Cultivating Contemplative Mind in the Classroom

In Fall 2019, we showed video interviews of successful (i.e., graduated) alumni to first-year seminar students in the hope that incoming students would be inspired to adopt similar success strategies leading to increased retention and completion of their UNLV degree. The Academic Success Center filmed interviews with ten UNLV graduates who took our first-year seminar, COLA 100E. These COLA 100E Success Stories were then edited into three videos, each focusing on a particular theme, such as the first-year transition, the major selection process, and the key tips for graduation. The goal was that these successfully-graduated students would serve as motivational role models for UNLV’s diverse first-year student population. Though the alumni echoed concepts taught in the class, we imagined these peers would be more relatable than the instructor alone, encouraging students to identify with and potentially adopt new approaches to and perspectives of success early in their college careers.https://digitalscholarship.unlv.edu/btp_expo/1090/thumbnail.jp

Manufacture of Radio Frequency Micromachined Switches with Annealing

The fabrication and characterization of a radio frequency (RF) micromachined switch with annealing were presented. The structure of the RF switch consists of a membrane, coplanar waveguide (CPW) lines, and eight springs. The RF switch is manufactured using the complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS) process. The switch requires a post-process to release the membrane and springs. The post-process uses a wet etching to remove the sacrificial silicon dioxide layer, and to obtain the suspended structures of the switch. In order to improve the residual stress of the switch, an annealing process is applied to the switch, and the membrane obtains an excellent flatness. The finite element method (FEM) software CoventorWare is utilized to simulate the stress and displacement of the RF switch. Experimental results show that the RF switch has an insertion loss of 0.9 dB at 35 GHz and an isolation of 21 dB at 39 GHz. The actuation voltage of the switch is 14 V

Always Open, Seven-Eleven: Education Targeting Healthier Food Choices in a High Convenience Store Density Area in Taipei

To enhance children's health, the promotion of nutrition literacy in school is vital as it helps prevent the development of health conditions and diseases and maintain healthy lifestyles. Taiwan features the top highest ratio of convenience stores per population density. Convenience stores, an increasingly popular dining place, were linked to the development of eating behavior and body weight issues in children. An eight-week classroom-based nutrition intervention, employing the Traffic Light Diet as a framework, targeting children's perception of and intention to visit the convenience store was implemented. The study conducted a quasi-experimental pretest-posttest research design with a comparison group. A total of 49 students participated in the study, with 25 in the intervention and 24 in the comparison group. Data were collected by utilizing surveys, interviews, and observations. The study's findings demonstrated the positive trajectory of the impact of this intervention on increasing food-and-nutrition-related knowledge and improving healthier diet choices at convenience stores among children. One main theme was identified in coding interviews: parent involvement in meal preparation may reduce convenience store use and increase consumption of vegetables among children. Assessing the influence of parental support for healthy dietary choices, eating nutritious foods at home, and involving the family in meal preparation is an area for future research

An acetone microsensor with a ring oscillator circuit fabricated using the commercial 0.18 μm CMOS process

This study investigates the fabrication and characterization of an acetone microsensor with a ring oscillator circuit using the commercial 0.18 μm complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS) process. The acetone microsensor contains a sensitive material, interdigitated electrodes and a polysilicon heater. The sensitive material is α-Fe2O3 synthesized by the hydrothermal method. The sensor requires a post-process to remove the sacrificial oxide layer between the interdigitated electrodes and to coat the α-Fe2O3 on the electrodes. When the sensitive material adsorbs acetone vapor, the sensor produces a change in capacitance. The ring oscillator circuit converts the capacitance of the sensor into the oscillation frequency output. The experimental results show that the output frequency of the acetone sensor changes from 128 to 100 MHz as the acetone concentration increases 1 to 70 ppm

Titanium Dioxide Nanoparticle Humidity Microsensors Integrated with Circuitry on-a-Chip

A humidity microsensor integrated with a readout circuit on-a-chip fabricated using the commercial 0.18 μm CMOS (complementary metal oxide semiconductor) process was presented. The integrated sensor chip consists of a humidity sensor and a readout circuit. The humidity sensor is composed of a sensitive film and interdigitated electrodes. The sensitive film is titanium dioxide prepared by the sol-gel method. The titanium dioxide is coated on the interdigitated electrodes. The humidity sensor requires a post-process to remove the sacrificial layer and to coat the titanium dioxide. The resistance of the sensor changes as the sensitive film absorbs or desorbs vapor. The readout circuit is employed to convert the resistance variation of the sensor into the output voltage. The experimental results show that the integrated humidity sensor has a sensitivity of 4.5 mV/RH% (relative humidity) at room temperature

Manufacture and Characterization of High Q-Factor Inductors Based on CMOS-MEMS Techniques

A high Q-factor (quality-factor) spiral inductor fabricated by the CMOS (complementary metal oxide semiconductor) process and a post-process was investigated. The spiral inductor is manufactured on a silicon substrate. A post-process is used to remove the underlying silicon substrate in order to reduce the substrate loss and to enhance the Q-factor of the inductor. The post-process adopts RIE (reactive ion etching) to etch the sacrificial oxide layer, and then TMAH (tetramethylammonium hydroxide) is employed to remove the silicon substrate for obtaining the suspended spiral inductor. The advantage of this post-processing method is its compatibility with the CMOS process. The performance of the spiral inductor is measured by an Agilent 8510C network analyzer and a Cascade probe station. Experimental results show that the Q-factor and inductance of the spiral inductor are 15 at 15 GHz and 1.8 nH at 1 GHz, respectively

A Zinc Oxide Nanorod Ammonia Microsensor Integrated with a Readout Circuit on-a-Chip

A zinc oxide nanorod ammonia microsensor integrated with a readout circuit on-a-chip fabricated using the commercial 0.35 μm complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS) process was investigated. The structure of the ammonia sensor is composed of a sensitive film and polysilicon electrodes. The ammonia sensor requires a post-process to etch the sacrificial layer, and to coat the sensitive film on the polysilicon electrodes. The sensitive film that is prepared by a hydrothermal method is made of zinc oxide. The sensor resistance changes when the sensitive film adsorbs or desorbs ammonia gas. The readout circuit is used to convert the sensor resistance into the voltage output. Experiments show that the ammonia sensor has a sensitivity of about 1.5 mV/ppm at room temperature

Capacitive Micro Pressure Sensor Integrated with a Ring Oscillator Circuit on Chip

The study investigates a capacitive micro pressure sensor integrated with a ring oscillator circuit on a chip. The integrated capacitive pressure sensor is fabricated using the commercial CMOS (complementary metal oxide semiconductor) process and a post-process. The ring oscillator is employed to convert the capacitance of the pressure sensor into the frequency output. The pressure sensor consists of 16 sensing cells in parallel. Each sensing cell contains a top electrode and a lower electrode, and the top electrode is a sandwich membrane. The pressure sensor needs a post-CMOS process to release the membranes after completion of the CMOS process. The post-process uses etchants to etch the sacrificial layers, and to release the membranes. The advantages of the post-process include easy execution and low cost. Experimental results reveal that the pressure sensor has a high sensitivity of 7 Hz/Pa in the pressure range of 0–300 kPa

Fabrication of Wireless Micro Pressure Sensor Using the CMOS Process

In this study, we fabricated a wireless micro FET (field effect transistor) pressure sensor based on the commercial CMOS (complementary metal oxide semiconductor) process and a post-process. The wireless micro pressure sensor is composed of a FET pressure sensor, an oscillator, an amplifier and an antenna. The oscillator is adopted to generate an ac signal, and the amplifier is used to amplify the sensing signal of the pressure sensor. The antenna is utilized to transmit the output voltage of the pressure sensor to a receiver. The pressure sensor is constructed by 16 sensing cells in parallel. Each sensing cell contains an MOS (metal oxide semiconductor) and a suspended membrane, which the gate of the MOS is the suspended membrane. The post-process employs etchants to etch the sacrificial layers in the pressure sensor for releasing the suspended membranes, and a LPCVD (low pressure chemical vapor deposition) parylene is adopted to seal the etch holes in the pressure. Experimental results show that the pressure sensor has a sensitivity of 0.08 mV/kPa in the pressure range of 0–500 kPa and a wireless transmission distance of 10 cm