Cause and Effect of Threshold-Voltage Instability on the Reliability of Silicon-Carbide MOSFETs

A significant instability of the threshold voltage (VT) in silicon carbide (SiC) MOSFETs in response to gate-bias and ON-state current stressing was discovered and examined as a function of bias, temperature, and time. It was determined that the likely mechanism causing this effect is the charging and discharging of gate-oxide traps, located close to the interface of the SiC conducting channel, via a direct tunneling mechanism. High-temperature reverse-bias induced leakage current in the OFF-state was identified as a potential failure mode. A simultaneous two-way tunneling model was developed, based on an existing one-way tunneling model, to simulate the time-dependent and field-dependent charging and discharging of the near-interfacial oxide traps in response to an applied gate-bias stress. The simulations successfully matched experimental results, both with respect to measurement time and to bias-stress time as a function of gate bias. Experimental results were presented, showing that the VT instability increases with both increasing gate-bias-stress time and bias-stress magnitude. The measurement conditions, including gate-ramp speed and direction, were shown to have a significant influence on the measured result, with a 20-μs measurement revealing instabilities three times greater than those at standard 1-s measurement speeds, whereas 1-ks measurements showed shifts only half as large. High-temperature bias stressing was found to cause even more significant increases in the VT instability. ON-state current stressing was found to also increase the VT instability, due to self-heating effects. VT shifts as large as 2 V were reported, with the number of calculated oxide traps switching charge state varying between 1×1011 and 8×1011 cm–2, depending on processing, stress, and measurement conditions. The standard post-oxidation NO anneal was shown to reduce the number of active oxide traps by about 70 percent. The dominant oxide trap was identified as an E-prime-center type defect—a weak Si-Si bond due to an oxygen vacancy which has been broken during processing or subsequent device stressing. The large increase in bias-stress induced VT instability at temperatures above 100 °C was explained by an increase in the number of active E-prime-center type defects. Existing reliability qualification standards based on silicon device technology are inadequate for SiC MOSFETs and need to be revised, with particular attention paid to the measurement conditions

Compositional and structural variabilities of MG-rich iron oxide spinels from tuffite.

A maghemita (yFe2O3) de tufito e, excepcionalmente, rica em magnesio, se comparada as comumente encontradas em outros litossistemas maficos. Na tentativa de investigar em detalhes a variabilidade composicional e estrutural desses oxidos naturais de ferro, alguns conjuntos de cristais foram separados de amostras coletadas a diferentes posicoes de um manto de intemperismo de tufito. Esses conjuntos de cristais foram, individualmente, estudados por difracao de raios-X, espectroscopia Mossbauer, medidas de magnetizacao e analise quimica. Da difratometria de raios-X, observou-se que o parametro da celula cubica (ao) varia de 0,834(1) a 0,8412(1) nm. Os valores mais baixos de ao sao caracteristicos de maghemita; os mais altos sao atribuidos a magnetita, mineral magnetico precursor. Os teores de Fe0 alcancam 17 mass % e os valaores de magnetizacao espontanea variam de 8 a 32 J T1 kg1. Os espectros Mossbauer, obtidos com a amostra mantida a temperatura do ambiente, na ausencia de campo magnetico aplicado, sao bastante complexos, om indicacoes de ocorrencia de superposicao de distribuicoes de campo hiperfino, devidas ao Fe3+ e ao ion de valencia mista Fe3+12+. A variabilidade estrutural dos oxidos de ferro, isoestruturais ao espinelio e ricos em Mg e Ti, e, essencialmente, relacionada com os graus variaveis de oxidacao do mineral precursor, a magnetita rica em Mg e Ti

Peptide Characterization Of Mature Fluorotic And Control Human Enamel

Exposure to high fluoride levels during amelogenesis causes enamel fluorosis. This study aimed to determine and compare the amino acid sequences in the enamel of fluorotic and control teeth. This investigation included enamel samples obtained from erupted and non-erupted third molars with either TF grade 4-6 (n=7) fluorosis or no sign of fluorosis (controls, n=7). The samples were kept frozen at -20 °C until protein extraction. Samples were etched and processed with a cocktail of proteinase inhibitors and immediately analyzed. Matrix Assisted Laser Desorption/Ionization-Time-Of-Flight/Time-of-Flight Mass Spectrometry (MALDI-TOF/TOF) followed by MASCOT search aided the peptides analysis. The more abundant peptides bore the N-terminal amelogenin sequences WYQSIRPPYP (which is specific for the X-encoded amelogenin) and MPLPPHPGHPGYINF (which does not show sexual dimorphism) were not different in control or fluorotic enamel. There was no missing proteolytic cleavage in the fluorotic samples, which suggested that the increased amount of protein described in fluorotic enamel did not stem from the decreased ability of proteinases to cleave the proteins in humans. This study showed how to successfully obtain peptide from superficial enamel. A relatively low number of teeth was sufficient to provide good data on the actual peptides found in mature enamel.271667

Implementing sustainable urban travel policies in Mexico

This report describes the main challenges to urban travel in Mexico. We focus on some of the basic causes of urban transport problems, and we analyze some urban travel policies that could be considered good practices towards sustainable urban development. Mexico City is the emblematic case

Combustion instability and ash agglomeration in wood pellets boiler

The combustion instability and ash agglomeration in a wood pellet boiler were investigated in this study. The tests were conducted using the Taguchi method of orthogonal array L27(133). Several parameters are applied, including grate area (GA), primary to secondary air split ratio (SR), excess air (EA), and fuel power (P). Pine wood pellets were used, and the boiler’s nominal load was 20 kW. The results show that instability during combustion occurs since the fuel bed rises as the accumulation of the unburned wood pellets on the grate causes a slow combustion rate and pressure drop, which creates noise and disturbances. A good combination of the parameters applied to TN9 and TN20 can be useful in obtaining stable combustion. In addition, the ash agglomerations were influenced by the duration of the combustion and the temperature of the fuel bed. The largest size of the ash agglomeration was referred to as test number-TN26 (P: 16 kW, EA: 110%, SR: 30/70, and GA: 115 mm × 75 mm), which is 59 mm, and the duration time is 14,400 s (≈4 h).This work has been supported by FCT—Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia within the R&D Units, MEtRICs Project Scope: UIDB/04077/2020; Lelis Fraga was supported through a PhD Grant by Fundo de Desenvolvimento Capital Humano of the Government of Timor Leste

Manual da ferramenta Planejo: planejamento da colheita e controle da produção florestal.

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The potential of renewable energy in Timor-Leste: An assessment for biomass

This paper assesses the potential of biomass energy resources in Timor-Leste (TL). Although other renewable energy sources are mentioned in this article, such as wind energy, solar energy, hydropower, bioenergy, including bioethanol and biogas, the main goal is to gather the data on biomass in TL and provide such data as useful information for a wide range of end-users. The current evaluation is based on various sources which include previous assessments on biomass and other renewable sources. The energy potential of biomass in TL apart that resulting from vegetation or flora and animals is also derived from agricultural waste, such as waste from rice, corn, and coffee. The analyses also include the contribution of agricultural waste, animal waste, and that from urban waste. The results from this article show that the potential of usable biomass energy in TL from forestry and agriculture is 1.68 × 106 toe/year, animal waste is 4.81 × 103 toe/year, and urban solid waste amounts to 9.55 × 103 toe/year. In addition, it is concluded that biomass alone can fully replace fossil fuels for electricity generation.This work is supported by FCT with the Reference Project UID/EEA/04436/2013, by FEDER Funds through the COMPETE 2020—Programa Operacional Competitividade e Internacionalização (POCI) with the Reference Project POCI-01-0145-FEDER-006941. This work was financed by FCT, under the Strategic Project UID/SEM/04077/2013; PEst2015-2020 with the Reference UID/CEC/00319/2013.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Peptide characterization of mature fluorotic and control human enamel

Exposure to high fluoride levels during amelogenesis causes enamel fluorosis. This study aimed to determine and compare the amino acid sequences in the enamel of fluorotic and control teeth. This investigation included enamel samples obtained from erupted and non-erupted third molars with either TF grade 4-6 (n=7) fluorosis or no sign of fluorosis (controls, n=7). The samples were kept frozen at -20 °C until protein extraction. Samples were etched and processed with a cocktail of proteinase inhibitors and immediately analyzed. Matrix Assisted Laser Desorption/Ionization-Time-Of-Flight/Time-of-Flight Mass Spectrometry (MALDI-TOF/TOF) followed by MASCOT search aided the peptides analysis. The more abundant peptides bore the N-terminal amelogenin sequences WYQSIRPPYP (which is specific for the X-encoded amelogenin) and MPLPPHPGHPGYINF (which does not show sexual dimorphism) were not different in control or fluorotic enamel. There was no missing proteolytic cleavage in the fluorotic samples, which suggested that the increased amount of protein described in fluorotic enamel did not stem from the decreased ability of proteinases to cleave the proteins in humans. This study showed how to successfully obtain peptide from superficial enamel. A relatively low number of teeth was sufficient to provide good data on the actual peptides found in mature enamel2716671CONSELHO NACIONAL DE DESENVOLVIMENTO CIENTÍFICO E TECNOLÓGICO - CNPQFUNDAÇÃO DE AMPARO À PESQUISA DO ESTADO DE SÃO PAULO - FAPESPSem informaçãoSem informaçãoExposição a altos níveis de flúor durante a amelogênese causa fluorose no esmalte. Este estudo tem como objetivo determinar e comparar as sequências de aminoácidos presentes no esmalte de dentes controles e fluoróticos. A investigação incluiu amostras de esmalte obtidas de terceiros molares erupcionados e não erupcionados, ambas ou com grau de fluorose TF 4-6 (n=7) ou sem sinais de fluorose (controles, n=7), congelados a -20 oC até a extração das proteínas. As amostras sofreram ataque ácido e foram processadas utilizando um coquetel de inibidores de proteinases, sendo imediatamente analisadas. MALDI-TOF/TOF seguido pela pesquisa com MASCOT foram utilizados para a análise dos peptídeos. Os peptídeos mais abundantes foram das amelogeninas com sequências N-terminal WYQSIRPPYP (que é codificada especificamente pela amelogenina X) e MPLPPHPGHPGYINF (que não apresenta dimorfismo sexual algum), não havendo diferenças entre dentes fluoróticos e controles. Nenhuma alteração na proteólise ocorreu nas amostras fluoróticas, o que sugere que o aumento na quantidade de proteínas existentes nas amostras fluoróticas não está correlacionada a habilidade das proteinases em clivar as proteínas em humanos. Este estudo mostrou como extrair com sucesso peptídeos do esmalte superficial. Um número relativamente baixo de dentes foram suficientes para se obter ótimos dados a respeito de peptídeos encontrados no esmalte madur