2,938 research outputs found
Characterisation of the Etching Quality in Micro-Electro-Mechanical Systems by Thermal Transient Methodology
Our paper presents a non-destructive thermal transient measurement method
that is able to reveal differences even in the micron size range of MEMS
structures. Devices of the same design can have differences in their
sacrificial layers as consequence of the differences in their manufacturing
processes e.g. different etching times. We have made simulations examining how
the etching quality reflects in the thermal behaviour of devices. These
simulations predicted change in the thermal behaviour of MEMS structures having
differences in their sacrificial layers. The theory was tested with
measurements of similar MEMS devices prepared with different etching times. In
the measurements we used the T3Ster thermal transient tester equipment. The
results show that deviations in the devices, as consequence of the different
etching times, result in different temperature elevations and manifest also as
shift in time in the relevant temperature transient curves.Comment: Submitted on behalf of TIMA Editions
(http://irevues.inist.fr/tima-editions
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Examination of Bayesian belief network for safety assessment of nuclear computer-based systems
We report here on a continuation of work on the Bayesian Belief Network (BBN)model described in [Fenton, Littlewood et al. 1998]. As explained in the previous deliverable, our model concerns one part of the safety assessment task for computer and software based nuclear systems. We have produced a first complete, functioning version of our BBN model by eliciting a large numerical node probability table (NPT) required for our âDesign Process Performanceâ variable. The requirement for such large numerical NPTs poses some difficult questions about how, in general, large NPTs should be elicited from domain experts. We report about the methods we have devised to support the expert in building and validating a BBN. On the one hand, we have proceeded by eliciting approximate descriptions of the expertâs probabilistic beliefs, in terms of properties like stochastic orderings among distributions; on the other hand, we have explored ways of presenting to the expert visual and algebraic descriptions of relations among variables in the BBN, to assist the expert in an ongoing assessment of the validity of the BBN
Two philosophies for solving non-linear equations in algebraic cryptanalysis
Algebraic Cryptanalysis [45] is concerned with solving of particular systems of multivariate non-linear equations which occur in cryptanalysis. Many different methods for solving such problems have been proposed in cryptanalytic literature: XL and XSL method, Gröbner bases, SAT solvers, as well as many other. In this paper we survey these methods and point out that the main working principle in all of them is essentially the same. One quantity grows faster than another quantity which leads to a âphase transitionâ and the problem becomes efficiently solvable. We illustrate this with examples from both symmetric and asymmetric cryptanalysis. In this paper we point out that there exists a second (more) general way of formulating algebraic attacks through dedicated coding techniques which involve redundancy with addition of new variables. This opens numerous new possibilities for the attackers and leads to interesting optimization problems where the existence of interesting equations may be somewhat deliberately engineered by the attacker
The Josephson critical current in a long mesoscopic S-N-S junction
We carry out an extensive experimental and theoretical study of the Josephson
effect in S-N-S junctions made of a diffusive normal metal (N) embedded between
two superconducting electrodes (S). Our experiments are performed on Nb-Cu-Nb
junctions with highly-transparent interfaces. We give the predictions of the
quasiclassical theory in various regimes on a precise and quantitative level.
We describe the crossover between the short and the long junction regimes and
provide the temperature dependence of the critical current using dimensionless
units and where
is the Thouless energy. Experimental and theoretical results are in excellent
quantitative agreement.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figures, slighly modified version, publishe
Resistive transport in a mesoscopic proximity superconductor
We review transport measurements in a normal metal (N) in contact with one or
two superconducting (S) islands. From the experiment, we distinguish the
Josephson coupling, the mesoscopic fluctuations and the proximity effect. In a
loop-shaped N conductor, we observe large h/2e-periodic magnetoresistance
oscillations that decay with temperature T with a 1/T power-law. This behaviour
is the signature of the long-range coherence of the low-energy electron pairs
induced by the Andreev reflection at the S interface. At temperature and
voltage below the Thouless energy , we observe the re-entrance
of the metallic resistance. Experimental results agree with the linearized
quasiclassical theory.Comment: 8 pages, 6 included epsf figures, Invited paper at the LT21
Conference, Praha, August 1996. To appear in Czech. J. of Phys. 46, Part S6
(1996
Systematic Construction of Nonlinear Product Attacks on Block Ciphers
A major open problem in block cipher cryptanalysis is discovery of new invariant properties of complex type. Recent papers show that this can be achieved for SCREAM, Midori64, MANTIS-4, T-310 or for DES with modified S-boxes. Until now such attacks are hard to find and seem to happen by some sort of incredible coincidence. In this paper we abstract the attack from any particular block cipher. We study these attacks in terms of transformations on multivariate polynomials. We shall demonstrate how numerous variables including key variables may sometimes be eliminated and at the end two very complex Boolean polynomials will become equal. We present a general construction of an attack where multiply all the polynomials lying on one or several cycles. Then under suitable conditions the non-linear functions involved will be eliminated totally. We obtain a periodic invariant property holding for any number of rounds. A major difficulty with invariant attacks is that they typically work only for some keys. In T-310 our attack works for any key and also in spite of the presence of round constants
A thermostable trilayer resist for niobium lift-off
We have developped a novel lift-off process for fabrication of high quality
superconducting submicron niobium structures. The process makes use of a
thermostable polymer with a high transition temperature T_{g}= 235 C and an
excellent chemical stability. The superconducting critical temperature of 100
nm wide niobium lines is above 7 K. An example of shadow evaporation of a Nb-Cu
submicron hybrid structure is given. A potential application of this process is
the fabrication of very small single electron devices using refratory metals.Comment: 6 pages, 6 eps figures, submitted to Journal of Vacuum Science and
Technology
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