Sensitivity-based investigation of threshold voltage variability in 32-nm flash memory cells and MOSFETs

We investigate variability of a 32 nm flash memory cell and of 32 nm MOSFETs with a methodology based on sensitivity analysis performed with a limited number of TCAD simulations. We show that – as far as the standard deviation of the threshold voltage is concerned – our method provides results in very good agreement with those from three-dimensional atomistic statistical simulations, with a computational burden that is orders of magnitude smaller. We show that the proposed approach is a powerful tool to understand the role of the main variability sources and to explore the device design parameter space

Morphology and depth of reflectors from 2D non-linear inversion of seismic data

We present here two methods to obtain reflection images of upper crust seismic reflectors. The techniques are based on migration and waveform coherence analysis of reflected seismic phases recorded in local earthquake seismograms and in active seismic data. The first method is a move-out and stack of reflected seismic phases in local earthquake recordings. The theoretical travel times of reflected/converted phases in a 1D medium for a given interface depth and velocity model are used to align the recordings in time. The locations and origin times of events are initially estimated from the P and S arrival times. Different seismic gathers are obtained for each reflected/converted phase at the interface under consideration, and the best interface depth is chosen as that which maximizes the value of a semblance function computed on moved-out records. This method has been applied to seismic records of microearthquakes that have occurred at the Mt. Vesuvius volcano, and it confirms the reports of an 8- to 10-km-deep seismic discontinuity beneath the volcano that was previously identified as the roof of an extended magmatic sill. The second is a non-linear 2D method for the inversion of reflection travel times aimed at the imaging of a target upper-crust reflector. This method is specifically designed for geophysical investigations in complex geological environments (oil investigations, retrieving of images of volcano structures) where the presence of complex structures makes the standard velocity analysis difficult and degrades the quality of migrated images. Our reflector is represented by nodes of a cubic-spline that are equally spaced at fixed horizontal locations. The method is based on a multiscale approach and uses a global optimization technique (genetic algorithm) that explores the whole of the parameter space, i.e. the interface position nodes. The forward problem (the modelling of reflection travel times) is solved using the finite-difference solver of Podvine & Lecomte (1991) and using an a priori known background velocity model. This non-linear method allows the automated determination of the global minimum (or maximum) without relying on estimates of the gradient of the objective function in the starting model and without making assumptions about the nature of the objective function itself. We have used two types of objective functions. The first is a least-squares L2 norm, defined as the sum of the squared differences between the observed and the calculated travel times. The second is based on coherence measures (semblance). The main advantage of using coherence measures is that they do not require travel-time picking to assess the degree of fit to the data model. Thus, the time performance of the whole procedure is improved and the subjectivity of the human operators in the picking procedure is removed. The methods are tested on synthetic models and have been applied to a subset of data that was collected during the active seismic experiments performed in September 2001 in the gulfs of Naples and Pozzuoli in the framework of what is known as the SERAPIS project

Mechanical Systems: Symmetry and Reduction

Reduction theory is concerned with mechanical systems with symmetries. It constructs a lower dimensional reduced space in which associated conservation laws are taken out and symmetries are \factored out" and studies the relation between the dynamics of the given system with the dynamics on the reduced space. This subject is important in many areas, such as stability of relative equilibria, geometric phases and integrable systems

Non Equilibrium Electronic Distribution in Single Electron Devices

The electronic distribution in devices with sufficiently small diemnsions may not be in thermal equilibrium with their surroundings. Systems where the occupancies of electronic states are solely determined by tunneling processes are analyzed. It is shown that the effective temperature of the device may be higher, or lower, than that of its environment, depending on the applied voltage and the energy dependence of the tunneling rates. The I-V characteristics become asymmetric. Comparison with recent experiments is made

Predictors of mortality in primary antiphospholipid syndrome. A single-centre cohort study.

The vascular mortality of antiphospholipid syndrome (APS) ranges from 1.4 % to 5.5 %, but its predictors are poorly known. It was the study objective to evaluate the impact of baseline lupus anticoagulant assays, IgG anticardiolipin (aCL), plasma fibrinogen (FNG) and von Willebrand factor (VWF), platelets (PLT) and of genetic polymorphisms of methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase C677T, of prothrombin G20210A and of paraoxonase-1 Q192R on mortality in primary APS (PAPS). Cohort study on 77 thrombotic PAPS and 33 asymptomatic carriers of aPL (PCaPL) seen from 1989 to 2015 and persistently positive for aPL as per annual review. At baseline all participants were tested twice for the ratios of kaolin clotting time (KCTr), activated partial thromboplastin time (aPTTr), dilute Russell viper venom time (DRVVTr), IgG aCL, FNG, VWF and once for PLT. All thrombotic PAPS were on warfarin with regular INR monitoring. During follow-up 11 PAPS deceased (D-PAPS) of recurrent thrombosis despite adequate anticoagulation yielding an overall vascular mortality of 10 %. D-PAPS had the strongest baseline aPTTr and DRVVTr and the highest mean baseline IgG aCL, FNG, VWF and PLT. Cox proportional hazards model identified baseline DRVVTr and FNG as main predictors of mortality with adjusted hazard ratios of 5.75 (95 % confidence interval [CI]: 1.5, 22.4) and of 1.03 (95 %CI: 1.01, 1.04), respectively. In conclusion, plasma DRVVTr and FNG are strong predictors of vascular mortality in PAPS; while FNG lowering agents exist further research should be directed at therapeutic strategies able to dampen aPL production

Shot Noise Enhancement in Resonant Tunneling Structures in a Magnetic Field

We have observed that the shot noise of tunnel current, I, in GaSb-AlSb-InAs-AlSb-GaSb double-barrier structure under a magnetic field can exceed 2qI. The measurements were done at T=4K in fields up to 5T parallel to the current. The noise enhancement occurred at each of the several negative-differential conductance regions induced by the tunneling of holes through Landau levels in the InAs quantum well. The amount of the enhancement increased with the strength of the negative conductance and reached values up to 8qI. These results are explained qualitatively by fluctuations of the density of states in the well, but point out the need for a detailed theory of shot noise enhancement in resonant tunneling devices.Comment: 4 pages, RevTex, 3 figure

Low Frequency Quantum Transport in a Three-probe Mesoscopic Conductor

The low frequency quantum transport properties of a three-probe mesoscopic conductor are studied using B\"uttiker's AC transport formalism. The static transmission coefficients and emittance matrix of the system were computed by explicitly evaluating the various partial density of states (PDOS). We have investigated the finite size effect of the scattering volume on the global PDOS. By increasing the scattering volume we observed a gradual improvement in the agreement of the total DOS as computed externally or locally. Our numerical data permits a particular fitting form of the finite size effect.Comment: 13 pages, LaTeX, submitted to Phys. Rev.

Partial Densities of States, Scattering Matrices, and Green's Functions

The response of an arbitrary scattering problem to quasi-static perturbations in the scattering potential is naturally expressed in terms of a set of local partial densities of states and a set of sensitivities each associated with one element of the scattering matrix. We define the local partial densities of states and the sensitivities in terms of functional derivatives of the scattering matrix and discuss their relation to the Green's function. Certain combinations of the local partial densities of states represent the injectivity of a scattering channel into the system and the emissivity into a scattering channel. It is shown that the injectivities and emissivities are simply related to the absolute square of the scattering wave-function. We discuss also the connection of the partial densities of states and the sensitivities to characteristic times. We apply these concepts to a delta-barrier and to the local Larmor clock.Comment: 13 pages (revtex), 4 figure

Effects of the antioxidant crocin on frozen-thawed buffalo (Bubalus bubalis) sperm

This work aimed to evaluate the effect of crocin on frozen-thawed sperm quality in buffalo. Spermatozoa were incubated in Tyrode’s Albumin Lactate Pyruvate medium supplemented with 0, 0.5, 1, and 2 mM crocin for 2 h. Sperm motility was evaluated by phase-contrast microscopy, viability and acrosome integrity by Trypan blue Giemsa staining, and membrane functional integrity by the hypoosmotic swelling test. The DNA fragmentation was evaluated by Tunel and ROS levels by spectrofluorometric analysis. The treatment with 2 mM of crocin increased (P <.05) sperm membrane functional integrity compared to the control group (59.1 ± 1.6 vs 53.3 ± 1.5) and reduced sperm DNA fragmentation, compared to the other groups (11.3 ± 1.1, 13.3 ± 1.2, 13.6 ± 1.2 and 6.0 ± 0.7, respectively in 0, 0.5, 1 and 2 mM crocin; P <.01). Finally, a dose-dependent decrease (P <.01) in superoxide anion production in the presence of crocin was observed, as indicated by Dihydroethidium values (922.6 ± 13.0, 596.8 ± 7.4, 498.9 ± 5.3 and 421.4 ± 5.0 a.u., respectively in 0, 0.5, 1 and 2 mM crocin; P <.01). The results of this study demonstrated a positive effect of 2 mM crocin on frozen-thawed buffalo sperm, as indicated by the improvement of sperm membrane integrity and the reduction of DNA fragmentation and ROS levels.Highlights Crocin improves buffalo sperm quality. Crocin improves sperm membrane integrity and reduces DNA fragmentation. Crocin decreases oxidative stress in buffalo sperm