Analog Integrated Circuit Design Using SkyWater Open-Source PDK

Over the last couple of years the open-source chip design community has experienced rapid growth with the release of SkyWater Foundries SKY130 process design kit (PDK) [1]. Google has sponsored the OpenMPW program which allows hobbyists and researchers the opportunity to submit custom integrated circuit (IC) designs to get manufactured free of charge. Before these initiatives, most of the tools and knowledge of IC design were limited to large corporations willing to incur the costs of designing their own chips. So far, the open-source community has made tremendous strides in the design of digital ICs with projects such as OpenROAD [2] and Tiny Tapeout [3] making designing a chip easier than ever. Digital is only half the story, and analog design is a critical component of building functional ICs. Here we present an overview of the analog design process and the various open-source tools through the design of a low noise amplifier (LNA) that might be used as part of a communications frontend in applications such as satellite communication

Job grading and wages

Job grading is a way of saying how important different jobs are for management. Job grading is a way of comparing different jobs, and saying that some jobs are very important, and other jobs are not so important. Most job grading systems say that managers and engineers are very important, and that labourers and operators are not important. Wages are paid according to the workers’ grade in the job grading system. A worker with an important job will earn higher wages that a worker with a job that is not so important

High resolution photonic analysis with scanned probes

Absorption spectroscopy is demonstrated to be feasible using a photon scanning tunneling microscope (PSTM) combined with a spectroscope. Methods of improving the spatial resolution and spectroscopic capabilities are studied in order to determine their potential practicability. Analysis of the photon scanning tunneling microscope(PSTM) and modifications made to the microscope are included with experimental results demonstrating certain image and spectral resolution capabilities. Results Showing both the PSTM absorption spectra of gold island films and their independently acquired PSTM images are presented. An alternative scanning probe method involving photons is additionally examined. The new method is demonstrated to require specific improvements in order that it might provide a distinct improvement in resolution. The new type of scanning probe microscope is one utilizing nonlinear photonics: the nonlinear scanning tunneling microscope (NSTM). Basic results are described and two-photon fluorescence measurements are presented to demonstrate the principle of operation. In any scanned probe microscope or spectroscope,resolution is strongly dependent upon the characteristics of the signal as a function of distance to the sample and knowledge of these characteristics. The NSTM functionality is most dependent upon the sample-probe gap, but the gap also determines resolution in the PSTM. Hence measurements and calculations showing an analysis of the characteristics of the separation between the probe and sample surface are also presented