Method of Manufacturing a Semiconductor Heteroepitaxy Structure

A method of manufacturing a semiconductor structure includes the steps of depositing a layer of semiconductor oxide on a base semiconductor layer, scavenging oxygen from the layer of semiconductor oxide and recrystallizing the oxygen scavenged layer of semiconductor oxide as a semiconductor heteroepitaxy layer

Moisture Sensors on Conductive Substrates

A moisture sensor includes a first electrode (a conductive substrate) having a first sensor portion and a first terminal portion as well as a second electrode having a second sensor portion and a second terminal portion. The moisture sensor also includes a layer of porous dielectric material sandwiched between the first sensor portion and the second sensor portion. Further the moisture sensor includes a layer of dense insulating material sandwiched between the first terminal portion and the second terminal portion. Leads are then connected to the two terminal portions

Sensors for Integrated Monitoring and Mitigation of Scour

Systems and methods for detecting scour. Some embodiments provide systems which include a sensor and a signal generator with a combined density equal to or greater than that of water. Optionally, the sensor can be a magnet, magnetic resonator, or accelerometer. In some embodiments, the sensor is adapted to be placed in regions potentially subject to scour and to sense a scour-related condition. The signal generator generates a wireless signal conveying data regarding the as-sensed scour-related. In some embodiments the sensor is the signal generator while a receiver of the wireless signal can include an antenna, a magnetometer, or an ultrasonic sensor. In some embodiments, the housing is conic and the magnetic object is offset from the center of gravity of the coupled sensor, signal generator and housing

Smart rocks for integrated monitoring and mitigation of bridge scour ready for triage [abstract]

Scour is a process in which a fluid erodes material supporting a structure. When scour occurs near a bridge, the associated erosion can cause that bridge to collapse. Bridge collapses occur in hours or days. To prevent them, scour must be monitored and its mitigation strategy must be developed in real time. This invention introduces magnetic embodiments with sensors, a smart rock system, to tackle the grand challenge of scour monitoring and mitigation in real time. The smart rock system can facilitate an evaluation of the critical scour condition of bridges and reduce damage and loss of life from bridge failures caused by scour. Potential Areas of Applications: * applied for existing bridges * applied for new construction * tracking rocks that can also be used to stabilize bridge foundations. Patent Status: Provisional Patent Application Filed Inventor(s): Genda Chen, David J. Pommerenke, Zhi Zhou, Ying Huang Contact Info: Keith Strassner, [email protected]; 573-341-6725 Eric Anderson, [email protected]; 573-341-4551 Vera Anderson, [email protected]; 573-341-726

Experimental Quantum Teleportation and Multi-Photon Entanglement via Interfering Narrowband Photon Sources

In this letter, we report a realization of synchronization-free quantum teleportation and narrowband three-photon entanglement through interfering narrowband photon sources. Since both the single-photon and the entangled photon pair utilized are completely autonomous, it removes the requirement of high demanding synchronization technique in long-distance quantum communication with pulsed spontaneous parametric down-conversion sources. The frequency linewidth of the three-photon entanglement realized is on the order of several MHz, which matches the requirement of atomic ensemble based quantum memories. Such a narrowband multi-photon source will have applications in some advanced quantum communication protocols and linear optical quantum computation

Sensors for Integrated Monitoring and Mitigation of Erosion

Methods and systems for measuring erosion. Systems of various embodiments include a sensor adapted to be placed where earthen material is expected to move and to sense a condition related to that movement (for instance, the position of the sensor). The sensor includes a receiver for receiving a wireless signal (be it acoustic, magneto-inductive, etc.) from another sensor which conveys an identifier for the second sensor. The first sensor also includes a signal generator that generates a second (possibly wireless) signal conveying that identifier and its own identifier. Systems of some embodiments include a second receiver placed outside of the region. If desired, the sensor can determine the signal strengths of the signals that they receive from the other sensor and can convey an indication of the received signal strengths. Furthermore, some sensors include accelerometers, roll sensors, tilt sensors, yaw sensors, magnetometers, etc

Primary studies of trace quantities of green vegetation in Mono Lake area using 1990 AVIRIS data

Our primary results in Jasper Ridge Biological Preserve indicate that high spectral resolution Airborne Visible/Infrared Imaging Spectrometer (AVIRIS) data may provide a substantial advantage in vegetation, based on the chlorophyll red edge feature from 700-780 nm. The chlorophyll red edge was detected for green vegetation cover as low as 4.8 percent. The objective of our studies in Mono Lake area is to continue the experiments performed in Jasper Ridge and to examine the persistence of red edge feature of trace quantities of green vegetation for different plant communities with non-uniform soil backgrounds

Improving the Performance and Stability of Flexible Pressure Sensors with an Air Gap Structure

A highly sensitive flexible resistive pressure sensor based on an air gap structure was presented. The flexible pressure sensor consists of two face to face polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) films covered with carbon nanotubes (CNTs). The pressure sensor with a 230 μm thickness air gap has relatively high sensitivity (58.9 kPa−1 in the range of 1–5 Pa, 0.66 kPa−1 in the range of 5–100 Pa), low detectable pressure limit (1 Pa), and a short response time (less than 1 s). The test results showed that the pressure sensor with an appropriate air gap has excellent pressure sensitive performance and application potential

An Empirical Study of the Landscape of Open Source Projects in Baidu, Alibaba, and Tencent

Open source software has drawn more and more attention from researchers, developers and companies nowadays. Meanwhile, many Chinese technology companies are embracing open source and choosing to open source their projects. Nevertheless, most previous studies are concentrated on international companies such as Microsoft or Google, while the practical values of open source projects of Chinese technology companies remain unclear. To address this issue, we conduct a mixed-method study to investigate the landscape of projects open sourced by three large Chinese technology companies, namely Baidu, Alibaba, and Tencent (BAT). We study the categories and characteristics of open source projects, the developer's perceptions towards open sourcing effort for these companies, and the internationalization effort of their open source projects. We collected 1,000 open source projects that were open sourced by BAT in GitHub and performed an online survey that received 101 responses from developers of these projects. Some key findings include: 1) BAT prefer to open source frontend development projects, 2) 88\% of the respondents are positive towards open sourcing software projects in their respective companies, 3) 64\% of the respondents reveal that the most common motivations for BAT to open source their projects are the desire to gain fame, expand their influence and gain recruitment advantage, 4) respondents believe that the most common internationalization effort is "providing an English version of readme files", 5) projects with more internationalization effort (i.e., include an English readme file) are more popular. Our findings provide directions for software engineering researchers and provide practical suggestions to software developers and Chinese technology companies