wires are presented. The characteristics of self-ordering quantum wells of n- and p-types, which from on the silicon (100) surface in the nonequilibrium boron diffusion process, are analyzed. The results of investigations of the quantum conductance as the function of temperature, carrier concentration and modulation degree of silicon quantum wires are given. It is found out, that the quantum conductance of the one-dimensional channels is observed, for the first time, at an elevated temperature (T >= 77 K)

Noise evaluation of silicon strip super-module with ABCN250 readout chips for the ATLAS detector upgrade at the High Luminosity LHC

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Todome, K., E-mail: todome@hep.phys.titech.ac.jp [Department of Physics, Tokyo Institute of Technology, Ookayama 2-12-1, Meguro-ku, Tokyo 152-8551 (Japan); Solid State Div., Hamamatsu Photonics K.K., 1126-1, Ichino-cho, Higashi-ku, Hamamatsu-shi, Shizuoka 435-8558 (Japan); Jinnouchi, O. [Department of Physics, Tokyo Institute of Technology, Ookayama 2-12-1, Meguro-ku, Tokyo 152-8551 (Japan); Solid State Div., Hamamatsu Photonics K.K., 1126-1, Ichino-cho, Higashi-ku, Hamamatsu-shi, Shizuoka 435-8558 (Japan); Clark, A.; Barbier, G.; Cadoux, F.; Favre, Y.; Ferrere, D.; Gonzalez-Sevilla, S.; Iacobucci, G.; La Marra, D.; Perrin, E.; Weber, M. [DPNC, University of Geneva, CH-1211 Geneva 4 (Switzerland); Solid State Div., Hamamatsu Photonics K.K., 1126-1, Ichino-cho, Higashi-ku, Hamamatsu-shi, Shizuoka 435-8558 (Japan); Ikegami, Y.; Nakamura, K.; Takubo, Y.; Unno, Y. [Institute of Particle and Nuclear Study, KEK, Oho 1-1, Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305-0801 (Japan); Solid State Div., Hamamatsu Photonics K.K., 1126-1, Ichino-cho, Higashi-ku, Hamamatsu-shi, Shizuoka 435-8558 (Japan); Takashima, R. [Department of Science Education, Kyoto University of Education, Kyoto 612-8522 (Japan); Solid State Div., Hamamatsu Photonics K.K., 1126-1, Ichino-cho, Higashi-ku, Hamamatsu-shi, Shizuoka 435-8558 (Japan); Tojo, J. [Department of Physics, Faculty of Science, Kyushu University, 744 Motooka, Nishi-ku, Fukuoka 819-0395 (Japan); Solid State Div., Hamamatsu Photonics K.K., 1126-1, Ichino-cho, Higashi-ku, Hamamatsu-shi, Shizuoka 435-8558 (Japan); Kono, T. [Ochadai Academic Production, Ochanomizu University, 2-1-1, Otsuka, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo 112-8610 (Japan); Solid State Div., Hamamatsu Photonics K.K., 1126-1, Ichino-cho, Higashi-ku, Hamamatsu-shi, Shizuoka 435-8558 (Japan); and others

2016-09-21

Toward High Luminosity LHC (HL-LHC), the whole ATLAS inner tracker will be replaced, including the semiconductor tracker (SCT) which is the silicon micro strip detector for tracking charged particles. In development of the SCT, integration of the detector is the important issue. One of the concepts of integration is the “super-module” in which individual modules are assembled to produce the SCT ladder. A super-module prototype has been developed to demonstrate its functionality. One of the concerns in integrating the super-modules is the electrical coupling between each module, because it may increase intrinsic noise of the system. To investigate the electrical performance of the prototype, the new Data Acquisition (DAQ) system has been developed by using SEABAS. The electric performance of the super-module prototype, especially the input noise and random noise hit rate, was investigated by using SEABAS system.

160 Gbit/s optical packet switching using a silicon chip

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Hu, Hao; Ji, Hua; Galili, Michael

2012-01-01

We have successfully demonstrated 160 Gbit/s all-optical packet switching based on cross-phase modulation using a silicon chip. Error free performance is achieved for the 4-to-1 switched 160 Gbit/s packet.......We have successfully demonstrated 160 Gbit/s all-optical packet switching based on cross-phase modulation using a silicon chip. Error free performance is achieved for the 4-to-1 switched 160 Gbit/s packet....

The Chinese version of the Pediatric Quality of Life Inventory™ (PedsQL™) 3.0 Asthma Module: reliability and validity.

Science.gov (United States)

Feng, Lifen; Zhang, Yingfen; Chen, Ruoqing; Hao, Yuantao

2011-08-07

Health-related quality of life (HRQOL) has been recognized as an important health outcome measurement for pediatric patients. One of the most promising instruments in measuring pediatric HRQOL emerged in recent years is the Pediatric Quality of Life Inventory (PedsQL™). The PedsQL™ 3.0 Asthma Module, one of the PedsQL™disease-specific scales, was designed to measure HRQOL dimensions specifically tailored for pediatric asthma. The present study is aimed to evaluate the psychometric properties of the Chinese version of the PedsQL™ 3.0 Asthma Module. The PedsQL™ 3.0 Asthma Module was translated into Chinese following the PedsQL™ Measurement Model Translation Methodology. The Chinese version scale was administered to 204 children with asthma and 337 parents of children with asthma from four Triple A hospitals. The psychometric properties were then evaluated. The percentage of missing value for each item of the scale ranged from 0.00% to 8.31%. All child self-report subscales and parent proxy-report subscales approached or exceeded the minimum reliability standard of 0.70 for alpha coefficient, except 3 subscales of Young Child (aged 5-7) self-report (alphas ranging from 0.59 to 0.68). Test-retest reliability was satisfactory with intraclass correlation coefficients (ICCs) which exceeded the recommended standard of 0.80 in all subscales. Correlation coefficients between items and their hypothesized subscales were higher than those with other subscales. The PedsQL™ 3.0 Asthma Module distinguished between outpatients and inpatients. Patients with mild asthma reported higher scores than those with moderate/severe asthma in majority of subscales. The intercorrelations among the PedsQL™ 3.0 Asthma Module subscales and the PedsQL™ 4.0 Generic Core Scales were in medium to large effect size. The child self-report scores were consistent with the parent proxy-report scores. The Chinese version of the PedsQL™ 3.0 Asthma Module has acceptable psychometric

Silicon pore optics for future x-ray telescopes

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Wille, Eric; Bavdaz, Marcos; Wallace, Kotska

2017-01-01

arcsec or better. These specifications can only be achieved with a novel technology like Silicon Pore Optics, which is being developed by ESA together with a consortium of European industry. Silicon Pore Optics are made of commercial Si wafers using process technology adapted from the semiconductor...... industry. We present the recent upgrades made to the manufacturing processes and equipment, ranging from the manufacture of single mirror plates towards complete focusing mirror modules mounted in flight configuration, and results from first vibration tests. The performance of the mirror modules is tested...

Thin-film silicon solar cell technology

Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

Shah, A. V.; Schade, H.; Vaněček, Milan; Meier, J.; Vallat-Sauvain, E.; Wyrsch, N.; Kroll, U.; Droz, C.; Bailat, J.

2004-01-01

Roč. 12, - (2004), s. 113-142 ISSN 1062-7995 R&D Projects: GA MŽP SN/320/11/03 Institutional research plan: CEZ:AV0Z1010914 Keywords : thin-film silicon modules * hydrogenerated amorphous silicon(a-Si:H) * hydrogenerated microcrystalline (ćc-Si:H) * transparent conductive oxydes(TCOs) * building-integrated photovoltaics(BIPV) Subject RIV: BM - Solid Matter Physics ; Magnetism Impact factor: 1.196, year: 2004

Novel technique for reliability testing of silicon integrated circuits

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Le Minh, P.; Wallinga, Hans; Woerlee, P.H.; van den Berg, Albert; Holleman, J.

2001-01-01

We propose a simple, inexpensive technique with high resolution to identify the weak spots in integrated circuits by means of a non-destructive photochemical process in which photoresist is used as the photon detection tool. The experiment was done to localize the breakdown link of thin silicon

Intelligent Front-end Electronics for Silicon photodetectors (IFES)

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Sauerzopf, Clemens, E-mail: clemens.sauerzopf@oeaw.ac.at; Gruber, Lukas; Suzuki, Ken; Zmeskal, Johann; Widmann, Eberhard

2016-05-21

While high channel density can be easily achieved for big experiments using custom made microchips, providing something similar for small and medium size experiments imposes a challenge. Within this work we describe a novel and cost effective solution to operate silicon photodetectors such as silicon photo multipliers (SiPM). The IFES modules provide the bias voltage for the detectors, a leading edge discriminator featuring time over threshold and a differential amplifier, all on one printed circuit board. We demonstrate under realistic conditions that the module is usable for high resolution timing measurements exploiting both charge and time information. Furthermore we show that the modules can be easily used in larger detector arrays. All in all this confirms that the IFES modules are a viable option for a broad range of experiments if cost-effectiveness and small form factor are required.

Intelligent Front-end Electronics for Silicon photodetectors (IFES)

Science.gov (United States)

Sauerzopf, Clemens; Gruber, Lukas; Suzuki, Ken; Zmeskal, Johann; Widmann, Eberhard

2016-05-01

While high channel density can be easily achieved for big experiments using custom made microchips, providing something similar for small and medium size experiments imposes a challenge. Within this work we describe a novel and cost effective solution to operate silicon photodetectors such as silicon photo multipliers (SiPM). The IFES modules provide the bias voltage for the detectors, a leading edge discriminator featuring time over threshold and a differential amplifier, all on one printed circuit board. We demonstrate under realistic conditions that the module is usable for high resolution timing measurements exploiting both charge and time information. Furthermore we show that the modules can be easily used in larger detector arrays. All in all this confirms that the IFES modules are a viable option for a broad range of experiments if cost-effectiveness and small form factor are required.

Calibration, alignment and long-term performance of the CMS silicon tracking detector

CERN Document Server

Butz, Erik

2009-01-01

With an active area of more than 200 m2 , the CMS silicon strip detector is the largest silicon tracker ever built. It consists of more than 15,000 individual silicon modules which have to meet very high standards in terms of noise behavior and electronic crosstalk, as well as their exact positioning within the tracker. Furthermore, the modules will be exposed to a harsh radiation environment over the lifetime of the tracker. This thesis deals with several of the above-mentioned aspects. In the first part, individual modules are investigated using a testbeam. Some of the modules were irradiated up to an integrated dose which corresponds to the expected one over the life time of the tracker. These modules are investigated with respect to their signal- to-noise behavior, and their cross-talk. Several operational parameters are varied, such as the temperature and the bias voltage. It is shown that the modules behave as expected. The signal-to-noise ratio is well above the specifications and the cross-talk increa...

Reliability and validity of the Chinese mandarin version of PedsQL™ 3.0 transplant module.

Science.gov (United States)

Chang, Ying; Luo, Yanhui; Zhou, Yuchen; Wang, Ruixin; Song, Na; Zhu, Guanghua; Wang, Bin; Qin, Maoquan; Yang, Jun; Sun, Yuan; Li, Chunfu; Zhou, Xuan

2016-10-05

Long-term health-related quality of life (HRQoL) of pediatric patients after hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) is increasingly studied worldwide. However, few studies have been performed in China, where no uniform scale is available; the PedsQL™ Cancer Module 3.0 Chinese Mandarin version has been used to evaluate HRQoL of patients after HSCT in China. This study aimed to assess the reliability and validity of the Chinese Mandarin version of PedsQL™ 3.0 Transplant Module. Patients between 2 and 18 years old, who underwent HSCT from January 2006 to June 2014, were recruited in Beijing Children's Hospital affiliated to Capital Medical University, the First Affiliated Hospital of Southern Medical University and Beijing Daopei Hospital. 207 parent reports and 182 child self-reports of the PedsQL™ 3.0 Transplant Module Chinese Mandarin version were assigned, of which 362 were returned. No missing item response was observed in the returned reports. Cronbach's alpha coefficient exceeded 0.7 in total scale and every dimension. The intraclass correlation coefficient exceeded 0.8 in all dimensions of child self-reports and parent reports. Spearman's rank correlation coefficients of items and their respective dimensions were 0.6-0.94 in parent reports, and 0.62-0.93 in child self-reports, while a weak association was found between the items and other dimensions. Exploratory factor analysis indicated a good extraction effect, and construct validity of the scale was >60 %. The Chinese Mandarin version of PedsQL™ 3.0 Transplant Module has good feasibility, reliability and validity. Its use may help improve the HRQoL of children after HSCT in China.

Construction and beam-tests of silicon-tungsten and scintillator-SiPM modules for the CMS High Granularity Calorimeter for HL-LHC

CERN Document Server

Chang, Yung-wei

2018-01-01

A High Granularity Calorimeter (HGCAL) is being designed to replace the existing endcap calorimeters in CMS for the HL-LHC era. It features unprecedented transverse and longitudinal segmentation for both electromagnetic (ECAL) and hadronic (HCAL) compartments, with silicon sensors being chosen for the high-pseudorapidity regions due to their radiation tolerance. The remainder of the HGCAL, in the lower radiation environment, will use plastic scintillator with on-tile SiPM readout. Prototype hexagonal silicon modules, featuring a new Skiroc2-CMS front-end chip, together with a modified version of the scintillator-SiPM CALICE AHCAL, have been built and tested in beams at CERN in 2017. In this poster, we present measurements of noise, calibration, shower shapes and performance with electrons, pions and muons.

Reliability Study in Solar Panels

OpenAIRE

Español Lifante, Albert

2012-01-01

Crystalline silicon Modules are formed by single silicon photovoltaic cells. Since each one of these cells individually contributes to the overall electric power of the panel, the failure of one of them directly affects to its benefits and performance. To Minimize these negative effects, junction boxes with few bypass diodes are usually included in Photovoltaic Solar panels. A still experimental way to built solar panels is to integrate bypass diodes in every single cell, which would in...

Experience with the silicon strip detector of ALICE

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Nooren, G.J.L.

2009-01-01

The Silicon Strip Detector (SSD) forms the two outermost layers of the ALICE Inner Track- ing System (ITS), connecting the TPC with the inner layers of the ITS. The SSD consists of 1698 double-sided silicon microstrip modules, 95 μm pitch, distributed in two cylindrical bar- rels, whose radii are

Micro benchtop optics by bulk silicon micromachining

Science.gov (United States)

Lee, Abraham P.; Pocha, Michael D.; McConaghy, Charles F.; Deri, Robert J.

2000-01-01

Micromachining of bulk silicon utilizing the parallel etching characteristics of bulk silicon and integrating the parallel etch planes of silicon with silicon wafer bonding and impurity doping, enables the fabrication of on-chip optics with in situ aligned etched grooves for optical fibers, micro-lenses, photodiodes, and laser diodes. Other optical components that can be microfabricated and integrated include semi-transparent beam splitters, micro-optical scanners, pinholes, optical gratings, micro-optical filters, etc. Micromachining of bulk silicon utilizing the parallel etching characteristics thereof can be utilized to develop miniaturization of bio-instrumentation such as wavelength monitoring by fluorescence spectrometers, and other miniaturized optical systems such as Fabry-Perot interferometry for filtering of wavelengths, tunable cavity lasers, micro-holography modules, and wavelength splitters for optical communication systems.

Random effects model for the reliability management of modules of a fighter aircraft

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Sohn, So Young [Department of Computer Science and Industrial Systems Engineering, Yonsei University, Shinchondong 134, Seoul 120-749 (Korea, Republic of)]. E-mail: sohns@yonsei.ac.kr; Yoon, Kyung Bok [Department of Computer Science and Industrial Systems Engineering, Yonsei University, Shinchondong 134, Seoul 120-749 (Korea, Republic of)]. E-mail: ykb@yonsei.ac.kr; Chang, In Sang [Department of Computer Science and Industrial Systems Engineering, Yonsei University, Shinchondong 134, Seoul 120-749 (Korea, Republic of)]. E-mail: isjang@yonsei.ac.kr

2006-04-15

The operational availability of fighter aircrafts plays an important role in the national defense. Low operational availability of fighter aircrafts can cause many problems and ROKA (Republic of Korea Airforce) needs proper strategies to improve the current practice of reliability management by accurately forecasting both MTBF (mean time between failure) and MTTR (mean time to repair). In this paper, we develop a random effects model to forecast both MTBF and MTTR of installed modules of fighter aircrafts based on their characteristics and operational conditions. Advantage of using such a random effects model is the ability of accommodating not only the individual characteristics of each module and operational conditions but also the uncertainty caused by random error that cannot be explained by them. Our study is expected to contribute to ROKA in improving operational availability of fighter aircrafts and establishing effective logistics management.

Silicon Tracker Design for the ILC

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Nelson, T.; SLAC

2005-01-01

The task of tracking charged particles in energy frontier collider experiments has been largely taken over by solid-state detectors. While silicon microstrip trackers offer many advantages in this environment, large silicon trackers are generally much more massive than their gaseous counterparts. Because of the properties of the machine itself, much of the material that comprises a typical silicon microstrip tracker can be eliminated from a design for the ILC. This realization is the inspiration for a tracker design using lightweight, short, mass-producible modules to tile closed, nested cylinders with silicon microstrips. This design relies upon a few key technologies to provide excellent performance with low cost and complexity. The details of this concept are discussed, along with the performance and status of the design effort

PedsQL Neurofibromatosis Type 1 Module for children, adolescents and young adults: feasibility, reliability, and validity.

Science.gov (United States)

Nutakki, Kavitha; Varni, James W; Swigonski, Nancy L

2018-04-01

The objective of the present study was to report on the measurement properties of the Pediatric Quality of Life Inventory (PedsQL) Neurofibromatosis Type 1 Module for pediatric patients ages 5-25 from the perspectives of patients and parents. The 104-item PedsQL NF1 Module and 23-item PedsQL Generic Core Scales were completed in a multi-site national study by 323 patients and 335 parents (343 families). Patients were diagnosed with NF1 using the National Institutes of Health diagnostic criteria. In addition to a Total Scale Score, 18 unidimensional scales were derived measuring skin itch bother, skin sensations, pain, pain impact, pain management, cognitive functioning, speech, fine motor, balance, vision, perceived physical appearance, communication, worry, treatment anxiety, medicines, stomach discomfort, constipation, and diarrhea. The PedsQL NF1 Module Scales evidenced excellent feasibility, excellent reliability for the Total Scale Scores (patient self-report α = 0.98; parent proxy-report α = 0.98), and good to excellent reliability for the 18 individual scales (patient self-report α = 0.71-0.96; parent proxy-report α = 0.73-0.98). Intercorrelations with the Generic Core Scales supported construct validity. Factor analysis supported the unidimensionality of the 18 individual scales. The PedsQL NF1 Module Scales demonstrated acceptable to excellent measurement properties, and may be utilized as standardized metrics to assess NF1-specific symptoms and problems in clinical research and practice in children, adolescents, and young adults.

CDC 6600 Cordwood Module

CERN Multimedia

1964-01-01

The CDC 6600 cordwood module containing 64 silicon transistors. The module was mounted between two plates that were cooled conductive by a refrigeration unit via the front panel. The construction of this module uses the cord method, so called because the resistors seem to be stacked like cord between the two circuit boards in order to obtain a high density. The 6600 model contained nearly 6,000 such modules.

Extreme-Environment Silicon-Carbide (SiC) Wireless Sensor Suite

Science.gov (United States)

Yang, Jie

2015-01-01

Phase II objectives: Develop an integrated silicon-carbide wireless sensor suite capable of in situ measurements of critical characteristics of NTP engine; Compose silicon-carbide wireless sensor suite of: Extreme-environment sensors center, Dedicated high-temperature (450 deg C) silicon-carbide electronics that provide power and signal conditioning capabilities as well as radio frequency modulation and wireless data transmission capabilities center, An onboard energy harvesting system as a power source.

Increasing the efficiency of silicon heterojunction solar cells and modules by light soaking

KAUST Repository

Kobayashi, Eiji; De Wolf, Stefaan; Levrat, Jacques; Descoeudres, Antoine; Despeisse, Matthieu; Haug, Franz-Josef; Ballif, Christophe

2017-01-01

Silicon heterojunction solar cells use crystalline silicon (c-Si) wafers as optical absorbers and employ bilayers of doped/intrinsic hydrogenated amorphous silicon (a-Si:H) to form passivating contacts. Recently, we demonstrated that such solar

Fabrication of the GLAST Silicon Tracker Readout Electronics

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Baldini, Luca; Brez, Alessandro; Himel, Thomas; Johnson, R.P.; Latronico, Luca; Minuti, Massimo; Nelson, David; Sadrozinski, H.F.-W.; Sgro, Carmelo; Spandre, Gloria; Sugizaki, Mutsumi; Tajima, Hiro; Cohen Tanugi, Johann; Young, Charles; Ziegler, Marcus; /Pisa U. /INFN, Pisa /SLAC /UC, Santa Cruz

2006-03-03

A unique electronics system has been built and tested for reading signals from the silicon-strip detectors of the Gamma-ray Large Area Space Telescope mission. The system amplifies and processes signals from 884,736 36-cm long silicon strips in a 4 x 4 array of tower modules. An aggressive mechanical design fits the readout electronics in narrow spaces between the tower modules, to minimize dead area. This design and the resulting departures from conventional electronics packaging led to several fabrication challenges and lessons learned. This paper describes the fabrication processes and how the problems peculiar to this design were overcome.

Effect of Asymmetric Layout of IGBT Modules on Reliability of Power Inverters in Motor Drive System

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Choi, Uimin; Vernica, Ionut; Blaabjerg, Frede

2018-01-01

An IGBT module has typically multiple power devices for some technical and cost advantages. This kind of configurations could have an asymmetric layout, which may lead to different thermal loadings and thereby lifetime difference of the power devices. Therefore, both the power rating and lifetime...... of inverters are limited by the most stressed devices. However, generally common data is provided for all devices and this may cause improper design of the inverters in terms of power rating and lifetime. In this paper, the effect of an asymmetric layout of IGBT modules on the reliability of power inverters...

The Chinese version of the Pediatric Quality of Life Inventory™ (PedsQL™ 3.0 Asthma Module: reliability and validity

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Chen Ruoqing

2011-08-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Health-related quality of life (HRQOL has been recognized as an important health outcome measurement for pediatric patients. One of the most promising instruments in measuring pediatric HRQOL emerged in recent years is the Pediatric Quality of Life Inventory (PedsQL™. The PedsQL™ 3.0 Asthma Module, one of the PedsQL™disease-specific scales, was designed to measure HRQOL dimensions specifically tailored for pediatric asthma. The present study is aimed to evaluate the psychometric properties of the Chinese version of the PedsQL™ 3.0 Asthma Module. Methods The PedsQL™ 3.0 Asthma Module was translated into Chinese following the PedsQL™ Measurement Model Translation Methodology. The Chinese version scale was administered to 204 children with asthma and 337 parents of children with asthma from four Triple A hospitals. The psychometric properties were then evaluated. Results The percentage of missing value for each item of the scale ranged from 0.00% to 8.31%. All child self-report subscales and parent proxy-report subscales approached or exceeded the minimum reliability standard of 0.70 for alpha coefficient, except 3 subscales of Young Child (aged 5-7 self-report (alphas ranging from 0.59 to 0.68. Test-retest reliability was satisfactory with intraclass correlation coefficients (ICCs which exceeded the recommended standard of 0.80 in all subscales. Correlation coefficients between items and their hypothesized subscales were higher than those with other subscales. The PedsQL™ 3.0 Asthma Module distinguished between outpatients and inpatients. Patients with mild asthma reported higher scores than those with moderate/severe asthma in majority of subscales. The intercorrelations among the PedsQL™ 3.0 Asthma Module subscales and the PedsQL™ 4.0 Generic Core Scales were in medium to large effect size. The child self-report scores were consistent with the parent proxy-report scores. Conclusions The Chinese version of

Methods To Determine the Silicone Oil Layer Thickness in Sprayed-On Siliconized Syringes.

Science.gov (United States)

Loosli, Viviane; Germershaus, Oliver; Steinberg, Henrik; Dreher, Sascha; Grauschopf, Ulla; Funke, Stefanie

2018-01-01

-term exposure and emptying did not significantly influence the silicone oil layer at the investigated silicone level. It thus appears reasonable to use this approach to characterize silicone oil layers in filled syringes over time. The developed method characterizes non-destructively the layer thickness and distribution of silicone oil in empty syringes and provides fast access to reliable results. The gained information can be further used to support optimization of siliconization processes and increase the understanding of syringe functionality. LAY ABSTRACT: Silicone oil layers as lubricant are required to ensure functionality of prefilled syringes. Methods evaluating these layers are limited, and systematic evaluation is missing. The aim of this study was to develop and assess white light interferometry as an analytical method to characterize sprayed-on silicone oil layers in 1 mL prefilled syringes. White light interferometry showed a good accuracy (93-99%) as well as instrument and analyst precision (0.5% and 4.1%, respectively). Different applied instrument parameters had no significant impact on the measured layer thickness. The obtained values from white light interferometry applying a fully developed method concurred with orthogonal results from 3D-laser scanning microscopy and combined white light and laser interferometry. The average layer thicknesses in two investigated syringe lots gradually decreased from 170-190 nm at the flange to 100-90 nm at the needle side. The silicone layers were homogeneously distributed over the syringe barrel circumference (110-135 nm) for both lots. Empty break-loose (4-4.5 N) and gliding forces (2-2.5 N) were comparably low for both analyzed syringe lots. Syringe filling with a surrogate solution, including short-term exposure and emptying, did not significantly affect the silicone oil layer. The developed, non-destructive method provided reliable results to characterize the silicone oil layer thickness and distribution in empty

Commissioning and Performance of the LHCb Silicon Tracker

CERN Multimedia

van Tilburg, J; Buechler, A; Bursche , A; Chiapolini, N; Elsaesser, C; Hangartner, V; Salzmann, C; Steiner, S; Steinkamp, O; Staumann, U; Tobin, M; Vollhardt, A; Bay, A; Bettler, M O; Blanc, F; Bressieux, J; Conti, G; Fave, V; Frei, R; Gauvin, N; Gonzalez, R; Haefeli, G; Hicheur, A; Keune, A; Luisier, J; Muresan, R; Nakada, T; Needham, M; Nicolas, L; Knecht, M; Perrin, A; Potterat, C; Schneider, O; Tran, M; Aquines Gutierrez, O; Bauer, C; Britsch, M; Hofmann, W; Maciuc, F; Schmelling, M; Voss, H; Adeva, B; Esperante, D; Fungueiriño Pazos, J; Gallas, A; Pazos-Alvarez, A; Pérez-Trigo, E; Pló Casasús, M; Rogríguez Pérez, P; Saborido, J; Vázquez, P; Iakovenko, V; Okhrimenko, O; Pugatch, V

2010-01-01

The LHCb Silicon Tracker is a silicon micro-strip detector with a sensitive area of 12 m$^2$ and a total of 272k readout channels. The Silicon Tracker consists of two parts that use different detector modules. The detector installation was completed by early summer 2008 and the commissioning without beam has reached its finals stage, successfully overcoming most of the encountered problems. Currently, the detector has more than 99% of the channels fully functioning. Commissioning with particles has started using beam-induced events from the LHC injection tests in 2008 and 2009. These events allowed initial studies of the detector performance. Especially, the detector modules could be aligned with an accuracy of about 20 $\\mu$m. Furthermore, with the first beam collisions that took place end of 2009 we could further study the performance and improve the alignment of the detector.

Transparent solar cell window module

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Chau, Joseph Lik Hang; Chen, Ruei-Tang; Hwang, Gan-Lin; Tsai, Ping-Yuan [Nanopowder and Thin Film Technology Center, ITRI South, Industrial Technology Research Institute, Tainan County 709 (China); Lin, Chien-Chu [I-Lai Acrylic Corporation, Tainan City (China)

2010-03-15

A transparent solar cell window module based on the integration of traditional silicon solar cells and organic-inorganic nanocomposite material was designed and fabricated. The transparent solar cell window module was composed of a nanocomposite light-guide plate and traditional silicon solar cells. The preparation of the nanocomposite light-guide plate is easy without modification of the traditional casting process, the nanoparticles sol can be added directly to the polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA) monomer syrup during the process. The solar energy collected by this window can be used to power up small household electrical appliances. (author)

An accelerated stress testing program for determining the reliability sensitivity of silicon solar cells to encapsulation and metallization systems

Science.gov (United States)

Lathrop, J. W.; Davis, C. W.; Royal, E.

1982-01-01

The use of accelerated testing methods in a program to determine the reliability attributes of terrestrial silicon solar cells is discussed. Different failure modes are to be expected when cells with and without encapsulation are subjected to accelerated testing and separate test schedules for each are described. Unencapsulated test cells having slight variations in metallization are used to illustrate how accelerated testing can highlight different diffusion related failure mechanisms. The usefulness of accelerated testing when applied to encapsulated cells is illustrated by results showing that moisture related degradation may be many times worse with some forms of encapsulation than with no encapsulation at all.

Building CMS Pixel Barrel Detectur Modules

CERN Document Server

König, S; Horisberger, R.; Meier, B.; Rohe, T.; Streuli, S.; Weber, R.; Kastli, H.Chr.; Erdmann, W.

2007-01-01

For the barrel part of the CMS pixel tracker about 800 silicon pixel detector modules are required. The modules are bump bonded, assembled and tested at the Paul Scherrer Institute. This article describes the experience acquired during the assembly of the first ~200 modules.

Test beam results from the prototype L3 silicon microvertex detector

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Adam, A.; Adriani, O.; Ahlen, S.

1993-11-01

We report test beam results on the overall system performance of two modules of the L3 Silicon Microvertex Detector exposed to a 50 GeV pion beam. Each module consists of two AC coupled double-sided silicon strip detectors equipped with VLSI readout electronics. The associated data acquisition system comprises an 8 bit FADC, an optical data transmission circuit, a specialized data reduction processor and a synchronization module. A spatial resolution of 7.5 μm and 14 μm for the two coordinates and a detection efficiency in excess of 99% are measured. (orig.)

Alternative glues for the production of ATLAS silicon strip modules for the Phase-II upgrade of the ATLAS Inner Detector

OpenAIRE

Poley, Luise; Bloch, Ingo; Edwards, Sam; Friedrich, Conrad; Gregor, Ingrid-Maria; Jones, Tim; Lacker, Heiko; Pyatt, Simon; Rehnisch, Laura; Sperlich, Dennis; Wilson, John

2015-01-01

The Phase-II upgrade of the ATLAS detector for the High Luminosity Large Hadron Collider (HL-LHC) includes the replacement of the current Inner Detector with an all-silicon tracker consisting of pixel and strip detectors. The current Phase-II detector layout requires the construction of 20,000 strip detector modules consisting of sensor, circuit boards and readout chips, which are connected mechanically using adhesives. The adhesive between readout chips and circuit board is a silver epoxy gl...

Silicon pore optics for the international x-ray observatory

Science.gov (United States)

Wille, E.; Wallace, K.; Bavdaz, M.; Collon, M. J.; Günther, R.; Ackermann, M.; Beijersbergen, M. W.; Riekerink, M. O.; Blom, M.; Lansdorp, B.; de Vreede, L.

2017-11-01

Lightweight X-ray Wolter optics with a high angular resolution will enable the next generation of X-ray telescopes in space. The International X-ray Observatory (IXO) requires a mirror assembly of 3 m2 effective area (at 1.5 keV) and an angular resolution of 5 arcsec. These specifications can only be achieved with a novel technology like Silicon Pore Optics, which is developed by ESA together with a consortium of European industry. Silicon Pore Optics are made of commercial Si wafers using process technology adapted from the semiconductor industry. We present the manufacturing process ranging from single mirror plates towards complete focusing mirror modules mounted in flight configuration. The performance of the mirror modules is tested using X-ray pencil beams or full X-ray illumination. In 2009, an angular resolution of 9 arcsec was achieved, demonstrating the improvement of the technology compared to 17 arcsec in 2007. Further development activities of Silicon Pore Optics concentrate on ruggedizing the mounting system and performing environmental tests, integrating baffles into the mirror modules and assessing the mass production.

Standard Hardware Acquisition and Reliability Program's (SHARP's) efforts in incorporating fiber optic interconnects into standard electronic module (SEM) connectors

Science.gov (United States)

Riggs, William R.

1994-05-01

SHARP is a Navy wide logistics technology development effort aimed at reducing the acquisition costs, support costs, and risks of military electronic weapon systems while increasing the performance capability, reliability, maintainability, and readiness of these systems. Lower life cycle costs for electronic hardware are achieved through technology transition, standardization, and reliability enhancement to improve system affordability and availability as well as enhancing fleet modernization. Advanced technology is transferred into the fleet through hardware specifications for weapon system building blocks of standard electronic modules, standard power systems, and standard electronic systems. The product lines are all defined with respect to their size, weight, I/O, environmental performance, and operational performance. This method of defining the standard is very conducive to inserting new technologies into systems using the standard hardware. This is the approach taken thus far in inserting photonic technologies into SHARP hardware. All of the efforts have been related to module packaging; i.e. interconnects, component packaging, and module developments. Fiber optic interconnects are discussed in this paper.

The LHCb Inner Tracker Module Production Steps and Quality Assurance

CERN Document Server

Bettler, M O; Esperante, D; Fauland, P; van Hunen, J; Knecht, M; Koestner, S; Tran, M T; Perez Trigo, E; Vazquez, P; Voss, H

2010-01-01

This note describes the various production step for the LHCb Inner Tracker silicon modules. We quickly sketch where the various items are produced and mention their acceptance criteria where applicable. A detail description is given of the various production and testing steps of the silicon detector modules in Lausanne and at CERN.

Advancements in n-type base crystalline silicon solar cells and their emergence in the photovoltaic industry.

Science.gov (United States)

ur Rehman, Atteq; Lee, Soo Hong

2013-01-01

The p-type crystalline silicon wafers have occupied most of the solar cell market today. However, modules made with n-type crystalline silicon wafers are actually the most efficient modules up to date. This is because the material properties offered by n-type crystalline silicon substrates are suitable for higher efficiencies. Properties such as the absence of boron-oxygen related defects and a greater tolerance to key metal impurities by n-type crystalline silicon substrates are major factors that underline the efficiency of n-type crystalline silicon wafer modules. The bi-facial design of n-type cells with good rear-side electronic and optical properties on an industrial scale can be shaped as well. Furthermore, the development in the industrialization of solar cell designs based on n-type crystalline silicon substrates also highlights its boost in the contributions to the photovoltaic industry. In this paper, a review of various solar cell structures that can be realized on n-type crystalline silicon substrates will be given. Moreover, the current standing of solar cell technology based on n-type substrates and its contribution in photovoltaic industry will also be discussed.

Radiation damage studies for the DOe silicon detector

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lehner, Frank

2004-01-01

We report on irradiation studies performed on spare production silicon detector modules for the current DOe silicon detector. The lifetime expectations due to radiation damage effects of the existing silicon detector are reviewed. A new upgrade project was started with the goal of a complete replacement of the existing silicon detector. In that context, several investigations on the radiation hardness of new prototype silicon microstrip detectors were carried out. The irradiation on different detector types was performed with 10 MeV protons up to fluences of 10 14 p/cm 2 at the J.R. Mcdonald Laboratory at Kansas State University. The flux calibration was carefully checked using different normalisation techniques. As a result, we observe roughly 40-50% less radiation damage in silicon for 10 MeV p exposure than it is expected by the predicted NIEL scaling

An Improved Matlab-Simulink Model of PV Module considering Ambient Conditions

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

R. Ayaz

2014-01-01

Full Text Available A photovoltaic (PV model is proposed on Matlab/Simulink environment considering the real atmospheric conditions and this PV model is tested with different PV panels technologies (monocrystalline silicon, polycrystalline silicon, and thin film. The meteorological data of Istanbul—the location of the study—such as irradiance, cell temperature, and wind speed are taken into account in the proposed model for each technology. Eventually, the power outputs of the PV module under real atmospheric conditions are measured for resistive loading and these powers are compared with the results of proposed PV model. As a result of the comparison, it is shown that the proposed model is more compatible for monocrystal silicon and thin-film modules; however, it does not show a good correlation with polycrystalline silicon PV module.

Thermal Module Tests with Irradiated 070 Detectors.

CERN Document Server

HOWCROFT, C L F

1998-01-01

Four n-in-n detectors were irradiated at KEK to a fluence of 3*1014 protons cm-2. These were used to construct a thermal barrel module to 070 drawings with an A3-90 baseboard at the Rutherford Appleton Laboratory. Thermal testes were conducted on the module, examining the runaway point and the temperatures across the silicon. The results obtained were used to calculate the runaway point under ATLAS conditions. It was concluded that this module meets the specifications in the Technical Design Report, of 160 mW mm-2@ 0°C for runaway and less than 5°C across the silicon. The module was also compared to a Finite Element Analysis, and showed a good agreement.

Microelectronic temperature sensor; silicon temperature sensor

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Beitner, M.; Kanert, W.; Reichert, H.

1982-01-01

The goal of this work was to develop a silicon temperature sensor with a sensitivity and a reliability as high and a tolerance as small as possible, for use in measurement and control. By employing the principle of spreading-resistance, using silicon doped by neutron transmutation, and trimming of the single wafer tolerances of resistance less than +- 5% can be obtained; overstress tests yielded a long-term stability better than 0.2%. Some applications show the advantageous use of this sensor. (orig.) [de

Will silicon be the photonic material of the third millenium?

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Pavesi, L

2003-01-01

Silicon microphotonics, a technology which merges photonics and silicon microelectronic components, is rapidly evolving. Many different fields of application are emerging: transceiver modules for optical communication systems, optical bus systems for ULSI circuits, I/O stages for SOC, displays, .... In this review I will give a brief motivation for silicon microphotonics and try to give the state-of-the-art of this technology. The ingredient still lacking is the silicon laser: a review of the various approaches will be presented. Finally, I will try to draw some conclusions where silicon is predicted to be the material to achieve a full integration of electronic and optical devices. (topical review)

Effect of Asymmetric Layout of IGBT Modules on Reliability of Power Inverters in Motor Drive System

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Choi, Uimin; Vernica, Ionut; Blaabjerg, Frede

2018-01-01

of inverters are limited by the most stressed devices. However, generally common data is provided for all devices and this may cause improper design of the inverters in terms of power rating and lifetime. In this paper, the effect of an asymmetric layout of IGBT modules on the reliability of power inverters......An IGBT module has typically multiple power devices for some technical and cost advantages. This kind of configurations could have an asymmetric layout, which may lead to different thermal loadings and thereby lifetime difference of the power devices. Therefore, both the power rating and lifetime...... is studied based on a 3-phase motor drive application with a 600 V, 30 A, 3-phase transfer molded IGBT module. The thermal impedances of 6 IGBTs are investigated and its effect on the thermal loadings of power devices is studied under the given mission profile. Finally, their lifetimes are estimated...

New Opportunities in Crystalline Silicon R and D

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Menna, P.

1998-01-01

To support the expected growth of the silicon solar cell industry, we believe that research and development (R ampersand D) activities should be carried out in the following areas: polysilicon feedstock for the PV industry; thin-layer silicon deposition methods, and more environmentally benign cell and module manufacturing processes. For each of these activities, we identify the main issues that needed to be addressed

Neuromorphic photonic networks using silicon photonic weight banks.

Science.gov (United States)

Tait, Alexander N; de Lima, Thomas Ferreira; Zhou, Ellen; Wu, Allie X; Nahmias, Mitchell A; Shastri, Bhavin J; Prucnal, Paul R

2017-08-07

Photonic systems for high-performance information processing have attracted renewed interest. Neuromorphic silicon photonics has the potential to integrate processing functions that vastly exceed the capabilities of electronics. We report first observations of a recurrent silicon photonic neural network, in which connections are configured by microring weight banks. A mathematical isomorphism between the silicon photonic circuit and a continuous neural network model is demonstrated through dynamical bifurcation analysis. Exploiting this isomorphism, a simulated 24-node silicon photonic neural network is programmed using "neural compiler" to solve a differential system emulation task. A 294-fold acceleration against a conventional benchmark is predicted. We also propose and derive power consumption analysis for modulator-class neurons that, as opposed to laser-class neurons, are compatible with silicon photonic platforms. At increased scale, Neuromorphic silicon photonics could access new regimes of ultrafast information processing for radio, control, and scientific computing.

MOS structures containing silicon nanoparticles for memory device applications

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Nedev, N; Zlatev, R; Nesheva, D; Manolov, E; Levi, Z; Brueggemann, R; Meier, S

2008-01-01

Metal-oxide-silicon structures containing layers with amorphous or crystalline silicon nanoparticles in a silicon oxide matrix are fabricated by sequential physical vapour deposition of SiO x (x = 1.15) and RF sputtering of SiO 2 on n-type crystalline silicon, followed by high temperature annealing in an inert gas ambient. Depending on the annealing temperature, 700 deg. C or 1000 deg. C, amorphous or crystalline silicon nanoparticles are formed in the silicon oxide matrix. The annealing process is used not only for growing nanoparticles but also to form a dielectric layer with tunnelling thickness at the silicon/insulator interface. High frequency C-V measurements demonstrate that both types of structures can be charged negatively or positively by applying a positive or negative voltage on the gate. The structures with amorphous silicon nanoparticles show several important advantages compared to the nanocrystal ones, such as lower defect density at the interface between the crystalline silicon wafer and the tunnel silicon oxide, better retention characteristics and better reliability

High-Temperature, Wirebondless, Ultracompact Wide Bandgap Power Semiconductor Modules

Science.gov (United States)

Elmes, John

2015-01-01

Silicon carbide (SiC) and other wide bandgap semiconductors offer great promise of high power rating, high operating temperature, simple thermal management, and ultrahigh power density for both space and commercial power electronic systems. However, this great potential is seriously limited by the lack of reliable high-temperature device packaging technology. This Phase II project developed an ultracompact hybrid power module packaging technology based on the use of double lead frames and direct lead frame-to-chip transient liquid phase (TLP) bonding that allows device operation up to 450 degC. The new power module will have a very small form factor with 3-5X reduction in size and weight from the prior art, and it will be capable of operating from 450 degC to -125 degC. This technology will have a profound impact on power electronics and energy conversion technologies and help to conserve energy and the environment as well as reduce the nation's dependence on fossil fuels.

Effect of Radiation on a Mach-Zehnder Interferometer Silicon Modulator for HL-LHC data Transmission Applications

CERN Document Server

El Nasr-Storey, Sarah Seif; Baudot, Charles; Detraz, Stephane; Fedeli, Jean Marc; Marris-Morini, Delphine; Olantera, Lauri; Pezzullo, Giuseppe; Sigaud, Christophe; Soos, Csaba; Troska, Jan; Vasey, Francois; Vivien, Laurent; Zeiler, Marcel; Ziebell, Melissa

2015-01-01

High-speed Mach-Zehnder interferometer silicon modulators were irradiated with neutrons and X-rays in two separate radiation tests. The devices were exposed to a total fluence of 1.2 x 10$^{15}$ neutrons/cm$^2$ and a total ionizing dose of 1.3 MGy; levels comparable to the worst radiation levels for a tracking detector after 10 years of operation at the High- Luminosity LHC. Our measurements indicate that the devices performance does not significantly degrade after exposure to nonionizing radiation and begins to be affected by ionizing radiation after a dose of a few hundred kGy; the phase-shift for an applied reverse bias of 1 V is 10% of its pre-irradiated value after 600 kGy of received ionizing dose.

Reliability of Power Electronic Converter Systems

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

-link capacitance in power electronic converter systems; wind turbine systems; smart control strategies for improved reliability of power electronics system; lifetime modelling; power module lifetime test and state monitoring; tools for performance and reliability analysis of power electronics systems; fault...... for advancing the reliability, availability, system robustness, and maintainability of PECS at different levels of complexity. Drawing on the experience of an international team of experts, this book explores the reliability of PECS covering topics including an introduction to reliability engineering in power...... electronic converter systems; anomaly detection and remaining-life prediction for power electronics; reliability of DC-link capacitors in power electronic converters; reliability of power electronics packaging; modeling for life-time prediction of power semiconductor modules; minimization of DC...

Feasibility, reliability and validity of the Thai version of the Pediatric Quality of Life Inventory 3.0 cerebral palsy module.

Science.gov (United States)

Tantilipikorn, Pinailug; Watter, Pauline; Prasertsukdee, Saipin

2013-03-01

Quality of Life (QOL) and Health-related Quality of Life (HRQOL) are now considered as necessary outcome measures for children with cerebral palsy (CP). Various reliable and valid condition-specific HRQOL tools are available for these children. One of these is Pediatric Quality of Life Inventory (PedsQL) 3.0 CP module which has been widely used and was translated to many languages. As no Thai version is available, the authors have completed this translation. This study then aimed to investigate psychometric properties of the newly translated Thai PedsQL 3.0 CP module and to establish parent confidence in their ratings in the translated tool. Translation of the PedsQL 3.0 CP module was performed based on linguistic translation guidelines. Then, the psychometric properties of the Thai version were established. PedsQL 3.0 CP module was completed by children with CP and their parents or caregivers twice with 2-4 weeks. Respondents were 97 parents or caregivers and 54 children. Minimal missing data were found. Acceptable internal consistency was supported except for Movement and Balance Scale (self-report). Intraclass correlation coefficients for parent proxy and self-report were good to excellent (0.684-0.950). The feasibility, reliability and validity of the translated tool were supported.

Reliability-Weighted Integration of Audiovisual Signals Can Be Modulated by Top-down Attention

Science.gov (United States)

Noppeney, Uta

2018-01-01

Abstract Behaviorally, it is well established that human observers integrate signals near-optimally weighted in proportion to their reliabilities as predicted by maximum likelihood estimation. Yet, despite abundant behavioral evidence, it is unclear how the human brain accomplishes this feat. In a spatial ventriloquist paradigm, participants were presented with auditory, visual, and audiovisual signals and reported the location of the auditory or the visual signal. Combining psychophysics, multivariate functional MRI (fMRI) decoding, and models of maximum likelihood estimation (MLE), we characterized the computational operations underlying audiovisual integration at distinct cortical levels. We estimated observers’ behavioral weights by fitting psychometric functions to participants’ localization responses. Likewise, we estimated the neural weights by fitting neurometric functions to spatial locations decoded from regional fMRI activation patterns. Our results demonstrate that low-level auditory and visual areas encode predominantly the spatial location of the signal component of a region’s preferred auditory (or visual) modality. By contrast, intraparietal sulcus forms spatial representations by integrating auditory and visual signals weighted by their reliabilities. Critically, the neural and behavioral weights and the variance of the spatial representations depended not only on the sensory reliabilities as predicted by the MLE model but also on participants’ modality-specific attention and report (i.e., visual vs. auditory). These results suggest that audiovisual integration is not exclusively determined by bottom-up sensory reliabilities. Instead, modality-specific attention and report can flexibly modulate how intraparietal sulcus integrates sensory signals into spatial representations to guide behavioral responses (e.g., localization and orienting). PMID:29527567

Real-Time 200 Gb/s (4x56.25 Gb/s) PAM-4 Transmission over 80 km SSMF using Quantum-Dot Laser and Silicon Ring-Modulator

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Eiselt, Nicklas; Griesser, Helmut; Eiselt, Michael

2017-01-01

We report real-time 4x56.26-Gb/s DWDM PAM-4 transmission over 80-km SSMF with novel optical transmitter sub-assembly comprising multi-wavelength quantum-dot laser and silicon ring modulators. Pre-FEC BERs below 1E-4 are achieved after 80-km, allowing error-free operation with HD-FEC...

Accelerated life test of an ONO stacked insulator film for a silicon micro-strip detector

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Okuno, Shoji; Ikeda, Hirokazu; Saitoh, Yutaka

1996-01-01

We have used to acquire the signal through an integrated capacitor for a silicon micro-strip detector. When we have been using a double-sided silicon micro-strip detector, we have required a long-term stability and a high feasibility for the integrated capacitor. An oxide-nitride-oxide (ONO) insulator film was theoretically expected to have a superior nature in terms of long term reliability. In order to test long term reliability for integrated capacitor of a silicon micro-strip detector, we made a multi-channel measuring system for capacitors

Radiation damage studies for the D0 silicon detector

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lehner, F.

2004-01-01

We report on irradiation studies performed on spare production silicon detector modules for the current D0 silicon detector. The lifetime expectations due to radiation damage effects of the existing silicon detector are reviewed. A new upgrade project was started with the goal of a complete replacement of the existing silicon detector. In that context, several investigations on the radiation hardness of new prototype silicon microstrip detectors were carried out. The irradiation on different detector types was performed with 10 MeV protons up to fluences of 10 14 p/cm 2 at the J.R. Mcdonald Laboratory at Kansas State University. The flux calibration was carefully checked using different normalization techniques. As a result, we observe roughly 40-50% less radiation damage in silicon for 10 MeV p exposure than it is expected by the predicted NIEL scaling

Use of Melt Flow Rate Test in Reliability Study of Thermoplastic Encapsulation Materials in Photovoltaic Modules

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Moseley, J.; Miller, D.; Shah, Q.-U.-A. S. J.; Sakurai, K.; Kempe, M.; Tamizhmani, G.; Kurtz, S.

2011-10-01

Use of thermoplastic materials as encapsulants in photovoltaic (PV) modules presents a potential concern in terms of high temperature creep, which should be evaluated before thermoplastics are qualified for use in the field. Historically, the issue of creep has been avoided by using thermosetting polymers as encapsulants, such as crosslinked ethylene-co-vinyl acetate (EVA). Because they lack crosslinked networks, however, thermoplastics may be subject to phase transitions and visco-elastic flow at the temperatures and mechanical stresses encountered by modules in the field, creating the potential for a number of reliability and safety issues. Thermoplastic materials investigated in this study include PV-grade uncured-EVA (without curing agents and therefore not crosslinked); polyvinyl butyral (PVB); thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU); and three polyolefins (PO), which have been proposed for use as PV encapsulation. Two approaches were used to evaluate the performance of these materials as encapsulants: module-level testing and a material-level testing.

Monocrystalline silicon solar cells applied in photovoltaic system

OpenAIRE

L.A. Dobrzański; A. Drygała; M. Giedroć; M. Macek

2012-01-01

Purpose: The aim of the paper is to fabricate the monocrystalline silicon solar cells using the conventional technology by means of screen printing process and to make of them photovoltaic system.Design/methodology/approach: The investigation of current – voltage characteristic to determinate basic electrical properties of monocrystalline silicon solar cells were investigated under Standard Test Condition. Photovoltaic module was produced from solar cells with the largest short-circuit curren...

FDTD modeling of anisotropic nonlinear optical phenomena in silicon waveguides.

Science.gov (United States)

Dissanayake, Chethiya M; Premaratne, Malin; Rukhlenko, Ivan D; Agrawal, Govind P

2010-09-27

A deep insight into the inherent anisotropic optical properties of silicon is required to improve the performance of silicon-waveguide-based photonic devices. It may also lead to novel device concepts and substantially extend the capabilities of silicon photonics in the future. In this paper, for the first time to the best of our knowledge, we present a three-dimensional finite-difference time-domain (FDTD) method for modeling optical phenomena in silicon waveguides, which takes into account fully the anisotropy of the third-order electronic and Raman susceptibilities. We show that, under certain realistic conditions that prevent generation of the longitudinal optical field inside the waveguide, this model is considerably simplified and can be represented by a computationally efficient algorithm, suitable for numerical analysis of complex polarization effects. To demonstrate the versatility of our model, we study polarization dependence for several nonlinear effects, including self-phase modulation, cross-phase modulation, and stimulated Raman scattering. Our FDTD model provides a basis for a full-blown numerical simulator that is restricted neither by the single-mode assumption nor by the slowly varying envelope approximation.

Channel-Selectable Optical Link Based on a Silicon Microring for on-Chip Interconnection

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Qiu Chen; Hu Ting; Wang Wan-Jun; Yu Ping; Jiang Xiao-Qing; Yang Jian-Yi

2012-01-01

A channel-selectable optical link based on a silicon microring resonator is proposed and demonstrated. This optical link consists of the wavelength-tunable microring modulators and the filters, defined on a silicon-on-insulator (SOI) platform. With a p—i—n junction embedded in the microring modulator, light at the resonant wavelength of the ring resonator is modulated. The 2 nd -order microring add-drop filter routes the modulated light. The channel selectivity is demonstrated by heating the microrings. With a thermal tuning efficiency of 5.9 mW/nm, the filter drop port response was successfully tuned with 0.8 nm channel spacing. We also show that modulation can be achieved in these channels. This device aims to offer flexibility and increase the bandwidth usage efficiency in optical interconnection

Photovoltaic performance and reliability workshop

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Mrig, L. [ed.

1993-12-01

This workshop was the sixth in a series of workshops sponsored by NREL/DOE under the general subject of photovoltaic testing and reliability during the period 1986--1993. PV performance and PV reliability are at least as important as PV cost, if not more. In the US, PV manufacturers, DOE laboratories, electric utilities, and others are engaged in the photovoltaic reliability research and testing. This group of researchers and others interested in the field were brought together to exchange the technical knowledge and field experience as related to current information in this evolving field of PV reliability. The papers presented here reflect this effort since the last workshop held in September, 1992. The topics covered include: cell and module characterization, module and system testing, durability and reliability, system field experience, and standards and codes.

Patient satisfaction with postmastectomy breast reconstruction: a comparison of saline and silicone implants.

Science.gov (United States)

McCarthy, Colleen M; Klassen, Anne F; Cano, Stefan J; Scott, Amie; Vanlaeken, Nancy; Lennox, Peter A; Alderman, Amy K; Mehrara, Babak J; Disa, Joseph J; Cordeiro, Peter G; Pusic, Andrea L

2010-12-15

At a time when the safety and effectiveness of breast implants remains under close scrutiny, it is important to provide reliable and valid evidence regarding patient outcomes. In the setting of postmastectomy reconstruction, patient satisfaction and quality of life may be the most significant outcome variables when evaluating surgical success. The objective of the current study was to identify predictors of patient satisfaction with breast appearance, including implant type, in a large sample of women who underwent breast reconstruction surgery using implants. A multicenter, cross-sectional study design was used. A total of 672 women who had completed postmastectomy, implant-based reconstruction at 1 of 3 centers in North America were asked to complete the BREAST-Q (Reconstruction Module). Multivariate linear regression modeling was performed. Completed questionnaire data were available for 482 of the 672 patients. In 176 women, silicone implants were placed and in 306, saline implants were used. The multivariate model confirmed that patients' satisfaction with their breasts was significantly higher in patients with silicone implants (P = .016). The receipt of postmastectomy radiotherapy was found to have a significant, negative effect on breast satisfaction (Pimplant recipients. In addition, for women who received either silicone or saline implants, satisfaction diminished over time (P = .017). In the setting of postmastectomy reconstruction, patients who received silicone breast implants reported significantly higher satisfaction with the results of reconstruction than those who received saline implants. This information can be used to optimize shared medical decision-making by providing patients with realistic postoperative expectations. Copyright © 2010 American Cancer Society.

Solar Spectral and Module Temperature Influence on the Outdoor Performance of Thin Film PV Modules Deployed on a Sunny Inland Site

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

G. Nofuentes

2013-01-01

Full Text Available This work aims at analysing the influence of both module temperature and solar spectrum distribution on the outdoor performance of the following thin film technologies: hydrogenated amorphous silicon (a-Si:H, cadmium telluride (CdTe, copper indium gallium selenide sulfide (CIGS, and hydrogenated amorphous silicon/hydrogenated microcrystalline silicon hetero-junction (a-Si:H/μc-Si:H. A 12-month experimental campaign carried out in a sunny inland site in which a module of each one of these technologies was tested and measured outdoors has provided the necessary empirical data. Results show that module temperature exerts a limited influence on the performance of the tested a-Si:H, CdTe, and a-Si:H/μc-Si:H modules. In contrast, the outdoor behaviour of the CIGS module is the most affected by its temperature. Blue-rich spectra enhance the outdoor behaviour of the a-Si:H and a-Si:H/μc-Si:H modules while it is the other way round for the CIGS module. However, the CdTe specimen shows little sensitivity to the solar spectrum distribution. Anyway, spectral effects are scarcely relevant on an annual basis, ranging from gains for the CIGS module (1.5% to losses for the a-Si:H module (1.0%. However, the seasonal impact of the spectrum shape is more noticeable in these two materials; indeed, spectral issues may cause performance gains or losses of up to some 4% when winter and summer periods are considered.

Temperature Effect on Power Drop of Different Photovoltaic Modules

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Emad Talib Hahsim

2016-05-01

Full Text Available Solar module operating temperature is the second major factor affects the performance of solar photovoltaic panels after the amount of solar radiation. This paper presents a performance comparison of mono-crystalline Silicon (mc-Si, poly-crystalline Silicon (pc-Si, amorphous Silicon (a-Si and Cupper Indium Gallium di-selenide (CIGS photovoltaic technologies under Climate Conditions of Baghdad city. Temperature influence on the solar modules electric output parameters was investigated experimentally and their temperature coefficients was calculated. These temperature coefficients are important for all systems design and sizing. The experimental results revealed that the pc-Si module showed a decrease in open circuit voltage by -0.0912V/ºC while mc-Si and a-Si had nearly -0.07V/ºC and the CIGS has -0.0123V/ºC. The results showed a slightly increase in short circuit current with temperature increasing about 0.3mA/ºC ,4.4mA/ºC and 0.9mA/ºC for mc-Si , pc-Si and both a-Si and CIGS. The mc-Si had the largest drop in output power about -0.1353W/ºC while -0.0915, -0.0114 and -0.0276 W/ºC for pc-Si, a-Si and CIGS respectively. The amorphous silicon is the more suitable module for high operation temperature but it has the lowest conversion efficiency between the tested modules.

Spectrum sensitivity, energy yield, and revenue prediction of PV and CPV modules

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kinsey, Geoffrey S., E-mail: Geoffrey.kinsey@ee.doe.gov [U.S. Department of Energy, 950 L’Enfant Plaza, Washington, DC 20024 (United States)

2015-09-28

Impact on module performance of spectral irradiance variation has been determined for III-V multijunctions compared against the four most common flat-plate module types (cadmium telluride, multicrystalline silicon, copper indium gallium selenide, and monocrystalline silicon. Hour-by-hour representative spectra were generated using atmospheric variables for Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA. Convolution with published values for external quantum efficiency gave the predicted current output. When combined with specifications of commercial PV modules, energy yield and revenue were predicted. This approach provides a means for optimizing PV module design based on various site-specific temporal variables.

ATLAS Silicon Microstrip Tracker Operation and Performance

CERN Document Server

Barone, G; The ATLAS collaboration

2013-01-01

The Semi-Conductor Tracker (SCT) is a silicon strip detector and one of the key precision tracking devices in the Inner Detector of the ATLAS experiment at CERN LHC. The SCT is constructed of 4088 silicon detector modules for a total of 6.3 million strips. Each module is designed, constructed and tested to operate as a stand-alone unit, mechanically, electrically, optically and thermally. The modules are mounted into two types of structures: one barrel (4 cylinders) and two end-cap systems (9 disks on each end of the barrel). In the talk the current results from the successful operation of the SCT Detector at the LHC and its status after three years of operation will be presented. We will report on the operation of the detector including an overview of the issues we encountered and the observation of significant increases in leakage currents (as expected) from bulk damage due to non-ionising radiation. The main emphasis will be given to the tracking performance of the SCT and the data quality during the >2 ye...

ATLAS Silicon Microstrip Tracker Operation and Performance

CERN Document Server

Barone, G; The ATLAS collaboration

2013-01-01

The Semi-Conductor Tracker (SCT) is a silicon strip detector and one of the key precision tracking devices of the Inner Detector of the ATLAS experiment at CERN LHC. The SCT is constructed of $4088$ silicon detector modules for a total of 6.3 million channels. Each module is designed, constructed and tested to operate as a stand-alone unit, mechanically, electrically, optically and thermally. The modules are mounted into two types of structures: one barrel ($4$ cylinders) and two end-cap systems (9 disks on each). The current results from the successful operation of the SCT Detector at the LHC and its status after three years of operation will be presented. The operation of the detector including an overview of the main issues encountered is reported. The main emphasis is be given to the tracking performance of the SCT and the data quality during the $>2$ years of data taking of proton-proton collision data at $7$ TeV (and short periods of heavy ion collisions). The SCT has been fully operational throughout a...

Reception Test of Petals for the End Cap TEC+ of the CMS Silicon Strip Tracker

CERN Document Server

Bremer, R; Klein, Katja; Schmitz, Stefan Antonius; Adler, Volker; Adolphi, Roman; Ageron, Michel; Agram, Jean-Laurent; Atz, Bernd; Barvich, Tobias; Baulieu, Guillaume; Beaumont, Willem; Beissel, Franz; Bergauer, Thomas; Berst, Jean-Daniel; Blüm, Peter; Bock, E; Bogelsbacher, F; de Boer, Wim; Bonnet, Jean-Luc; Bonnevaux, Alain; Boudoul, Gaelle; Bouhali, Othmane; Braunschweig, Wolfgang; Brom, Jean-Marie; Butz, Erik; Chabanat, Eric; Chabert, Eric Christian; Clerbaux, Barbara; Contardo, Didier; De Callatay, Bernard; Dehm, Philip; Delaere, Christophe; Della Negra, Rodolphe; Dewulf, Jean-Paul; D'Hondt, Jorgen; Didierjean, Francois; Dierlamm, Alexander; Dirkes, Guido; Dragicevic, Marko; Drouhin, Frédéric; Ernenwein, Jean-Pierre; Esser, Hans; Estre, Nicolas; Fahrer, Manuel; Fernández, J; Florins, Benoit; Flossdorf, Alexander; Flucke, Gero; Flügge, Günter; Fontaine, Jean-Charles; Freudenreich, Klaus; Frey, Martin; Friedl, Markus; Furgeri, Alexander; Giraud, Noël; Goerlach, Ulrich; Goorens, Robert; Graehling, Philippe; Grégoire, Ghislain; Gregoriev, E; Gross, Laurent; Hansel, S; Haroutunian, Roger; Hartmann, Frank; Heier, Stefan; Hermanns, Thomas; Heydhausen, Dirk; Heyninck, Jan; Hosselet, J; Hrubec, Josef; Jahn, Dieter; Juillot, Pierre; Kaminski, Jochen; Karpinski, Waclaw; Kaussen, Gordon; Keutgen, Thomas; Klanner, Robert; König, Stefan; Kosbow, M; Krammer, Manfred; Ledermann, Bernhard; Lemaître, Vincent; De Lentdecker, Gilles; Linn, Alexander; Lounis, Abdenour; Lübelsmeyer, Klaus; Lumb, Nicholas; Maazouzi, Chaker; Mahmoud, Tariq; Michotte, Daniel; Militaru, Otilia; Mirabito, Laurent; Müller, Thomas; Neukermans, Lionel; Ollivetto, C; Olzem, Jan; Ostapchuk, Andrey; Pandoulas, Demetrios; Pein, Uwe; Pernicka, Manfred; Perriès, Stephane; Piaseki, C; Pierschel, Gerhard; Piotrzkowski, Krzysztof; Poettgens, Michael; Pooth, Oliver; Rouby, Xavier; Sabellek, Andreas; Schael, Stefan; Schirm, Norbert; Schleper, Peter; Schultz von Dratzig, Arndt; Siedling, Rolf; Simonis, Hans-Jürgen; Stahl, Achim; Steck, Pia; Steinbruck, G; Stoye, Markus; Strub, Roger; Tavernier, Stefaan; Teyssier, Daniel; Theel, Andreas; Trocmé, Benjamin; Udo, Fred; Van der Donckt, M; Van der Velde, C; Van Hove, Pierre; Vanlaer, Pascal; Van Lancker, Luc; Van Staa, Rolf; Vanzetto, Sylvain; Weber, Markus; Weiler, Thomas; Weseler, Siegfried; Wickens, John; Wittmer, Bruno; Wlochal, Michael; De Wolf, Eddi A; Zhukov, Valery; Zoeller, Marc Henning

2009-01-01

The silicon strip tracker of the CMS experiment has been completed and was inserted into the CMS detector in late 2007. The largest sub system of the tracker are its end caps, comprising two large end caps (TEC) each containing 3200 silicon strip modules. To ease construction, the end caps feature a modular design: groups of about 20 silicon modules are placed on sub-assemblies called petals and these self-contained elements are then mounted onto the TEC support structures. Each end cap consists of 144 such petals, which were built and fully qualified by several institutes across Europe. From

Heterogeneous silicon mesostructures for lipid-supported bioelectric interfaces

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Jiang, Yuanwen; Carvalho-de-Souza, João L.; Wong, Raymond C. S.; Luo, Zhiqiang; Isheim, Dieter; Zuo, Xiaobing; Nicholls, Alan W.; Jung, Il Woong; Yue, Jiping; Liu, Di-Jia; Wang, Yucai; De Andrade, Vincent; Xiao, Xianghui; Navrazhnykh, Luizetta; Weiss, Dara E.; Wu, Xiaoyang; Seidman, David N.; Bezanilla, Francisco; Tian, Bozhi

2016-06-27

Silicon-based materials have widespread application as biophysical tools and biomedical devices. Here we introduce a biocompatible and degradable mesostructured form of silicon with multi-scale structural and chemical heterogeneities. The material was synthesized using mesoporous silica as a template through a chemical vapour deposition process. It has an amorphous atomic structure, an ordered nanowire-based framework and random submicrometre voids, and shows an average Young’s modulus that is 2–3 orders of magnitude smaller than that of single-crystalline silicon. In addition, we used the heterogeneous silicon mesostructures to design a lipid-bilayer-supported bioelectric interface that is remotely controlled and temporally transient, and that permits non-genetic and subcellular optical modulation of the electrophysiology dynamics in single dorsal root ganglia neurons. Our findings suggest that the biomimetic expansion of silicon into heterogeneous and deformable forms can open up opportunities in extracellular biomaterial or bioelectric systems.

Reliable, Low-Cost, Low-Weight, Non-Hermetic Coating for MCM Applications

Science.gov (United States)

Jones, Eric W.; Licari, James J.

2000-01-01

Through an Air Force Research Laboratory sponsored STM program, reliable, low-cost, low-weight, non-hermetic coatings for multi-chip-module(MCK applications were developed. Using the combination of Sandia Laboratory ATC-01 test chips, AvanTeco's moisture sensor chips(MSC's), and silicon slices, we have shown that organic and organic/inorganic overcoatings are reliable and practical non-hermetic moisture and oxidation barriers. The use of the MSC and unpassivated ATC-01 test chips provided rapid test results and comparison of moisture barrier quality of the overcoatings. The organic coatings studied were Parylene and Cyclotene. The inorganic coatings were Al2O3 and SiO2. The choice of coating(s) is dependent on the environment that the device(s) will be exposed to. We have defined four(4) classes of environments: Class I(moderate temperature/moderate humidity). Class H(high temperature/moderate humidity). Class III(moderate temperature/high humidity). Class IV(high temperature/high humidity). By subjecting the components to adhesion, FTIR, temperature-humidity(TH), pressure cooker(PCT), and electrical tests, we have determined that it is possible to reduce failures 50-70% for organic/inorganic coated components compared to organic coated components. All materials and equipment used are readily available commercially or are standard in most semiconductor fabrication lines. It is estimated that production cost for the developed technology would range from $1-10/module, compared to $20-200 for hermetically sealed packages.

ATLAS Tracker Upgrade: Silicon Strip Detectors and Modules for the SLHC

CERN Document Server

Minano, M

2010-01-01

It is foreseen to increase the luminosity of the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) at CERN by a factor ten, with the upgraded machine dubbed Super-LHC or sLHC. The ATLAS experiment will require a new tracker for sLHC operation. In order to cope with the increase in pile-up backgrounds at the higher luminosity, an all silicon detector is being designed. The new strip detector will use significantly shorter strips than the current SCT in order to minimise the occupancy. As the increased luminosity will mean a corresponding increase in radiation dose, a new generation of extremely radiation hard silicon detectors is required. Extensive R&D programmes are underway to develop silicon sensors with sufficient radiation hardness. In parallel, new front-end electronics and readout systems are being designed to cope with the higher data rates. The challenges of powering and cooling a very large strip detector will be discussed. Ideas on possible schemes for the layout and support mechanics will be shown.

Atlas Tracker Upgrade: Silicon Strip Detectors and Modules for the SLHC

CERN Document Server

Minano, M

2010-01-01

It is foreseen to increase the luminosity of the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) at CERN by a significant factor, with the upgraded machine dubbed Super-LHC. The ATLAS experiment will require a new tracker for Super-LHC operation. In order to cope with the increase in pile-up backgrounds at the higher luminosity, an all silicon detector is being designed. The new strip detector will use significantly shorter strips than the current SCT in order to minimise the occupancy. As the increased luminosity will imply a corresponding increase in radiation dose, a new generation of extremely radiation hard silicon detectors is required. Extensive R&D programmes are underway to develop silicon sensors with sufficient radiation hardness. In parallel, new front-end electronics and readout systems are being designed to cope with the higher data rates. The challenges of powering and cooling a very large strip detector will be discussed. Ideas on possible schemes for the layout and support mechanics will be shown.

Compact silicon photonics-based multi laser module for sensing

Science.gov (United States)

Ayotte, S.; Costin, F.; Babin, A.; Paré-Olivier, G.; Morin, M.; Filion, B.; Bédard, K.; Chrétien, P.; Bilodeau, G.; Girard-Deschênes, E.; Perron, L.-P.; Davidson, C.-A.; D'Amato, D.; Laplante, M.; Blanchet-Létourneau, J.

2018-02-01

A compact three-laser source for optical sensing is presented. It is based on a low-noise implementation of the Pound Drever-Hall method and comprises high-bandwidth optical phase-locked loops. The outputs from three semiconductor distributed feedback lasers, mounted on thermo-electric coolers (TEC), are coupled with micro-lenses into a silicon photonics (SiP) chip that performs beat note detection and several other functions. The chip comprises phase modulators, variable optical attenuators, multi-mode-interference couplers, variable ratio tap couplers, integrated photodiodes and optical fiber butt-couplers. Electrical connections between a metallized ceramic and the TECs, lasers and SiP chip are achieved by wirebonds. All these components stand within a 35 mm by 35 mm package which is interfaced with 90 electrical pins and two fiber pigtails. One pigtail carries the signals from a master and slave lasers, while another carries that from a second slave laser. The pins are soldered to a printed circuit board featuring a micro-processor that controls and monitors the system to ensure stable operation over fluctuating environmental conditions. This highly adaptable multi-laser source can address various sensing applications requiring the tracking of up to three narrow spectral features with a high bandwidth. It is used to sense a fiber-based ring resonator emulating a resonant fiber optics gyroscope. The master laser is locked to the resonator with a loop bandwidth greater than 1 MHz. The slave lasers are offset frequency locked to the master laser with loop bandwidths greater than 100 MHz. This high performance source is compact, automated, robust, and remains locked for days.

Nonlinear Silicon Photonic Signal Processing Devices for Future Optical Networks

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Cosimo Lacava

2017-01-01

Full Text Available In this paper, we present a review on silicon-based nonlinear devices for all optical nonlinear processing of complex telecommunication signals. We discuss some recent developments achieved by our research group, through extensive collaborations with academic partners across Europe, on optical signal processing using silicon-germanium and amorphous silicon based waveguides as well as novel materials such as silicon rich silicon nitride and tantalum pentoxide. We review the performance of four wave mixing wavelength conversion applied on complex signals such as Differential Phase Shift Keying (DPSK, Quadrature Phase Shift Keying (QPSK, 16-Quadrature Amplitude Modulation (QAM and 64-QAM that dramatically enhance the telecom signal spectral efficiency, paving the way to next generation terabit all-optical networks.

Porous silicon advances in drug delivery and immunotherapy.

Science.gov (United States)

Savage, David J; Liu, Xuewu; Curley, Steven A; Ferrari, Mauro; Serda, Rita E

2013-10-01

Biomedical applications of porous silicon include drug delivery, imaging, diagnostics and immunotherapy. This review summarizes new silicon particle fabrication techniques, dynamics of cellular transport, advances in the multistage vector approach to drug delivery, and the use of porous silicon as immune adjuvants. Recent findings support superior therapeutic efficacy of the multistage vector approach over single particle drug delivery systems in mouse models of ovarian and breast cancer. With respect to vaccine development, multivalent presentation of pathogen-associated molecular patterns on the particle surface creates powerful platforms for immunotherapy, with the porous matrix able to carry both antigens and immune modulators. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Process research of non-CZ silicon material

Science.gov (United States)

Campbell, R. B.

1984-01-01

Advanced processing techniques for non-CZ silicon sheet material that might improve the cost effectiveness of photovoltaic module production were investigated. Specifically, the simultaneous diffusion of liquid boron and liquid phosphorus organometallic precursors into n-type dendritic silicon web was examined. The simultaneous junction formation method for solar cells was compared with the sequential junction formation method. The electrical resistivity of the n-n and p-n junctions was discussed. Further research activities for this program along with a program documentation schedule are given.

Thermoelectric Properties of High-Doped Silicon from Room Temperature to 900 K

Science.gov (United States)

Stranz, A.; Kähler, J.; Waag, A.; Peiner, E.

2013-07-01

Silicon is investigated as a low-cost, Earth-abundant thermoelectric material for high-temperature applications up to 900 K. For the calculation of module design the Seebeck coefficient and the electrical as well as thermal properties of silicon in the high-temperature range are of great importance. In this study, we evaluate the thermoelectric properties of low-, medium-, and high-doped silicon from room temperature to 900 K. In so doing, the Seebeck coefficient, the electrical and thermal conductivities, as well as the resulting figure of merit ZT of silicon are determined.

Mission Reliability Estimation for Repairable Robot Teams

Science.gov (United States)

Trebi-Ollennu, Ashitey; Dolan, John; Stancliff, Stephen

2010-01-01

A mission reliability estimation method has been designed to translate mission requirements into choices of robot modules in order to configure a multi-robot team to have high reliability at minimal cost. In order to build cost-effective robot teams for long-term missions, one must be able to compare alternative design paradigms in a principled way by comparing the reliability of different robot models and robot team configurations. Core modules have been created including: a probabilistic module with reliability-cost characteristics, a method for combining the characteristics of multiple modules to determine an overall reliability-cost characteristic, and a method for the generation of legitimate module combinations based on mission specifications and the selection of the best of the resulting combinations from a cost-reliability standpoint. The developed methodology can be used to predict the probability of a mission being completed, given information about the components used to build the robots, as well as information about the mission tasks. In the research for this innovation, sample robot missions were examined and compared to the performance of robot teams with different numbers of robots and different numbers of spare components. Data that a mission designer would need was factored in, such as whether it would be better to have a spare robot versus an equivalent number of spare parts, or if mission cost can be reduced while maintaining reliability using spares. This analytical model was applied to an example robot mission, examining the cost-reliability tradeoffs among different team configurations. Particularly scrutinized were teams using either redundancy (spare robots) or repairability (spare components). Using conservative estimates of the cost-reliability relationship, results show that it is possible to significantly reduce the cost of a robotic mission by using cheaper, lower-reliability components and providing spares. This suggests that the

Silicon photonics at the University of Surrey

Science.gov (United States)

Reed, G. T.; Mashanovich, G.; Gardes, F. Y.; Gwilliam, R. M.; Wright, N. M.; Thomson, D. J.; Timotijevic, B. D.; Litvinenko, K. L.; Headley, W. R.; Smith, A. J.; Knights, A. P.; Jessop, P. E.; Tarr, N. G.; Deane, J. H. B.

2009-05-01

Silicon Photonics is a field that has seen rapid growth and dramatic changes in the past 5 years. According to the MIT Communications Technology Roadmap [1], which aims to establish a common architecture platform across market sectors with a potential $20B in annual revenue, silicon photonics is among the top ten emerging technologies. This has in part been a consequence of the recent involvement of large semiconductor companies around the world, particularly in the USA. Significant investment in the technology has also followed in Japan, Korea, and in the European Union. Low cost is a key driver, so it is imperative to pursue technologies that are mass-producible. Therefore, Silicon Photonics continues to progress at a rapid rate. This paper will describe some of the work of the Silicon Photonics Group at the University of Surrey in the UK. The work is concerned with the sequential development of a series of components for silicon photonic optical circuits, and some of the components are discussed here. In particular the paper will present work on optical waveguides, optical filters, modulators, and lifetime modification of carriers generated by two photon absorption, to improve the performance of Raman amplifiers in silicon.

Silicon-CsI detector array for heavy-ion reactions

CERN Document Server

Norbeck, E; Pogodin, P I; Cheng, Y W; Ingram, F D; Bjarki, O; Grévy, S; Magestro, D J; Molen, A M V; Westfall, G D

2000-01-01

An array of 60 silicon-CsI(Tl) detector telescopes has been developed along with associated electronics. The close packing of the telescopes required novel designs for the photodiodes and the silicon DELTA E detectors. Newly developed electronics include preamplifiers, shaping amplifiers, test pulse circuitry, and a module to monitor leakage currents in the silicon diodes. The array covers angles from 5 deg. to 18 deg. in the 4 pi Array at the National Superconducting Cyclotron Laboratory at Michigan State University. It measures protons to 150 MeV and has isotopic resolution for intermediate mass nuclei.

Update on the possible nutritional importance of silicon.

Science.gov (United States)

Nielsen, Forrest H

2014-10-01

Convincing evidence that silicon is a bioactive beneficial trace element continues to accumulate. The evidence, which has come from human, animal, and in vitro studies performed by several laboratories, indicate that silicon in nutritional and supra nutritional amounts promotes bone and connective tissue health, may have a modulating effect on the immune or inflammatory response, and has been associated with mental health. A plausible mechanism of action for the beneficial effects of silicon is the binding of hydroxyl groups of polyols such that it influences the formation and/or utilization of glycosaminoglycans, mucopolysaccharides, and collagen in connective tissue and bone. In addition, silicon may affect the absorption, retention or action of other mineral elements (e.g., aluminum, copper, magnesium). Based on findings from both animal and human experiments, an intake of silicon of near 25mg/d would be a reasonable suggestion for an adequate intake that would assure its nutritional benefits. Increased intakes of silicon through consuming unrefined grains, certain vegetables, and beverages and cereals made from grains should be recognized as a reasonable dietary recommendation. Published by Elsevier GmbH.

Towards hybrid heterojunction silicon solar cells with organic charge carrier selective contacts

OpenAIRE

Jäckle, Sara Lisa

2017-01-01

Photovoltaic is an essential part of the needed global transition towards renewable energies. Even though many materials have good absorption and energy conversion properties, the market is dominated by technologies based on crystalline silicon. Silicon has the advantage of being neither toxic nor rare on earth and it is very well investigated due to its extensive use in microelectronics. The best power conversion efficiencies of silicon solar cells and modules are achieved by sophisticated d...

Design of etch holes to compensate spring width loss for reliable resonant frequencies

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jang, Yun-Ho; Kim, Jong-Wan; Kim, Yong-Kweon; Kim, Jung-Mu

2012-01-01

A pattern width loss during the fabrication of lateral silicon resonators degrades resonant frequency reliability since such a width loss causes the significant deviation of spring stiffness. Here we present a design guide for etch holes to obtain reliable resonant frequencies by controlling etch holes geometries. The new function of an etch hole is to generate the comparable amount of the width loss between springs and etch holes, in turn to minimize the effect of the spring width loss on resonant frequency shift and deviation. An analytic expression reveals that a compensation factor (CF), defined by the circumference (C u ) of a unit etch hole divided by its silicon area (A u ), is a key parameter for reliable frequencies. The protrusive etch holes were proposed and compared with square etch holes to demonstrate the frequency reliability according to CF values and etch hole shapes. The normalized resonant frequency shift and deviation of the protrusive etch hole (−13.0% ± 6.9%) were significantly improved compared to those of a square etch hole with a small CF value (−42.8% ± 14.8%). The proposed design guide based on the CF value and protrusive shapes can be used to achieve reliable resonant frequencies for high performance silicon resonators. (technical note)

High-efficiency THz modulator based on phthalocyanine-compound organic films

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

He, Ting; Zhang, Bo; Shen, Jingling; Zang, Mengdi; Chen, Tianji; Hu, Yufeng; Hou, Yanbing

2015-01-01

We report a high efficiency, broadband terahertz (THz) modulator following a study of phthalocyanine-compound organic films irradiated with an external excitation laser. Both transmission and reflection modulations of each organic/silicon bilayers were measured using THz time-domain and continuous-wave systems. For very low intensities, the experimental results show that AlClPc/Si can achieve a high modulation factor for transmission and reflection, indicating that AlClPc/Si has a superior modulation efficiency compared with the other films (CuPc and SnCl 2 Pc). In contrast, the strong attenuation of the transmitted and reflected THz waves revealed that a nonlinear absorption process takes place at the organic/silicon interface

Application of quantum-dot multi-wavelength lasers and silicon photonic ring resonators to data-center optical interconnects

Science.gov (United States)

Beckett, Douglas J. S.; Hickey, Ryan; Logan, Dylan F.; Knights, Andrew P.; Chen, Rong; Cao, Bin; Wheeldon, Jeffery F.

2018-02-01

Quantum dot comb sources integrated with silicon photonic ring-resonator filters and modulators enable the realization of optical sub-components and modules for both inter- and intra-data-center applications. Low-noise, multi-wavelength, single-chip, laser sources, PAM4 modulation and direct detection allow a practical, scalable, architecture for applications beyond 400 Gb/s. Multi-wavelength, single-chip light sources are essential for reducing power dissipation, space and cost, while silicon photonic ring resonators offer high-performance with space and power efficiency.

Management of natural gas supply reliability and modulation in France

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Dupas, D.

1995-01-01

France imports most of its gas, and demand for gas varies considerably between summer and winter. Faced with insufficient flexibility in its supply contracts to deal with the gas balance, Gaz de France decided to develop a policy based on combined and consistent use of a large-scale underground storage system, a suspendable clientele, and a rate policy to maintain the balance. It was the integrated character of the company that makes it possible to optimize the arrangement of these adjustment facilities. Most of the seasonal modulation is taken up by underground storage in water tables, and the peak cold complement comes from salt dome storage. Underground storage also contributes, as does the suspendable clientele, to supply reliability, with a specific quality due to their speed and versatility of use. The prime purpose of the suspendable clientele portfolio is rather to respond to supply failures, but the demand too, during periods of extreme cold, is reduced by curtailing deliveries whose contractual suspension notice time is short. (author). 3 figs

2017 NREL Photovoltaic Reliability Workshop

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kurtz, Sarah [National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), Golden, CO (United States)

2017-08-15

NREL's Photovoltaic (PV) Reliability Workshop (PVRW) brings together PV reliability experts to share information, leading to the improvement of PV module reliability. Such improvement reduces the cost of solar electricity and promotes investor confidence in the technology -- both critical goals for moving PV technologies deeper into the electricity marketplace.

Heterogeneous integration of lithium niobate and silicon nitride waveguides for wafer-scale photonic integrated circuits on silicon.

Science.gov (United States)

Chang, Lin; Pfeiffer, Martin H P; Volet, Nicolas; Zervas, Michael; Peters, Jon D; Manganelli, Costanza L; Stanton, Eric J; Li, Yifei; Kippenberg, Tobias J; Bowers, John E

2017-02-15

An ideal photonic integrated circuit for nonlinear photonic applications requires high optical nonlinearities and low loss. This work demonstrates a heterogeneous platform by bonding lithium niobate (LN) thin films onto a silicon nitride (Si3N4) waveguide layer on silicon. It not only provides large second- and third-order nonlinear coefficients, but also shows low propagation loss in both the Si3N4 and the LN-Si3N4 waveguides. The tapers enable low-loss-mode transitions between these two waveguides. This platform is essential for various on-chip applications, e.g., modulators, frequency conversions, and quantum communications.

Thermal processing of strained silicon-on-insulator for atomically precise silicon device fabrication

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lee, W.C.T.; Bishop, N.; Thompson, D.L.; Xue, K.; Scappucci, G.; Cederberg, J.G.; Gray, J.K.; Han, S.M.; Celler, G.K.; Carroll, M.S.; Simmons, M.Y.

2013-01-01

Highlights: ► Strained silicon-on-insulator (sSOI) samples were flash-annealed at high temperature under ultra-high vacuum conditions. ► The extend of surface strain relaxation depends on the annealing temperature with no strain relaxation observed below 1020 °C. ► A 2 × 1 reconstructed surface with low defect density can be achieved. ► The annealed sSOI surface shows enhanced step undulations due to the unique energetics caused by surface strain. - Abstract: We investigate the ability to reconstruct strained silicon-on-insulator (sSOI) substrates in ultra-high vacuum for use in atomic scale device fabrication. Characterisation of the starting sSOI substrate using μRaman shows an average tensile strain of 0.8%, with clear strain modulation in a crosshatch pattern across the surface. The surfaces were heated in ultra-high vacuum from temperatures of 900 °C to 1100 °C and subsequently imaged using scanning tunnelling microscopy (STM). The initial strain modulation on the surface is observed to promote silicon migration and the formation of crosshatched surface features whose height and pitch increases with increasing annealing temperature. STM images reveal alternating narrow straight S A steps and triangular wavy S B steps attributed to the spontaneous faceting of S B and preferential adatom attachment on S B under biaxial tensile strain. Raman spectroscopy shows that despite these high temperature anneals no strain relaxation of the substrate is observed up to temperatures of 1020 °C. Above 1100 °C, strain relaxation is evident but is confined to the surface.

CALICE silicon-tungsten electromagnetic calorimeter

Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

A highly granular electromagnetic calorimeter prototype based on tungsten absorber and sampling units equipped with silicon pads as sensitive devices for signal collection is under construction. The full prototype will have in total 30 layers and be read out by about 10000 Si cells of 1 × 1 cm2. A first module consisting of 14 ...

Band-gap engineering by molecular mechanical strain-induced giant tuning of the luminescence in colloidal amorphous porous silicon nanostructures.

Science.gov (United States)

Mughal, A; El Demellawi, J K; Chaieb, Sahraoui

2014-12-14

Nano-silicon is a nanostructured material in which quantum or spatial confinement is the origin of the material's luminescence. When nano-silicon is broken into colloidal crystalline nanoparticles, its luminescence can be tuned across the visible spectrum only when the sizes of the nanoparticles, which are obtained via painstaking filtration methods that are difficult to scale up because of low yield, vary. Bright and tunable colloidal amorphous porous silicon nanostructures have not yet been reported. In this letter, we report on a 100 nm modulation in the emission of freestanding colloidal amorphous porous silicon nanostructures via band-gap engineering. The mechanism responsible for this tunable modulation, which is independent of the size of the individual particles and their distribution, is the distortion of the molecular orbitals by a strained silicon-silicon bond angle. This mechanism is also responsible for the amorphous-to-crystalline transformation of silicon.

Band-gap engineering by molecular mechanical strain-induced giant tuning of the luminescence in colloidal amorphous porous silicon nanostructures

KAUST Repository

Mughal, Asad Jahangir

2014-01-01

Nano-silicon is a nanostructured material in which quantum or spatial confinement is the origin of the material\\'s luminescence. When nano-silicon is broken into colloidal crystalline nanoparticles, its luminescence can be tuned across the visible spectrum only when the sizes of the nanoparticles, which are obtained via painstaking filtration methods that are difficult to scale up because of low yield, vary. Bright and tunable colloidal amorphous porous silicon nanostructures have not yet been reported. In this letter, we report on a 100 nm modulation in the emission of freestanding colloidal amorphous porous silicon nanostructures via band-gap engineering. The mechanism responsible for this tunable modulation, which is independent of the size of the individual particles and their distribution, is the distortion of the molecular orbitals by a strained silicon-silicon bond angle. This mechanism is also responsible for the amorphous-to-crystalline transformation of silicon. This journal is

Key Success Factors and Future Perspective of Silicon-Based Solar Cells

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

S. Binetti

2013-01-01

Full Text Available Today, after more than 70 years of continued progress on silicon technology, about 85% of cumulative installed photovolatic (PV modules are based on crystalline silicon (c-Si. PV devices based on silicon are the most common solar cells currently being produced, and it is mainly due to silicon technology that the PV has grown by 40% per year over the last decade. An additional step in the silicon solar cell development is ongoing, and it is related to a further efficiency improvement through defect control, device optimization, surface modification, and nanotechnology approaches. This paper attempts to briefly review the most important advances and current technologies used to produce crystalline silicon solar devices and in the meantime the most challenging and promising strategies acting to increase the efficiency to cost/ratio of silicon solar cells. Eventually, the impact and the potentiality of using a nanotechnology approach in a silicon-based solar cell are also described.

Non-invasive characterization and quality assurance of silicon micro-strip detectors using pulsed infrared laser

Science.gov (United States)

Ghosh, P.

2016-01-01

The Compressed Baryonic Matter (CBM) experiment at FAIR is composed of 8 tracking stations consisting of roughly 1300 double sided silicon micro-strip detectors of 3 different dimensions. For the quality assurance of prototype micro-strip detectors a non-invasive detector charaterization is developed. The test system is using a pulsed infrared laser for charge injection and characterization, called Laser Test System (LTS). The system is aimed to develop a set of characterization procedures which are non-invasive (non-destructive) in nature and could be used for quality assurances of several silicon micro-strip detectors in an efficient, reliable and reproducible way. The procedures developed (as reported here) uses the LTS to scan sensors with a pulsed infra-red laser driven by step motor to determine the charge sharing in-between strips and to measure qualitative uniformity of the sensor response over the whole active area. The prototype detector modules which are tested with the LTS so far have 1024 strips with a pitch of 58 μm on each side. They are read-out using a self-triggering prototype read-out electronic ASIC called n-XYTER. The LTS is designed to measure sensor response in an automatized procedure at several thousand positions across the sensor with focused infra-red laser light (spot size ≈ 12 μm, wavelength = 1060 nm). The pulse with a duration of ≈ 10 ns and power ≈ 5 mW of the laser pulse is selected such, that the absorption of the laser light in the 300 μm thick silicon sensor produces ≈ 24000 electrons, which is similar to the charge created by minimum ionizing particles (MIP) in these sensors. The laser scans different prototype sensors and various non-invasive techniques to determine characteristics of the detector modules for the quality assurance is reported.

Influences of Device and Circuit Mismatches on Paralleling Silicon Carbide MOSFETs

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Li, Helong; Munk-Nielsen, Stig; Wang, Xiongfei

2016-01-01

This paper addresses the influences of device and circuit mismatches on paralleling the Silicon Carbide (SiC) MOSFETs. Comprehensive theoretical analysis and experimental validation from paralleled discrete devices to paralleled dies in multichip power modules are first presented. Then, the influ......This paper addresses the influences of device and circuit mismatches on paralleling the Silicon Carbide (SiC) MOSFETs. Comprehensive theoretical analysis and experimental validation from paralleled discrete devices to paralleled dies in multichip power modules are first presented. Then......, the influence of circuit mismatch on paralleling SiC MOSFETs is investigated and experimentally evaluated for the first time. It is found that the mismatch of the switching loop stray inductance can also lead to on-state current unbalance with inductive output current, in addition to the on-state resistance...... of the device. It further reveals that circuit mismatches and a current coupling among the paralleled dies exist in a SiC MOSFET multichip power module, which is critical for the transient current distribution in the power module. Thus, a power module layout with an auxiliary source connection is developed...

Electrical performance of ATLAS-SCT KB end-cap modules

CERN Document Server

D'Onofrio, M; Donegà, M; Ferrère, D; Mangin-Brinet, M; Mikulec, B; Weber, M; Ikegami, Y; Kohriki, T; Kondo, T; Terada, S; Unno, Y; Pernegger, H; Roe, S; Wallny, R; Moorhead, G F; Taylor, G; García, J E; Gonzáles, S; Vos, M A; Toczek, B

2003-01-01

The Semiconductor Tracker (SCT) is one of the ATLAS Inner Detector elements which aims to track charged particles in the ATLAS experiment. It consists of four cylindrical layers (barrels) of silicon strip detectors, with nine disks in each of the forward and backward directions. Carbon fibre structures will support a total of 4088 modules, which are the basic functional sub-unit of the SCT. Each module consists of single sided silicon micro-strip detectors glued back to back with a 40 mrad stereo-angle, and attached to a hybrid. The scope of this document is to present the electrical performances of prototype end-cap modules proposed for the ATLAS-SCT, as an alternative to the baseline. The layout of these modules is based on the implementation of the barrel module hybrid in the end-cap geometry. A complete set of electrical measurements is summarized in this paper, including irradiated module tests and beam tests.

Robust integration schemes for junction-based modulators in a 200mm CMOS compatible silicon photonic platform (Conference Presentation)

Science.gov (United States)

Szelag, Bertrand; Abraham, Alexis; Brision, Stéphane; Gindre, Paul; Blampey, Benjamin; Myko, André; Olivier, Segolene; Kopp, Christophe

2017-05-01

Silicon photonic is becoming a reality for next generation communication system addressing the increasing needs of HPC (High Performance Computing) systems and datacenters. CMOS compatible photonic platforms are developed in many foundries integrating passive and active devices. The use of existing and qualified microelectronics process guarantees cost efficient and mature photonic technologies. Meanwhile, photonic devices have their own fabrication constraints, not similar to those of cmos devices, which can affect their performances. In this paper, we are addressing the integration of PN junction Mach Zehnder modulator in a 200mm CMOS compatible photonic platform. Implantation based device characteristics are impacted by many process variations among which screening layer thickness, dopant diffusion, implantation mask overlay. CMOS devices are generally quite robust with respect to these processes thanks to dedicated design rules. For photonic devices, the situation is different since, most of the time, doped areas must be carefully located within waveguides and CMOS solutions like self-alignment to the gate cannot be applied. In this work, we present different robust integration solutions for junction-based modulators. A simulation setup has been built in order to optimize of the process conditions. It consist in a Mathlab interface coupling process and device electro-optic simulators in order to run many iterations. Illustrations of modulator characteristic variations with process parameters are done using this simulation setup. Parameters under study are, for instance, X and Y direction lithography shifts, screening oxide and slab thicknesses. A robust process and design approach leading to a pn junction Mach Zehnder modulator insensitive to lithography misalignment is then proposed. Simulation results are compared with experimental datas. Indeed, various modulators have been fabricated with different process conditions and integration schemes. Extensive

Cascadability of Silicon Microring Resonators for40-Gbit/s OOK and DPSK Optical Signals

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Ozolins, Oskars; An, Yi; Lali-Dastjerdi, Zohreh

2012-01-01

The cascadability of a single silicon micro-ring resonator for CSRZ-OOK and CSRZ-DPSK signals is experimentally demonstrated at 40 Gbit/s for the first time. Error-free performance is obtained for both modulation formats after 5 cascaded resonators.......The cascadability of a single silicon micro-ring resonator for CSRZ-OOK and CSRZ-DPSK signals is experimentally demonstrated at 40 Gbit/s for the first time. Error-free performance is obtained for both modulation formats after 5 cascaded resonators....

Power Cycling Test Method for Reliability Assessment of Power Device Modules in Respect to Temperature Stress

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Choi, Ui-Min; Blaabjerg, Frede; Jørgensen, Søren

2018-01-01

Power cycling test is one of the important tasks to investigate the reliability performance of power device modules in respect to temperature stress. From this, it is able to predict the lifetime of a component in power converters. In this paper, representative power cycling test circuits......, measurement circuits of wear-out failure indicators as well as measurement strategies for different power cycling test circuits are discussed in order to provide the current state of knowledge of this topic by organizing and evaluating current literature. In the first section of this paper, the structure...... of a conventional power device module and its related wear-out failure mechanisms with degradation indicators are discussed. Then, representative power cycling test circuits are introduced. Furthermore, on-state collector-emitter voltage (VCE ON) and forward voltage (VF) measurement circuits for wear-out condition...

A silicon strip module for the ATLAS inner detector upgrade in the super LHC collider

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Gonzalez-Sevilla, S., E-mail: Sergio.Gonzalez.Sevilla@cern.ch [DPNC, University of Geneva, CH 1211 Geneva 4 (Switzerland); Barbier, G. [DPNC, University of Geneva, CH 1211 Geneva 4 (Switzerland); Anghinolfi, F. [European Organization for Nuclear Research, CERN CH-1211, Geneva 23 (Switzerland); Cadoux, F.; Clark, A. [DPNC, University of Geneva, CH 1211 Geneva 4 (Switzerland); Dabrowski, W.; Dwuznik, M. [AGH University of Sceince and Technology, Faculty of Physics and Applied Computer Science, Krakow (Poland); Ferrere, D. [DPNC, University of Geneva, CH 1211 Geneva 4 (Switzerland); Garcia, C. [IFIC, Instituto de Fisica Corpuscular (CSIC-Universitat de Valencia), Edificio Investigacion Paterna, Apartado 22085 46071 Valencia (Spain); Ikegami, Y. [KEK, High Energy Accelerator Research Organization, Oho 1-1, Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305-0801 (Japan); Hara, K. [University of Tsukuba, School of Pure and Applied Sciences, 1-1-1 Tennodai, Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305-8571 (Japan); Jakobs, K. [Physikalisches Institut, Universitaet Freiburg, Hermann-Herder-Str. 3, D-79104 Freiburg (Germany); Kaplon, J. [European Organization for Nuclear Research, CERN CH-1211, Geneva 23 (Switzerland); Koriki, T. [KEK, High Energy Accelerator Research Organization, Oho 1-1, Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305-0801 (Japan); Lacasta, C. [IFIC, Instituto de Fisica Corpuscular (CSIC-Universitat de Valencia), Edificio Investigacion Paterna, Apartado 22085 46071 Valencia (Spain); La Marra, D. [DPNC, University of Geneva, CH 1211 Geneva 4 (Switzerland); Marti i Garcia, S. [IFIC, Instituto de Fisica Corpuscular (CSIC-Universitat de Valencia), Edificio Investigacion Paterna, Apartado 22085 46071 Valencia (Spain); Parzefall, U. [Physikalisches Institut, Universitaet Freiburg, Hermann-Herder-Str. 3, D-79104 Freiburg (Germany); Pohl, M. [DPNC, University of Geneva, CH 1211 Geneva 4 (Switzerland); Terada, S. [KEK, High Energy Accelerator Research Organization, Oho 1-1, Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305-0801 (Japan)

2011-04-21

The ATLAS detector is a general purpose experiment designed to fully exploit the discovery potential of the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) at a nominal luminosity of 10{sup 34} cm{sup -2} s{sup -1}. It is expected that after several years of successful data-taking, the LHC physics program will be extended by increasing the peak luminosity by one order of magnitude. For ATLAS, an upgrade scenario will imply the complete replacement of the Inner Detector (ID), since the current tracker will not provide the required performance due to cumulated radiation damage and a dramatic increase in the detector occupancy. In this paper, a proposal of a double-sided silicon micro-strip module for the short-strip region of the future ATLAS ID is presented. The expected thermal performance based upon detailed FEA simulations is discussed. First electrical results from a prototype version of the next generation readout front-end chips are also shown.

A silicon strip module for the ATLAS inner detector upgrade in the super LHC collider

CERN Document Server

Gonzalez-Sevilla, S; Parzefall, U; Clark, A; Ikegami, Y; Hara, K; Garcia, C; Jakobs, K; Dwuznik, M; Terada, S; Barbier, G; Koriki, T; Lacasta, C; Unno, Y; Anghinolfi, F; Cadoux, F; Garcia, S M I; Ferrere, D; La Marra, D; Pohl, M; Dabrowski, W; Kaplon, J

2011-01-01

The ATLAS detector is a general purpose experiment designed to fully exploit the discovery potential of the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) at a nominal luminosity of 10(34)cm(-2)s(-1). It is expected that after several years of successful data-taking, the LHC physics program will be extended by increasing the peak luminosity by one order of magnitude. For ATLAS, an upgrade scenario will imply the complete replacement of the Inner Detector (ID), since the current tracker will not provide the required performance due to cumulated radiation damage and a dramatic increase in the detector occupancy. In this paper, a proposal of a double-sided silicon micro-strip module for the short-strip region of the future ATLAS ID is presented. The expected thermal performance based upon detailed FEA simulations is discussed. First electrical results from a prototype version of the next generation readout front-end chips are also shown. (C) 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Silicon microspheres for near-IR communication applications

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Serpengüzel, Ali; Demir, Abdullah

2008-01-01

We have performed transverse electric and transverse magnetic polarized elastic light scattering calculations at 90° and 0° in the o-band at 1.3 µm for a 15 µm radius silicon microsphere with a refractive index of 3.5. The quality factors are on the order of 10 7 and the mode/channel spacing is 7 nm, which correlate well with the refractive index and the optical size of the microsphere. The 90° elastic light scattering can be used to monitor a dropped channel (drop port), whereas the 0° elastic scattering can be used to monitor the transmission channel (through port). The optical resonances of the silicon microspheres provide the necessary narrow linewidths that are needed for high-resolution optical communication applications. Potential telecommunication applications include filters, modulators, switches, wavelength converters, detectors, amplifiers and light sources. Silicon microspheres show promise as potential building blocks for silicon-based electrophotonic integration

Beam tests of ATLAS SCT silicon strip detector modules

Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

Campabadal, F.; Fleta, C.; Key, M.; Böhm, Jan; Mikeštíková, Marcela; Šťastný, Jan

2005-01-01

Roč. 538, - (2005), s. 384-407 ISSN 0168-9002 R&D Projects: GA MŠk(CZ) 1P04LA212 Institutional research plan: CEZ:AV0Z10100502 Keywords : ATLAS * silicon * micro-strip * beam * test Subject RIV: BF - Elementary Particles and High Energy Physics Impact factor: 1.224, year: 2005

160-Gb/s Silicon All-Optical Packet Switch for Buffer-less Optical Burst Switching

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Hu, Hao; Ji, Hua; Pu, Minhao

2015-01-01

We experimentally demonstrate a 160-Gb/s Ethernet packet switch using an 8.6-mm-long silicon nanowire for optical burst switching, based on cross phase modulation in silicon. One of the four packets at the bit rate of 160 Gb/s is switched by an optical control signal using a silicon based 1 × 1 all......-optical packet switch. Error free performance (BER silicon packet switch based optical burst switching, which might be desirable for high-speed interconnects within a short...

Ultra-fine metal gate operated graphene optical intensity modulator

Science.gov (United States)

Kou, Rai; Hori, Yosuke; Tsuchizawa, Tai; Warabi, Kaori; Kobayashi, Yuzuki; Harada, Yuichi; Hibino, Hiroki; Yamamoto, Tsuyoshi; Nakajima, Hirochika; Yamada, Koji

2016-12-01

A graphene based top-gate optical modulator on a standard silicon photonic platform is proposed for the future optical telecommunication networks. On the basis of the device simulation, we proposed that an electro-absorption light modulation can be realized by an ultra-narrow metal top-gate electrode (width less than 400 nm) directly located on the top of a silicon wire waveguide. The designed structure also provides excellent features such as carrier doping and waveguide-planarization free fabrication processes. In terms of the fabrication, we established transferring of a CVD-grown mono-layer graphene sheet onto a CMOS compatible silicon photonic sample followed by a 25-nm thick ALD-grown Al2O3 deposition and Source-Gate-Drain electrodes formation. In addition, a pair of low-loss spot-size converter for the input and output area is integrated for the efficient light source coupling. The maximum modulation depth of over 30% (1.2 dB) is observed at a device length of 50 μm, and a metal width of 300 nm. The influence of the initial Fermi energy obtained by experiment on the modulation performance is discussed with simulation results.

Control and data acquisition electronics for the CDF Silicon Vertex Detector

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Turner, K.J.; Nelson, C.A.; Shaw, T.M.; Wesson, T.R.

1991-11-01

A control and data acquisition system has been designed for the CDF Silicon Vertex Detector (SVX) at Fermilab. The system controls the operation of the SVX Rev D integrated circuit (SVX IC) that is used to instrument a 46,000 microstrip silicon detector. The system consists of a Fastbus Sequencer, a Crate Controller and Digitizer modules. 11 refs., 6 figs., 3 tabs.

Control and data acquisition electronics for the CDF Silicon Vertex Detector

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Turner, K.J.; Nelson, C.A.; Shaw, T.M.; Wesson, T.R.

1991-11-01

A control and data acquisition system has been designed for the CDF Silicon Vertex Detector (SVX) at Fermilab. The system controls the operation of the SVX Rev D integrated circuit (SVX IC) that is used to instrument a 46,000 microstrip silicon detector. The system consists of a Fastbus Sequencer, a Crate Controller and Digitizer modules. 11 refs., 6 figs., 3 tabs

Control and data acquisition electronics for the CDF silicon vertex detector

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

urner, K.J.; Nelson, C.A.; Shaw, T.M.; Wesson, T.R.

1992-01-01

This paper reports on a control and data acquisition system that has been designed for the CDF Silicon Vertex Detector (SVX) at Fermilab. The system controls the operation of the SVX Rev D integrated circuit (SVX IC) that is used to instrument a 46,000 microstrip silicon detector. The system consists of a Fastbus Sequencer, a Crate Controller and Digitizer modules

A pulse-width modulated, high reliability charge controller for small photovoltaic systems

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Gerken, K. [Morningstar Corp., Olney, MD (United States); Welsh, D. [Morningstar Corp., Encinitas, CA (United States)

1997-02-01

This report presents the results of a development effort to design, test and begin production of a new class of small photovoltaic (PV) charge controllers. Sandia National Laboratories provided technical support, test data and financial support through a Balance-of-System Development contract. One of the objectives of the development was to increase user confidence in small PV systems by improving the reliability and operating life of the system controllers. Another equally important objective was to improve the economics of small PV systems by extending the battery lifetimes. Using new technology and advanced manufacturing techniques, these objectives were accomplished. Because small stand-alone PV systems account for over one third of all PV modules shipped, the positive impact of improving the reliability and economics of PV systems in this market segment will be felt throughout the industry. The results of verification testing of the new product are also included in this report. The initial design goals and specifications were very aggressive, but the extensive testing demonstrates that all the goals were achieved. Production of the product started in May at a rate of 2,000 units per month. Over 40 Morningstar distributors (5 US and 35 overseas) have taken delivery in the first 2 months of shipments. Initial customer reactions to the new controller have been very favorable.

Silicon strip detectors for the ATLAS HL-LHC upgrade

CERN Document Server

Gonzalez Sevilla, S; The ATLAS collaboration

2011-01-01

The LHC upgrade is foreseen to increase the ATLAS design luminosity by a factor ten, implying the need to build a new tracker suited to the harsh HL-LHC conditions in terms of particle rates and radiation doses. In order to cope with the increase in pile-up backgrounds at the higher luminosity, an all silicon detector is being designed. To successfully face the increased radiation dose, a new generation of extremely radiation hard silicon detectors is being designed. We give an overview of the ATLAS tracker upgrade project, in particular focusing on the crucial innermost silicon strip layers. Results from a wide range of irradiated silicon detectors for the strip region of the future ATLAS tracker are presented. Layout concepts for lightweight yet mechanically very rigid detector modules with high service integration are shown.

Active graphene-silicon hybrid diode for terahertz waves.

Science.gov (United States)

Li, Quan; Tian, Zhen; Zhang, Xueqian; Singh, Ranjan; Du, Liangliang; Gu, Jianqiang; Han, Jiaguang; Zhang, Weili

2015-05-11

Controlling the propagation properties of the terahertz waves in graphene holds great promise in enabling novel technologies for the convergence of electronics and photonics. A diode is a fundamental electronic device that allows the passage of current in just one direction based on the polarity of the applied voltage. With simultaneous optical and electrical excitations, we experimentally demonstrate an active diode for the terahertz waves consisting of a graphene-silicon hybrid film. The diode transmits terahertz waves when biased with a positive voltage while attenuates the wave under a low negative voltage, which can be seen as an analogue of an electronic semiconductor diode. Here, we obtain a large transmission modulation of 83% in the graphene-silicon hybrid film, which exhibits tremendous potential for applications in designing broadband terahertz modulators and switchable terahertz plasmonic and metamaterial devices.

CMOS compatible generic batch process towards flexible memory on bulk monocrystalline silicon (100)

KAUST Repository

Ghoneim, Mohamed T.

2014-12-01

Today\\'s mainstream flexible electronics research is geared towards replacing silicon either totally, by having organic devices on organic substrates, or partially, by transferring inorganic devices onto organic substrates. In this work, we present a pragmatic approach combining the desired flexibility of organic substrates and the ultra-high integration density, inherent in silicon semiconductor industry, to transform bulk/inflexible silicon into an ultra-thin mono-crystalline fabric. We also show the effectiveness of this approach in achieving fully flexible electronic systems. Furthermore, we provide a progress report on fabricating various memory devices on flexible silicon fabric and insights for completely flexible memory modules on silicon fabric.

CMOS compatible generic batch process towards flexible memory on bulk monocrystalline silicon (100)

KAUST Repository

Ghoneim, Mohamed T.; Rojas, Jhonathan Prieto; Kutbee, Arwa T.; Hanna, Amir; Hussain, Muhammad Mustafa

2014-01-01

Today's mainstream flexible electronics research is geared towards replacing silicon either totally, by having organic devices on organic substrates, or partially, by transferring inorganic devices onto organic substrates. In this work, we present a pragmatic approach combining the desired flexibility of organic substrates and the ultra-high integration density, inherent in silicon semiconductor industry, to transform bulk/inflexible silicon into an ultra-thin mono-crystalline fabric. We also show the effectiveness of this approach in achieving fully flexible electronic systems. Furthermore, we provide a progress report on fabricating various memory devices on flexible silicon fabric and insights for completely flexible memory modules on silicon fabric.

Silicon based mechanic-photonic wavelength converter for infrared photo-detection

Science.gov (United States)

Rudnitsky, Arkady; Agdarov, Sergey; Gulitsky, Konstantin; Zalevsky, Zeev

2017-06-01

In this paper we present a new concept to realize a mechanic-photonic wavelength converter in silicon chip by construction of nanorods and by modulating the input illumination at temporal frequency matched to the mechanic resonance of the nanorods. The use case is to realize an infrared photo detector in silicon which is not based on absorption but rather on the mechanical interaction of the nanorods with the incoming illumination.

Coating of silicon pore optics

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Cooper-Jensen, Carsten P.; Ackermann, M.; Christensen, Finn Erland

2009-01-01

For the International X-ray observatory (IXO), a mirror module with an effective area of 3 m2 at 1.25 keV and at least 0.65 m2 at 6 keV has to be realized. To achieve this goal, coated silicon pore optics has been developed over the last years. One of the challenges is to coat the Si plates...

Nonlinear optical properties of silicon waveguides

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tsang, H K; Liu, Y

2008-01-01

Recent work on two-photon absorption (TPA), stimulated Raman scattering (SRS) and optical Kerr effect in silicon-on-insulator (SOI) waveguides is reviewed and some potential applications of these optical nonlinearities, including silicon-based autocorrelation detectors, optical amplifiers, high speed optical switches, optical wavelength converters and self-phase modulation (SPM), are highlighted. The importance of free carriers generated by TPA in nonlinear devices is discussed, and a generalized definition of the nonlinear effective length to cater for nonlinear losses is proposed. How carrier lifetime engineering, and in particular the use of helium ion implantation, can enhance the nonlinear effective length for nonlinear devices is also discussed

Cross-cultural adaptation, reliability, and validity of the Turkish version of PedsQL 3.0 Arthritis Module: a quality-of-life measure for patients with juvenile idiopathic arthritis in Turkey.

Science.gov (United States)

Tarakci, E; Baydogan, S N; Kasapcopur, O; Dirican, A

2013-04-01

The aim of this study was to describe the cultural adaptation, validity, and reliability of a Turkish version of the pediatric quality-of-life inventory (PedsQL) 3.0 Arthritis Module in a population with juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA). A total of 169 patients with JIA and their parents were enrolled in the study. The Turkish version of the childhood health assessment questionnaire (CHAQ) was used to evaluate the validity of related domains in the PedsQL 3.0 Arthritis Module. Both the PedsQL 3.0 Arthritis Module and CHAQ were filled out by children over 8 years of age and by the parents of children 2-7 years of age. Internal reliability was poor to excellent (Cronbach's alpha coefficients 0.56-0.84 for self-reporting and 0.63-0.82 for parent reporting), and interobserver reliability varied from good to excellent (intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) 0.79-0.91 for self-reporting and 0.80-0.88 for parent reporting) for the total scores of the PedsQL 3.0 Arthritis Module. Parent-child concordance for all scores was moderate to excellent (ICC 0.42-0.92). The PedsQL 3.0 Arthritis Module and CHAQ were highly positively correlated, with coefficients from 0.21 to 0.76, indicating concurrent validity. We demonstrated the reliability and validity of quality-of-life measurement using the Turkish version of the PedsQL 3.0 Arthritis Module in our sociocultural context. The PedsQL 3.0 Arthritis Module can be utilized as a tool for the evaluation of quality of life in patients with JIA aged 2-18 years.

User's guide to the Reliability Estimation System Testbed (REST)

Science.gov (United States)

Nicol, David M.; Palumbo, Daniel L.; Rifkin, Adam

1992-01-01

The Reliability Estimation System Testbed is an X-window based reliability modeling tool that was created to explore the use of the Reliability Modeling Language (RML). RML was defined to support several reliability analysis techniques including modularization, graphical representation, Failure Mode Effects Simulation (FMES), and parallel processing. These techniques are most useful in modeling large systems. Using modularization, an analyst can create reliability models for individual system components. The modules can be tested separately and then combined to compute the total system reliability. Because a one-to-one relationship can be established between system components and the reliability modules, a graphical user interface may be used to describe the system model. RML was designed to permit message passing between modules. This feature enables reliability modeling based on a run time simulation of the system wide effects of a component's failure modes. The use of failure modes effects simulation enhances the analyst's ability to correctly express system behavior when using the modularization approach to reliability modeling. To alleviate the computation bottleneck often found in large reliability models, REST was designed to take advantage of parallel processing on hypercube processors.

A review of oxide, silicon nitride, and silicon carbide brazing

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Santella, M.L.; Moorhead, A.J.

1987-01-01

There is growing interest in using ceramics for structural applications, many of which require the fabrication of components with complicated shapes. Normal ceramic processing methods restrict the shapes into which these materials can be produced, but ceramic joining technology can be used to overcome many of these limitations, and also offers the possibility for improving the reliability of ceramic components. One method of joining ceramics is by brazing. The metallic alloys used for bonding must wet and adhere to the ceramic surfaces without excessive reaction. Alumina, partially stabilized zirconia, and silicon nitride have high ionic character to their chemical bonds and are difficult to wet. Alloys for brazing these materials must be formulated to overcome this problem. Silicon carbide, which has some metallic characteristics, reacts excessively with many alloys, and forms joints of low mechanical strength. The brazing characteristics of these three types of ceramics, and residual stresses in ceramic-to-metal joints are briefly discussed

Emerging heterogeneous integrated photonic platforms on silicon

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Fathpour Sasan

2015-05-01

Full Text Available Silicon photonics has been established as a mature and promising technology for optoelectronic integrated circuits, mostly based on the silicon-on-insulator (SOI waveguide platform. However, not all optical functionalities can be satisfactorily achieved merely based on silicon, in general, and on the SOI platform, in particular. Long-known shortcomings of silicon-based integrated photonics are optical absorption (in the telecommunication wavelengths and feasibility of electrically-injected lasers (at least at room temperature. More recently, high two-photon and free-carrier absorptions required at high optical intensities for third-order optical nonlinear effects, inherent lack of second-order optical nonlinearity, low extinction ratio of modulators based on the free-carrier plasma effect, and the loss of the buried oxide layer of the SOI waveguides at mid-infrared wavelengths have been recognized as other shortcomings. Accordingly, several novel waveguide platforms have been developing to address these shortcomings of the SOI platform. Most of these emerging platforms are based on heterogeneous integration of other material systems on silicon substrates, and in some cases silicon is integrated on other substrates. Germanium and its binary alloys with silicon, III–V compound semiconductors, silicon nitride, tantalum pentoxide and other high-index dielectric or glass materials, as well as lithium niobate are some of the materials heterogeneously integrated on silicon substrates. The materials are typically integrated by a variety of epitaxial growth, bonding, ion implantation and slicing, etch back, spin-on-glass or other techniques. These wide range of efforts are reviewed here holistically to stress that there is no pure silicon or even group IV photonics per se. Rather, the future of the field of integrated photonics appears to be one of heterogenization, where a variety of different materials and waveguide platforms will be used for

Detector and Front-end electronics for ALICE and STAR silicon strip layers

CERN Document Server

Arnold, L; Coffin, J P; Guillaume, G; Higueret, S; Jundt, F; Kühn, C E; Lutz, Jean Robert; Suire, C; Tarchini, A; Berst, D; Blondé, J P; Clauss, G; Colledani, C; Deptuch, G; Dulinski, W; Hu, Y; Hébrard, L; Kucewicz, W; Boucham, A; Bouvier, S; Ravel, O; Retière, F

1998-01-01

Detector modules consisting of Silicon Strip Detector (SSD) and Front End Electronics (FEE) assembly have been designed in order to provide the two outer layers of the ALICE Inner Tracker System (ITS) [1] as well as the outer layer of the STAR Silicon Vertex Tracker (SVT) [2]. Several prototypes have beenproduced and tested in the SPS and PS beam at CERN to validate the final design. Double-sided, AC-coupled SSD detectors provided by two different manufacturers and also a pair of single-sided SSD have been asssociated to new low-power CMOS ALICE128C ASIC chips in a new detector module assembly. The same detectors have also been associated to current Viking electronics for reference purpose. These prototype detector modules are described and some first results are presented.

The mechanical Design of the LHCb Silicon Trigger Tracker

CERN Document Server

Gassner, J; Steiner, S

2010-01-01

In this note, we describe the design of the Silicon Trigger Tracker for the LHCb experiment. We emphasize on detector module and station design and characterize the layout of all relevant parts and components.

Improving Power Converter Reliability

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Ghimire, Pramod; de Vega, Angel Ruiz; Beczkowski, Szymon

2014-01-01

of a high-power IGBT module during converter operation, which may play a vital role in improving the reliability of the power converters. The measured voltage is used to estimate the module average junction temperature of the high and low-voltage side of a half-bridge IGBT separately in every fundamental......The real-time junction temperature monitoring of a high-power insulated-gate bipolar transistor (IGBT) module is important to increase the overall reliability of power converters for industrial applications. This article proposes a new method to measure the on-state collector?emitter voltage...... is measured in a wind power converter at a low fundamental frequency. To illustrate more, the test method as well as the performance of the measurement circuit are also presented. This measurement is also useful to indicate failure mechanisms such as bond wire lift-off and solder layer degradation...

Mid-infrared integrated photonics on silicon: a perspective

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Lin Hongtao

2017-12-01

Full Text Available The emergence of silicon photonics over the past two decades has established silicon as a preferred substrate platform for photonic integration. While most silicon-based photonic components have so far been realized in the near-infrared (near-IR telecommunication bands, the mid-infrared (mid-IR, 2–20-μm wavelength band presents a significant growth opportunity for integrated photonics. In this review, we offer our perspective on the burgeoning field of mid-IR integrated photonics on silicon. A comprehensive survey on the state-of-the-art of key photonic devices such as waveguides, light sources, modulators, and detectors is presented. Furthermore, on-chip spectroscopic chemical sensing is quantitatively analyzed as an example of mid-IR photonic system integration based on these basic building blocks, and the constituent component choices are discussed and contrasted in the context of system performance and integration technologies.

ATLAS Tracker Upgrade: Silicon Strip Detectors and Modules for the sLHC

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lefebvre, Michel; Minano Moya, Mercedes

2010-01-01

It is foreseen to increase the luminosity of the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) at CERN by a factor ten, with the upgraded machine dubbed Super-LHC or sLHC. The ATLAS experiment will require a new tracker for sLHC operation. In order to cope with the increase in pile-up backgrounds at the higher luminosity, an all silicon detector is being designed. The new strip detector will use significantly shorter strips than the current SCT in order to minimise the occupancy. As the increased luminosity will mean a corresponding increase in radiation dose, a new generation of extremely radiation hard silicon detectors is required. Extensive R programmes are underway to develop silicon sensors with sufficient radiation hardness. In parallel, new front-end electronics and readout systems are being designed to cope with the higher data rates. The challenges of powering and cooling a very large strip detector will be discussed. Ideas on possible schemes for the layout and support mechanics will be shown. (authors)

Reliability Assessment of Solder Joints in Power Electronic Modules by Crack Damage Model for Wind Turbine Applications

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

John D. Sørensen

2011-12-01

Full Text Available Wind turbine reliability is an important issue for wind energy cost minimization, especially by reduction of operation and maintenance costs for critical components and by increasing wind turbine availability. To develop an optimal operation and maintenance plan for critical components, it is necessary to understand the physics of their failure and be able to develop reliability prediction models. Such a model is proposed in this paper for an IGBT power electronic module. IGBTs are critical components in wind turbine converter systems. These are multilayered devices where layers are soldered to each other and they operate at a thermal-power cycling environment. Temperature loadings affect the reliability of soldered joints by developing cracks and fatigue processes that eventually result in failure. Based on Miner’s rule a linear damage model that incorporates a crack development and propagation processes is discussed. A statistical analysis is performed for appropriate model parameter selection. Based on the proposed model, a layout for component life prediction with crack movement is described in details.

EDITORIAL: Special issue on silicon photonics

Science.gov (United States)

Reed, Graham; Paniccia, Mario; Wada, Kazumi; Mashanovich, Goran

2008-06-01

The technology now known as silicon photonics can be traced back to the pioneering work of Soref in the mid-1980s (see, for example, Soref R A and Lorenzo J P 1985 Electron. Lett. 21 953). However, the nature of the research conducted today, whilst it builds upon that early work, is unrecognizable in terms of technology metrics such as device efficiency, device data rate and device dimensions, and even in targeted applications areas. Today silicon photonics is still evolving, and is enjoying a period of unprecedented attention in terms of research focus. This has resulted in orders-of-magnitude improvement in device performance over the last few years to levels many thought were impossible. However, despite the existence of the research field for more than two decades, silicon is still regarded as a 'new' optical material, one that is being manipulated and modified to satisfy the requirements of a range of applications. This is somewhat ironic since silicon is one of the best known and most thoroughly studied materials, thanks to the electronics industry that has made silicon its material of choice. The principal reasons for the lack of study of this 'late developer' are that (i) silicon is an indirect bandgap material and (ii) it does not exhibit a linear electro-optic (Pockels) effect. The former condition means that it is difficult to make a laser in silicon based on the intrinsic performance of the material, and consequently, in recent years, researchers have attempted to modify the material to artificially engineer the conditions for lasing to be viable (see, for example, the review text, Jalali B et al 2008 Silicon Lasers in Silicon Photonics: The State of the Art ed G T Reed (New York: Wiley)). The latter condition means that optical modulators are intrinsically less efficient in silicon than in some other materials, particularly when targeting the popular telecommunications wavelengths around 1.55 μm. Therefore researchers have sought alternative

77 FR 5487 - Countervailing Duty Investigation of Crystalline Silicon Photovoltaic Cells, Whether or Not...

Science.gov (United States)

2012-02-03

... modules or panels) and 8541.40.6030 (solar cells, not assembled into modules or made up into panels) for... crystalline silicon photovoltaic cells, whether or not assembled into modules (solar cells), from the People's Republic of China (PRC), filed in proper form by SolarWorld Industries America Inc. (Petitioner).\\1\\ The...

Opto-electro-modulated transient photovoltage and photocurrent system for investigation of charge transport and recombination in solar cells.

Science.gov (United States)

Shi, Jiangjian; Li, Dongmei; Luo, Yanhong; Wu, Huijue; Meng, Qingbo

2016-12-01

An opto-electro-modulated transient photovoltage/photocurrent system has been developed to probe microscopic charge processes of a solar cell in its adjustable operating conditions. The reliability of this system is carefully determined by electric circuit simulations and experimental measurements. Using this system, the charge transport, recombination and storage properties of a conventional multicrystalline silicon solar cell under different steady-state bias voltages, and light illumination intensities are investigated. This system has also been applied to study the influence of the hole transport material layer on charge extraction and the microscopic charge processes behind the widely considered photoelectric hysteresis in perovskite solar cells.

Integration of the End Cap TEC+ of the CMS Silicon Strip Tracker

CERN Document Server

Adler, Volker; Ageron, Michel; Agram, Jean-Laurent; Atz, Bernd; Barvich, Tobias; Baulieu, Guillaume; Beaumont, Willem; Beissel, Franz; Bergauer, Thomas; Berst, Jean-Daniel; Blüm, Peter; Bock, E; Bogelsbacher, F; de Boer, Wim; Bonnet, Jean-Luc; Bonnevaux, Alain; Boudoul, Gaelle; Bouhali, Othmane; Braunschweig, Wolfgang; Bremer, R; Brom, Jean-Marie; Butz, Erik; Chabanat, Eric; Chabert, Eric Christian; Clerbaux, Barbara; Contardo, Didier; De Callatay, Bernard; Dehm, Philip; Delaere, Christophe; Della Negra, Rodolphe; Dewulf, Jean-Paul; D'Hondt, Jorgen; Didierjean, Francois; Dierlamm, Alexander; Dirkes, Guido; Dragicevic, Marko; Drouhin, Frédéric; Ernenwein, Jean-Pierre; Esser, Hans; Estre, Nicolas; Fahrer, Manuel; Feld, Lutz; Fernández, J; Florins, Benoit; Flossdorf, Alexander; Flucke, Gero; Flügge, Günter; Fontaine, Jean-Charles; Freudenreich, Klaus; Frey, Martin; Friedl, Markus; Furgeri, Alexander; Giraud, Noël; Goerlach, Ulrich; Goorens, Robert; Graehling, Philippe; Grégoire, Ghislain; Gregoriev, E; Gross, Laurent; Hansel, S; Haroutunian, Roger; Hartmann, Frank; Heier, Stefan; Hermanns, Thomas; Heydhausen, Dirk; Heyninck, Jan; Hosselet, J; Hrubec, Josef; Jahn, Dieter; Juillot, Pierre; Kaminski, Jochen; Karpinski, Waclaw; Kaussen, Gordon; Keutgen, Thomas; Klanner, Robert; Klein, Katja; König, Stefan; Kosbow, M; Krammer, Manfred; Ledermann, Bernhard; Lemaître, Vincent; De Lentdecker, Gilles; Linn, Alexander; Lounis, Abdenour; Lübelsmeyer, Klaus; Lumb, Nicholas; Maazouzi, Chaker; Mahmoud, Tariq; Michotte, Daniel; Militaru, Otilia; Mirabito, Laurent; Müller, Thomas; Neukermans, Lionel; Ollivetto, C; Olzem, Jan; Ostapchuk, Andrey; Pandoulas, Demetrios; Pein, Uwe; Pernicka, Manfred; Perriès, Stephane; Piaseki, C; Pierschel, Gerhard; Piotrzkowski, Krzysztof; Poettgens, Michael; Pooth, Oliver; Rouby, Xavier; Sabellek, Andreas; Schael, Stefan; Schirm, Norbert; Schleper, Peter; Schmitz, Stefan Antonius; Schultz von Dratzig, Arndt; Siedling, Rolf; Simonis, Hans-Jürgen; Stahl, Achim; Steck, Pia; Steinbruck, G; Stoye, Markus; Strub, Roger; Tavernier, Stefaan; Teyssier, Daniel; Theel, Andreas; Trocmé, Benjamin; Udo, Fred; Van der Donckt, M; Van der Velde, C; Van Hove, Pierre; Vanlaer, Pascal; Van Lancker, Luc; Van Staa, Rolf; Vanzetto, Sylvain; Weber, Markus; Weiler, Thomas; Weseler, Siegfried; Wickens, John; Wittmer, Bruno; Wlochal, Michael; De Wolf, Eddi A; Zhukov, Valery; Zoeller, Marc Henning

2009-01-01

The silicon strip tracker of the CMS experiment has been completed and inserted into the CMS detector in late 2007. The largest sub-system of the tracker is its end cap system, comprising two large end caps (TEC) each containing 3200 silicon strip modules. To ease construction, the end caps feature a modular design: groups of about 20 silicon modules are placed on sub-assemblies called petals and these self-contained elements are then mounted into the TEC support structures. Each end cap consists of 144 petals, and the insertion of these petals into the end cap structure is referred to as TEC integration. The two end caps were integrated independently in Aachen (TEC+) and at CERN (TEC--). This note deals with the integration of TEC+, describing procedures for end cap integration and for quality control during testing of integrated sections of the end cap and presenting results from the testing.

Silicon Detector System for High Rate EXAFS Applications

OpenAIRE

Pullia, A.; Kraner, H. W.; Siddons, D. P.; Furenlid, L. R.; Bertuccio, G.

1995-01-01

A multichannel silicon pad detector for EXAFS (Extended X-ray Absorption Fine Structure) applications has been designed and built. The X-ray spectroscopic measurements demonstrate that an adequate energy resolution of 230 eV FWHM (corresponding to 27 rms electrons in silicon) can be achieved reliably at −35 °C. A resolution of 190 eV FWHM (corresponding to 22 rms electrons) has been obtained from individual pads at −35 °C. At room temperature (25 °C) an average energy resolution of 380 eV FWH...

Improved reliability of power modules

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Baker, Nick; Liserre, Marco; Dupont, Laurent

2014-01-01

Power electronic systems play an increasingly important role in providing high-efficiency power conversion for adjustable-speed drives, power-quality correction, renewable-energy systems, energy-storage systems, and electric vehicles. However, they are often presented with demanding operating...... environments that challenge the reliability aspects of power electronic techniques. For example, increasingly thermally stressful environments are seen in applications such as electric vehicles, where ambient temperatures under the hood exceed 150 °C, while some wind turbine applications can place large...

Device physics underlying silicon heterojunction and passivating-contact solar cells: A topical review

KAUST Repository

Chavali, Raghu V. K.

2018-01-15

The device physics of commercially dominant diffused-junction silicon solar cells is well understood, allowing sophisticated optimization of this class of devices. Recently, so-called passivating-contact solar cell technologies have become prominent, with Kaneka setting the world\\'s silicon solar cell efficiency record of 26.63% using silicon heterojunction contacts in an interdigitated configuration. Although passivating-contact solar cells are remarkably efficient, their underlying device physics is not yet completely understood, not in the least because they are constructed from diverse materials that may introduce electronic barriers in the current flow. To bridge this gap in understanding, we explore the device physics of passivating contact silicon heterojunction (SHJ) solar cells. Here, we identify the key properties of heterojunctions that affect cell efficiency, analyze the dependence of key heterojunction properties on carrier transport under light and dark conditions, provide a self-consistent multiprobe approach to extract heterojunction parameters using several characterization techniques (including dark J-V, light J-V, C-V, admittance spectroscopy, and Suns-Voc), propose design guidelines to address bottlenecks in energy production in SHJ cells, and develop a process-to-module modeling framework to establish the module\\'s performance limits. We expect that our proposed guidelines resulting from this multiscale and self-consistent framework will improve the performance of future SHJ cells as well as other passivating contact-based solar cells.

Multi-Chip-Modul-Entwicklung fuer den ATLAS-Pixeldetektor

CERN Document Server

Stockmanns, Tobias

2004-01-01

Abstract: The innermost layer of the ATLAS tracking system is a silicon pixel detector. The use of radiation tolerant components is mandatory due to the harsh radiation environment. The smallest independent component of the pixel detector is a hybride pixel module consisting of a large oxygen enriched silicon sensor and 16 specifically developed ASICs. To achieve the necessary radiation tolerance the ASICs are produced in a 0.25 µm technology in combination with special design techniques. The measurements of the readout electronics during all stages of production of a full module are presented and the performance of the modules is compared with the strict requirements of the ATLAS pixel detector. Furthermore a new powering scheme for pixel detectors is presented, aiming at reducing the total power consumption, the material for the electrical services and the amount of power cables. The advantages and disadvantages of this concept are discussed on the example of the ATLAS pixel detector with pixel modules mo...

Printable nanostructured silicon solar cells for high-performance, large-area flexible photovoltaics.

Science.gov (United States)

Lee, Sung-Min; Biswas, Roshni; Li, Weigu; Kang, Dongseok; Chan, Lesley; Yoon, Jongseung

2014-10-28

Nanostructured forms of crystalline silicon represent an attractive materials building block for photovoltaics due to their potential benefits to significantly reduce the consumption of active materials, relax the requirement of materials purity for high performance, and hence achieve greatly improved levelized cost of energy. Despite successful demonstrations for their concepts over the past decade, however, the practical application of nanostructured silicon solar cells for large-scale implementation has been hampered by many existing challenges associated with the consumption of the entire wafer or expensive source materials, difficulties to precisely control materials properties and doping characteristics, or restrictions on substrate materials and scalability. Here we present a highly integrable materials platform of nanostructured silicon solar cells that can overcome these limitations. Ultrathin silicon solar microcells integrated with engineered photonic nanostructures are fabricated directly from wafer-based source materials in configurations that can lower the materials cost and can be compatible with deterministic assembly procedures to allow programmable, large-scale distribution, unlimited choices of module substrates, as well as lightweight, mechanically compliant constructions. Systematic studies on optical and electrical properties, photovoltaic performance in experiments, as well as numerical modeling elucidate important design rules for nanoscale photon management with ultrathin, nanostructured silicon solar cells and their interconnected, mechanically flexible modules, where we demonstrate 12.4% solar-to-electric energy conversion efficiency for printed ultrathin (∼ 8 μm) nanostructured silicon solar cells when configured with near-optimal designs of rear-surface nanoposts, antireflection coating, and back-surface reflector.

High Voltage, Fast-Switching Module for Active Control of Magnetic Fields and Edge Plasma Currents

Science.gov (United States)

Ziemba, Timothy; Miller, Kenneth; Prager, James; Slobodov, Ilia

2016-10-01

Fast, reliable, real-time control of plasma is critical to the success of magnetic fusion science. High voltage and current supplies are needed to mitigate instabilities in all experiments as well as disruption events in large scale tokamaks for steady-state operation. Silicon carbide (SiC) MOSFETs offer many advantages over IGBTs including lower drive energy requirements, lower conduction and switching losses, and higher switching frequency capabilities; however, these devices are limited to 1.2-1.7 kV devices. As fusion enters the long-pulse and burning plasma eras, efficiency of power switching will be important. Eagle Harbor Technologies (EHT), Inc. developing a high voltage SiC MOSFET module that operates at 10 kV. This switch module utilizes EHT gate drive technology, which has demonstrated the ability to increase SiC MOSFET switching efficiency. The module will allow more rapid development of high voltage switching power supplies at lower cost necessary for the next generation of fast plasma feedback and control. EHT is partnering with the High Beta Tokamak group at Columbia to develop detailed high voltage module specifications, to ensure that the final product meets the needs of the fusion science community.

Parametric Mass Reliability Study

Science.gov (United States)

Holt, James P.

2014-01-01

The International Space Station (ISS) systems are designed based upon having redundant systems with replaceable orbital replacement units (ORUs). These ORUs are designed to be swapped out fairly quickly, but some are very large, and some are made up of many components. When an ORU fails, it is replaced on orbit with a spare; the failed unit is sometimes returned to Earth to be serviced and re-launched. Such a system is not feasible for a 500+ day long-duration mission beyond low Earth orbit. The components that make up these ORUs have mixed reliabilities. Components that make up the most mass-such as computer housings, pump casings, and the silicon board of PCBs-typically are the most reliable. Meanwhile components that tend to fail the earliest-such as seals or gaskets-typically have a small mass. To better understand the problem, my project is to create a parametric model that relates both the mass of ORUs to reliability, as well as the mass of ORU subcomponents to reliability.

Applications, Prospects and Challenges of Silicon Carbide Junction Field Effect Transistor (SIC JFET

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Frederick Ojiemhende Ehiagwina

2016-09-01

Full Text Available Properties of Silicon Carbide Junction Field Effect Transistor (SiC JFET such as high switching speed, low forward voltage drop and high temperature operation have attracted the interest of power electronic researchers and technologists, who for many years developed devices based on Silicon (Si.  A number of power system Engineers have made efforts to develop more robust equipment including circuits or modules with higher power density. However, it was realized that several available power semiconductor devices were approaching theoretical limits offered by Si material with respect to capability to block high voltage, provide low on-state voltage drop and switch at high frequencies. This paper presents an overview of the current applications of SiC JFET in circuits such as inverters, rectifiers and amplifiers. Other areas of application reviewed include; usage of the SiC JFET in pulse signal circuits and boost converters. Efforts directed toward mitigating the observed increase in electromagnetic interference were also discussed. It also presented some areas for further research, such as having more applications of SiC JFET in harsh, high temperature environment. More work is needed with regards to SiC JFET drivers so as to ensure stable and reliable operation, and reduction in the prices of SiC JFETs through mass production by industries.

Optimized optical devices for edge-coupling-enabled silicon photonics platform

Science.gov (United States)

Png, Ching Eng; Ang, Thomas Y. L.; Ong, Jun Rong; Lim, Soon Thor; Sahin, Ezgi; Chen, G. F. R.; Tan, D. T. H.; Guo, Tina X.; Wang, Hong

2018-02-01

We present a library of high-performance passive and active silicon photonic devices at the C-band that is specifically designed and optimized for edge-coupling-enabled silicon photonics platform. These devices meet the broadband (100 nm), low-loss (= 25 Gb/s), and polarization diversity requirements (TE and TM polarization extinction ratio beam splitters (PBSs), and high-speed modulators are some of the devices within our library. In particular, we have designed and fabricated inverse taper fiber-to-waveguide edge couplers of tip widths ranging from 120 nm to 200 nm, and we obtained a low coupling loss of 1.80+/-0.28 dB for 160 nm tip width. To achieve polarization diversity operation for inverse tapers, we have experimentally realized different designs of polarization beam splitters (PBS). Our optimized PBS has a measured extinction ratio of <= 25 dB for both the quasiTE modes, and quasi-TM modes. Additionally, a broadband (100 nm) directional coupler with a 50/50 power splitting ratio was experimentally realized on a small footprint of 20×3 μm2 . Last but not least, high-speed silicon modulators with a range of carrier doping concentrations and offset of the PN junction can be used to optimise the modulation efficiency, and insertion losses for operation at 25 GHz.

Ion beam figuring of silicon aspheres

Science.gov (United States)

Demmler, Marcel; Zeuner, Michael; Luca, Alfonz; Dunger, Thoralf; Rost, Dirk; Kiontke, Sven; Krüger, Marcus

2011-03-01

Silicon lenses are widely used for infrared applications. Especially for portable devices the size and weight of the optical system are very important factors. The use of aspherical silicon lenses instead of spherical silicon lenses results in a significant reduction of weight and size. The manufacture of silicon lenses is more challenging than the manufacture of standard glass lenses. Typically conventional methods like diamond turning, grinding and polishing are used. However, due to the high hardness of silicon, diamond turning is very difficult and requires a lot of experience. To achieve surfaces of a high quality a polishing step is mandatory within the manufacturing process. Nevertheless, the required surface form accuracy cannot be achieved through the use of conventional polishing methods because of the unpredictable behavior of the polishing tools, which leads to an unstable removal rate. To overcome these disadvantages a method called Ion Beam Figuring can be used to manufacture silicon lenses with high surface form accuracies. The general advantage of the Ion Beam Figuring technology is a contactless polishing process without any aging effects of the tool. Due to this an excellent stability of the removal rate without any mechanical surface damage is achieved. The related physical process - called sputtering - can be applied to any material and is therefore also applicable to materials of high hardness like Silicon (SiC, WC). The process is realized through the commercially available ion beam figuring system IonScan 3D. During the process, the substrate is moved in front of a focused broad ion beam. The local milling rate is controlled via a modulated velocity profile, which is calculated specifically for each surface topology in order to mill the material at the associated positions to the target geometry. The authors will present aspherical silicon lenses with very high surface form accuracies compared to conventionally manufactured lenses.

Characterizing the effects of free carriers in fully etched, dielectric-clad silicon waveguides

Science.gov (United States)

Sharma, Rajat; Puckett, Matthew W.; Lin, Hung-Hsi; Vallini, Felipe; Fainman, Yeshaiahu

2015-06-01

We theoretically characterize the free-carrier plasma dispersion effect in fully etched silicon waveguides, with various dielectric material claddings, due to fixed interface charges and trap states at the silicon-dielectric interfaces. The values used for these charges are obtained from the measured capacitance-voltage characteristics of SiO2, SiNx, and Al2O3 thin films deposited on silicon substrates. The effect of the charges on the properties of silicon waveguides is then calculated using the semiconductor physics tool Silvaco in combination with the finite-difference time-domain method solver Lumerical. Our results show that, in addition to being a critical factor in the analysis of such active devices as capacitively driven silicon modulators, this effect should also be taken into account when considering the propagation losses of passive silicon waveguides.

Silicon Photomultipliers (SiPM) as novel photodetectors for PET

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Del Guerra, Alberto; Belcari, Nicola; Giuseppina Bisogni, Maria; Corsi, Francesco; Foresta, Maurizio; Guerra, Pedro; Marcatili, Sara; Santos, Andres; Sportelli, Giancarlo

2011-01-01

Next generation PET scanners should fulfill very high requirements in terms of spatial, energy and timing resolution. Modern scanner performances are inherently limited by the use of standard photomultiplier tubes. The use of Silicon Photomultipliers (SiPMs) is proposed for the construction of a 4D-PET module of 4.8x4.8 cm 2 aimed to replace the standard PMT based PET block detector. The module will be based on a LYSO continuous crystal read on two faces by Silicon Photomultipliers. A high granularity detection surface made by SiPM matrices of 1.5 mm pitch will be used for the x-y photon hit position determination with submillimetric accuracy, while a low granularity surface constituted by 16 mm 2 SiPM pixels will provide the fast timing information (t) that will be used to implement the Time of Flight technique (TOF). The spatial information collected by the two detector layers will be combined in order to measure the Depth of Interaction (DOI) of each event (z). The use of large area multi-pixel Silicon Photomultiplier (SiPM) detectors requires the development of a multichannel Data Acquisition system (DAQ) as well as of a dedicated front-end in order not to degrade the intrinsic detector capabilities and to manage many channels. The paper describes the progress made on the development of the proof of principle module under construction at the University of Pisa.

Construction and performance of the ATLAS silicon microstrip barrel modules

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kondo, T.; Apsimon, R.; Beck, G.A.; Bell, P.; Brenner, R.; Bruckman de Renstrom, P.; Carter, A.A.; Carter, J.R.; Charlton, D.; Dabrowski, W.; Dorholt, O.; Ekelof, T.; Eklund, L.; Gibson, M.; Gadomski, S.; Grillo, A.; Grosse-Knetter, J.; Haber, C.; Hara, K.; Hill, J.C.; Ikegami, Y.; Iwata, Y.; Johansen, L.G.; Kohriki, T.; Macpherson, A.; McMahon, S.; Moorhead, G.; Morin, J.; Morris, J.; Morrissey, M.; Nagai, K.; Nakano, I.; Pater, J.; Pernegger, H.; Perrin, E.; Phillips, P.; Robinson, D.; Skubic, B.; Spencer, N.; Stapnes, S.; Stugu, B.; Takashima, R.; Terada, S.; Tyndel, M.; Ujiie, N.; Unno, Y.; Vos, M.

2002-01-01

The ATLAS Semiconductor Tracker (SCT) consists of four barrel cylinders and 18 end-cap disks. This paper describes the SCT modules of the barrel region, of which more than 2000 are about to be constructed. The module design is fixed. Its design concept is given together with the electrical, thermal and mechanical specifications. The pre-series production of the barrel modules is underway using mass-production procedures and jigs. The pre-series modules have given satisfactory performances on noise, noise occupancy, electrical as well as mechanical and thermal properties. In addition, irradiated modules were demonstrated to work successfully. Also first results from a 10-module system test are given

Life prediction and mechanical reliability of NT551 silicon nitride

Science.gov (United States)

Andrews, Mark Jay

The inert strength and fatigue performance of a diesel engine exhaust valve made from silicon nitride (Si3N4) ceramic were assessed. The Si3N4 characterized in this study was manufactured by Saint Gobain/Norton Industrial Ceramics and was designated as NT551. The evaluation was made utilizing a probabilistic life prediction algorithm that combined censored test specimen strength data with a Weibull distribution function and the stress field of the ceramic valve obtained from finite element analysis. The major assumptions of the life prediction algorithm are that the bulk ceramic material is isotropic and homogeneous and that the strength-limiting flaws are uniformly distributed. The results from mechanical testing indicated that NT551 was not a homogeneous ceramic and that its strength were functions of temperature, loading rate, and machining orientation. Fractographic analysis identified four different failure modes; 2 were identified as inhomogeneities that were located throughout the bulk of NT551 and were due to processing operations. The fractographic analysis concluded that the strength degradation of NT551 observed from the temperature and loading rate test parameters was due to a change of state that occurred in its secondary phase. Pristine and engine-tested valves made from NT551 were loaded to failure and the inert strengths were obtained. Fractographic analysis of the valves identified the same four failure mechanisms as found with the test specimens. The fatigue performance and the inert strength of the Si3N 4 valves were assessed from censored and uncensored test specimen strength data, respectively. The inert strength failure probability predictions were compared to the inert strength of the Si3N4 valves. The inert strength failure probability predictions were more conservative than the strength of the valves. The lack of correlation between predicted and actual valve strength was due to the nonuniform distribution of inhomogeneities present in NT

The assembly of the silicon tracker for the GLAST beam test engineering model

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Allport, P.; Atwood, E.; Atwood, W.; Beck, G.; Bhatnager, B.; Bloom, E.; Broeder, J.; Chen, V.; Clark, J.; Cotton, N.; Couto e Silva, E. do; Feerick, B.; Giebels, G.; Godfrey, G.; Handa, T.; Hernando, J.A.; Hirayama, M.; Johnson, R.P.; Kamae, T.; Kashiguine, S.; Kroeger, W.; Milbury, C.; Miller, W.; Millican, O.; Nikolaou, M.; Nordby, M.; Ohsugi, T.; Paliaga, G.; Ponslet, E.; Rowe, W.; Sadrozinski, H.F.-W.; Spencer, E.; Stromberg, S.; Swensen, E.; Takayuki, M.; Tournear, D.; Webster, A.; Winkler, G.; Yamamoto, K.; Yamamura, K.; Yoshida, S.

2001-01-01

The silicon tracker for the engineering model of the GLAST Large Area Telescope (LAT) to date represents the largest surface of silicon microstrip detectors assembled in a tracker (2.7 m 2 ). It demonstrates the feasibility of employing this technology for satellite based experiments, in which large effective areas and high reliability are required. This note gives an overview of the assembly of this silicon tracker and discusses in detail studies performed to track quality assurance: leakage current, mechanical alignment and production yields

Illumination-invariant face recognition with a contrast sensitive silicon retina

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Buhmann, J.M. [Rheinische Friedrich-Wilhelms-Univ., Bonn (Germany). Inst. fuer Informatik II; Lades, M. [Bochum Univ. (Germany). Inst. fuer Neuroinformatik; Eeckman, F. [Lawrence Livermore National Lab., CA (United States)

1993-11-29

Changes in lighting conditions strongly effect the performance and reliability of computer vision systems. We report face recognition results under drastically changing lighting conditions for a computer vision system which concurrently uses a contrast sensitive silicon retina and a conventional, gain controlled CCD camera. For both input devices the face recognition system employs an elastic matching algorithm with wavelet based features to classify unknown faces. To assess the effect of analog on-chip preprocessing by the silicon retina the CCD images have been digitally preprocessed with a bandpass filter to adjust the power spectrum. The silicon retina with its ability to adjust sensitivity increases the recognition rate up to 50 percent. These comparative experiments demonstrate that preprocessing with an analog VLSI silicon retina generates image data enriched with object-constant features.

A silicon-nanowire memory driven by optical gradient force induced bistability

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Dong, B. [School of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore 639798 (Singapore); Institute of Microelectronics, A*STAR (Agency for Science, Technology and Research), Singapore 117685 (Singapore); Cai, H., E-mail: caih@ime.a-star.edu.sg; Gu, Y. D.; Kwong, D. L. [Institute of Microelectronics, A*STAR (Agency for Science, Technology and Research), Singapore 117685 (Singapore); Chin, L. K.; Ng, G. I.; Ser, W. [School of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore 639798 (Singapore); Huang, J. G. [School of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore 639798 (Singapore); Institute of Microelectronics, A*STAR (Agency for Science, Technology and Research), Singapore 117685 (Singapore); School of Mechanical Engineering, Xi' an Jiaotong University, Xi' an 710049 (China); Yang, Z. C. [School of Electronics Engineering and Computer Science, Peking University, Beijing 100871 (China); Liu, A. Q., E-mail: eaqliu@ntu.edu.sg [School of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore 639798 (Singapore); School of Electronics Engineering and Computer Science, Peking University, Beijing 100871 (China)

2015-12-28

In this paper, a bistable optical-driven silicon-nanowire memory is demonstrated, which employs ring resonator to generate optical gradient force over a doubly clamped silicon-nanowire. Two stable deformation positions of a doubly clamped silicon-nanowire represent two memory states (“0” and “1”) and can be set/reset by modulating the light intensity (<3 mW) based on the optical force induced bistability. The time response of the optical-driven memory is less than 250 ns. It has applications in the fields of all optical communication, quantum computing, and optomechanical circuits.

A Comparison of Phase-Shift Self- Oscillating and Carrier-based PWM Modulation for Embedded Audio Amplifiers

OpenAIRE

Huffenus , Alexandre; Pillonnet , Gaël; Abouchi , Nacer; Goutti , Frédéric

2010-01-01

International audience; This paper compares two modulation schemes for Class-D amplifiers: Phase-Shift Self-Oscillating (PSSO) and Carrier-Based Pulse Width Modulation (PWM). Theoretical analysis (modulation, frequency of oscillation, bandwidth…), design procedure, and IC silicon evaluation will be shown for mono and stereo operation (on the same silicon die) on both structures. The design of both architectures will use as many identical building blocks as possible, to provide a fair, "all el...

Extreme electronic bandgap modification in laser-crystallized silicon optical fibres

Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

Healy, N.; Mailis, S.; Bulgakova, Nadezhda M.; Sazio, P.J.A.; Day, T.D.; Sparks, J.R.; Cheng, H.Y.; Badding, J.V.; Peacock, A.C.

2014-01-01

Roč. 13, č. 12 (2014), s. 1122-1127 ISSN 1476-1122 Institutional support: RVO:68378271 Keywords : strained silicon * modulation * generation Subject RIV: BH - Optics, Masers, Lasers Impact factor: 36.503, year: 2014

Nonclassical light sources for silicon photonics

Science.gov (United States)

Bajoni, Daniele; Galli, Matteo

2017-09-01

Quantum photonics has recently attracted a lot of attention for its disruptive potential in emerging technologies like quantum cryptography, quantum communication and quantum computing. Driven by the impressive development in nanofabrication technologies and nanoscale engineering, silicon photonics has rapidly become the platform of choice for on-chip integration of high performing photonic devices, now extending their functionalities towards quantum-based applications. Focusing on quantum Information Technology (qIT) as a key application area, we review recent progress in integrated silicon-based sources of nonclassical states of light. We assess the state of the art in this growing field and highlight the challenges that need to be overcome to make quantum photonics a reliable and widespread technology.

Corrugation Architecture Enabled Ultraflexible Wafer-Scale High-Efficiency Monocrystalline Silicon Solar Cell

KAUST Repository

Bahabry, Rabab R.

2018-01-02

Advanced classes of modern application require new generation of versatile solar cells showcasing extreme mechanical resilience, large-scale, low cost, and excellent power conversion efficiency. Conventional crystalline silicon-based solar cells offer one of the most highly efficient power sources, but a key challenge remains to attain mechanical resilience while preserving electrical performance. A complementary metal oxide semiconductor-based integration strategy where corrugation architecture enables ultraflexible and low-cost solar cell modules from bulk monocrystalline large-scale (127 × 127 cm) silicon solar wafers with a 17% power conversion efficiency. This periodic corrugated array benefits from an interchangeable solar cell segmentation scheme which preserves the active silicon thickness of 240 μm and achieves flexibility via interdigitated back contacts. These cells can reversibly withstand high mechanical stress and can be deformed to zigzag and bifacial modules. These corrugation silicon-based solar cells offer ultraflexibility with high stability over 1000 bending cycles including convex and concave bending to broaden the application spectrum. Finally, the smallest bending radius of curvature lower than 140 μm of the back contacts is shown that carries the solar cells segments.

Corrugation Architecture Enabled Ultraflexible Wafer-Scale High-Efficiency Monocrystalline Silicon Solar Cell

KAUST Repository

Bahabry, Rabab R.; Kutbee, Arwa T.; Khan, Sherjeel M.; Sepulveda, Adrian C.; Wicaksono, Irmandy; Nour, Maha A.; Wehbe, Nimer; Almislem, Amani Saleh Saad; Ghoneim, Mohamed T.; Sevilla, Galo T.; Syed, Ahad; Shaikh, Sohail F.; Hussain, Muhammad Mustafa

2018-01-01

Advanced classes of modern application require new generation of versatile solar cells showcasing extreme mechanical resilience, large-scale, low cost, and excellent power conversion efficiency. Conventional crystalline silicon-based solar cells offer one of the most highly efficient power sources, but a key challenge remains to attain mechanical resilience while preserving electrical performance. A complementary metal oxide semiconductor-based integration strategy where corrugation architecture enables ultraflexible and low-cost solar cell modules from bulk monocrystalline large-scale (127 × 127 cm) silicon solar wafers with a 17% power conversion efficiency. This periodic corrugated array benefits from an interchangeable solar cell segmentation scheme which preserves the active silicon thickness of 240 μm and achieves flexibility via interdigitated back contacts. These cells can reversibly withstand high mechanical stress and can be deformed to zigzag and bifacial modules. These corrugation silicon-based solar cells offer ultraflexibility with high stability over 1000 bending cycles including convex and concave bending to broaden the application spectrum. Finally, the smallest bending radius of curvature lower than 140 μm of the back contacts is shown that carries the solar cells segments.

Quality Assurance of the VELO Modules and Analysis of the $B_{d}\\to K^{*}\\mu^{+}\\mu^{-}$ Rare Decay on LHCb.

CERN Document Server

Marinho, Franciole da Cunha

2008-01-01

The LHCb experiment is a high energy physics detector at the Large Hadron Collider. The experiment has been designed and built to search for new physics in the b hadron sector. This thesis discusses a contribution to the detector construction and preparatory studies for a rare decay analysis. Quality assurance of the silicon modules of LHCb vertex detector One of the critical components of the LHCb experiment is the silicon vertex locator (VELO), which is used to measure the decay distance of the b-hadrons and is a principal component of the tracking of the experiment. This thesis describes the quality assurance tests of the VELO silicon modules. A facility was designed to operate the VELO modules in vacuum and thermally stress the modules. To verify the suitability of the modules for the experiment a range of studies were performed including measurements of the silicon leakage current and the identification of bad channels through a noise analysis. A full set of 42 modules (and spares) suitable for use in th...

Construction of the ATLAS SCT Endcap modules

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Snow, Stephen W.

2007-01-01

The ATLAS Semi-Conductor Tracker (SCT) uses silicon strip detectors to measure trajectories of charged particles coming from 14 TeV proton-proton collisions at the Large Hadron Collider at CERN. The SCT provides at least four space points, in the radial range of 27-50 cm from the beam, for tracks within the angular acceptance vertical bar η vertical bar <2.5. The SCT is built up of 4088 modules, each consisting of two or four silicon detectors, a hybrid carrying several readout ASICS, and other components to support, cool and align the detectors. We report on construction of over 2000 end-cap modules of the SCT by a group of 14 institutes from seven countries. A key aspect of the project was to fully standardise the final module tests and to insist that test data from all institutes was stored in a single central database, while leaving institutes flexibility to vary their module assembly methods to suit local circumstances. First the module specifications and tests used for quality control are summarised, then we describe the main test results. Finally, we report our experience in terms of component quality, assembly and testing rates, yield of good modules and causes of lost modules. At the outset we assumed losses during assembly of 15% and procured components accordingly; in fact, losses were around 7%

High-Q photonic resonators and electro-optic coupling using silicon-on-lithium-niobate

Science.gov (United States)

Witmer, Jeremy D.; Valery, Joseph A.; Arrangoiz-Arriola, Patricio; Sarabalis, Christopher J.; Hill, Jeff T.; Safavi-Naeini, Amir H.

2017-04-01

Future quantum networks, in which superconducting quantum processors are connected via optical links, will require microwave-to-optical photon converters that preserve entanglement. A doubly-resonant electro-optic modulator (EOM) is a promising platform to realize this conversion. Here, we present our progress towards building such a modulator by demonstrating the optically-resonant half of the device. We demonstrate high quality (Q) factor ring, disk and photonic crystal resonators using a hybrid silicon-on-lithium-niobate material system. Optical Q factors up to 730,000 are achieved, corresponding to propagation loss of 0.8 dB/cm. We also use the electro-optic effect to modulate the resonance frequency of a photonic crystal cavity, achieving a electro-optic modulation coefficient between 1 and 2 pm/V. In addition to quantum technology, we expect that our results will be useful both in traditional silicon photonics applications and in high-sensitivity acousto-optic devices.

Prototype Strip Barrel Modules for the ATLAS ITk Strip Detector

CERN Document Server

Sawyer, Craig; The ATLAS collaboration

2017-01-01

The module design for the Phase II Upgrade of the new ATLAS Inner Tracker (ITk) detector at the LHC employs integrated low mass assembly using single-sided flexible circuits with readout ASICs and a powering circuit incorporating control and monitoring of HV, LV and temperature on the module. Both readout and powering circuits are glued directly onto the silicon sensor surface resulting in a fully integrated, extremely low radiation length module which simultaneously reduces the material requirements of the local support structure by allowing a reduced width stave structure to be employed. Such a module concept has now been fully demonstrated using so-called ABC130 and HCC130 ASICs fabricated in 130nm CMOS technology to readout ATLAS12 n+-in-p silicon strip sensors. Low voltage powering for these demonstrator modules has been realised by utilising a DCDC powerboard based around the CERN FEAST ASIC. This powerboard incorporates an HV multiplexing switch based on a Panasonic GaN transistor. Control and monitori...

The silicon microstrip sensors of the ATLAS semiconductor tracker

Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

Ahmad, A.; Albrechtskirchinger, Z.; Allport, P.; Böhm, Jan; Mikeštíková, Marcela; Šťastný, Jan

2007-01-01

Roč. 578, - (2007), s. 98-118 ISSN 0168-9002 Institutional research plan: CEZ:AV0Z10100502 Keywords : ATLAS * SCT * silicon * microstrip * module * LHC Subject RIV: BF - Elementary Particles and High Energy Physics Impact factor: 1.114, year: 2007

Light management in large area thin-film silicon solar modules

Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

Losio, P.A.; Caglar, O.; Cashmore, J.S.; Hötzel, J.E.; Ristau, S.; Holovský, Jakub; Remeš, Zdeněk; Sinicco, I.

2015-01-01

Roč. 143, Dec (2015), s. 375-385 ISSN 0927-0248 R&D Projects: GA ČR(CZ) GA14-05053S Institutional support: RVO:68378271 Keywords : micromorph * thin-film silicon solar cells * light management * ZnO Subject RIV: BM - Solid Matter Physics ; Magnetism Impact factor: 4.732, year: 2015

Silicon pore optics for future x-ray telescopes

Science.gov (United States)

Wille, Eric; Bavdaz, Marcos; Wallace, Kotska; Shortt, Brian; Collon, Maximilien; Ackermann, Marcelo; Günther, Ramses; Olde Riekerink, Mark; Koelewijn, Arenda; Haneveld, Jeroen; van Baren, Coen; Erhard, Markus; Kampf, Dirk; Christensen, Finn; Krumrey, Michael; Freyberg, Michael; Burwitz, Vadim

2017-11-01

Lightweight X-ray Wolter optics with a high angular resolution will enable the next generation of X-ray telescopes in space. The candidate mission ATHENA (Advanced Telescope for High Energy Astrophysics) required a mirror assembly of 1 m2 effective area (at 1 keV) and an angular resolution of 10 arcsec or better. These specifications can only be achieved with a novel technology like Silicon Pore Optics, which is being developed by ESA together with a consortium of European industry. Silicon Pore Optics are made of commercial Si wafers using process technology adapted from the semiconductor industry. We present the recent upgrades made to the manufacturing processes and equipment, ranging from the manufacture of single mirror plates towards complete focusing mirror modules mounted in flight configuration, and results from first vibration tests. The performance of the mirror modules is tested at X-ray facilities that were recently extended to measure optics at a focal distance up to 20 m.

Etched ion tracks in silicon oxide and silicon oxynitride as charge injection or extraction channels for novel electronic structures

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Fink, D.; Petrov, A.V.; Hoppe, K.; Fahrner, W.R.; Papaleo, R.M.; Berdinsky, A.S.; Chandra, A.; Chemseddine, A.; Zrineh, A.; Biswas, A.; Faupel, F.; Chadderton, L.T.

2004-01-01

The impact of swift heavy ions onto silicon oxide and silicon oxynitride on silicon creates etchable tracks in these insulators. After their etching and filling-up with highly resistive matter, these nanometric pores can be used as charge extraction or injection paths towards the conducting channel in the underlying silicon. In this way, a novel family of electronic structures has been realized. The basic characteristics of these 'TEMPOS' (=tunable electronic material with pores in oxide on silicon) structures are summarized. Their functionality is determined by the type of insulator, the etch track diameters and lengths, their areal densities, the type of conducting matter embedded therein, and of course by the underlying semiconductor and the contact geometry. Depending on the TEMPOS preparation recipe and working point, the structures may resemble gatable resistors, condensors, diodes, transistors, photocells, or sensors, and they are therefore rather universally applicable in electronics. TEMPOS structures are often sensitive to temperature, light, humidity and organic gases. Also light-emitting TEMPOS structures have been produced. About 37 TEMPOS-based circuits such as thermosensors, photosensors, humidity and alcohol sensors, amplifiers, frequency multipliers, amplitude modulators, oscillators, flip-flops and many others have already been designed and successfully tested. Sometimes TEMPOS-based circuits are more compact than conventional electronics

Silicon analog components device design, process integration, characterization, and reliability

CERN Document Server

El-Kareh, Badih

2015-01-01

This book covers modern analog components, their characteristics, and interactions with process parameters. It serves as a comprehensive guide, addressing both the theoretical and practical aspects of modern silicon devices and the relationship between their electrical properties and processing conditions. Based on the authors’ extensive experience in the development of analog devices, this book is intended for engineers and scientists in semiconductor research, development and manufacturing. The problems at the end of each chapter and the numerous charts, figures and tables also make it appropriate for use as a text in graduate and advanced undergraduate courses in electrical engineering and materials science.

Optically Modulated Multiband Terahertz Perfect Absorber

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Seren, Huseyin R.; Keiser, George R.; Cao, Lingyue

2014-01-01

response of resonant metamaterials continues to be a challengingendeavor. Resonant perfect absorbers have flourished as one of the mostpromising metamaterial devices with applications ranging from power har-vesting to terahertz imaging. Here, an optically modulated resonant perfectabsorber is presented....... Utilizing photo-excited free carriers in silicon padsplaced in the capacitive gaps of split ring resonators, a dynamically modu-lated perfect absorber is designed and fabricated to operate in reflection.Large modulation depth (38% and 91%) in two absorption bands (with 97%and 92% peak absorption...

Self-phase-modulation induced spectral broadening in silicon waveguides

Science.gov (United States)

Boyraz, Ozdal; Indukuri, Tejaswi; Jalali, Bahram

2004-03-01

The prospect for generating supercontinuum pulses on a silicon chip is studied. Using ~4ps optical pulses with 2.2GW/cm2 peak power, a 2 fold spectral broadening is obtained. Theoretical calculations, that include the effect of two-photon-absorption, indicate up to 5 times spectral broadening is achievable at 10x higher peak powers. Representing a nonlinear loss mechanism at high intensities, TPA limits the maximum optical bandwidth that can be generated.

Silicon carbide: A unique platform for metal-oxide-semiconductor physics

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Liu, Gang [Institute for Advanced Materials, Devices and Nanotechnology, Rutgers University, Piscataway, New Jersey 08854 (United States); Tuttle, Blair R. [Department of Physics and Astronomy, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, Tennessee 37235 (United States); Dhar, Sarit [Department of Physics, Auburn University, Auburn, Alabama 36849 (United States)

2015-06-15

A sustainable energy future requires power electronics that can enable significantly higher efficiencies in the generation, distribution, and usage of electrical energy. Silicon carbide (4H-SiC) is one of the most technologically advanced wide bandgap semiconductor that can outperform conventional silicon in terms of power handling, maximum operating temperature, and power conversion efficiency in power modules. While SiC Schottky diode is a mature technology, SiC power Metal Oxide Semiconductor Field Effect Transistors are relatively novel and there is large room for performance improvement. Specifically, major initiatives are under way to improve the inversion channel mobility and gate oxide stability in order to further reduce the on-resistance and enhance the gate reliability. Both problems relate to the defects near the SiO{sub 2}/SiC interface, which have been the focus of intensive studies for more than a decade. Here we review research on the SiC MOS physics and technology, including its brief history, the state-of-art, and the latest progress in this field. We focus on the two main scientific problems, namely, low channel mobility and bias temperature instability. The possible mechanisms behind these issues are discussed at the device physics level as well as the atomic scale, with the support of published physical analysis and theoretical studies results. Some of the most exciting recent progress in interface engineering for improving the channel mobility and fundamental understanding of channel transport is reviewed.

Silicon photonics: some remaining challenges

Science.gov (United States)

Reed, G. T.; Topley, R.; Khokhar, A. Z.; Thompson, D. J.; Stanković, S.; Reynolds, S.; Chen, X.; Soper, N.; Mitchell, C. J.; Hu, Y.; Shen, L.; Martinez-Jimenez, G.; Healy, N.; Mailis, S.; Peacock, A. C.; Nedeljkovic, M.; Gardes, F. Y.; Soler Penades, J.; Alonso-Ramos, C.; Ortega-Monux, A.; Wanguemert-Perez, G.; Molina-Fernandez, I.; Cheben, P.; Mashanovich, G. Z.

2016-03-01

This paper discusses some of the remaining challenges for silicon photonics, and how we at Southampton University have approached some of them. Despite phenomenal advances in the field of Silicon Photonics, there are a number of areas that still require development. For short to medium reach applications, there is a need to improve the power consumption of photonic circuits such that inter-chip, and perhaps intra-chip applications are viable. This means that yet smaller devices are required as well as thermally stable devices, and multiple wavelength channels. In turn this demands smaller, more efficient modulators, athermal circuits, and improved wavelength division multiplexers. The debate continues as to whether on-chip lasers are necessary for all applications, but an efficient low cost laser would benefit many applications. Multi-layer photonics offers the possibility of increasing the complexity and effectiveness of a given area of chip real estate, but it is a demanding challenge. Low cost packaging (in particular, passive alignment of fibre to waveguide), and effective wafer scale testing strategies, are also essential for mass market applications. Whilst solutions to these challenges would enhance most applications, a derivative technology is emerging, that of Mid Infra-Red (MIR) silicon photonics. This field will build on existing developments, but will require key enhancements to facilitate functionality at longer wavelengths. In common with mainstream silicon photonics, significant developments have been made, but there is still much left to do. Here we summarise some of our recent work towards wafer scale testing, passive alignment, multiplexing, and MIR silicon photonics technology.

Development and optimization of processes for producing highly efficient large-area PV modules based on amorphous silicon. Final report; Entwicklung und Optimierung von Prozessen zur Fertigung hocheffizienter grossflaechiger a-Si-PV-Module. Abschlussbericht

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Maurus, H.; Ruebel, H.; Frammelsberger, W.; Geyer, R.; Lechner, P.; Psyk, W.; Schade, H.

2001-07-31

This report contains fundamental topics on further developing the PV technology based on amorphous silicon (a-Si), namely upscaling of laboratory processes to production size areas, improvement of patterning processes to minimize area losses due to monolithic series connection of cells, speeding up individual process steps while maintaining their reproducibility, long-term stability of encapsulated modules. Among the superstrate technologies of the competitors, the module efficiency has reached an international standard. The throughput of the pilot production line has been substantially increased by improving the process cycle times and the equipment uptime. (orig.) [German] Der vorliegende Bericht beinhaltet grundlegende Arbeiten zur Weiterentwicklung der a-Si PV-Technologie. Er behandelt die Themen: Aufskalierung von kleinflaechiger Laborabscheidetechnologie auf groessere industrierelevante Flaechen, Verbesserung und Optimierung von Strukturierungsverfahren fuer hohe Flaechenausnutzung, Beschleunigung und Reproduzierbarkeit der Einzelprozesse sowie Langzeitstabilitaet von verkapselten Modulen. Der Modulwirkungsgrad hat - verglichen mit gleichartiger Technologie von Wettbewerbern - internationalen Standard erreicht. Der Durchsatz der Pilotfertigungsanlage konnte aufgrund der Verbesserung der wirtschaftlichen Kenngroessen Anlagenverfuegbarkeit und Taktzeit wesentlich erhoeht werden. (orig.)

Laminated photovoltaic modules using back-contact solar cells

Science.gov (United States)

Gee, James M.; Garrett, Stephen E.; Morgan, William P.; Worobey, Walter

1999-09-14

Photovoltaic modules which comprise back-contact solar cells, such as back-contact crystalline silicon solar cells, positioned atop electrically conductive circuit elements affixed to a planar support so that a circuit capable of generating electric power is created. The modules are encapsulated using encapsulant materials such as EVA which are commonly used in photovoltaic module manufacture. The module designs allow multiple cells to be electrically connected in a single encapsulation step rather than by sequential soldering which characterizes the currently used commercial practices.

Photovoltaics: sunshine and silicon

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Stirzaker, Mike

2006-05-15

Spain's photovoltaic sector grew rapidly in 2004 only to slow down in 2005. While a State-guaranteed feed-in tariff is in place to drive a take-off, some of the smaller administrative cogs are buckling under the pressure. Projects are being further slowed by soaring world silicon prices and module shortages. Nevertheless, market volume is higher than ever before, and bio capital from both home and abroad is betting that the Spanish take-off is around the corner. (Author)

Photovoltaic cell module and method of forming

Science.gov (United States)

Howell, Malinda; Juen, Donnie; Ketola, Barry; Tomalia, Mary Kay

2017-12-12

A photovoltaic cell module, a photovoltaic array including at least two modules, and a method of forming the module are provided. The module includes a first outermost layer and a photovoltaic cell disposed on the first outermost layer. The module also includes a second outermost layer disposed on the photovoltaic cell and sandwiching the photovoltaic cell between the second outermost layer and the first outermost layer. The method of forming the module includes the steps of disposing the photovoltaic cell on the first outermost layer, disposing a silicone composition on the photovoltaic cell, and compressing the first outermost layer, the photovoltaic cell, and the second layer to form the photovoltaic cell module.

16th Workshop on Crystalline Silicon Solar Cells and Modules: Materials and Processes; Program, Extended Abstracts, and Papers

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Sopori, B. L.

2006-08-01

The National Center for Photovoltaics sponsored the 16th Workshop on Crystalline Silicon Solar Cells and Modules: Materials and Processes held August 6-9, 2006 in Denver, Colorado. The workshop addressed the fundamental properties of PV-Si, new solar cell designs, and advanced solar cell processing techniques. It provided a forum for an informal exchange of technical and scientific information between international researchers in the photovoltaic and relevant non-photovoltaic fields. The Workshop Theme was: "Getting more (Watts) for Less ($i)". A combination of oral presentations by invited speakers, poster sessions, and discussion sessions reviewed recent advances in crystal growth, new cell structures, new processes and process characterization techniques, and cell fabrication approaches suitable for future manufacturing demands. The special sessions included: Feedstock Issues: Si Refining and Purification; Metal-impurity Engineering; Thin Film Si; and Diagnostic Techniques.

Calibration, alignment and long-term performance of the CMS silicon tracking detector

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Butz, E.

2009-03-01

With an active area of more than 200 m 2 , the CMS silicon strip detector is the largest silicon tracker ever built. It consists of more than 15,000 individual silicon modules which have to meet very high standards in terms of noise behavior and electronic crosstalk, as well as their exact positioning within the tracker. Furthermore, the modules will be exposed to a harsh radiation environment over the lifetime of the tracker. This thesis deals with several of the above-mentioned aspects. In the first part, individual modules are investigated using a testbeam. Some of the modules were irradiated up to an integrated dose which corresponds to the expected one over the life time of the tracker. These modules are investigated with respect to their signal-to-noise behavior, and their cross-talk. Several operational parameters are varied, such as the temperature and the bias voltage. It is shown that the modules behave as expected. The signal-to-noise ratio is well above the specifications and the cross-talk increases only very moderately with irradiation. Furthermore, the spatial resolution of the modules is investigated. Different cluster algorithms are utilized and compared. It is shown that the spatial resolution is not much affected by irradiation and that the spatial resolution can be improved with respect to the current standard reconstruction. In the second part, larger structures of the silicon tracker are studied during the socalled ''tracker slice-test''. Two sectors from one of the tracker end caps are investigated. Special emphasis is given to the commissioning of the system and the monitoring of the various commissioning parameters. Furthermore, the noise of the system is investigated as a function of the ambient temperature and different powering schemes. It is shown that the noise of the system behaves as expected. The noise is stable within 2% for different powering schemes. Also possible failures of components are investigated and persistent defects are

Calibration, alignment and long-term performance of the CMS silicon tracking detector

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Butz, E.

2009-03-15

With an active area of more than 200 m{sup 2}, the CMS silicon strip detector is the largest silicon tracker ever built. It consists of more than 15,000 individual silicon modules which have to meet very high standards in terms of noise behavior and electronic crosstalk, as well as their exact positioning within the tracker. Furthermore, the modules will be exposed to a harsh radiation environment over the lifetime of the tracker. This thesis deals with several of the above-mentioned aspects. In the first part, individual modules are investigated using a testbeam. Some of the modules were irradiated up to an integrated dose which corresponds to the expected one over the life time of the tracker. These modules are investigated with respect to their signal-to-noise behavior, and their cross-talk. Several operational parameters are varied, such as the temperature and the bias voltage. It is shown that the modules behave as expected. The signal-to-noise ratio is well above the specifications and the cross-talk increases only very moderately with irradiation. Furthermore, the spatial resolution of the modules is investigated. Different cluster algorithms are utilized and compared. It is shown that the spatial resolution is not much affected by irradiation and that the spatial resolution can be improved with respect to the current standard reconstruction. In the second part, larger structures of the silicon tracker are studied during the socalled 'tracker slice-test'. Two sectors from one of the tracker end caps are investigated. Special emphasis is given to the commissioning of the system and the monitoring of the various commissioning parameters. Furthermore, the noise of the system is investigated as a function of the ambient temperature and different powering schemes. It is shown that the noise of the system behaves as expected. The noise is stable within 2% for different powering schemes. Also possible failures of components are investigated and persistent

THz-induced ultrafast modulation of NIR refractive index of silicon

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Tarekegne, Abebe Tilahun; Hirori, Hideki; Iwaszczuk, Krzysztof

2016-01-01

We measure THz-induced change in refractive index of ∼5×10−3 in high resistivity silicon at 800 nm which indicates generation of high density of free carriers. The change in refractive index increases by more than 30 times with high initial carrier density set by optical excitation compared to op...

Gamma Large Area Silicon Telescope (GLAST): Applying silicon strip detector technology to the detection of gamma rays in space

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Atwood, W.B.

1993-06-01

The recent discoveries and excitement generated by space satellite experiment EGRET (presently operating on Compton Gamma Ray Observatory -- CGRO) have prompted an investigation into modern detector technologies for the next generation space based gamma ray telescopes. The GLAST proposal is based on silicon strip detectors as the open-quotes technology of choiceclose quotes for space application: no consumables, no gas volume, robust (versus fragile), long lived, and self triggerable. The GLAST detector basically has two components: a tracking module preceding a calorimeter. The tracking module has planes of crossed strip (x,y) 300 μm pitch silicon detectors coupled to a thin radiator to measure the coordinates of converted electron-positron pairs. The gap between the layers (∼5 cm) provides a lever arm for track fitting resulting in an angular resolution of <0.1 degree at high energy. The status of this R ampersand D effort is discussed including details on triggering the instrument, the organization of the detector electronics and readout, and work on computer simulations to model this instrument

The Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer Silicon Tracker

CERN Document Server

Burger, W J

1999-01-01

The Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer (AMS) is designed as a independent module for installation on the International Space Station Alpha (ISSA) in the year 2002 for an operational period of three years. The principal scientific objectives are the searches for antimatter and dark matter in cosmic rays. The AMS uses 5.5 m sup 2 of silicon microstrip sensors to reconstruct charged particle trajectories in the field of a permanent magnet. The detector design and construction covered a 3 yr period which terminated with a test flight on the NASA space shuttle Discovery during June 2-12, 1988. In this contribution, we describe the shuttle version of the AMS silicon tracker, including preliminary results of the tracker performance during the flight. (author)

Coaxial-structured ZnO/silicon nanowires extended-gate field-effect transistor as pH sensor

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Li, Hung-Hsien; Yang, Chi-En; Kei, Chi-Chung; Su, Chung-Yi; Dai, Wei-Syuan; Tseng, Jung-Kuei; Yang, Po-Yu; Chou, Jung-Chuan; Cheng, Huang-Chung

2013-01-01

An extended-gate field-effect transistor (EGFET) of coaxial-structured ZnO/silicon nanowires as pH sensor was demonstrated in this paper. The oriented 1-μm-long silicon nanowires with the diameter of about 50 nm were vertically synthesized by the electroless metal deposition method at room temperature and were sequentially capped with the ZnO films using atomic layer deposition at 50 °C. The transfer characteristics (I DS –V REF ) of such ZnO/silicon nanowire EGFET sensor exhibited the sensitivity and linearity of 46.25 mV/pH and 0.9902, respectively for the different pH solutions (pH 1–pH 13). In contrast to the ZnO thin-film ones, the ZnO/silicon nanowire EGFET sensor achieved much better sensitivity and superior linearity. It was attributed to a high surface-to-volume ratio of the nanowire structures, reflecting a larger effective sensing area. The output voltage and time characteristics were also measured to indicate good reliability and durability for the ZnO/silicon nanowires sensor. Furthermore, the hysteresis was 9.74 mV after the solution was changed as pH 7 → pH 3 → pH 7 → pH 11 → pH 7. - Highlights: ► Coaxial-structured ZnO/silicon nanowire EGFET was demonstrated as pH sensor. ► EMD and ALD methods were proposed to fabricate ZnO/silicon nanowires. ► ZnO/silicon nanowire EGFET sensor achieved better sensitivity and linearity. ► ZnO/silicon nanowire EGFET sensor had good reliability and durability

Photovoltaic solar panels of crystalline silicon: Characterization and separation.

Science.gov (United States)

Dias, Pablo Ribeiro; Benevit, Mariana Gonçalves; Veit, Hugo Marcelo

2016-03-01

Photovoltaic panels have a limited lifespan and estimates show large amounts of solar modules will be discarded as electronic waste in a near future. In order to retrieve important raw materials, reduce production costs and environmental impacts, recycling such devices is important. Initially, this article investigates which silicon photovoltaic module's components are recyclable through their characterization using X-ray fluorescence, X-ray diffraction, energy dispersion spectroscopy and atomic absorption spectroscopy. Next, different separation methods are tested to favour further recycling processes. The glass was identified as soda-lime glass, the metallic filaments were identified as tin-lead coated copper, the panel cells were made of silicon and had silver filaments attached to it and the modules' frames were identified as aluminium, all of which are recyclable. Moreover, three different components segregation methods have been studied. Mechanical milling followed by sieving was able to separate silver from copper while chemical separation using sulphuric acid was able to detach the semiconductor material. A thermo gravimetric analysis was performed to evaluate the use of a pyrolysis step prior to the component's removal. The analysis showed all polymeric fractions present degrade at 500 °C. © The Author(s) 2016.

Optimization of deformations and hoop stresses in TSV liners to boost interconnect reliability in electronic appliances

Science.gov (United States)

Juma, Mary Atieno; Zhang, Xuliang; He, Song Bai; Abusabah, Ahmed I. A.

2015-12-01

Recently, there has been a lot of research with electronic products because more and different functions are integrated into devices and the final product sizes have to be small to meet the market demand. A lot of research has been done on the (TSVs) Through Silicon Vias. In this paper, through silicon via liners are investigated. The liners: silicon dioxide, polystyrene and polypropylene carbonate are exposed to pressure on their inner surfaces and this yielded hoop stresses within their thickness. Deflections too occurred and this is a proof that deformation really took place. In one of our papers, hoop stresses for the same materials were investigated. The values were a little higher but different for each material used. In this paper, we use global cylindrical, partial cylinder model with different theta in Analysis system 14 to model the through silicon via liners. The values are lower meaning the reliability of the liners have been optimized and boosted. However, silicon dioxide liner had the lowest hoop stress around its circumference and lowest deflection value meaning that it's still one of the most reliable materials in the manufacture of through silicon via liners in the industry; but overdependence can be avoided if the other liners are used too.

Hybrid integration of carbon nanotubes in silicon photonic structures

Science.gov (United States)

Durán-Valdeiglesias, E.; Zhang, W.; Alonso-Ramos, C.; Le Roux, X.; Serna, S.; Hoang, H. C.; Marris-Morini, D.; Cassan, E.; Intonti, F.; Sarti, F.; Caselli, N.; La China, F.; Gurioli, M.; Balestrieri, M.; Vivien, L.; Filoramo, A.

2017-02-01

Silicon photonics, due to its compatibility with the CMOS platform and unprecedented integration capability, has become the preferred solution for the implementation of next generation optical interconnects to accomplish high efficiency, low energy consumption, low cost and device miniaturization in one single chip. However, it is restricted by silicon itself. Silicon does not have efficient light emission or detection in the telecommunication wavelength range (1.3 μm-1.5 μm) or any electro-optic effect (i.e. Pockels effect). Hence, silicon photonic needs to be complemented with other materials for the realization of optically-active devices, including III-V for lasing and Ge for detection. The very different requirement of these materials results in complex fabrication processes that offset the cost-effectiveness of the Si photonics approach. For this purpose, carbon nanotubes (CNTs) have recently been proposed as an attractive one-dimensional light emitting material. Interestingly, semiconducting single walled CNTs (SWNTs) exhibit room-temperature photo- and electro-luminescence in the near-IR that could be exploited for the implementation of integrated nano-sources. They can also be considered for the realization of photo-detectors and optical modulators, since they rely on intrinsically fast non-linear effects, such as Stark and Kerr effect. All these properties make SWNTs ideal candidates in order to fabricate a large variety of optoelectronic devices, including near-IR sources, modulators and photodetectors on Si photonic platforms. In addition, solution processed SWNTs can be integrated on Si using spin-coating or drop-casting techniques, obviating the need of complex epitaxial growth or chip bonding approaches. Here, we report on our recent progress in the coupling of SWNTs light emission into optical resonators implemented on the silicon-on-insulator (SOI) platform. .

Optothermal response of a single silicon nanotip

Science.gov (United States)

Vella, A.; Shinde, D.; Houard, J.; Silaeva, E.; Arnoldi, L.; Blum, I.; Rigutti, L.; Pertreux, E.; Maioli, P.; Crut, A.; Del Fatti, N.

2018-02-01

The optical properties and thermal dynamics of conical single silicon nanotips are experimentally and theoretically investigated. The spectral and spatial dependencies of their optical extinction are quantitatively measured by spatial modulation spectroscopy (SMS). A nonuniform optical extinction along the tip axis and an enhanced near-infrared absorption, as compared to bulk crystalline silicon, are evidenced. This information is a key input for computing the thermal response of single silicon nanotips under ultrafast laser illumination, which is investigated by laser assisted atom probe tomography (La-APT) used as a highly sensitive temperature probe. A combination of these two experimental techniques and comparison with modeling also permits us to elucidate the impact of thermal effects on the laser assisted field evaporation process. Extension of this coupled approach opens up future perspectives for the quantitative study of the optical and thermal properties of a wide class of individual nano-objects, in particular elongated ones such as nanotubes, nanowires, and nanocones, which constitute promising nanosources for electron and/or ion emission.

Automation of testing the metrological reliability of nondestructive control systems

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zhukov, Yu.A.; Isakov, V.B.; Karlov, Yu.K.; Kovalevskij, Yu.A.

1987-01-01

Opportunities of microcomputers are used to solve the problem of testing control-measuring systems. Besides the main program the program of data processing when characterizing the nondestructive control systems is written in the microcomputer. The program includes two modules. The first module contains tests-programs, by which accuracy of functional elements of the microcomputer and interface elements with issuing a message to the operator on readiness of the elements for operation and failure of a certain element are determined. The second module includes: calculational programs when determining metrological reliability of measuring channel reliability, a calculational subprogram for random statistical measuring error, time instability and ''dead time''. Automation of testing metrological reliability of the nondestructive control systems increases reliability of determining metrological parameters and reduces time of system testing

Back-contacted back-junction silicon solar cells

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Mangersnes, Krister

2010-10-15

Conventional silicon solar cells have a front-side contacted emitter. Back-contacted back-junction (BC-BJ) silicon solar cells, on the other hand, have both the complete metallization and the active diffused regions of both polarities on the backside. World-record efficiencies have already been demonstrated for this type of cell design in production, both on cell and module level. However, the production of these cells is both complex and costly, and a further cost reduction in fabrication is needed to make electricity from BC-BJ silicon solar cells cost-competitive with electricity on the grid ('grid-parity'). During the work with this thesis, we have investigated several important issues regarding BC-BJ silicon solar cells. The aim has been to reduce production cost and complexity while at the same time maintaining, or increasing, the already high conversion efficiencies demonstrated elsewhere. This has been pursued through experimental work as well as through numerical simulations and modeling. Six papers are appended to this thesis, two of which are still under review in scientific journals. In addition, two patents have been filed based on the work presented herein. Experimentally, we have focused on investigating and optimizing single, central processing steps. A laser has been the key processing tool during most of the work. We have used the same laser both to structure the backside of the cell and to make holes in a double-layer of passivating amorphous silicon and silicon oxide, where the holes were opened with the aim of making local contact to the underlying silicon. The processes developed have the possibility of using a relatively cheap and industrially proven laser and obtain results better than most state-of-the-art laser technologies. During the work with the laser, we also developed a thermodynamic model that was able to predict the outcome from laser interaction with amorphous and crystalline silicon. Alongside the experimental work, we

Experience on 3D silicon sensors for ATLAS IBL

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Darbo, G.

2015-01-01

3D silicon sensors, where plasma micro-machining is used to etch deep narrow apertures in the silicon substrate to form electrodes of PIN junctions, represent possible solutions for inner pixel layers of the tracking detectors in high energy physics experiments. This type of sensors has been developed for the Insertable B-Layer (IBL), an additional pixel layer that has been installed in ATLAS during the present shutdown of the LHC collider at CERN. It is presented here the experience in designing, testing and qualifying sensors and detector modules that have been used to equip part of the IBL. Based on the gained experience with 3D silicon sensors for the ATLAS IBL, we discuss possible new developments for the upgrade of ATLAS and CMS at the high-luminosity LHC (HL-LHC)

Spatial Resolution of a Wedge Shaped MSGC Module

CERN Document Server

Bachmann, Sebastian

1997-01-01

A banana shaped closed design MSGC detector module was tested together with silicon detectors and other MSGCs in a 100 GeV muon beam. Despite of an undesirable geometry of the test setup, a spatial resolution below 40 micron m was reached. The efficiency of the module, defined by track reconstruction, shows to be 95,6 percent

Flexural strength of proof-tested and neutron-irradiated silicon carbide

Science.gov (United States)

Price, R. J.; Hopkins, G. R.

1982-08-01

Proof testing before service is a valuable method for ensuring the reliability of ceramic structures. Silicon carbide has been proposed as a very low activation first-wall and blanket structural material for fusion devices, where it would experience a high flux of fast neutrons. Strips of three types of silicon carbide were loaded in four-point bending to a stress sufficient to break about a third of the specimens. Groups of 16 survivors were irradiated to 2 × 10 26n/ m2 ( E>0.05 MeV) at 740°C and bend tested to failure. The strength distribution of chemically vapor-deposited silicon carbide (Texas Instruments) was virtually unchanged by irradiation. The mean strength of sintered silicon carbide (Carborundum Alpha) was reduced 34% by irradiation, while the Weibull modulus and the truncated strength distribution characteristic of proof-tested material were retained. Irradiation reduced the mean strength of reaction-bonded silicon carbide (Norton NC-430) by 58%, and the spread in strength values was increased. We conclude that for the chemically vapor-deposited and the sintered silicon carbide the benefits of proof testing to eliminate low strength material are retained after high neutron exposures.

Isotopically varying spectral features of silicon-vacancy in diamond

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Dietrich, Andreas; Jahnke, Kay D; Binder, Jan M; Rogers, Lachlan J; Jelezko, Fedor; Teraji, Tokuyuki; Isoya, Junichi

2014-01-01

The silicon-vacancy centre (SiV − ) in diamond has exceptional spectral properties for single-emitter quantum information applications. Most of the fluorescence is concentrated in a strong zero phonon line (ZPL), with a weak phonon sideband extending for 100 nm that contains several clear features. We demonstrate that the ZPL position can be used to reliably identify the silicon isotope present in a single SiV − centre. This is of interest for quantum information applications since only the 29 Si isotope has nuclear spin. In addition, we show that the sharp 64 meV phonon peak is due to a local vibrational mode of the silicon atom. The presence of a local mode suggests a plausible origin of the measured isotopic shift of the ZPL. (paper)

Proton irradiation effects of amorphous silicon solar cell for solar power satellite

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Morita, Yousuke; Oshima, Takeshi [Japan Atomic Energy Research Inst., Takasaki, Gunma (Japan). Takasaki Radiation Chemistry Research Establishment; Sasaki, Susumu; Kuroda, Hideo; Ushirokawa, Akio

1997-03-01

Flexible amorphous silicon(fa-Si) solar cell module, a thin film type, is regarded as a realistic power generator for solar power satellite. The radiation resistance of fa-Si cells was investigated by the irradiations of 3,4 and 10 MeV protons. The hydrogen gas treatment of the irradiated fa-Si cells was also studied. The fa-Si cell shows high radiation resistance for proton irradiations, compared with a crystalline silicon solar cell. (author)

Development of a Test System for the Quality Assurance of Silicon Microstrip Detectors for the Inner Tracking System of the CMS Experiment

CERN Document Server

Axer, Markus

2003-01-01

The inner tracking system of the Compact Muon Solenoid (CMS) experiment at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) which is being built at the European Laboratory for Particle Physics CERN (Geneva, Switzerland) will be equipped with two different technologies of silicon detectors. While the innermost tracker will be composed of silicon pixel detectors, silicon microstrip detectors are envisaged for the outer tracker architecture. The silicon microstrip tracker will house about 15,000 single detector modules each composed of a set of silicon sensors, the readout electronics (front end hybrid), and a support frame. It will provide a total active area of 198 m2 and ten million analogue channels read out at the collider frequency of 40 MHz. This large number of modules to be produced and integrated into the tracking system is an unprecedented challenge involving industrial companies and various research institutes from many different countries. This thesis deals with the physics of silicon sensors and the preparation of ...

3D silicon strip detectors

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Parzefall, Ulrich; Bates, Richard; Boscardin, Maurizio; Dalla Betta, Gian-Franco; Eckert, Simon; Eklund, Lars; Fleta, Celeste; Jakobs, Karl; Kuehn, Susanne; Lozano, Manuel; Pahn, Gregor; Parkes, Chris; Pellegrini, Giulio; Pennicard, David; Piemonte, Claudio; Ronchin, Sabina; Szumlak, Tomasz; Zoboli, Andrea; Zorzi, Nicola

2009-01-01

While the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) at CERN has started operation in autumn 2008, plans for a luminosity upgrade to the Super-LHC (sLHC) have already been developed for several years. This projected luminosity increase by an order of magnitude gives rise to a challenging radiation environment for tracking detectors at the LHC experiments. Significant improvements in radiation hardness are required with respect to the LHC. Using a strawman layout for the new tracker of the ATLAS experiment as an example, silicon strip detectors (SSDs) with short strips of 2-3 cm length are foreseen to cover the region from 28 to 60 cm distance to the beam. These SSD will be exposed to radiation levels up to 10 15 N eq /cm 2 , which makes radiation resistance a major concern for the upgraded ATLAS tracker. Several approaches to increasing the radiation hardness of silicon detectors exist. In this article, it is proposed to combine the radiation hard 3D-design originally conceived for pixel-style applications with the benefits of the established planar technology for strip detectors by using SSDs that have regularly spaced doped columns extending into the silicon bulk under the detector strips. The first 3D SSDs to become available for testing were made in the Single Type Column (STC) design, a technological simplification of the original 3D design. With such 3D SSDs, a small number of prototype sLHC detector modules with LHC-speed front-end electronics as used in the semiconductor tracking systems of present LHC experiments were built. Modules were tested before and after irradiation to fluences of 10 15 N eq /cm 2 . The tests were performed with three systems: a highly focused IR-laser with 5μm spot size to make position-resolved scans of the charge collection efficiency, an Sr 90 β-source set-up to measure the signal levels for a minimum ionizing particle (MIP), and a beam test with 180 GeV pions at CERN. This article gives a brief overview of the results obtained with 3D-STC-modules.

3D silicon strip detectors

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Parzefall, Ulrich [Physikalisches Institut, Universitaet Freiburg, Hermann-Herder-Str. 3, D-79104 Freiburg (Germany)], E-mail: ulrich.parzefall@physik.uni-freiburg.de; Bates, Richard [University of Glasgow, Department of Physics and Astronomy, Glasgow G12 8QQ (United Kingdom); Boscardin, Maurizio [FBK-irst, Center for Materials and Microsystems, via Sommarive 18, 38050 Povo di Trento (Italy); Dalla Betta, Gian-Franco [INFN and Universita' di Trento, via Sommarive 14, 38050 Povo di Trento (Italy); Eckert, Simon [Physikalisches Institut, Universitaet Freiburg, Hermann-Herder-Str. 3, D-79104 Freiburg (Germany); Eklund, Lars; Fleta, Celeste [University of Glasgow, Department of Physics and Astronomy, Glasgow G12 8QQ (United Kingdom); Jakobs, Karl; Kuehn, Susanne [Physikalisches Institut, Universitaet Freiburg, Hermann-Herder-Str. 3, D-79104 Freiburg (Germany); Lozano, Manuel [Instituto de Microelectronica de Barcelona, IMB-CNM, CSIC, Barcelona (Spain); Pahn, Gregor [Physikalisches Institut, Universitaet Freiburg, Hermann-Herder-Str. 3, D-79104 Freiburg (Germany); Parkes, Chris [University of Glasgow, Department of Physics and Astronomy, Glasgow G12 8QQ (United Kingdom); Pellegrini, Giulio [Instituto de Microelectronica de Barcelona, IMB-CNM, CSIC, Barcelona (Spain); Pennicard, David [University of Glasgow, Department of Physics and Astronomy, Glasgow G12 8QQ (United Kingdom); Piemonte, Claudio; Ronchin, Sabina [FBK-irst, Center for Materials and Microsystems, via Sommarive 18, 38050 Povo di Trento (Italy); Szumlak, Tomasz [University of Glasgow, Department of Physics and Astronomy, Glasgow G12 8QQ (United Kingdom); Zoboli, Andrea [INFN and Universita' di Trento, via Sommarive 14, 38050 Povo di Trento (Italy); Zorzi, Nicola [FBK-irst, Center for Materials and Microsystems, via Sommarive 18, 38050 Povo di Trento (Italy)

2009-06-01

While the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) at CERN has started operation in autumn 2008, plans for a luminosity upgrade to the Super-LHC (sLHC) have already been developed for several years. This projected luminosity increase by an order of magnitude gives rise to a challenging radiation environment for tracking detectors at the LHC experiments. Significant improvements in radiation hardness are required with respect to the LHC. Using a strawman layout for the new tracker of the ATLAS experiment as an example, silicon strip detectors (SSDs) with short strips of 2-3 cm length are foreseen to cover the region from 28 to 60 cm distance to the beam. These SSD will be exposed to radiation levels up to 10{sup 15}N{sub eq}/cm{sup 2}, which makes radiation resistance a major concern for the upgraded ATLAS tracker. Several approaches to increasing the radiation hardness of silicon detectors exist. In this article, it is proposed to combine the radiation hard 3D-design originally conceived for pixel-style applications with the benefits of the established planar technology for strip detectors by using SSDs that have regularly spaced doped columns extending into the silicon bulk under the detector strips. The first 3D SSDs to become available for testing were made in the Single Type Column (STC) design, a technological simplification of the original 3D design. With such 3D SSDs, a small number of prototype sLHC detector modules with LHC-speed front-end electronics as used in the semiconductor tracking systems of present LHC experiments were built. Modules were tested before and after irradiation to fluences of 10{sup 15}N{sub eq}/cm{sup 2}. The tests were performed with three systems: a highly focused IR-laser with 5{mu}m spot size to make position-resolved scans of the charge collection efficiency, an Sr{sup 90}{beta}-source set-up to measure the signal levels for a minimum ionizing particle (MIP), and a beam test with 180 GeV pions at CERN. This article gives a brief overview of

Has India's Solar Mission increased the deployment of domestically produced solar modules?

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Shrimali, Gireesh; Sahoo, Anshuman

2014-01-01

The Jawaharlal Nehru National Solar Mission (JNNSM), India's flagship policy for solar energy deployment, includes an increasingly strict Domestic Content Requirement (DCR) intended to promote the domestic crystalline photovoltaic solar industry. We examine the impact of the JNNSM DCR on the utilization of domestic and domestic crystalline silicon modules. Using a plant-level database of approximately 250 plants, we show that the first, and weaker, version of the policy accomplished its intention of promoting domestic crystalline silicon modules. However, the second, and stricter, version of the policy has not been as effective: it appears to have promoted the use of foreign thin film modules instead. This analysis shows that the tightening of the DCR was associated with leakage to foreign thin film modules. This suggests that DCR policies need to be comprehensive in scope to ensure that they achieve a goal of using only domestic content; however, policymakers should appropriately assess the welfare impacts of such restrictions. - Highlights: • Effectiveness of India's Solar Mission in promoting domestic content is assessed. • The Solar Mission promoted domestic crystalline silicon modules overall. • This effect was not as prominent as the DCR was tightened over time. • Ultimately, the Solar Mission allowed for leakage to foreign thin-film modules. • To be effective, the DCR would need to be comprehensive across module types

Very high-cycle fatigue failure in micron-scale polycrystalline silicon films : Effects of environment and surface oxide thickness

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Alsem, D. H.; Boyce, B. L.; Stach, E. A.; De Hosson, J. Th. M.; Ritchie, R. O.

2007-01-01

Fatigue failure in micron-scale polycrystalline silicon structural films, a phenomenon that is not observed in bulk silicon, can severely impact the durability and reliability of microelectromechanical system devices. Despite several studies on the very high-cycle fatigue behavior of these films (up

Study of position resolution and electron-hadron separation of electromagnetic calorimeter with a silicon structure

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gorodnichev, V.B.; Kachanov, V.A.; Khodyrev, V.Yu.; Kurchaninov, L.L.; Rykali, V.V.; Solovianov, V.L.; Ukhalov, M.N.

1993-01-01

The maximum shower silicon strip detectors embedded in a module of sandwich-type electromagnetic calorimeter have been tested. The position resolution at different depths of the silicon structure has been measured. The results on electron-hadron separation obtained as a byproduct in this study are presented, and possibility of their improvement is discussed. 8 refs., 10 figs., 1 tab

Silicon-integrated thin-film structure for electro-optic applications

Science.gov (United States)

McKee, Rodney A.; Walker, Frederick Joseph

2000-01-01

A crystalline thin-film structure suited for use in any of an number of electro-optic applications, such as a phase modulator or a component of an interferometer, includes a semiconductor substrate of silicon and a ferroelectric, optically-clear thin film of the perovskite BaTiO.sub.3 overlying the surface of the silicon substrate. The BaTiO.sub.3 thin film is characterized in that substantially all of the dipole moments associated with the ferroelectric film are arranged substantially parallel to the surface of the substrate to enhance the electro-optic qualities of the film.

3D PLUS HI-REL DDR2 Termination Regulator Module- A Building Block Function for High Reliability SDRAM DDR2 System Architecture

Science.gov (United States)

Perrot, Nicolas; Dubus, Patrick; Garcia-Sanchez, Esther

2015-09-01

Memory system architectures using DDR2 technology need to be compliant with JEDEC JESD8-15A standard [1]. Therefore a bus termination regulator able to sink and source current while regulating VTT voltage is used for this purpose. Such module has been developed by 3D PLUS and is the first space qualified DDR Termination Regulator (DDR2-TR) available on the market. It is based on an innovative Bang-Bang regulation principle, chosen for its speed performance and to guarantee an output voltage that remains within the predefined limits regardless of any output current transients. The output filter type is selected to make the module rugged to any overload condition without complex protection circuits. The module has been specifically designed for low input voltage, low noise and high reliability systems where space is a key consideration. The module uses the 3D PLUS SIP (System-In-Package) technology embedding 3 stacked PCBs. No external filters or decoupling capacitors are needed.

Simulation, measurement, and emulation of photovoltaic modules using high frequency and high power density power electronic circuits

Science.gov (United States)

Erkaya, Yunus

The number of solar photovoltaic (PV) installations is growing exponentially, and to improve the energy yield and the efficiency of PV systems, it is necessary to have correct methods for simulation, measurement, and emulation. PV systems can be simulated using PV models for different configurations and technologies of PV modules. Additionally, different environmental conditions of solar irradiance, temperature, and partial shading can be incorporated in the model to accurately simulate PV systems for any given condition. The electrical measurement of PV systems both prior to and after making electrical connections is important for attaining high efficiency and reliability. Measuring PV modules using a current-voltage (I-V) curve tracer allows the installer to know whether the PV modules are 100% operational. The installed modules can be properly matched to maximize performance. Once installed, the whole system needs to be characterized similarly to detect mismatches, partial shading, or installation damage before energizing the system. This will prevent any reliability issues from the onset and ensure the system efficiency will remain high. A capacitive load is implemented in making I-V curve measurements with the goal of minimizing the curve tracer volume and cost. Additionally, the increase of measurement resolution and accuracy is possible via the use of accurate voltage and current measurement methods and accurate PV models to translate the curves to standard testing conditions. A move from mechanical relays to solid-state MOSFETs improved system reliability while significantly reducing device volume and costs. Finally, emulating PV modules is necessary for testing electrical components of a PV system. PV emulation simplifies and standardizes the tests allowing for different irradiance, temperature and partial shading levels to be easily tested. Proper emulation of PV modules requires an accurate and mathematically simple PV model that incorporates all known

Silicon Strip Detectors for ATLAS at the HL-LHC Upgrade

CERN Document Server

Hara, K; The ATLAS collaboration

2012-01-01

The present ATLAS silicon strip (SCT) and transition radiation (TRT) trackers will be replaced with new silicon strip detectors, as part of the Inner Tracker System (ITK), for the Phase-2 upgrade of the Large Hadron Collider, HL-LHC. We have carried out intensive R&D programs to establish radiation harder strip detectors that can survive in a radiation level up to 3000 fb-1 of integrated luminosity based on n+-on-p microstrip detector. We describe main specifications for this year’s sensor fabrication, followed by a description of possible module integration schema

Photonic and Plasmonic Guided Modes in Graphene-Silicon Photonic Crystals

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Gu, Tingyi; Andryieuski, Andrei; Hao, Yufeng

2015-01-01

We report the results of systematic studies of plasmonic and photonic guided modes in large-area single-layer graphene integrated into a nanostructured silicon substrate. The interaction of light with graphene and substrate photonic crystals can be classified in distinct regimes depending......, filters, sensors, and photodetectors utilizing silicon photonic platforms....... on the relation of the photonic crystal lattice constant and the relevant modal wavelengths, that is, plasmonic, photonic, and free-space. By optimizing the design of the substrate, these resonant modes can increase the absorption of graphene in the infrared, facilitating enhanced performance of modulators...

Robotic mounting of ATLAS barrel SCT modules

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Nickerson, R.B.; Viehhauser, G.; Wastie, R.; Terada, S.; Unno, Y.; Kohriki, T.; Ikegami, Y.; Hara, K.; Kobayashi, H.; Barbier, G.; Clark, A.G.; Perrin, E.; Carter, A.A.; Mistry, J.; Morris, J.

2006-01-01

The 2112 silicon detector modules of the barrel part of the ATLAS SemiConductor Tracker (SCT) have been mounted on their carbon fibre support structure. Module insertion, placement and fixing were performed by robotic assembly tooling. We report on our experience with this assembly method. Part of the mounting sequence involves a partial survey of elements of the support structure which is needed to align the modules properly during insertion. An analysis of these data is used to estimate the positional accuracy of the robots

A MoTe2-based light-emitting diode and photodetector for silicon photonic integrated circuits.

Science.gov (United States)

Bie, Ya-Qing; Grosso, Gabriele; Heuck, Mikkel; Furchi, Marco M; Cao, Yuan; Zheng, Jiabao; Bunandar, Darius; Navarro-Moratalla, Efren; Zhou, Lin; Efetov, Dmitri K; Taniguchi, Takashi; Watanabe, Kenji; Kong, Jing; Englund, Dirk; Jarillo-Herrero, Pablo

2017-12-01

One of the current challenges in photonics is developing high-speed, power-efficient, chip-integrated optical communications devices to address the interconnects bottleneck in high-speed computing systems. Silicon photonics has emerged as a leading architecture, in part because of the promise that many components, such as waveguides, couplers, interferometers and modulators, could be directly integrated on silicon-based processors. However, light sources and photodetectors present ongoing challenges. Common approaches for light sources include one or few off-chip or wafer-bonded lasers based on III-V materials, but recent system architecture studies show advantages for the use of many directly modulated light sources positioned at the transmitter location. The most advanced photodetectors in the silicon photonic process are based on germanium, but this requires additional germanium growth, which increases the system cost. The emerging two-dimensional transition-metal dichalcogenides (TMDs) offer a path for optical interconnect components that can be integrated with silicon photonics and complementary metal-oxide-semiconductors (CMOS) processing by back-end-of-the-line steps. Here, we demonstrate a silicon waveguide-integrated light source and photodetector based on a p-n junction of bilayer MoTe 2 , a TMD semiconductor with an infrared bandgap. This state-of-the-art fabrication technology provides new opportunities for integrated optoelectronic systems.

A MoTe2-based light-emitting diode and photodetector for silicon photonic integrated circuits

Science.gov (United States)

Bie, Ya-Qing; Grosso, Gabriele; Heuck, Mikkel; Furchi, Marco M.; Cao, Yuan; Zheng, Jiabao; Bunandar, Darius; Navarro-Moratalla, Efren; Zhou, Lin; Efetov, Dmitri K.; Taniguchi, Takashi; Watanabe, Kenji; Kong, Jing; Englund, Dirk; Jarillo-Herrero, Pablo

2017-12-01

One of the current challenges in photonics is developing high-speed, power-efficient, chip-integrated optical communications devices to address the interconnects bottleneck in high-speed computing systems. Silicon photonics has emerged as a leading architecture, in part because of the promise that many components, such as waveguides, couplers, interferometers and modulators, could be directly integrated on silicon-based processors. However, light sources and photodetectors present ongoing challenges. Common approaches for light sources include one or few off-chip or wafer-bonded lasers based on III-V materials, but recent system architecture studies show advantages for the use of many directly modulated light sources positioned at the transmitter location. The most advanced photodetectors in the silicon photonic process are based on germanium, but this requires additional germanium growth, which increases the system cost. The emerging two-dimensional transition-metal dichalcogenides (TMDs) offer a path for optical interconnect components that can be integrated with silicon photonics and complementary metal-oxide-semiconductors (CMOS) processing by back-end-of-the-line steps. Here, we demonstrate a silicon waveguide-integrated light source and photodetector based on a p-n junction of bilayer MoTe2, a TMD semiconductor with an infrared bandgap. This state-of-the-art fabrication technology provides new opportunities for integrated optoelectronic systems.

Electrical Control of g-Factor in a Few-Hole Silicon Nanowire MOSFET.

Science.gov (United States)

Voisin, B; Maurand, R; Barraud, S; Vinet, M; Jehl, X; Sanquer, M; Renard, J; De Franceschi, S

2016-01-13

Hole spins in silicon represent a promising yet barely explored direction for solid-state quantum computation, possibly combining long spin coherence, resulting from a reduced hyperfine interaction, and fast electrically driven qubit manipulation. Here we show that a silicon-nanowire field-effect transistor based on state-of-the-art silicon-on-insulator technology can be operated as a few-hole quantum dot. A detailed magnetotransport study of the first accessible hole reveals a g-factor with unexpectedly strong anisotropy and gate dependence. We infer that these two characteristics could enable an electrically driven g-tensor-modulation spin resonance with Rabi frequencies exceeding several hundred mega-Hertz.