Back Channel Research Articles

Thickness of accumulation layer in amorphous indium-gallium-zinc-oxide thin-film transistors by Kelvin Probe Force Microscopy

In this letter, we measured the thickness of an accumulation layer (dacc) in amorphous Indium-Gallium-Zinc-Oxide thin-film transistors (TFTs) using Kelvin Probe Force Microscopy (KPFM). By scanning the active layer surface from the interface to the back channel, we obtained potential from different thickness profiles, which show the variation of the carrier concentration. It was found that potential followed an exponential decay function from the interface to the back channel. Furthermore, there was a transition point after which the potential changed little. From this potential map, the thickness of the accumulation layer could be considered as the height difference between the transition point and the interface. Meanwhile, by controlling gate voltage (VG) during the KPFM scanning process, we obtained a relationship between dacc and VG. The results indicated that when VG was smaller than threshold voltage (Vth), dacc increased drastically with the increase in VG; after that, dacc was almost independent of VG, indicating that dacc reached a saturation value around 15 nm. This finding gave us a clear physical image about charge distribution in TFT and facilitated the understanding of device physics.

The peacenik and the spook as the diplomatic avant-garde

In conflicts between a state and a non-state actor, such as a paramilitary or terrorist organization, when no official diplomatic relations and recognition exists, there is a need for actors who can serve as a “diplomatic avant-garde.” This article identifies a diplomatic pattern in which breakthroughs occur through cooperative work between two types of actors: unofficial citizen diplomats and key figures in intelligence bodies. Each actor brings specific resources: unofficial actors have contacts with the non-state actor, while intelligence officers can offer backing from within the official system of the state. The article analyzes the topic using three case studies: Brendan Duddy and the MI6 officer Michael Oatley (UK and the Provisional IRA, 1975–1993); Willie Esterhuyse and the head of the South African National Intelligence Service, Neil Barnard (South African government and the ANC, 1987– 1990); and Gershon Baskin and the Mossad official David Meidan (Israel and Hamas, 2011). This study examines the unique relations between these two types of actors and how their collaboration promoted negotiations with non-state armed actors. It analyzes three stages: establishment of contact between these actors, persuasion of the relevant parties, and the breakthrough moment when talks shifted to an official back channel.

Finite element modelling of back-to-back built-up cold-formed stainless-steel lipped channels under axial compression

In cold-formed steel structures, such as trusses, wall frames and portal frames, the use of back-to-back built-up cold-formed stainless-steel lipped channels as compression members are becoming increasingly popular. The advantages of using stainless-steel as structural members are corrosion resistance and durability, compared with carbon steel. The AISI/ASCE Standard, SEI/ASCE-8-02 and AS/NZS do not include the design of stainless-steel built-up channels and very few experimental tests or finite element analyses have been reported in the literature for such back-to back cold-formed stainless-steel channels. Current guidance by the American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI) and the Australian and New Zealand (AS/NZS) standards for built-up carbon steel sections only describe a modified slenderness approach, to consider the spacing of the intermediate fasteners. Thus, this paper presents a numerical investigation on the behavior of back-to-back cold-formed stainless-steel built-up lipped channels. Three different grades of stainless steel i.e., duplex EN1.4462, ferritic EN1.4003 and austenitic EN1.4404 have been considered. Effect of screw spacing on the axial strength of such built-up channels was investigated. As expected, most of the short and intermediate columns failed by either local-global or local-distortional buckling interactions, whereas the long columns, failed by global buckling. All three grades of stainless-steel stub columns failed by local buckling. A comprehensive parametric study was then carried out covering a wide range of slenderness and different cross-sectional geometries to assess the performance of the current design guidelines by AISI and AS/NZS. In total, 647 finite element models were analyzed. From the results of the parametric study, it was found that the AISI & AS/NZS are conservative by around 10 to 20% for cold-formed stainless-steel built-up lipped channels failed through overall buckling, irrespective of the stainless-steel grades. However, the AISI and AS/NZS can be un-conservative by around 6% for all three grades of stainless-steel built-up channels, which failed by local buckling.

Back-Channel-Etched Oxide Thin Film Transistors with a Corrosion Resistant Crystalline InGaO Channel

A crystalline indium-gallium-oxide (InGaO) was used as the channel of a thin film transistor (TFT) with back-channel-etched (BCE) structure. The effects of deposition temperature (T) on crystal structure, morphology, electrical properties and corrosion resistance of InGaO films were studied in detail. X-ray diffraction spectra and scan electron microscopy reveal that the slight increase in corrosion resistance with T at 25–200°C results from the discrete crystallites embedded amorphous network while the massive increase at 290°C results from the high crystallinity of the film. The carrier concentration (Nc) and mobility of InGaO films show a huge increase as T increases due to the crystallization process at 25–200°C, but they change very little when the films are highly crystallized at 290°C. The BCE TFT exhibits a slightly higher saturated mobility of 11.9 cm2/(V·s), a more positive threshold voltage of −0.43 V, a larger subthreshold swing of 0.37 V/decade and a higher off-current of 4 pA when compared with the TFT fabricated by a lift-off process. Combined with X-Ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy analysis, the BCE process causes an oxygen-deficient back channel and introduces deep trap states, leading to the deterioration in electrical performance.

ОСОБЛИВОСТІ ПОЛІТИКИ США ЩОДО КУБИ В УМОВАХ РОЗРИВУ ДИПЛОМАТИЧНИХ ВІДНОСИН 1960-х рр.

The article is an attempt to analyze the peculiarities of the US Policy towards Cuba under conditions of break off diplomatic relations in the 1960s. The article focuses on factors which influenced on the formation of the US policy towards Cuba and determined the nature of its qualitative changes in the given period. The author analyzed definite political and economic steps made by President John F. Kennedy and Lyndon Johnson against Fidel Castro’s regime. There is also described the work of the Special Group Augmented that prepared for the new phase of the «Cuban project» – Operation «Mongoose». As a result of the research the author comes to the conclusion, that peculiarities of the US Policy towards Cuba under conditions of break off diplomatic relations in the 1960’s had changed. President Kennedy’s policies were characterized by different methods and approaches. It included both covert operations and sabotage against F. Castro’s regime, as well as political and economic pressure on Cuba. However, such US policy had the opposite effect. Cuba had established relations with the Soviet Union. The confrontation between the United States, the Soviet Union and Cuba led to The Cuban missile crisis. After the crisis was resolved the USA was forced to suspend operation «Mongoose». In addition, John F. Kennedy had attempted to establish a secret back channel of communication with F. Castro. After his death, preliminary for negotiations between Washington and Havana were discontinued. The new President Lyndon Johnson did not allow the normalization of relations with Cuba on Castro’s terms and while he was in power. He made an effort to destabilize the Castro’s regime by making an engaging immigration policy for Cubans who lived in the United States or desired come to the country and got a permanent residence. At the end of Johnson’s presidency, the United States took part in the Vietnam war, but the problem of U.S.-Cuban relations remained unresolved.

Light-illumination stability of amorphous InGaZnO thin film transistors in oxygen and moisture ambience

The light-illumination stability of amorphous InGaZnO Thin Film Transistors (a-IGZO TFTs) in oxygen and moisture ambience was in-depth characterized by both current-voltage (I-V) and capacitance-voltage (C-V) measurements. With the illuminated light wavelength decreasing, both I-V and C-V curves shifted negatively. When the ambient oxygen content or moisture level increased, the a-IGZO TFTs exhibited more stable properties under light illumination. A qualitative model was proposed to explain the related physical mechanism. The higher oxygen content or moisture level benefited the light-illumination-induced oxygen adsorption at back channels of a-IGZO TFTs and prevented the formation of oxygen vacancies (VO) in channel layers; the VO variation with the light illumination became more difficult and hence led to better light-illumination stability of the corresponding TFT devices.

The Effect of Backchannel Communication in Developing Students’ Critical Thinking Skills

The purpose of this study is to examine the effect of backchannel communication in developing students’critical thinking skill: macro and micro critical thinking.There are many tools in backchannel communication (BC). Padlet has been used as one of backchannel communication in this research.There are seventy students from two classes (Class X and Class Z) involved as sample in this study.Quasi- experimental research design applied in this research. Class X was selected as the experimental group (using padlet online discussion) and Class Z became the control group (classroom discussion) while learning Critical Thinking subject. Padlet online discussion was used as tool to plot discussion in a group on the topic given by the teacher. The finding shows that students who used back channel communication showed greater macro critical thinking level than to those who did not use back channel communication. While for students who used BC did not show greater critical thinking level than to those who did not use BC.This study will contribute to the body of knowledge on technologies for learning and online learning. This will allow better understanding on how technology can facilitate learning especially critical thinking.

Improved banded method for spectral thermal radiation in participating media with spectrally dependent wall emittance

To develop an efficient and practical spectral radiation model for CFD simulations, a banded approach is proposed for a mixture of carbon dioxide and water vapor in varying thermodynamic states. Using a previously reported band dividing scheme, a statistical narrow band model is implemented to provide gray band absorption coefficient databases. The databases were then approximated by certain simple correlations, which can be readily used in CFD calculations of RTE solvers. The correlations were validated in several 1D and 3D benchmarks representing various combustion conditions. The accuracy and CPU cost of the proposed banded approach were studied and compared with those of other similar methods. The results demonstrated that the new approach is an efficient and accurate method that can be conveniently applied in a commercial CFD code for spectral radiation; moreover, it can handle non-gray walls. As a practical case study, the proposed approach was used to simulate radiative heat transfer within a back pass channel of a CFB boiler. The effect of combustion scenarios, i.e., air- and oxygen-fired, boiler load, inlet flow conditions, and wall material, was analyzed by the CFD model. The predictions of two different RTE solvers, i.e., P1 and DO, and the required CPU time were compared for gray and non-gray models.

Geomorphological effectiveness of floods to rework gravel bars: Insight from hyperscale topography and hydraulic modelling

AbstractBars are key morphological units in river systems, fashioning the sediment regime and bedload transport processes within a reach. Reworking of these features underpins channel adjustment at larger scales, thereby acting as a key determinant of channel stability. Despite their importance to channel evolution, few investigations have acquired spatially continuous data on bar morphology and sediment‐size to investigate bar reworking. To this end, four bars along a 10 km reach of a wandering gravel‐bed river were surveyed with terrestrial laser scanning (TLS), comparing downstream changes in slope, bed material size and channel planform. Detrended standard deviations (σz) were extracted from TLS point clouds and correlated to underlying physically measured median grain‐size (D50), across a greater range of σz values than have hitherto been reported. The resulting linear regression model was used to create a 1 m resolution median grain‐size map. A fusion of airborne LiDAR and optical‐empirical bathymetric mapping was used to develop reach‐scale digital elevation models (DEMs) for rapid two‐dimensional hydraulic modelling using JFlow® software. The ratio of dimensionless shear stress over critical shear stress was calculated for each raster cell to calculate the effectiveness of a range of flood events (2.33–100 year recurrence intervals) to entrain sediment and rework bar units. Results show that multiple bar forming discharges exist, whereby frequent flood flows rework tail and back channel areas, while much larger, less frequent floods are required to mobilise the coarser sediment fraction on bar heads. Valley confinement is shown to exert a primary influence on patterns of bar reworking. Historical aerial photography, hyperscale DEMs and hydraulic modelling are used to explain channel adjustment at the reach scale. The proportion of the bar comprised of more frequently entrained units (tail, back channel, supra‐platform) relative to more static units (bar head) exerts a direct influence upon geomorphic sensitivity. © 2018 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Ethical Dilemmas of Back-Channel Diplomacy: Necessary Secrecy or a Secret Foreign Policy?

Summary Back-channel diplomacy allows participants to hold dialogues with actors with whom they are not prepared to talk openly. The secrecy of back channels can, however, permit a small elite to escape oversight and scrutiny to achieve unaccountable aims. This article examines the ethical dilemmas raised by the secrecy of back channels. It seeks to develop some practical ‘tests’ that can be used to ask whether a back channel is straying, or has strayed, into dangerous ethical territory. The article advances three such tests for further development, but also concludes that they cannot be ‘absolute’; the context in which a back channel operates is the key variable.

Rapid Improvement in Thin Film Transistors With Atomic-Layer-Deposited InOxChannels via O2Plasma Treatment

To improve the electrical performance of thin-film transistors with an atomic-layer-deposited Al2O3 dielectric/InOx channel, O2 plasma surface treatments of the InOx back channel are explored in comparison with thermal annealing. It is demonstrated that the O2 plasma treatment can enhance the device performance much more efficiently than thermal annealing, exhibiting an extremely low-thermal budget. Furthermore, it is revealed that the plasma treatment at a higher temperature can improve the device performance much faster than that at a lower temperature. For a 4 min O2plasma treatment at 200 °C, superior electrical characteristics are achieved, such as a field-effect mobility of 11 cm2V−1s−1, a threshold voltage of 0.9 V, a subthreshold swing of 0.38 V/dec, and good gate bias stress stabilities. This is ascribed to faster passivation of oxygen vacancies, removal of more C residues, and weaker surface damage and smaller surface roughness of the InOx back channel in comparison with long plasma treatments at lower temperatures.

InSnZnO Thin-Film Transistors With Vapor- Phase Self-Assembled Monolayer as Passivation Layer

Bottom-gate InSnZnO (ITZO) thin-film transistors (TFTs) with back channels modified by a self-assembled monolayer (SAM) as a passivation layer are proposed. The SAMs are prepared by a vapor-phase deposition method based on three types of triethoxysilane with three different alkyl chain lengths. Vapor-phase reactions are much less sensitive to variations in humidity and reagent purity, are more practical than the solution-phase method, and generate more reproducible results. After the SAMs are treated, a densely packed and highly hydrophobic interface is formed on the top of the devices, and the electrical performance of the ITZO TFTs is greatly improved, especially with the SAM with a chain length of 18 carbon atoms. More importantly, it is also found that SAMs with a long alkyl chain length are beneficial for bias stress stability.

High-Resolution Flexible AMOLED Display Integrating Gate Driver by Metal–Oxide TFTs

This letter proposes a high-resolution [200 (RGB) * 600, 282 PPI) flexible active matrix organic light emitting display (AMOLED) integrating a new gate driver, of which the substrate is a polyimide material. Flexible In–Zn–O thin-film transistors (TFTs) with back channel etched structure reveal a good stability at different curvature radii. The integrated gate driver employing bi-side driving method consists of seven TFTs and two capacitors with the advantages of simple topology, low power, full-swing output, and small area. The conventional 2T1C pixel circuit with top emission structure is applied to the proposed flexible AMOLED panel. And the flexible panel has a good full-color display quality without obvious defects at the bending condition. It is shown that the output signals of the proposed gate driver have no distortion and good noise suppressed characteristics even up to 600 stages and maintain stable under a long-time continuous operation up to 15 days.

The influence on electrical characteristics of amorphous indium tungsten oxide thin film transistors with multi-stacked active layer structure

In order to effectively enhance the carrier mobility and device stability, simultaneously, a multi-stacked active layer of thin film transistor with a novel type of channel material, amorphous indium-tungsten-oxide, is proposed in this work. Atop-cappingoxygen-rich indium-tungsten-zinc-oxide thin film is used for suppressing the influence of the molecular adsorption or desorption from the ambient at the back channel in the gate bias stress test. In addition, a bottom-bufferingoxygen-rich indium-tungsten-zinc-oxide thin film is deposited to avoid the oxygen vacancy generation during the following thermal process. On the other hand, a 1-nm thick WO3 film is inserted between the high-k gate insulator and active layer, which play important roles as interfacial layer for improving the interface quality and keeping the stability of front channel film. Besides, an HfO2 dielectric film is chosen as gate insulator for realizing the low-voltage operation. As a result, the novel tungsten doped channel material with both-sideoxygen-rich active layer exhibits a high ION/IOFF current ratio of ~6 × 107 for low gate leakage current, attributing to the top-cappingoxygen-rich thin film. Then, a high field-effect mobility of ~27.9 cm2/V.s and a low sub-threshold swing of 0.079 V/decade are achieved by the good interface quality. This structure with both-sideoxygen-rich active layer exhibits its potential application for the future high-resolution and large-size display manufacture.

Optimization of the Solution-Based Indium-Zinc Oxide/Zinc-Tin Oxide Channel Layer for Thin-Film Transistors.

Double stacked indium-zinc oxide (IZO)/zinc-tin oxide (ZTO) active layers were employed in amorphous-oxide-semiconductor thin-film transistors (AOS TFTs). Channel layers of the TFTs were optimized by varying the molarity of ZTO back channel layers (0.05, 0.1, 0.2, 0.3 M) and the electrical properties of IZO/ZTO double stacked TFTs were compared to single IZO and ZTO TFTs with varying the molarity and molar ratio. On the basis of the results, IZO/ZTO (0.1 M) TFTs showed the excellent electrical properties of saturation mobility (13.6 cm2/V·s), on-off ratio (7×106), and subthreshold swing (0.223 V/decade) compared to ZTO (0.1 M) of 0.73 cm2/V · s, 1 × 107, 0.416 V/decade and IZO (0.04 M) of 0.10 cm2/V · s, 5 × 106, 0.60 V/decade, respectively. This may be attributed to diffusing Sn into front layer during annealing process. In addition, with varying molarity of ZTO back channel layer, from 0.1 M to 0.3 M ZTO back channel TFTs, electrical properties and positive bias stability deteriorated with increasing molarity of back channel layer because of increasing total trap states. On the other hand, 0.05 M ZTO back channel TFT had inferior electrical properties than that of 0.1 M ZTO back channel TFT. It was related to back channel effect because of having thin thickness of channel layer. Among these devices, 0.1 M ZTO back channel TFT had a lowest total trap density, outstanding electrical properties and stability. Therefore, we recommended IZO/ZTO (0.1 M) TFT as a promising channel structure for advanced display applications.

An Effective Method to Compensate Total Ionizing Dose-Induced Degradation on Double-SOI Structure

The existence of buried oxide (BOX) layer and the strong coupling effect between the front and back channels can worsen the radiation-induced degradation on fully depleted silicon-on-insulator (FDSOI) device. To mitigate the radiation impact, a new structure named double SOI is introduced in this paper. This new structure exhibits potential benefits of reducing the radiation-induced degradation effectively and independently, thanks to the additional electrode, which can be used to control the internal electrical field of the BOX layer. With this structure, FDSOI device parameter degradation due to total dose is studied, and some abnormal phenomena, such as the transconductance hump and the mobility enhancement, are observed and discussed. Sentaurus TCAD simulations are used for further analysis. Moreover, the impact of negative back-gate bias to transistor parameter degradation is investigated, and an improved back-gate compensation strategy is proposed. Technology improvement such as thinning the BOX on total ionizing dose (TID) amelioration is also discussed with TCAD simulation.

(Invited) Hydrogen-Related Trap States Induced during Fabrication Process and Annealing Effects in Amorphous in-Ga-Zn-O Thin Film Transistors

Metal compositions and electronic structures near the back channel surfaces of amorphous In-Ga-Zn-O (a-IGZO) thin-film transistors (TFTs) were investigated by means of x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and photoinduced transient spectroscopy (PITS). The Zn deficient states were observed near the back channel surface due to S/D over-etching in BCE process. In the a-IGZO back channel region with the Zn deficient states, it was indicated that positively charged interface states, which induced a negative-parallel shift in transfer curves were easily formed by desorption of hydrogen adsorbed at the interface, and hydrogen-related trap states causing a negatively hump-shaped Vth shift were formed in the a-IGZO bulk by diffused hydrogen atoms from the interface and/or a passivation layer (PVL). In addition, a post-annealing treatment at higher temperatures was found to be effective to reduce the density of the defects in both the a-IGZO bulk and the PV/a-IGZO interface.

(Invited) Hydrogen-Related Trap States Induced during Fabrication Process and Annealing Effects in Amorphous in-Ga-Zn-O Thin Film Transistors

Transparent amorphous oxide semiconductors (TAOSs) such as amorphous In-Ga-Zn-O (a-IGZO) are superior to the conventional semiconducting materials used in flat-panel displays (FPDs) because they have the advantages of high electron mobility, good uniformity, and a simple manufacturing process based on matured sputtering techniques [1]. To apply TAOS thin-film transistors (TFTs) to the mass production of next-generation displays, the stress stability during the a-IGZO TFT operation is a crucial issue that must be resolved. It has been reported that the concentration of the hydrogen atoms in the a-IGZO is huge and the diffusion coefficient of hydrogen is two orders of magnitude larger than that of oxygen [2]. It means that hydrogen atoms easily diffuse into the channel region of the a-IGZO TFTs from hydrogen-containing layers such as a passivation layer (PV) during the fabrication. Hydrogen atoms also easily absorb to the channel region during the fabrication. Therefore, clarification of the effect of hydrogen on the electronic properties of the a-IGZO is particularly important to improve the TFT performance such as various stress stabilities against negative bias thermal illumination stress (NBTIS), negative bias thermal stress (NBTS) and positive bias thermal stress (PBTS). The hump-shaped variation of the transfer curves under the NBTIS test was observed in both a-IGZO etch-stop layer (ESL)-type and back channel etch (BCE)-type TFTs. According to the results of photo-induced transient spectroscopy (PITS) analysis, it was observed that the density of hydrogen-related traps in the a-IGZO thin film was changed with the increase and/or decrease of hydrogen incorporated by the TFT manufacturing process [3, 4]. In this presentation, the impact of hydrogen-related trap levels on stress reliability with humps will be reviewed. Furthermore, the parallel-shaped variation of the transfer curves under the NBTS and PBTS test changed depending on the temperature of post-process annealing. It is believed that these behaviors are caused by interface defects due to dissociation and diffusion of hydrogen atoms at the interface [5, 6]. [1] K. Nomura, H. Ohta, A. Takagi, T. Kamiya, M. Hirano, and H. Hosono, Nature Vol. 432, pp. 488-492 (2004). [2] K. Nomura, T. Kamiya, and H. Hosono, ECS J. Solid State Sci. Technol. Vol. 2, No. 1, pp. 5-8 (2013). [3] K. Hayashi, M. Ochi, A. Hino, H. Tao, H. Goto, and T. Kugimiya, Jpn. J. Appl. Phys. 56, 03BB02 (2017). [4] M. Ochi, A. Hino, H. Goto, K. Hayashi, and T. Kugimiya, ECS J. Solid State Sci. Technol. 6, P247 (2017). [5] K. Hayashi, M. Ochi, A. Hino, H. Tao, H. Goto, and T. Kugimiya, Proc. IDW ’17, pp. 320-323 (2017). [6] M. Ochi, A. Hino, H. Goto, K. Hayashi, and T. Kugimiya, Jpn. J. Appl. Phys. 57, 02CB06 (2018). Figure 1

Back Channel Negotiations and Dangerous Waiting

Back Channel Negotiations and <i>Dangerous Waiting</i>

UNDERSTANDING DISCHARGE COMMUNICATION BEHAVIOURS IN PEDIATRIC EMERGENCY CARE

Abstract BACKGROUND One of the most important transitions in the continuum of care for children is discharge to home. However, optimal discharge communication between healthcare providers and parents who present to the emergency department (ED) with their children is not well understood. Current research regarding discharge communication is equivocal and predominantly focused on evaluating different delivery formats or strategies with little attention given to communication behaviours or the context in which the communication occurs. OBJECTIVES The aim of this mixed methods study was to characterize the process and structure of discharge communication in a paediatric ED context. DESIGN/METHODS Real-time video observation methods were used in two academic paediatric EDs in Canada. Parents who presented with their child to the ED with one of six illness presentations, a Canadian Triage Acuity Score of 3 to 5, and English speaking, were eligible to participate. All ED physicians, learners, and clinical staff members were also eligible to participate. Provider-parent communication was analyzed using the Roter Interaction Analysis System (RIAS) to code each utterance. Parent comprehensive was evaluated using a follow-survey 72 hours after discharge. RESULTS A total of 106 unique ED visits involving six illness presentations: abdominal pain (n=23), asthma (n=6), bronchiolitis (n=4), diarrhea/vomiting (n=20), fever (n=27), and minor head injury (n=26) were video recorded. The average length of stay in the ED was 3 hours, with an average of three provider-parent interactions per visit. Interactions ranged in time from less than one minute to 29 minutes, with an average of six minutes per interaction. A total of 34,544 unique utterances were coded across all interactions. The majority of patient visits were first-time visits for the illness presentation (63.2%). Physicians most commonly gave medical information (22.9%) or asked close-ended medical questions (9.4%), whereas nurses most commonly gave orientation instructions (20.9%). Medical trainees were most likely to employ active listening techniques (e.g. back channels, 14.2%). Communication that included post-discharge instructions for parents comprised 8.5% of all utterances. Overall, providers infrequently assessed parental understanding of information (2.0%). Parent satisfaction with the amount of information communicated was generally high (89.6% agreed or strongly agreed). CONCLUSION This is the first discharge communication study to be conducted in a paediatric ED context using video observation methods. Provider-parent communication was predominantly characterized by the exchange of medical information, with little time devoted to adequately preparing parents to care for their child at home. Greater assessment of parental comprehension is needed to ensure that parents understand important instructions and know when to seek further care.