This book describes the physics of phase change memory devices, starting from basic operation to reliability issues. The book gives a comprehensive overlook of PCM with particular attention to the electrical transport and the phase transition physics between the two states. The book also contains design engineering details on PCM cell architecture, PCM cell arrays (including electrical circuit management), as well as the full spectrum of possible future applications.

This book highlights the tools and processes used to produce high-quality glass molded optics using commercially available equipment. Combining scientific data with easy-to-understand explanations of specific molding issues and general industry information based on firsthand studies and experimentation, it provides useful formulas for readers involved in developing develop in-house molding capabilities, or those who supply molded glass optics. Many of the techniques described are based on insights gained from industry and research over the past 50 years, and can easily be applied by anyone familiar with glass molding or optics manufacturing. There is an abundance of information from around the globe, but knowledge comes from the application of information, and there is no knowledge without experience. This book provides readers with information, to allow them to gain knowledge and achieve success in their glass molding endeavors.

Provides a glimpse of the recent developments in metamaterial research Introduces new metamaterial designs to be used in the microwave and optical regimes Discusses the usefulness of new designs in developing absorbers and/or sensors Explores the platforms for future technology of embedded systems

The increasing demand for mobile and wireless sensing necessitates the use of highly integrated technology featuring small size, low weight, high performance and low cost: micro-electro-mechanical systems (MEMS) can meet this need. The Handbook of MEMS for wireless and mobile applications provides a comprehensive overview of radio frequency (RF) MEMS technologies and explores the use of these technologies over a wide range of application areas.
Part one provides an introduction to the use of RF MEMS as an enabling technology for wireless applications. Chapters review RF MEMS technology and applications as a whole before moving on to describe specific technologies for wireless applications including passive components, phase shifters and antennas. Packaging and reliability of RF MEMS is also discussed. Chapters in part two focus on wireless techniques and applications of wireless MEMS including biomedical applications, such as implantable MEMS, intraocular pressure sensors and wireless drug delivery. Further chapters highlight the use of RF MEMS for automotive radar, the monitoring of telecommunications reliability using wireless MEMS and the use of optical MEMS displays in portable electronics.
With its distinguished editor and international team of expert authors, the Handbook of MEMS for wireless and mobile applications is a technical resource for MEMS manufacturers, the electronics industry, and scientists, engineers and academics working on MEMS and wireless systems.
Reviews the use of radio frequency (RF) MEMS as an enabling technology for wireless applicationsDiscusses wireless techniques and applications of wireless MEMS, including biomedical applicationsDescribes monitoring structures and the environment with wireless MEMS

The electronic device based on Metal Oxide Semiconductor (MOS) structure is the most important component of a large-scale integrated circuit, and is therefore a fundamental building block of the information society. Indeed, high quality MOS structure is the key to achieving high performance devices and integrated circuits. Meanwhile, the control of interface physics, process and characterization methods determine the quality of MOS structure. This book tries to answer five key questions: Why are high-performance integrated circuits bonded together so closely with MOS structure? Which physical phenomena occur in MOS structure? How do these phenomena affect the performance of MOS structure? How can we observe and quantify these phenomena scientifically? How to control the above phenomena through process? Principles are explained based on common experimental phenomena, from sensibility to rationality, via abundant experimental examples focusing on MOS structure, including specific experimental steps with a strong level of operability. This book will be an essential reference for engineers in semiconductor related fields and academics and postgraduates within the field of microelectronics.

This book presents the principles, experimental technologies, up-to-date research findings and applications of various optical-computing technologies and devices. It also discusses semiconductor multiple quantum well (MQW) photoelectronic devices, vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers (VCSELs), lasers, micro optical elements and diffractive optical elements, optical storage, optical parallel interconnections, and optical-buffer technology as the main technologies for optical computing. Furthermore, it explores the potential of optical-computing technology. It offers those involved in optical design, photonics, and photoelectronic research and related industries insights into the fundamentals and theories of optical computing, enabling them and to extend and develop the functions of fundamental elements to meet the requirement of optical-computing systems.

Shear Thickening Fluid: Theory and Applications provides a complete reference on shear thickening fluid (STF) and STF applications for engineers, researchers, and scientists. STF rheology is discussed in terms of several factors, including suspension medium, particle size, particle shape, and environmental conditions. Single-phase STF is discussed, and the novel concept of multi-phase STF is examined by considering various fillers in this smart fluid. Prominent applications of STF are categorized as multi-functional systems, adaptive damping devices, surface finishing operations, and protective structures, and the applications are described by discussing the smart behavior of STF. 

Electrical overstress (EOS) and Electrostatic discharge (ESD) pose one of the most dominant threats to integrated circuits (ICs). These reliability concerns are becoming more serious with the downward scaling of device feature sizes. Modeling of Electrical Overstress in Integrated Circuits presents a comprehensive analysis of EOS/ESD-related failures in I/O protection devices in integrated circuits. The design of I/O protection circuits has been done in a hit-or-miss way due to the lack of systematic analysis tools and concrete design guidelines. In general, the development of on-chip protection structures is a lengthy expensive iterative process that involves tester design, fabrication, testing and redesign. When the technology is changed, the same process has to be repeated almost entirely. This can be attributed to the lack of efficient CAD tools capable of simulating the device behavior up to the onset of failure which is a 3-D electrothermal problem. For these reasons, it is important to develop and use an adequate measure of the EOS robustness of integrated circuits in order to address the on-chip EOS protection issue. Fundamental understanding of the physical phenomena leading to device failures under ESD/EOS events is needed for the development of device models and CAD tools that can efficiently describe the device behavior up to the onset of thermal failure. Modeling of Electrical Overstress in Integrated Circuits is for VLSI designers and reliability engineers, particularly those who are working on the development of EOS/ESD analysis tools. CAD engineers working on development of circuit level and device level electrothermal simulators will also benefit from the material covered. This book will also be of interest to researchers and first and second year graduate students working in semiconductor devices and IC reliability fields.

This book explores the world of microcontroller development through friendly lessons and progressively challenging projects, which will have you blink LEDs, make music with buzzers & interact with different sensors like accelerometers and temperature sensors. This book is focused on the MSP-EXP430G2 LaunchPad Evaluation Kit, which is a complete microcontroller development platform that includes everything you need to start creating microcontroller-based projects. Many of the 25+ projects will also leverage external components, such as the highly-integrated Educational BoosterPack, which is a modular extension to the LaunchPad and includes many components such as an RGB LED, character LCD & potentiometer.

This book provides helpful guides that break down hardware circuits through visual diagrams and includes fully-commented code examples. Concepts are broken down and explained in an easy to follow language and analogies to help you understand the principles behind each project/system. The projects will encourage you to use and even combine the fundamental concepts to develop your ideas in creating new microcontroller solutions.

Coverage includes:

Digital Input/Output: buttons, LEDs, turning anything into a button

Analog Input/Output: sensors, temperature, accelerometer, potentiometer, etc.

Programming fundamentals: conditional branches & loops, flow, logic, number systems

Pulse-Width Modulation (PWM): square wave, buzzer, analog signal simulation

Serial Communication: UART, SPI & I2C

Code development using Energia, a free, open-source code editor and compiler

Debugging through serial communication with a computer

Interfacing with external components such as LEDs, buzzers, potentiometers, sensors & more.

With the help of this book, you will be challenged to think about developing your own unique microcontroller-based application, and you will be equipped to start solving various problems, adding intelligence to existing products, or even developing your own innovative creations with a LaunchPad development kit.
Includes over 25 projects which focuses on a learn by doing approach

Contains easy to follow diagrams and code examples

Covers Programming fundamentals, such as conditional branches and loops, flow, logic, number systems

"Photoelectrochemical Hydrogen Production" describes the principles and materials challenges for the conversion of sunlight into hydrogen through water splitting at a semiconducting electrode. Readers will find an analysis of the solid state properties and materials requirements for semiconducting photo-electrodes, a detailed description of the semiconductor/electrolyte interface, in addition to the photo-electrochemical (PEC) cell. Experimental techniques to investigate both materials and PEC device performance are outlined, followed by an overview of the current state-of-the-art in PEC materials and devices, and combinatorial approaches towards the development of new materials. Finally, the economic and business perspectives of PEC devices are discussed, and promising future directions indicated.

Photoelectrochemical Hydrogen Production is a one-stop resource for scientists, students and R&D practitioners starting in this field, providing both the theoretical background as well as useful practical information on photoelectrochemical measurement techniques. Experts in the field benefit from the chapters on current state-of-the-art materials/devices and future directions.

The book covers recent advances and progress in understanding both the fundamental science of lasers interactions in materials science, as well as a special emphasis on emerging applications enabled by the irradiation of materials by pulsed laser systems. The different chapters illustrate how, by careful control of the processing conditions, laser irradiation can result in efficient material synthesis, characterization, and fabrication at various length scales from atomically-thin 2D materials to microstructured periodic surface structures. This book serves as an excellent resource for all who employ lasers in materials science, spanning such different disciplines as photonics, photovoltaics, and sensing, to biomedical applications.

This book introduces readers to the latest advances in sensing technology for a broad range of non-volatile memories (NVMs). Challenges across the memory technologies are highlighted and their solutions in mature technology are discussed, enabling innovation of sensing technologies for future NVMs. Coverage includes sensing techniques ranging from well-established NVMs such as hard disk, flash, Magnetic RAM (MRAM) to emerging NVMs such as ReRAM, STTRAM, FeRAM and Domain Wall Memory will be covered.

"Electroactivity in Polymeric Materials"provides an in-depth viewof the theory of electroactivity and exploresexactly how and whyvarious electroactive phenomena occur. The book explains the theory behind electroactive bending (including ion-polymer-metal-composites -IPMCs), dielectric elastomers, electroactive contraction, andelectroactive contraction-expansion cycles. The book also balances theory with applications - how electroactivity can be used - drawing inspiration from the manmade mechanical world and the natural world around us.
"

A variety of nanomaterials have excellent optoelectronic and electronic properties for novel device applications. At the same time, and with advances in silicon integrated circuit (IC) techniques, compatible Si-based nanomaterials hold promise of applying the advantages of nanomaterials to the conventional IC industry. This book focuses not only on silicon nanomaterials, but also summarizes up-to-date developments in the integration of non-silicon nanomaterials on silicon. The book showcases the work of leading researchers from around the world who address such key questions as: Which silicon nanomaterials can give the desired optical, electrical, and structural properties, and how are they prepared? What nanomaterials can be integrated on to a silicon substrate and how is this accomplished? What Si-based nanomaterials may bring a breakthrough in this field? These questions address the practical issues associated with the development of nanomaterial-based devices in applications areas such as solar cells, luminous devices for optical communication (detectors, lasers), and high mobility transistors. Investigation of silicon-based nanostructures is of great importance to make full use of nanomaterials for device applications. Readers will receive a comprehensive view of Si-based nanomaterials, which will hopefully stimulate interest in developing novel nanostructures or techniques to satisfy the requirements of high performance device applications. The goal is to make nanomaterials the main constituents of the high performance devices of the future.

Considerable amount of effort has been devoted, over the recent years, towards the development of electronic skin (e-skin) for many application domains such as prosthetics, robotics, and industrial automation. Electronic Skin: Sensors and Systems focuses on the main components constituting the e-skin system. The e-skin system is based on: i) sensing materials composing the tactile sensor array, ii) the front end electronics for data acquisition and signal conditioning, iii) the embedded processing unit performing tactile data decoding, and iv) the communication interface in charge of transmitting the sensors data for further computing. Technical topics discussed in the book include: * Tactile sensing material; * Electronic Skin systems; * Embedded computing and tactile data decoding; * Communication systems for tactile data transmission; * Relevant applications of e-skin system; The book takes into account not only sensing materials but it also provides a thorough assessment of the current state of the art at system level. The book addresses embedded electronics and tactile data processing and decoding, techniques for low power embedded computing, and the communication interface. Electronic Skin: Sensors and Systems is ideal for researchers, Ph.D. students, academic staff and Masters/research students in sensors/sensing systems, embedded systems, data processing and decoding, and communication systems.

Semiconducting polymers are of great interest for applications in electroluminescent devices, solar cells, batteries, and diodes. This volume provides a thorough introduction to the basic concepts of the photophysics of semiconducting polymers as well as a description of the principal polymerization methods for luminescent polymers. Divided into two main sections, the book first introduces the advances made in polymer synthesis and then goes on to focus on the photophysics aspects, also exploring how new advances in the area of controlled syntheses of semiconducting polymers are applied. An understanding of the photophysics process in this kind of material requires some knowledge of many different terms in this field, so a chapter on the basic concepts is included. The process that occurs in semiconducting polymers spans time scales that are unimaginably fast, sometimes less than a picosecond. To appreciate this extraordinary scale, it is necessary to learn a range of vocabularies and concepts that stretch from the basic concepts of photophysics to modern applications, such as electroluminescent devices, solar cells, batteries, and diodes. This book provides a starting point for a broadly based understanding of photophysics concepts applied in understanding semiconducting polymers, incorporating critical ideas from across the scientific spectrum.

This book summarizes the basic physics of graphite and newly discovered phenomena in this material. The book contains the knowledge needed to understand novel properties of functionalized graphite demonstrating the occurrence of remarkable phenomena in disordered graphite and graphite-based heterostructures. It also discusses applications of thin graphitic samples in future electronics. Graphite consists of a stack of nearly decoupled two-dimensional graphene planes. Because of the low dimensionality and the presence of Dirac fermions, much of graphite physics resembles that of graphene. On the other hand, the multi-layered nature of the graphite structure together with structural and/or chemical disorder are responsible for phenomena that are not observed yet in graphene, such as ferromagnetic order and superconductivity. Each chapter was written by one or more experts in the field whose contributions were relevant in the (re)discovery of (un)known phenomena in graphite. The book is intended as reference for beginners and experts in the field, introducing them to many aspects of the new physics of graphite, with a fresh overview of recently found phenomena and the theoretical frames to understand them.

This second edition is a comprehensive introduction to all aspects of thermoelectric energy conversion. It covers both theory and practice. The book is timely as it refers to the many improvements that have come about in the last few years through the use of nanostructures. The concept of semiconductor thermoelements led to major advances during the second half of the twentieth century, making Peltier refrigeration a widely used technique. The latest materials herald thermoelectric generation as the preferred technique for exploiting low-grade heat. The book shows how progress has been made by increasing the thermal resistivity of the lattice until it is almost as large as it is for glass. It points the way towards the attainment of similar improvements in the electronic parameters. It does not neglect practical considerations, such as the desirability of making thermocouples from inexpensive and environmentally acceptable materials. The second edition was extended to also include recent advances in thermoelectric energy conversion, particularly the production of bulk nanostructures, new materials with higher thermoelectric figures to use the possibility of large scale thermoelectric generation, as part of the worldwide strategy for making better use of energy resources. This book guides the newcomer towards the state of the art and shows the principles for further advancement to those who are already familiar with the subject. The author has been able to draw on his long experience to cover the science and technology in a balanced way while drawing on the expertise of others who have made major contributions to the field.

Nowadays it is hard to find an electronic device which does not use codes: for example, we listen to music via heavily encoded audio CD's and we watch movies via encoded DVD's. There is at least one area where the use of encoding/decoding is not so developed, yet: Flash non-volatile memories. Flash memory high-density, low power, cost effectiveness, and scalable design make it an ideal choice to fuel the explosion of multimedia products, like USB keys, MP3 players, digital cameras and solid-state disk.

In ECC for Non-Volatile Memories the authors expose the basics of coding theory needed to understand the application to memories, as well as the relevant design topics, with reference to both NOR and NAND Flash architectures. A collection of software routines is also included for better understanding.

The authors form a research group (now at Qimonda) which is the typical example of a fruitful collaboration between mathematicians and engineers.

"Microelectronic Test Structures for CMOS Technology and Products" addresses the basic concepts of the design of test structures for incorporation within test-vehicles, scribe-lines, and CMOS products. The role of test structures in the development and monitoring of CMOS technologies and products has become ever more important with the increased cost and complexity of development and manufacturing. In this timely volume, IBM scientists Manjul Bhushan and Mark Ketchen emphasize high speed characterization techniques for digital CMOS circuit applications and bridging between circuit performance and characteristics of MOSFETs and other circuit elements. Detailed examples are presented throughout, many of which are equally applicable to other microelectronic technologies as well. The authors' overarching goal is to provide students and technology practitioners alike a practical guide to the disciplined design and use of test structures that give unambiguous information on the parametrics and performance of digital CMOS technology. "

This book comprises of chapters based on design of various advanced nano-catalysts and offers a development of novel solutions for a better sustainable energy future. The book includes all aspects of physical chemistry, chemical engineering and material science. The advances in nanoscience and nanotechnology help to find cost-effective and environmentally sound methods of converting naturally inspired resources into fuels, chemicals and energy. The book leads the scientific community to the most significant development in the focus research area. It provides a broad and in-depth coverage of design and development advanced nano-catalyst for various energy applications.