302 research outputs found
Correction of electrode modelling errors in multi-frequency EIT imaging
The differentiation of haemorrhagic from ischaemic stroke using electrical impedance tomography (EIT) requires measurements at multiple frequencies, since the general lack of healthy measurements on the same patient excludes time-difference imaging methods. It has previously been shown that the inaccurate modelling of electrodes constitutes one of the largest sources of image artefacts in non-linear multi-frequency EIT applications. To address this issue, we augmented the conductivity Jacobian matrix with a Jacobian matrix with respect to electrode movement. Using this new algorithm, simulated ischaemic and haemorrhagic strokes in a realistic head model were reconstructed for varying degrees of electrode position errors. The simultaneous recovery of conductivity spectra and electrode positions removed most artefacts caused by inaccurately modelled electrodes. Reconstructions were stable for electrode position errors of up to 1.5 mm standard deviation along both surface dimensions. We conclude that this method can be used for electrode model correction in multi-frequency EIT
Are patient specific meshes required for EIT head imaging?
Head imaging with electrical impedance tomography (EIT) is usually done with time-differential measurements, to reduce time-invariant modelling errors. Previous research suggested that more accurate head models improved image quality, but no thorough analysis has been done on the required accuracy. We propose a novel pipeline for creation of precise head meshes from magnetic resonance imaging and computed tomography scans, which was applied to four different heads. Voltages were simulated on all four heads for perturbations of different magnitude, haemorrhage and ischaemia, in five different positions and for three levels of instrumentation noise. Statistical analysis showed that reconstructions on the correct mesh were on average 25% better than on the other meshes. However, the stroke detection rates were not improved. We conclude that a generic head mesh is sufficient for monitoring patients for secondary strokes following head trauma
Size scaling of the addition spectra in silicon quantum dots
We investigate small artificial quantum dots obtained by geometrically
controlled resistive confinement in low mobility silicon-on-insulator
nanowires. Addition spectra were recorded at low temperature for various dot
areas fixed by lithography. We compare the standard deviation of the addition
spectra with theory in the high electron concentration regime. We find that the
standard deviation scales as the inverse area of the dot and its absolute value
is comparable to the energy spacing of the one particle spectrum.Comment: 4 pages, 5 figure
Thermionic charge transport in CMOS nano-transistors
We report on DC and microwave electrical transport measurements in
silicon-on-insulator CMOS nano-transistors at low and room temperature. At low
source-drain voltage, the DC current and RF response show signs of conductance
quantization. We attribute this to Coulomb blockade resulting from barriers
formed at the spacer-gate interfaces. We show that at high bias transport
occurs thermionically over the highest barrier: Transconductance traces
obtained from microwave scattering-parameter measurements at liquid helium and
room temperature is accurately fitted by a thermionic model. From the fits we
deduce the ratio of gate capacitance and quantum capacitance, as well as the
electron temperature
Pauli spin blockade in CMOS double quantum dot devices
Silicon quantum dots are attractive candidates for the development of
scalable, spin-based qubits. Pauli spin blockade in double quantum dots
provides an efficient, temperature independent mechanism for qubit readout.
Here we report on transport experiments in double gate nanowire transistors
issued from a CMOS process on 300 mm silicon-on-insulator wafers. At low
temperature the devices behave as two few-electron quantum dots in series. We
observe signatures of Pauli spin blockade with a singlet-triplet splitting
ranging from 0.3 to 1.3 meV. Magneto-transport measurements show that
transitions which conserve spin are shown to be magnetic-field independent up
to B = 6 T.Comment: 5 pages , 4 figure
A CMOS silicon spin qubit
Silicon, the main constituent of microprocessor chips, is emerging as a
promising material for the realization of future quantum processors. Leveraging
its well-established complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS) technology
would be a clear asset to the development of scalable quantum computing
architectures and to their co-integration with classical control hardware. Here
we report a silicon quantum bit (qubit) device made with an industry-standard
fabrication process. The device consists of a two-gate, p-type transistor with
an undoped channel. At low temperature, the first gate defines a quantum dot
(QD) encoding a hole spin qubit, the second one a QD used for the qubit
readout. All electrical, two-axis control of the spin qubit is achieved by
applying a phase-tunable microwave modulation to the first gate. Our result
opens a viable path to qubit up-scaling through a readily exploitable CMOS
platform.Comment: 12 pages, 4 figure
Full Current Statistics in Diffusive Normal-Superconductor Structures
We study the current statistics in normal diffusive conductors in contact
with a superconductor. Using an extension of the Keldysh Green's function
method we are able to find the full distribution of charge transfers for all
temperatures and voltages. For the non-Gaussian regime, we show that the
equilibrium current fluctuations are enhanced by the presence of the
superconductor. We predict an enhancement of the nonequilibrium current noise
for temperatures below and voltages of the order of the Thouless energy
E_Th=D/L^2. Our calculation fully accounts for the proximity effect in the
normal metal and agrees with experimental data. We demonstrate that the
calculation of the full current statistics is in fact simpler than a concrete
calculation of the noise.Comment: 4 pages, 2 figures (included
Stroke type differentiation using spectrally constrained multifrequency EIT: evaluation of feasibility in a realistic head model.
We investigate the application of multifrequency electrical impedance tomography (MFEIT) to imaging the brain in stroke patients. The use of MFEIT could enable early diagnosis and thrombolysis of ischaemic stroke, and therefore improve the outcome of treatment. Recent advances in the imaging methodology suggest that the use of spectral constraints could allow for the reconstruction of a one-shot image. We performed a simulation study to investigate the feasibility of imaging stroke in a head model with realistic conductivities. We introduced increasing levels of modelling errors to test the robustness of the method to the most common sources of artefact. We considered the case of errors in the electrode placement, spectral constraints, and contact impedance. The results indicate that errors in the position and shape of the electrodes can affect image quality, although our imaging method was successful in identifying tissues with sufficiently distinct spectra
Energy dependent counting statistics in diffusive superconducting tunnel junctions
We present an investigation of the energy dependence of the full charge
counting statistics in diffusive
normal-insulating-normal-insulating-superconducting junctions. It is found that
the current in general is transported via a correlated transfer of pairs of
electrons. Only in the case of strongly asymmetric tunnel barriers or energies
much larger than the Thouless energy is the pair transfer uncorrelated. The
second cumulant, the noise, is found to depend strongly on the applied voltage
and temperature. For a junction resistance dominated by the tunnel barrier to
the normal reservoir, the differential shot noise shows a double peak feature
at voltages of the order of the Thouless energy, a signature of an ensemble
averaged electron-hole resonance.Comment: 8 pages, 5 figure
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