Non-silicon Technology Research Articles

First results for the pLGAD sensor for low-penetrating particles

Silicon sensors are the go-to technology for high-precision sensors in particle physics. But only recently low-noise silicon sensors with internal amplification became available. The so-called Low Gain Avalanche Detector (LGAD) sensors have been developed for applications in High Energy Physics, but lack two characteristics needed for the measurement of low-energy protons (<60keV): a thin entrance window (in the order of tens of nm) and the efficient amplification of signals created near the sensor’s surface (in a depth below 1µm).In this paper we present the so-called proton Low Gain Avalanche Detector (pLGAD) sensor concept and some results from characterisation of the first prototypes of the sensor. The pLGAD is specifically designed to detect low-energy protons, and other low-penetrating particles. It will have a higher detection efficiency than non-silicon technologies, and promises to be a lot cheaper and easier to operate than competing silicon technologies.

Assessing the impact of R&amp;D policy on PV market development: The case of South Korea

AbstractThe purpose of this article is to examine the Korean photovoltaic (PV) R&amp;D strategy and its effectiveness in helping Korean manufacturer competitiveness. The article reviewed the Korean government's PV R&amp;D funding from 2008 to 2017 and investigated the technology readiness levels of 298 R&amp;D projects funded by the Korean government during the same period. It is found that the Korean government followed a two‐track approach of nurturing commercialization technology to cope with rapid growth and volatility in the current global market. The effects of government support for market‐ready and next‐generation technologies in order to position the country in today's competition and to prepare it for “first mover” opportunities in emerging markets are considered. During 2008–2017, Korean manufacturers maintained a 7% of market share. Module prices, which were more than USD 6 per watt in 2000, fell to less than USD 1 in 2017. From a technical point of view, silicon‐based modules have achieved world‐class status in their efficiency. Performance of the country's nonsilicon technologies reached nearly 90% of the world's best nonsilicon products in the early 2010s, but recently, next‐generation technology development is lagging. Despite Korean PV industry's achievements, it is unclear whether Korean government PV R&amp;D strategy affected competitiveness. Since 2013, the Korean government has sharply cut PV R&amp;D funding. Early growth may have been affected by government support, but recent growth may be driven by corporate strategies. A significantly higher level of R&amp;D funding may be needed for Korea's next‐generation technologies to capture “first mover” status.This article is categorized under: Energy and Climate &gt; Economics and Policy Photovoltaics &gt; Economics and Policy Energy Policy and Planning &gt; Economics and Policy

Design, Simulation and Experimental Study of the Linear Magnetic Microactuator.

This paper reports the design, simulation and experimental study of a linear magnetic microactuator for portable electronic equipment and microsatellite high resolution remote sensing technology. The linear magnetic microactuator consists of a planar microcoil, a supporter and a microspring. Its bistable mechanism can be kept without current by external permanent magnetic force, and can be switched by the bidirectional electromagnetic force. The linearization and threshold of the bistable mechanism was optimized by topology structure design of the microspring. The linear microactuator was then fabricated based on non-silicon technology and the prototype was tested. The testing results indicated that the bistable mechanism was realized with a fast response of 0.96 ms, which verified the simulation and analysis.

CMOS device noise considerations for terabit lightwave systems

An improved model to predict sensitivity of p-i-n lightwave receivers using CMOS technology is proposed. This model incorporates the latest understanding of excess channel noise observed in nanoscale MOSFETs. For the case of an ideal channel filter, the results are presented in an analytical closed form. For nonideal channels, the concept of higher order Personick integrals is introduced. Up to 10 Gb/s, the results predicted by the above model closely mimic the existing CMOS data published over the last 20 years. Above 10 Gb/s, due to lack of CMOS data, projections are evaluated against the nonsilicon technologies. The predictions compare very favorably with the measured system performance using high electron mobility transistors and heterojunction bipolar transistors. The findings thus indicate that CMOS should claim its status as the low-cost high-performance highly integrated technology of choice for lightwave applications beyond 10 Gb/s.

Improved estimates for Te and Se availability from Cu anode slimes and recent price trends

The recent Si supply shortage has provided a foretaste of what might occur when a photovoltaic technology becomes materials-supply constrained. Non-silicon technologies, involving some of the least abundant materials in the earth's crust, have even more fundamental problems with material availability. For both Te and Se, Cu anode slimes produced during Cu electrolytic refining provide the present major supply stream. The availability of material from such slimes is reassessed using recent data and shown to be more limited than earlier estimates. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

A hybrid architecture for programmable computing and evolutionary learning

The relation between the structure and the computational function of the brain must have a plastic quality in order for it to have developed through the Darwinian mechanism of variation and selection. It is likely that such structure-function plasticity plays a role in ontogenetic learning as well. Present-day digital computers, by contrast, are highly programmable. But this powerful property entails rigidly defined structure-function relations that are generally incompatible with self-organization through evolution. Hybrid systems could combine the advantages of both programmability and evolvability. The system described in this paper comprises a conventional machine that communicates with an evolution-amenable cellular automaton system. The latter learns to use its low-level parallelism through a “copy thy neighbor” evolutionary algorithm. We describe some simulation experiments with the system and consider how direct fabrication might be achieved using silicon as well as nonsilicon technologies.

Semiconductor industry in Japan&amp;#8212;past and present

This paper provides an overview of the Japanese semiconductor industry. In the first part, a history of the industry from the very beginning is described. Some unique features of the industry, like consumer orientation, vertical integration, and scale efficiency, are examined. In the second part, the present status of the industry is examined with some emphasis on very large-scale integrated devices and technologies. Nonsilicon technologies are described compared with those of silicon. A wide variety of devices and technologies are now being studied and developed, however, from the industry's viewpoint, the main stream is and will continue to be with silicon. Among such devices, scaled CMOS and high-speed bipolar varieties are of special interest, due to their potential high performance as well as broad application.

LSI-Entwicklung und -Fabrikation

After a brief historical review, the key elements of LSI silicon technology are described, using illustrative examples. Superintegration as well as its limits are discussed. The manufacturing process of a superintegrated 64k-bit memory chip shows the essential issues of a modern high-volume production. An outlook exhibits possible developments even in non-silicon technologies.