SCERPA Simulation of Clocked Molecular Field-Coupling Nanocomputing

Among all the possible technologies proposed for post-CMOS computing, molecular field-coupled nanocomputing (FCN) is one of the most promising technologies. The information propagation relies on electrostatic interactions among single molecules, overcoming the need for electron transport, significantly reducing energy dissipation. The expected working frequency is very high, and high throughput may be achieved by introducing an efficient pipeline of information propagation. The pipeline could be realized by adding an external clock signal that controls the propagation of data and makes the transmission adiabatic. In this article, we extend the Self-Consistent Electrostatic Potential Algorithm (SCERPA), previously introduced to analyze molecular circuits with a uniform clock field, to clocked molecular devices. The single-molecule is analyzed by ab initio calculations and modeled as an electronic device. Several clocked devices have been partitioned into clock zones and analyzed: the binary wire, the bus, the inverter, and the majority voter. The proposed modification of SCERPA enables linking the functional behavior of the clocked devices to molecular physics, becoming a possible tool for the eventual physical design verification of emerging FCN devices. The algorithm provides some first quantitative results that highlight the clocked propagation characteristics and provide significant feedback for the future implementation of molecular FCN circuits

Ga+ Ion Irradiation-Induced Tuning of Artificial Pinning Sites to Control Domain Wall Motion

Domain-wall-based devices are considered one of the candidates for the next generation of storage memories and nanomagnetic logic devices due to their unique properties, such as nonvolatility, scalability, and low power consumption. Field or current-driven domain walls require a regular and controlled motion along the track in which they are stored in order to maintain the information integrity during operation. However, their dynamics can vary along the track due to film inhomogeneities, roughness of the edges, and thermal fluctuations. Consequently, the final position of the domain walls may be difficult to predict, making difficult the development of memory and logic applications. In this paper, we demonstrate how Ga+ ion irradiation can be used to locally modify the material properties of the Ta/ CoFeB/MgO thin film, creating regions in which the domain wall can be trapped, namely motion barriers. The aim is to push the domain wall to overcome thin-film inhomogeneities effects, while stopping its motion at artificially defined positions corresponding to the irradiated regions. Increasing the driving force strength, the domain wall can escape, allowing the shifting between consecutive irradiated regions. In this way, the correct positioning of the domain walls after the motion is ensured. The study shows that the driving force strength, namely current density or magnetic field amplitude, needed to overcome the irradiated regions depends on the ion dose. These results show a reliable approach for domain wall manipulation, enabling a precise control of the domain wall position along a track with synchronous motion

Preliminary In-Line Microwave Imaging Experimental Assessment for Food Contamination Monitoring

Food producers must deal with contaminants (wood, plastic, glass) inside packaged products that could lead to customer dissatisfaction. The assessed technologies fail to detect some of these contaminants, leading to the need for new technologies with different signal qualities, such as microwave sensing. This paper presents a preliminary result of a microwave imaging system designed for industrial applications. The measurement system was designed for and works on an industrial conveyor belt where packaged products are scanned. The scanned signals are processed to obtain an accurate 3D image of the size and position of the contaminant inside the food package. In addition to the results, we describe the implemented system and some considerations on data acquisition

Development of an EM Device for Cerebrovascular Diseases Imaging and Hardware Acceleration for Imaging Algorithms within the EMERALD Network

This paper is presenting the first months of research activities within the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Innovative Training Network “EMERALD” developed by the Politecnico di Torino group. Our research work is related to the development of an electromagnetic device for cerebrovascular diseases imaging and to the hardware acceleration of the implemented imaging algorithms via field-programmable gate arrays or application-specific integrated circuits coupled with regular multicore central processing units and even graphics processing unit

Microwave imaging device prototype for brain stroke 3D monitoring

This paper summarizes the development and the experimental testing of a scanning device, in the microwave range, to monitor brain stroke. The device comprehends 4 main sections: a sensors helmet, a switching matrix, a data acquisition part, and a control/processing core. The sensors in the helmet are 22 custom-made flexible antennas working around 1 GHz, placed conformally to the upper head part. A first validation of the system consists in the detection of a target in the head region. Experimental testing is performed on a single-cavity head phantom, while the target is a balloon mimicking the stroke. The shape of the balloon and phantom are extracted from medical images, and tissues properties are emulated with liquids that resemble their dielectric properties. A differential measurement approach senses the field on the antennas in two different situations, and from their difference computes a 3-D image through a singular value decomposition of the discretized scattering operator obtained from an accurate numerical model. The results verify the capabilities of the system on detecting and monitoring stroke evolution

A low-complexity microwave scanner for cerebrovascular diseases monitoring

This work gathers the pathway from the design to the experimental testing of a microwave imaging prototype to monitor brain stroke in real-time conditions, approaching thus the electromagnetic inverse problem of retrieving a dielectric temporal variation within the head. To this end, it presents a low-complexity device consisting of twentytwo custom-made radiating elements working with a linear imaging algorithm based on distorted Born approximation and a truncated singular value decomposition, able to localize, identify and track the stroke evolution. The system is prototyped using a compact two-ports vector analyzer and electromechanical switching matrix. It is assessed experimentally via a mimicked hemorrhagic condition, demonstrating the system’s capabilities to follow up centimetric confined variations, retrieving 3-D maps of the studied cases in real-time

Does technology and Innovation Management improve Market Position? Empirical Evidence from Innovating Firms in South Africa

There is a growing recognition of the central role of technology and knowledge management for market success of organizations. Little is empirically know, however, about this relationship. Drawing on the South African Innovation Survey, a unique dataset on innovative behavior of South African firms in manufacturing and services, this paper investigates the question to what extent and in which ways do technology and innovation management activities affect firms’ market position. Findings show that conducting technology strategy activities pays out. Moreover, especially a combination of internal and external technology audits seems to be beneficial for organizational performance