Supply Current Diagnosis in VLSI

This paper presents a technique based upon the power supply current signature (cd) which allows for the testing of mixed-signal systems, in situ. Through experiments with a microprocessor, the cd is shown to contain important information concerning the operational status of the system which may be easily extracted using approaches based on statistical signal detection theory. The fault-detection performance of these techniques is compared to that achieved through auto-regressive modeling of the cd

Hydrogen bonding and charge transport in a protic polymerized ionic liquid

Hydrogen bonding and charge transport in the protic polymerized ionic liquid poly[tris(2-(2-methoxyethoxy)ethyl)ammoniumacryloxypropyl sulfonate] (PAAPS) are studied by combining Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) and broadband dielectric spectroscopy (BDS) in a wide temperature range from 170 to 300 K. While the former enables to determine precisely the formation of hydrogen bonds and other moiety-specific quantized vibrational states, the latter allows for recording the complex conductivity in a spectral range from 10−2 to 10+9  Hz. A pronounced thermal hysteresis is observed for the H-bond network formation in distinct contrast to the reversibility of the effective conductivity measured by BDS. On the basis of this finding and the fact that the conductivity changes with temperature by orders of magnitude, whereas the integrated absorbance of the N–H stretching vibration (being proportional to the number density of protons in the hydrogen bond network) changes only by a factor of 4, it is concluded that charge transport takes place predominantly due to hopping conduction assisted by glassy dynamics (dynamic glass transition assisted hopping) and is not significantly affected by the establishment of H-bonds

Training product unit neural networks with genetic algorithms

The training of product neural networks using genetic algorithms is discussed. Two unusual neural network techniques are combined; product units are employed instead of the traditional summing units and genetic algorithms train the network rather than backpropagation. As an example, a neural netork is trained to calculate the optimum width of transistors in a CMOS switch. It is shown how local minima affect the performance of a genetic algorithm, and one method of overcoming this is presented

Competing Ultrafast Energy Relaxation Pathways in Photoexcited Graphene

For most optoelectronic applications of graphene a thorough understanding of the processes that govern energy relaxation of photoexcited carriers is essential. The ultrafast energy relaxation in graphene occurs through two competing pathways: carrier-carrier scattering -- creating an elevated carrier temperature -- and optical phonon emission. At present, it is not clear what determines the dominating relaxation pathway. Here we reach a unifying picture of the ultrafast energy relaxation by investigating the terahertz photoconductivity, while varying the Fermi energy, photon energy, and fluence over a wide range. We find that sufficiently low fluence ($\lesssim$ 4 $\mu$J/cm$^2$) in conjunction with sufficiently high Fermi energy ($\gtrsim$ 0.1 eV) gives rise to energy relaxation that is dominated by carrier-carrier scattering, which leads to efficient carrier heating. Upon increasing the fluence or decreasing the Fermi energy, the carrier heating efficiency decreases, presumably due to energy relaxation that becomes increasingly dominated by phonon emission. Carrier heating through carrier-carrier scattering accounts for the negative photoconductivity for doped graphene observed at terahertz frequencies. We present a simple model that reproduces the data for a wide range of Fermi levels and excitation energies, and allows us to qualitatively assess how the branching ratio between the two distinct relaxation pathways depends on excitation fluence and Fermi energy.Comment: Nano Letters 201

Nonradiative Electronic Deexcitation Time Scales in Metal Clusters

The life-times due to Auger-electron emission for a hole on a deep electronic shell of neutral and charged sodium clusters are studied for different sizes. We consider spherical clusters and calculate the Auger-transition probabilities using the energy levels and wave functions calculated in the Local-Density-Approximation (LDA). We obtain that Auger emission processes are energetically not allowed for neutral and positively charged sodium clusters. In general, the Auger probabilities in small Na$_N^-$ clusters are remarkably different from the atomic ones and exhibit a rich size dependence. The Auger decay times of most of the cluster sizes studied are orders of magnitude larger than in atoms and might be comparable with typical fragmentation times.Comment: 11 pages, 4 figures. Accepted for publication in Phys. Rev.

Reexamination of pure qubit work extraction

Many work extraction or information erasure processes in the literature involve the raising and lowering of energy levels via external fields. But even if the actual system is treated quantum mechanically, the field is assumed to be classical and of infinite strength, hence not developing any correlations with the system or experiencing back-actions. We extend these considerations to a fully quantum mechanical treatment by studying a spin-1/2 particle coupled to a finite-sized directional quantum reference frame, a spin-l system, which models an external field. With this concrete model together with a bosonic thermal bath, we analyze the back-action a finite-size field suffers during a quantum-mechanical work extraction process and the effect this has on the extractable work and highlight a range of assumptions commonly made when considering such processes. The well-known semiclassical treatment of work extraction from a pure qubit predicts a maximum extractable work W=kTlog2 for a quasistatic process, which holds as a strict upper bound in the fully quantum mechanical case and is attained only in the classical limit. We also address the problem of emergent local time dependence in a joint system with a globally fixed Hamiltonian

Gauge Theories with Cayley-Klein SO(2;j)SO(2;j) and SO(3;j)SO(3;j) Gauge Groups

Gauge theories with the orthogonal Cayley-Klein gauge groups $SO(2;j)$ and $SO(3;{\bf j})$ are regarded. For nilpotent values of the contraction parameters ${\bf j}$ these groups are isomorphic to the non-semisimple Euclid, Newton, Galilei groups and corresponding matter spaces are fiber spaces with degenerate metrics. It is shown that the contracted gauge field theories describe the same set of fields and particle mass as $SO(2), SO(3)$ gauge theories, if Lagrangians in the base and in the fibers all are taken into account. Such theories based on non-semisimple contracted group provide more simple field interactions as compared with the initial ones.Comment: 14 pages, 5 figure

On directed information theory and Granger causality graphs

Directed information theory deals with communication channels with feedback. When applied to networks, a natural extension based on causal conditioning is needed. We show here that measures built from directed information theory in networks can be used to assess Granger causality graphs of stochastic processes. We show that directed information theory includes measures such as the transfer entropy, and that it is the adequate information theoretic framework needed for neuroscience applications, such as connectivity inference problems.Comment: accepted for publications, Journal of Computational Neuroscienc

From protons to OXPHOS supercomplexes and Alzheimer's disease: Structure–dynamics–function relationships of energy-transducing membranes

AbstractBy the elucidation of high-resolution structures the view of the bioenergetic processes has become more precise. But in the face of these fundamental advances, many problems are still unresolved. We have examined a variety of aspects of energy-transducing membranes from large protein complexes down to the level of protons and functional relevant picosecond protein dynamics. Based on the central role of the ATP synthase for supplying the biological fuel ATP, one main emphasis was put on this protein complex from both chloroplast and mitochondria. In particular the stoichiometry of protons required for the synthesis of one ATP molecule and the supramolecular organisation of ATP synthases were examined. Since formation of supercomplexes also concerns other complexes of the respiratory chain, our work was directed to unravel this kind of organisation, e.g. of the OXPHOS supercomplex I1III2IV1, in terms of structure and function. Not only the large protein complexes or supercomplexes work as key players for biological energy conversion, but also small components as quinones which facilitate the transfer of electrons and protons. Therefore, their location in the membrane profile was determined by neutron diffraction. Physico-chemical features of the path of protons from the generators of the electrochemical gradient to the ATP synthase, as well as of their interaction with the membrane surface, could be elucidated by time-resolved absorption spectroscopy in combination with optical pH indicators. Diseases such as Alzheimer's dementia (AD) are triggered by perturbation of membranes and bioenergetics as demonstrated by our neutron scattering studies

Mechanisms for Stable Sonoluminescence

A gas bubble trapped in water by an oscillating acoustic field is expected to either shrink or grow on a diffusive timescale, depending on the forcing strength and the bubble size. At high ambient gas concentration this has long been observed in experiments. However, recent sonoluminescence experiments show that in certain circumstances when the ambient gas concentration is low the bubble can be stable for days. This paper presents mechanisms leading to stability which predict parameter dependences in agreement with the sonoluminescence experiments.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figures on request (2 as .ps files