Design considerations for a silicon-based p-i-n phase modulator in a double ridge waveguide with side isolating grooves

We present detail design considerations and simulation results of a forward biased carrier injection p-i-n modulator integrated on SOI rib waveguides. To minimize the free carrier absorption loss while keeping the comparatively small lateral dimensions of the modulator as required for high speed operation, we proposed two structural improvements, namely the double ridge (terrace ridge) structure and the isolating grooves at both sides of the double ridge. With improved carrier injection and optical confinement structure, the simulated modulator response time is in sub-ns range and absorption loss is minimized.

A direct-conversion mixer with a DC-offset cancellation for WLAN

This paper presents a 5GHz double-balanced mixer with DC-offset cancellation circuit for direct-conversion receiver compliant with IEEE 802.11a wireless LAN standard. The analog feedback loop is used, to eliminate the DC-offset at the output of the double-balanced mixer. The test results show that the mixer with DC-offset cancellation circuit has voltage conversion gain of 9.5dB at 5.15GHz, noise figure of 13.5dB, IIP3 of 7.6 dBm, 1.73mV DC-offset voltage and 67mW power with 3.3-V power supply. The DC-offset cancellation circuit has less than 0.1mm(2) additional area and 0.3mW added power dissipation. The direct conversion WLAN receiver has been implemented in a 0.35 mu m SiGe BiCMOS technology.

A Complex BPF with On Chip Auto-tuning Architecture for Wireless Receivers

A 3(rd) order complex band-pass filter (BPF) with auto-tuning architecture is proposed in this paper. It is implemented in 0.18um standard CMOS technology. The complex filter is centered at 4.092MHz with bandwidth of 2.4MHz. The in-band 3(rd) order harmonic input intercept point (IIP3) is larger than 16.2dBm, with 50 Omega as the source impedance. The input referred noise is about 80uV(rms). The RC tuning is based on Binary Search Algorithm (BSA) with tuning accuracy of 3%. The chip area of the tuning system is 0.28 x 0.22 mm(2), less than 1/8 of that of the main-filter which is 0.92 x 0.59 mm(2). After tuning is completed, the tuning system will be turned off automatically to save power and to avoid interference. The complex filter consumes 2.6mA with a 1.8V power supply.

Design and Realization of Index-Coupled DFB Laser with Sampled Grating

An index-coupled distributed feedback laser with the sampled grating has been designed and fabricated. The +1(st) order reflection of the sampled grating is utilized for laser single mode operation, which is 1.5329 mu m in the experiment. The sampled grating is formed by a conventional holographic exposure combined with the usual photolithography. The typical threshold current of DFB laser with the sampled grating is 25mA, and the optical output is about 10mW at the injected current of 100mA.

High Quality AlGaN Grown on GaN Template with HT-AlN Interlayer

When AlGaN is grown on GaN template, crack networks invariably generate when the thickness of the AlGaN layers over GaN exceeds the critical value. We used thin high temperature deposited AlN layer (HT-AlN) as the interlayer between GaN template and AlGaN epilayer which was very effective in eliminating the cracks in AlGaN epilayer. AlGaN layers with high Al mole fractions were also grown. Characterization showed that the crystalline quality of AlGaN epilayer was fairly good even when the At mole fraction was high.

Combined transparent electrodes for high power GaN-based LEDs with long life time

In this paper fabrication of high power light emitting diodes (LEDs) with combined transparent electrodes on both P-GaN and N-GaN have been demonstrated. Simulation and experimental results show that comparing with traditional metal N electrodes the efficacy of LEDs with transparent N electrode is increased by more than 10% and it is easier in process than the other techniques. Further more, combining the transparent electrodes with dielectric anti-reflection film, the extraction efficiency can be improved by 5%. At the same time, the transparent electrodes were protected by the dielectric film and the reliability of LEDs can be improved.

AlGaN/AlN/GaN/InGaN/GaN DH-HEMTs with improved mobility grown by MOCVD

AlGaN/AlN/GaN/InGaN/GaN double heterojunction high electron mobility transistors (DH-HEMTs) structures with improved buffer isolation have been investigated. The structures were grown by MOCVD on sapphire substrate. AFM result of this structure shows a good surface morphology with the root-mean-square roughness (RMS) of 0.196 nm for a scan area of 5 mu mx5 mu m. A mobility as high as 1950 cm(2)/Vs with the sheet carrier density of 9.89x10(12) cm(-2) was obtained, which was about 50% higher than other results of similar structures which have been reported. Average sheet resistance of 327 Omega/sq was achieved. The HEMTs device using the materials was fabricated, and a maximum drain current density of 718.5 mA/mm, an extrinsic transconductance of 248 mS/mm, a current gain cutoff frequency of 16 GHz and a maximum frequency of oscillation 35 GHz were achieved.

A Complex BPF with On Chip Auto-tuning Architecture for Low-IF Receivers

A 3(rd) order complex band-pass filter (BPF) with auto-tuning architecture is proposed in this paper. It is implemented in 0.18 mu m standard CMOS technology. The complex filter is centered at 4.092MHz with bandwidth of 2.4MHz. The in-band 3(rd) order harmonic input intercept point (IIP3) is larger than 19dBm, with 50 Omega as the source impedance. The input referred noise is about 80 mu V-rms. The RC tuning is based on Binary Search Algorithm (BSA) with tuning accuracy of 3%. The chip area of the tuning system is 0.28x0.22mm(2), less than 1/8 of that of the main-filter which is 0.92x0.59mm(2). After tuning is completed, the tuning system will be turned off automatically to save power and to avoid interference. The complex filter consumes 2.6mA with a 1.8V power supply.

Neuro-Stimulus Chip with Photodiodes Array for Sub-retinal Implants

A prototype neuro-stimulus chip for sub-retinal implants in blind patients affected by Age-related Macular Degeneration (AMD) or Retinitis Pigmentosa (RP) is presented in this paper. This retinal prosthetic chip was designed to replace the degenerated photoreceptor cells, and in order to stimulate directly the remaining healthy layers of retinal neurons. The current stimulus circuits are monolithic integrated with photodiodes (PD) array, which can convert the illumination on the eyes into bi-phasic electrical pulses. In addition, a novel charge cancellation circuit is used to discharge the electrodes for medical safty. The prototype chip is designed and fabricated in HJTC 0.18 mu m N-well CMOS 1P6M Mix-signal process, with a +/- 2.5 V dual voltage power supply.

A Novel Low-Power Digital Baseband Circuit for UHF RFID Tag with Sensors

A novel low-power digital baseband circuit for UHF RFID tag with sensors is presented in this paper. It proposes a novel baseband architecture and a new operating scheme to fulfill the sensor functions and to reduce power consumption. It is also compatible with the EPC C1G2 UHF RFID protocol. It adopts some advanced low power techniques for system design and circuit design: adaptive clock-gating, multi-clock domain and asynchronous circuit. The baseband circuit is implemented in 0.18um 1P3M standard CMOS process. ne chip area is 0.28 mm(2) excluding test pads. Its power consumption is 25uW under 1.1V power supply.

Research of Face Detection System Applied for Detecting Faces with Complex Background and Illumination

An effective face detection system used for detecting multi pose frontal face in gray images is presented. Image preprocessing approaches are applied to reduce the influence of the complex illumination. Eye-analog pairing and improved multiple related template matching are used to glancing and accurate face detecting, respectively. To shorten the time cost of detecting process, we employ prejudge rules in checking candidate image segments before template matching. Test by our own face database with complicated illumination and background, the system has high calculation speed and illumination independency, and obtains good experimental results.

Solid-state qubit measurement with single electron transistors

In this paper we consider the continuous weak measurement of a solid-state qubit by single electron transistors (SET). For single-dot SET, we find that in nonlinear response regime the signal-to-noise ratio can violate the universal upper bound imposed quantum mechanically on any linear response detectors. We understand the violation by means of the cross-correlation of the detector currents. For double-dot SET, we discuss its robustness against wider range of temperatures, quantum efficiency, and the relevant open issues unresolved.

Multi channel micro neural probe fabricated with SOI

Extracellular neural recording requires neural probes having more recording sites as well as limited volumes. With its mechanical characteristic and abundant process method, Silicon is a kind of material fit for producing neural probe. Silicon on insulator (SOI) is adopted in this paper to fabricate neural probes. The uniformity and manufacturability are improved. The fabricating process and testing results of a series of Multi channel micro neural probes were reported. The thickness of the probe is 15 mu m-30 mu m. The typical impedance characteristics of the record sites are around 2M Omega at 1k Hz. The performance of the neural probe in-vivo was tested on anesthetic rat. The recorded neural spike was typically around 140 mu V. Spike recorded from individual site could exceed 700 mu V. The average signal noise ratio was 7 or more.

SOI optical switch matrix integrated with spot size converter (SSC) and total internal reflection (TIR) mirrors

SOI (Silicon on Insulator) based photonic devices has attracted more and more attention in the recent years. Integration of SOI optical switch matrix with isolating grooves, total internal reflection (TIR) mirrors and spot size converter (SSC) was studied. A folding re-arrangeable non-blocking 4x4 optical switch matrix and a blocking 16x16 matrix with TIR mirrors and SSC were fabricated on SOI wafer. The performaces, including extinction ratio and the crosstalk, are better than before. The insertion loss and the polarization dependent loss (PDL) at 1.55 mu m increase slightly with longer device length, more bend and intersecting waveguides. The insertion losses decrease 2 similar to 3 dB when anti-reflection films are added in the ends of the devices. The rise and fall times of the devices are 2.1 mu s and 2.3 mu s, respectively.

Terahertz pulse generation with LT-GaAs photoconductive antenna

Low-temperature-grown GaAs (LT-GaAs) of 1-um thickness was grown at 250 degrees C on semi-insulating GaAs (001) substrate using EPI GEN-II solid-source MBE system. The sample was then in situ annealed for 10 min at 600 degrees C under As-rich condition. THz emitters were fabricated on this LTGaAs with three different photoconductive dipole antenna gaps of 1-mm, 3-mm, and 5-mm, respectively. The spectral bandwidth of 2.75 THz was obtaind with time domain spectroscopy. It is found that THz emission efficiency is increased with decreasing antenna gap. Two carrier lifetimes, 0.469 ps and 3.759 ps, were obtained with time-resolved transient reflection-type pump-probe spectroscopy.