Neuromorphic computing, inspired by the biological mechanisms of neural signal transmission, has emerged as a promising technology for efficient and parallel data processing with minimal power consumption. In this study, we developed floating-gate organic thin-film transistors (OTFTs) with self-assembled monolayer (SAM)-based tunneling layers to mimic the characteristics of artificial synapses. The tunneling layers were formed using mixed phosphonic acid SAMs with varying ratios of octadecylphosphonic acid (ODPA) and 12-pentafluorophenoxydodecylphosphonic acid (PFPA). The influence of these ratios on the memory and neuromorphic characteristics of the devices was systematically evaluated. Our results revealed that the ODPA ratio significantly impacts the hysteresis window, with higher ODPA content yielding improved memory characteristics. Conversely, the PFPA : ODPA ratio of 2:1 exhibited the lowest non-linearity (NL = 0.48), demonstrating the potential for highly accurate weight updates in neuromorphic devices. Additionally, pulse width modulation studies showed that a pulse width of 100 ms optimized the linearity and stability of long-term potentiation (LTP) and depression (LTD) characteristics. The combination of sol-gel processed AlOx as a floating-gate layer and tailored SAM-based tunneling layers allowed for precise control of device performance. These findings highlight the importance of molecular engineering in designing SAM layers to balance memory retention and neuromorphic functionality. This study provides a pathway for advancing organic floating-gate transistors as a core component in next-generation neuromorphic computing systems.
Iron oxide nanoparticles (NPs) have gained significant attention for their broad applicability in biomedical imaging, soft robotics, and catalysis owing to their exceptional magnetic properties and biocompatibility. A key challenge in maximizing their functionality lies in achieving a uniform size distribution and dispersity, alongside strong interfacial affinity with the surrounding medium that are essential for optimizing magnetic behavior and processibility. In this study, we present a facile solvothermal synthesis of monodisperse iron oxide NPs with tunable size and controllable surface hydrophobicity by varying precursors, capping agents, and solvents. By varying these synthesis parameters, we demonstrate a clear correlation between NP size, dispersity, and key magnetic properties, including saturation magnetization (MS) and coercivity (HC). This advancement in synthesis methodology offers a reliable, efficient approach for producing high-quality iron oxide NPs, which makes possible for practical use of them across a range of technological and biomedical applications.
The development of efficient electron donor (or hole-transporting) molecules that can be used in various optoelectronic device fields is highly demanded. In this work, a novel class of triptycene-based three-dimensional (3D) triphenylamine (TI-TPA) derivatives with different end substituents was designed and prepared for transparent electron donor materials. Owing to the rigid 3D triptycene framework, the obtained TI-TPA derivatives had an amorphous morphology with high thermal decomposition temperature. The oxidation potential of these TI-TPA derivatives decreased as the electron donating strength of the end substituent increased. Among TI-TPA derivatives, TI-TPA-OMe exhibited the highest HOMO level (-5.31 eV) which is similar to that of Spiro-OMeTAD (-5.22 eV). In addition, TI-TPA-OMe was found to form a strong charge transfer complex with the triptycene-based acceptor TI-BQ, leading to a new absorption band at around 640 nm. These results can be applied for developing efficient electron donor materials that can mimic the advantages of the spiro-linked structure and TPA units of Spiro-OMeTAD.
Red phosphor in glasses (PiGs) for automotive light-emitting diode (LED) applications were fabricated with 620-nm CaAlSiN3:Eu2+ phosphor and Pb-free silicate glass. PiGs were synthesized and mounted on high-power blue LED to make a monochromatic red LED. PiGs were simple mixtures of red phosphor and transparent glass powder. After being fabricated with uniaxial press and CIP at 300 MPa for 20 min, the green bodies were thermally treated at 550℃ for 30 min to produce high dense PiGs. As the phosphor content increased, the density of the sintered body decreased and PiGs containing 30% phosphor had a full sintered density. Changes in photoluminescence spectra and color coordination were studied by varying the thickness of plates that were mounted after optical polishing. As a result of the optical spectrum and color coordinates, PiG plate with 210 μm thickness showed a color purity of 99.7%. In order to evaluate the thermal stability, the thermal quenching characteristics were measured at temperatures of 30~150℃. The results showed that the red PIG plates were 30% more thermally stable compared to the AlGaInP red chip.
The silicon dioxide (SiO2) was deposited using various gas as oxygen and nitrous oxide (N2O) in nowadays. In order to improve electrical characteristics and the interface state density (D_{it}) in low temperature, It was deposited with carbon dioxide (CO2) and silane (SiH4) gas by inductively coupled plasma chemical vapor deposition (ICP-CVD). Each D_{it} of SiO2 using CO2 and N2O gas was 1.30×1010 cm-2·eV-1 and 3.31×1010 cm-2·eV-1. It showed SiO2 using CO2 gas was about 2.55 times better than N2O gas. After 10 years when the thin film was applied to metal/insulator/semiconductor(MIS)-nonvolatile memory(NVM), MIS NVM using SiO2(CO2) on tunneling layer had window memory of 2.16 V with 60% retention at bias voltage from +16 V to -19 V. However, MIS NVM applied SiO2(N2O) to tunneling layer had 2.48 V with 61% retention at bias voltage from +20 V to -24 V. The results show SiO2 using CO2 decrease the D_{it} and it improves the operating voltage.
Autonomous Underwater Vehicles (AUV``s) provide an important means for collecting detailed scientific information from the ocean depths. The hull resistance of an AUV is an important factor in determining the power requirements and range of the vehicle. This paper describes a design method that uses Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) to determine the hull resistance of an AUV under development. The CFD results reveal the distribution of the hydrodynamic values (velocity, pressure, etc.) of an AUV with a ducted propeller. This paper also discusses the optimization of the AUV hull profile to reduce the total resistance. This paper demonstrates that shape optimization in a conceptual design is possible by using a commercial CFD package. Optimum design work to minimize the drag force of an AUV was carried out, for a given object function and constraints.
We give a textured front on silicon wafer for high-efficiency solar cells by using micro contact printing method which uses PDMS (polydimethylsiloxane) silicon rubber as a stamp and SAM (self assembled monolayer)s as an ink. A random pyramidal texturing have been widely used for a front-surface texturing in low cost manufacturing line although the cell with random pyramids on front surface shows relatively low efficiency than the cell with inverted pyramids patterned by normal optical lithography. In the past two decades,the micro contact printing has been intensively studied in nano technology field for high resolution patterns on silicon wafer. However, this promising printing technique has surprisingly never applied so far to silicon based solar cell industry despite their simplicity of process and attractive aspects in terms of cost competitiveness. We employ a MHA (16-mercaptohexadecanoic acid) as an ink for Au deposited SiO2/Si substrate. The SiO2 pattern which is same as the pattern printed by SAM ink on Au surface and later acts as a hard resist for anisotropic silicon etching was made by HF solution, and then inverted pyramidal pattern is formed after anisotropic wet etching. We compare three textured surface with different morphology (random texture, random pyramids and inverted pyramids) and then different geometry of inverted pyramid arrays in terms of reflectivity.
This paper dealt with the radiated electromagnetic wave detection of partial discharge (PD) in oil for insulation diagnostics of oil-immersed transformers. Three types of electrode system were fabricated to simulate the insulation defects that could occur in oil-immersed transformers. Frequency components of radiated electromagnetic wave in oil was measured by broadband bi-conical antennas of 300 MHz∼2 GHz and a spectrum analyzer of 9 kHz∼3 GHz. Frequency component of electromagnetic waves from PD in oil were highly distributed at 500 MHz. From the result, a narrow-band monopole antenna with the center frequency of 500 MHz was fabricated. We could detect PD signal in insulation oil without an influence of external noise by a measurement system which consists of the prototype monopole antenna, a LNA (Low Noise Amplifier), an oscilloscope and a spectrum analyzer.
A New Ag-pastes were developed for integrating the high efficiency mono-Si solar cell. The pastes were the mixture of 84 wt% Ag, 2 wt% glass frit, 11 wt% solvent of buthyl cabitol acetate, and 3 wt% additives. After fabricating the Ag-pastes by using a 3-roll mill, they were coated on a SiN_x/n+/p- stacks of a commercial mono-Si solar cell. And the post-thermal process was also optimized by varying the process conditions of peak temperature. The optimized solar cell efficiency on a 6-inch mono-Si wafer was 18.28%, which was the one of the world best performances. It meaned that the newly developed Aa-paste could be adopted to fabricate a commercial bulk Si solar cell.
This paper dealt with the measurement and analysis of electromagnetic waves radiated from a partial discharge (PD) source in insulation oil to apply condition monitoring of oil-immersed transformers. Two types of narrow-band monopole antennas with the resonant frequency of a 500 MHz and a 1 GHz were designed and fabricated. Also, a needle plane electrode system was manufactured to simulate PDs and the curvature radius of the needle is 10 pm and the diameter of the plane is 60 mm. Electromagnetic wave was measured by the PD measurement system with the monopole antennas. Detection sensitivity of the fabricated antenna was compared for the same P1) magnitude; 620 mVpeak for the 500 MHz antenna and 960 mV1,t for the 1 GHz antenna to the PD magnitude of 74 pC. Consequently, the 1 GHz monopole antenna is more effective to detect PDs in oil immersed transformers.
In this study, a substrate-bias assisted 2-step pulse programming method is proposed for realizing 4-bit/1-cell operation of the SONOS memory. The programming voltage and time are considerably reduced by this programming method than a gate-bias assisted 2-step pulse programming method and CHEI method. It is confirmed that the difference of 4-states in the threshold voltage is maintained to more than 0.5 V at least for 10-year for the multi-level characteristics.
In this paper, we compared and analyzed 3D silicon-oxide-nitride-oxide-silicon (SONOS) multi layer flash memory devices fabricated on nitride or oxide layer, respectively. The device fabricated on nitride layer has inferior electrical properties than that fabricated on oxide layer. However, the device on nitride layer has faster program/erase speed (P/E speed) than that on the oxide layer, although having inferior electrical performance. Afterwards, to find out the reason why the device on nitride has faster P/E speed, 1/f noise analysis of both devices is investigated. From gate bias dependance, both devices follow the mobility fluctuation model which results from the lattice scattering and defects in the channel layer. In addition, the device on nitride with better memory characteristics has higher normalized drain current noise power spectral density (S(ID)/I(D)2), which means that it has more traps and defects in the channel layer. The apparent hooge`s noise parameter (αapp) to represent the grain boundary trap density and the height of grain boundary potential barrier is considered. The device on nitride has higher αapp values, which can be explained due to more grain boundary traps. Therefore, the reason why the devices on nitride and oxide have a different P/E speed can be explained due to the trapping/de-trapping of free carriers into more grain boundary trap sites in channel layer.
Fin-type SONOS (silicon-oxide-nitride-oxide-silicon) flash memory has emerged as novel devices having superior controls over short channel effects(SCE) than the conventional SONOS flash memory devices. However despite these advantages, these also exhibit undesirable characteristics such as corner effect. Usually, the corner effect deteriorates the performance by increasing the leakage current. In this paper, the corner effect of fin-type SONOS flash memory devices is investigate by 3D Process and device simulation and their electrical characteristics are compared to conventional SONOS devices. The corner effect has been observed in fin-type SONOS device. The reason why the memory characteristic in fin-type SONOS flash memory device is not improved, might be due to existing undesirable effect such as corner effect as well as the mutual interference of electric field in the fin-type structure as reported previously.
A linear spring model, where the interactions among atoms are assumed to be isotropic and elastic, is employed for the study of non-polar optical phonon scattering in the valence band of alloy semiconductors. The force equations of n atoms are used in the spring model for the consideration of the random distribution of constituent atoms in an alloy semiconductor. When the number of atoms in a unit cell is assumed to be two based on the experimental result, the optical deformation potent is valid for compound semiconductors as well as alloy semiconductors.
This paper was investigated the electrical properties for optimal operating conditions of monocrystalline silicon solar cell. The output of electricity for monocrystalline solar cell was investigated according to the distances between solar cell and halogen lamp and to the resistances by the variable resistor.
In this paper, Fin-type silicon-oxide-nitride-oxide-silicon (SONOS) flash memory are fabricated and the electrical characteristics are analyzed. Compared to the planar-type SONOS devices, Fin-type SONOS devices show good short channel effect (SCE) immunity due to the enhanced gate controllability. In memory characteristics such as program/erase speed, endurance and data retention, Fin-type SONOS flash memory are also superior to those of conventional planar-type. In addition, Fin-type SONOS device shows improved SCE immunity in accordance with the decrease of Fin width. This is known to be due to the fully depleted mode operation as the Fin width decreases. In Fin-type, however, the memory characteristic improvement is not shown in narrower Fin width. This is thought to be caused by the Fin structure where the electric field of Fin top can interference with the Fin side electric field and be lowered.