A transition from discrete optical modes to 1D photonic bands is experimentally observed and numerically studied in planar photonic-crystal (PhC) L-N microcavities of length N. For increasing N the confined modes progressively acquire a well-defined momentum, eventually reconstructing the band dispersion of the corresponding waveguide. Furthermore, photon localization due to disorder is observed experimentally in the membrane PhCs using spatially resolved photoluminescence spectroscopy. Implications on single-photon sources and transfer lines based on quasi-1D PhC structures are discussed.

Accident models and analysis methods affect what accident investigators look for, which contributory factors are found, and which recommendations are issued. This paper contrasts the Sequentially Timed Events Plotting (STEP) method and the Functional Resonance Analysis Method (FRAM) for accident analysis and modelling. The main issue addressed in this paper is the comparison of the established multi-linear method STEP with the new systemic method FRAM and which new insights the latter provides for accident analysis in comparison to the former established multi-linear method. Since STEP and FRAM are based on a different understandings of the nature of accidents, the comparison of the methods focuses on what we can learn from both methods, how, when, and why to apply them. The main finding is that STEP helps to illustrate what happened, involving which actors at what time, whereas FRAM illustrates the dynamic interactions within socio-technical systems and lets the analyst understand the how and why by describing non-linear dependencies, performance conditions, variability, and their resonance across functions.

Reference material was synthesised for 21 substances that are frequently present as synthetic impurities, i.e. by-products, in illicitly produced amphetamine. Each of these substances is a typical by-product for at least one of the three approaches most often used to synthesise amphetamine, namely, the Leuckart, the reductive amination of benzyl methyl ketone, and the nitrostyrene routes. A large body of data on the substances was recorded, including the following: mass spectra, ultraviolet spectra, Fourier transform infrared spectra, infrared spectra in gas phase, and 1H NMR and 13C NMR spectra. © 2004 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

In this work, we describe the implementation of a 1. 2-V pseudo-differential operational transconductance amplifier (OTA) with common-mode feedforward (CMFF) and inher­ent common-mode feedback (CMFB) in a 65-nm, digital CMOS process. The OTA architecture provides an inher­ent CMFB when cascaded OTA structures are utilized andthis work has studied a cascaded amplifier consisting of fourstages. Due to the low-gain using core 65-nm circuit de­vices, the overall gain must be distributed on all four stages to acquire a gain of more than 60 dB, while maintaining a-3-dB bandwidth of 200 MHz. To achieve high gain, we propose using a modified, positive-feedback, cross-coupled input differential stage. The modified OTA achieves a high output swing of ± 0.85 V due to only two stacked transistors, 88 dB DC gain and a third-order harmonic of -60 dB for 800 mVpp at 30 MHz. Further on, in a capacitive buffer configuration, we achieve a high slew rate of 1240 V/µS, -3-dB bandwidth of 509 MHz, signal-to-noise ratio of 63 dB while consuming 10.4 mW power.

This work describes the implementation of a 1.2-V programmable gain amplifier (PGA) for high-definition (HD) video digitizers in a 65-nm digital CMOS process. The “pseudo” switched-capacitor (SC) PGA architecture buffers the video signal, without switching, during the active video. The SC circuitry is used for setup of DC operating point during horizontal and vertical blanking periods. Additionally, it compensates for the `sync-tip' of analog video signals to an equal blanking level for increased dynamic range to the digitizer following the PGA. The operational transconductance amplifier (OTA) employed as main amplifier in the PGA is a pseudo-differential, positive-feedback input stage architecture with a common-mode feedforward (CMFF) technique. The common-mode feedback (CMFB) is provided once two OTAs are cascaded. Schematic-level simulation results show that the OTA maintains a -3-dB bandwidth of 550 MHz, while keeping the distortion HD₃ at -60 dB for a 30-MHz, 850 mV_pp high definition video signal. The 88 dB DC gain is distributed among four OTA stages and the overall, combined PGA achieves a signal-to-noise ratio of 63 dB. Due to only two stacked transistors, it achieves high output swing of ±0.85 V, 1240 V/μs slew rate while consuming 10.4 mW power.

In a recent paper by the current authors a new methodology called the Extended-Domain-Eigenfunction-Method (EDEM) was proposed for solving elliptic boundary value problems on annular-like domains. In this paper we present and investigate one possible numerical algorithm to implement the EDEM. This algorithm is used to solve modified Helmholtz BVPs on annular-like domains. Two examples of annular-like domains are studied. The results and performance are compared with those of the well-known boundary element method (BEM). The high accuracy of the EDEM solutions and the superior efficiency of the EDEM over the BEM, make EDEM an excellent alternate candidate to use in the animation industry, where speed is a predominant requirement, and by the scientific community where accuracy is the paramount objective.

Standard analytical solutions to elliptic boundary value problems on asymmetric domains are rarely, if ever, obtainable. In this paper, we propose a solution technique wherein we embed the original domain into one with simple boundaries where the classical eigenfunction solution approach can be used. The solution in the larger domain, when restricted to the original domain, is then the solution of the original boundary value problem. We call this the extended-domain-eigenfunction method. To illustrate the methods strength and scope, we apply it to Laplaces equation on an annular-like domain.

The extended-domain-eigenfunction method (EDEM) proposed for solving elliptic boundary value problems on annular-like domains requires an inversion process. The procedure thus represents an ill-posed problem, whose numerical solution involves an ill-conditioned system of equations. In this paper, the ill-posed nature of EDEM is studied and numerical solutions based on regularization schemes are considered. It is shown that the EDEM solution methodology lends itself naturally to a formulation in terms of the well-known iterative Landweber method and the more general and faster converging semi-iterative regularization schemes. Theoretical details and numerical results of the regularization schemes are presented for the case of the two-dimensional Laplace operator on annular domains.

In the pursuit of developing new materials for more efficient bulk-heterojunction solar cells, the blend poly (3-hexylthiophene):[ 6,6]-phenyl-C(61)-butyric acid methyl ester (P3HT:PCBM) serves as an important model system. The success of the P3HT: PCBM blend comes from efficient charge generation and transport with low recombination. There is not, however, a good microscopic picture of what causes these, hindering the development of new material systems. In this report UV photoelectron spectroscopy measurements on both regiorandom-(rra) and regioregular-(rr) P3HT are presented, and the results are interpreted using the Integer Charge Transfer model. The results suggest that spontaneous charge transfer from P3HT to PCBM occurs after heat treatment of P3HT: PCBM blends. The resulting formation of an interfacial dipole creates an extra barrier at the interface explaining the reduced (non-)geminate recombination with increased charge generation in heat treated rr-P3HT: PCBM blends. Extensive photoinduced absorption measurements using both above-and below-bandgap excitation light are presented, in good agreement with the suggested dipole formation.

The structural anisotropy of various poly(alkylthiophene) films have been studied by X-ray diffraction, using both conventional methods and synchrotron radiation at grazing incidence. Solution-cast films orient with the side chains preferably normal to the film surface, whereas spin-cast films of nonstereoregular material orient with both the main and the side chains in the film plane. For thick (10-50 µm) solution-cast films, the degree of orientation depends strongly on the solvent used for casting, and on the stereoregularity of the polymer, films of stereoregular materials being more oriented than those of nonregular materials. The most oriented nonregular films are those cast from mixtures of chloroform and tetrahydrofuran. Thin (50-500 nm) solution-cast films are more oriented than the thicker ones, and the effects of different stereoregularity or different casting solvents are small. For spin-cast films, the degree of orientation is independent of substrate and solvent. Spin-cast films of stereoregular material have two different phases: One with the side chains normal to the substrate, and another where they are parallel to the substrate. The diffraction peaks of spin-cast poly(octylthiophene) narrow considerably upon heating.

Electrochemical dedoping and redoping of p-toluene sulfonate doped poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene) (PEDOT) has been studied with in situ grazing incidence diffraction with water used as an electrolyte. The diffraction peak positions and integrated intensities do not change significantly during doping and dedoping, while the peak widths increase upon dedoping and decrease upon doping. This implies that the lattice parameters and the relative positions of the polymer chains and the p-toluene sulfonate ions remain unchanged, the redox processes being carried out by the motion of smaller ions between the polymer and the electrolyte, and that the structural order decreases upon dedoping and increases upon doping in a reversible manner.

Various substituted poly(phenylthiophene)s have been studied by X-ray diffraction. They are semicrystalline, with very different degrees of crystallinity. Those with para-substituted phenyl groups have a low degree of crystallinity, whereas those with ortho-substituted phenyl groups are more crystalline. The most crystalline materials in this study have two equally long substituents on the phenyl ring, one at the ortho position and the other at the ortho or meta position on the opposite side of the phenyl ring. Poly(3-(2,5-dioctylphenyl)thiophene) (PDOPT) was most thoroughly studied, and a structural model is proposed. The structure of PDOPT is quite different from previously studied substituted polythiophenes in that the octyl side chains are directed normal to the thiophene planes. In this way, the conjugated polymer chains are kept separated from each other. Solution-cast and spin-cast PDOPT films are anisotropic, with the octyl side chains oriented normal to the film surface in both cases. This is contrary to the situation for poly(3-alkylthiophene)s, where solution-cast and spin-cast films orient in different ways.

Positron lifetime spectroscopy was used to study defects in semi-insulating (SI) silicon carbide (SiC) substrates grown by high-temperature chemical vapor deposition (HTCVD). The measured positron lifetime spectra can be decomposed into two components, of which the longer corresponds to vacancy clusters. We have carried out atomic superposition calculations to estimate the size of these clusters.

Positron lifetime spectroscopy was used to study native vacancy defects in semi-insulating silicon carbide. The material is shown to contain (i) vacancy clusters consisting of four to five missing atoms and (ii) Si-vacancy-related negatively charged defects. The total open volume bound to the clusters anticorrelates with the electrical resistivity in both as-grown and annealed materials. Our results suggest that Si-vacancy-related complexes electrically compensate the as-grown material, but migrate to increase the size of the clusters during annealing, leading to loss of resistivity. © 2007 The American Physical Society.

In this work, small signal DC voltage dependent dielectric permittivity, loss tangent, and tuneability of magnetron sputtered epitaxial Na0.5K0.5NO3 films are studied experimentally. (100)-oriented Na0.5K0.5NbO3 films are deposited onto SiO2-buffered CMOS grade low resistivity (p = 10-20 cm) and high resistivity (p = 15-45 kcm) silicon substrates. Planar capacitors with 2 or 4 m gaps between electrodes have been fabricated on top of ferroelectric films. These devices have been characterized in the frequency range 1.0 MHz to 50 GHz at temperatures 30 - 300K. Na0.5K0.5NbO3/SiO2/Si structures on high resistivity silicon substrate exhibit C-V performances typical for Metal-Insulator- Semiconductor (MIS) capacitors. At low frequencies, f 1.0 GHz, the large tuneability and large losses are associated with the MIS structure, while at higher microwave frequencies the tuneability is mainly associated with the ferroelectric, film. At 1.0 MHz and room temperature, the tuneability of Na0.5K0.5NbO3/SiO2/Si structures more than 90%, reducing to 10-15 % at 50 GHz. The losses decrease with increasing the DC bias and frequency. A Q-factor more than 15 at 50 GHz is observed. The dielectric permittivity of the Na0.5K0.5NbO3 film is in the range 50-150 at frequencies 0.045-50 GHz. On low resistivity substrate the performance of Na0.5K0.5NbO3 films is completely screened by the high losses in silicon, and the tuneability is negligible. © 2001 Taylor and Francis.

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Rapporten syftar till att kartlägga och analysera dagens transportflöde av läkemedel på fraktområdet Cargo City på Arlanda. Cargo Center och APH Logistics är två fraktagenter som har sin verksamhet på Cargo City. Observera att Cargo City och Cargo Center inte har samma innebörd. Cargo Center och APH Logistics erbjuder genom nära samarbete transport och hantering av temperaturkänsligt gods, som till exempel läkemedel. Läkemedel är värdefullt gods som kräver särskild skötsel vid transport, hantering och förvaring. Det ställer stränga krav på samtliga aktörer i försörjningskedjan. Genom studiebesök och intervjuer har författarna kartlagt det befintliga flödet av läkemedel. SACT, ett åkeri och dotterbolag till Cargo Center, utför transporten av godset till Cargo City med nerkylda lastbilar. APH Logistics omlastningsterminal på Cargo City är temperaturkontrollerad, vilket innebär att läkemedelsgodset förvaras och lastats i flygcontainrar där. Det färdiglastade godset forslas sedan vidare till Cargo Centers terminal. Där sker vikt- och volymkontroll av godset, det registreras i olika datasystem och slutligen märks det med etiketter, så som flygfraktsedeln. Mycket av godset som hanteras på Arlanda körs med lastbil till andra flygplatser och destinationer runt om i Europa istället för att flygfraktas direkt från flygplatsen. Dessutom hanteras och förvaras inte allt läkemedelsgods under temperaturkontrollerade former. En totalkostnadsanalys har gjorts för att jämföra olika transportflödesscenarion. Dessutom har författarna identifierat den kundservice Cargo Center och APH Logistics bör erbjuda kunden. Den bygger på kvalitativa resonemang. Resultatet av rapporten är författarnas rekommendation till företagen av hur de bör gå tillväga i framtiden. Den ger både kortsiktiga och långsiktiga tips.

The main focus in this thesis is on the aspects related to the implementation of integer and non-integer sampling rate conversion (SRC). SRC is used in many communication and signal processing applications where two signals or systems having different sampling rates need to be interconnected. There are two basic approaches to deal with this problem. The first is to convert the signal to analog and then re-sample it at the desired rate. In the second approach, digital signal processing techniques are utilized to compute values of the new samples from the existing ones. The former approach is hardly used since the latter one introduces less noise and distortion. However, the implementation complexity for the second approach varies for different types of conversion factors. In this work, the second approach for SRC is considered and its implementation details are explored. The conversion factor in general can be an integer, a ratio of two integers, or an irrational number. The SRC by an irrational numbers is impractical and is generally stated for the completeness. They are usually approximated by some rational factor.

The performance of decimators and interpolators is mainly determined by the filters, which are there to suppress aliasing effects or removing unwanted images. There are many approaches for the implementation of decimation and interpolation filters, and cascaded integrator comb (CIC) filters are one of them. CIC filters are most commonly used in the case of integer sampling rate conversions and often preferred due to their simplicity, hardware efficiency, and relatively good anti-aliasing (anti-imaging) characteristics for the first (last) stage of a decimation (interpolation). The multiplierless nature, which generally yields to low power consumption, makes CIC filters well suited for performing conversion at higher rate. Since these filters operate at the maximum sampling frequency, therefore, are critical with respect to power consumption. It is therefore necessary to have an accurate and efficient ways and approaches that could be utilized to estimate the power consumption and the important factors that are contributing to it. Switching activity is one such factor. To have a high-level estimate of dynamic power consumption, switching activity equations in CIC filters are derived, which may then be used to have an estimate of the dynamic power consumption. The modeling of leakage power is also included, which is an important parameter to consider since the input sampling rate may differ several orders of magnitude. These power estimates at higher level can then be used as a feed-back while exploring multiple alternatives.

Sampling rate conversion is a typical example where it is required to determine the values between existing samples. The computation of a value between existing samples can alternatively be regarded as delaying the underlying signal by a fractional sampling period. The fractional-delay filters are used in this context to provide a fractional-delay adjustable to any desired value and are therefore suitable for both integer and non-integer factors. The structure that is used in the efficient implementation of a fractional-delay filter is know as Farrow structure or its modifications. The main advantage of the Farrow structure lies in the fact that it consists of fixed finite-impulse response (FIR) filters and there is only one adjustable fractional-delay parameter, used to evaluate a polynomial with the filter outputs as coefficients. This characteristic of the Farrow structure makes it a very attractive structure for the implementation. In the considered fixed-point implementation of the Farrow structure, closed-form expressions for suitable word lengths are derived based on scaling and round-off noise. Since multipliers share major portion of the total power consumption, a matrix-vector multiple constant multiplication approach is proposed to improve the multiplierless implementation of FIR sub-filters.

The implementation of the polynomial part of the Farrow structure is investigated by considering the computational complexity of different polynomial evaluation schemes. By considering the number of operations of different types, critical path, pipelining complexity, and latency after pipelining, high-level comparisons are obtained and used to short list the suitable candidates. Most of these evaluation schemes require the explicit computation of higher order power terms. In the parallel evaluation of powers, redundancy in computations is removed by exploiting any possible sharing at word level and also at bit level. As a part of this, since exponents are additive under multiplication, an ILP formulation for the minimum addition sequence problem is proposed.

In this work, we consider the computational complexity of different polynomial evaluation schemes. By considering the number of operations of different types, critical path, pipelining complexity, and latency after pipelining, high-level comparisons are obtained. These can then be used to short list suitable candidates for an implementation given the specifications. Not only multiplications are considered, but they are divided into data-data multiplications, squarers, and data-coefficient multiplications, as the latter can be optimized depending on implementation architecture and application.

In this work, an integer linear programming (ILP) based model is proposed for the computation of a minimal cost addition sequence for a given set of integers. Since exponents are additive under multiplication, the minimal length addition sequence will provide an optimal solution for the evaluation of a requested set of power terms. This in turn finds application in, e.g., window-based exponentiation for cryptography and polynomial evaluation. Not only is an optimal model proposed, the model is extended to consider different costs for multipliers and squarers as well as controlling the depth of the resulting addition sequence.

In this work, a method for estimation of the switching activity in integrators is presented. To achieve low power, it is always necessary to develop accurate and efficient methods to estimate the switching activity. The switching activities are then used to estimate the power consumption. In our work, the switching activity is first estimated for the general purpose integrators and then it is extended for the estimation of switching activity in cascaded integrators in CIC filters.

In this letter, equations for the one’s probability and switching activities for direct digital frequency synthesis (DDFS) phase accumulators are derived. These results are useful for obtaining good accuracy estimated of both leakage and dynamic power consumption for the phase accumulator and the phase-to-magnitude converter.

In this work, we investigate the problem of computing any requested set of power terms in parallel using summations trees. This problem occurs in applications like polynomial approximation, Farrow filters (polynomial evaluation part) etc. In the proposed technique, the partial product of each power term is initially computed independently. A redundancy check is then made in each and among all partial products matrices at bit level. The redundancy here relates to the fact that same three partial products may be present in more than one columns, and, hence, can be mapped to the same full adder. The proposed algorithm is tested for different sets of powers and wordlengths to exploit the sharing potential.

In this paper, the fixed-point implementation of adjustable fractional-delay filters using the Farrow structure is considered. Based on the observation that the sub-filters approximate differentiators, closed-form expressions for the L-2-norm scaling values at the outputs of each sub-filter as well as at the inputs of each delay multiplier are derived. The scaling values can then be used to derive suitable word lengths by also considering the round-off noise analysis and optimization. Different approaches are proposed to derive suitable word lengths including one based on integer linear programming, which always gives an optimal allocation. Finally, a new approach for multiplierless implementation of the sub-filters in the Farrow structure is suggested. This is shown to reduce register complexity and, for most word lengths, require less number of adders and subtracters when compared to existing approaches.

In this work we consider scaling of fractional delay filters using the Farrow structure. Based on the observation that the subfilters approximate the Taylor expansion of a differentiator, we derive estimates of the L₂-norm scaling values at the outputs of each subfilter as well as at the inputs of each delay multiplier. The scaling values can then be used to derive suitable wordlengths in a fixed-point implementation.

The power modeling of different realizations of cascaded integrator-comb (CIC) decimation filters has been a subject of several recent works. In this work we have extended these with modeling of leakage power, which is an important factor since the input sample rate may differ several orders of magnitude. Furthermore, we have pointed out the importance of the input wordlength on the comparison of recursive and nonrecursive implementations.

FIR filters are often used because of their linear-phase response. However, there are certain applications where the linear-phase property is not required, such as signal energy estimation, but IIR filters can not be used due to the limitation of sample rate imposed by the recursive algorithm. In this work, we discuss multiplierless implementation of minimum order, and therefore nonlinear-phase, FIR filters and compare it to the linear-phase counterpart.

Electronics industry has been revolutionized since last few decades because of the fabrication of electronic devices by using nanoscale based materials. But the more innovative feature in the electronic devices is the use of transparent materials, which makes the transparent electronic devices as one of the most interesting research field in nanoscience and nano-technology now a days. In order to have high performance electronic devices based on the wide band gap compound semiconductors, a selection of right transparent material is crucial step. Among all the transparent metal oxides, ZnO is one of the potential candidates due to the ease in the synthesis process, wide bandgap of 3.37 eV, a high exciton binding energy of 60 meV and diverse morphologies. Since p-type ZnO based nanodevices are still difficult to fabricate due to the instability and unreliability of p-type ZnO nanomaterial, therefore several p-type semiconductors are used for the development of p-n junctions. Among those NiO is suitable p-type compound semiconductor to make p-n junction with ZnO because of its wide band gap of 3.7 eV and environment friendly conditions for its synthesis. Keeping these attractive properties of n-type ZnO and p-type NiO, the synthesis of composite nanostructures of these two transparent oxides and fabrication of their electronic devices is presented in this dissertation work.

I started my work with the synthesis of ZnO nanostructures focusing on the effect of different anions of zinc salts on the morphology and crystallinity of ZnO nanostructures. Then I grow honey-comb like NiO nanostructures on 3D nickel foam and used these nanostructures for the detection of Zinc ion. After that synthesized NiO and ZnO based composite nanostructures and characterized them, having main focus on the luminescence properties of ZnO when decorated with NiO nanostructures. The composite nanostructures of p-type NiO and n-type ZnO showed enhancement in the luminescence properties. Since pn junction is the back bone of electronic devices so working on the designing of band alignment along with the current transport properties of p-type NiO/n-type ZnO composite structures, an attempt was put forwarded to explain the phenomenon of these compound semiconducting materials. Different devices based on these two compound semiconducting materials are fabricated and designed in the present dissertation work, however still more work is required to improve the efficiency of devices like LEDs and UV detectors.

Cheap and efficient white light-emitting diodes (LEDs) are of great interest due to the energy crisis all over the world. Herein, we have developed heterojunction LEDs based on the well-aligned ZnO nanorods and nanotubes on the p-type GaN with the insertion of the NiO buffer layer that showed enhancement in the light emission. Scanning electron microscopy have well demonstrated the arrays of the ZnO nanorods and the proper etching into the nanotubes. X-ray diffraction study describes the wurtzite crystal structure array of ZnO nanorods with the involvement of GaN at the (002) peak. The cathodoluminescence spectra represent strong and broad visible emission peaks compared to the UV emission and a weak peak at 425 nm which is originated from GaN. Electroluminescence study has shown highly improved luminescence response for the LEDs fabricated with NiO buffer layer compared to that without NiO layer. Introducing a sandwich-thin layer of NiO between the n-type ZnO and the p-type GaN will possibly block the injection of electrons from the ZnO to the GaN. Moreover, the presence of NiO buffer layer might create the confinement effect.

Composite nanostructures of coral reefs like p-type NiO on n-type ZnO nanorods have been decorate on fluorine-doped tin oxide glass substrates by the hydrothermal growth. Structural characterization was performed by field emission scanning electron microscopy,  high-resolution transmission electron microscopy and X-ray diffraction techniques. This investigation has shown that the adopted synthesis has led to high crystalline quality nanostructures. Morphological study shows that the coral reefs like nanostructures are densely packed on the ZnO nanorods. Cathodoluminescence (CL) spectra for the synthesized composite nanostructures were dominated by a near band gap emission at 380 nm and by a broad interstitial defect related luminescence centered at ~630 nm. Spatially resolved CL images reveal that the luminescence originates mainly from the ZnO nanorods.

In this research work, a UV photo-detector is fabricated on fluorine doped tin oxide (FTO) glass substrate by exploiting the advantageous features of p-n heterojunctions based on p-NiO and n-ZnO composite nanostructures forming a coral-reef like structures. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and X-ray diffraction results showed uniform morphology and good crystal quality of the synthesised nanostructures respectively. I-V measurements have shown nonlinear and rectifying response of the p-NiO/n-ZnO heterojunction. The proposed photodiode exhibited excellent UV response with acceptable photocurrent generation of about 3.4 mA and the responsivity of 2.27 A/W at -3 biasing voltage.

In the present work, the seedless, highly aligned and vertical ZnO nanorods in 3 dimensions (3D) were grown on the nickel foam substrate. The seedless grown ZnO nanorods were characterised by field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM), high resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM), and X-ray diffraction (XRD) techniques. The characterised seedless ZnO nanorods in 3D on nickel foam were highly dense, perpendicular to substrate, grown along the (002) crystal plane, and also composed of single crystal. In addition to this, these seedless ZnO nanorods were functionalized with trans-dinitro-dibenzo-18-6 crown ether, a selective iron (III) ion ionophore, along with other components of membrane composition such as polyvinyl chloride (PVC), 2-nitopentylphenyl ether as plasticizer (NPPE), and tetrabutyl ammonium tetraphenylborate (TBATPB) as conductivity increaser. The sensor electrode has shown high linearity with a wide range of detection of iron (III) ion concentrations from 0.005 mM to 100 mM. The low limit of detection of the proposed ion selective electrode was found to be 0.001 mM. The proposed sensor also described high storage stability, selectivity, reproducibility, and repeatability and a quick response time of less than 10 s.

In this study honeycomb-like NiO nanostructures were grown on nickel foam by a simple hydrothermal growth method. The NiO nanostructures were characterized by field emission electron microscopy (FESEM), high resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM) and X-ray diffraction (XRD) techniques. The characterized NiO nanostructures were uniform, dense and polycrystalline in the crystal phase. In addition to this, the NiO nanostructures were used in the development of a zinc ion sensor electrode by functionalization with the highly selective zinc ion ionophore 12-crown-4. The developed zinc ion sensor electrode has shown a good linear potentiometric response for a wide range of zinc ion concentrations, ranging from 0.001 mM to 100 mM, with sensitivity of 36 mV/decade. The detection limit of the present zinc ion sensor was found to be 0.0005 mM and it also displays a fast response time of less than 10 s. The proposed zinc ion sensor electrode has also shown good reproducibility, repeatability, storage stability and selectivity. The zinc ion sensor based on the functionalized NiO nanostructures was also used as indicator electrode in potentiometric titrations and it has demonstrated an acceptable stoichiometric relationship for the determination of zinc ion in unknown samples. The NiO nanostructures-based zinc ion sensor has potential for analysing zinc ion in various industrial, clinical and other real samples.

Seed mediated aqueous chemical growth (ACG) route was used for the growth of ZnO nanostructures on Si substrate in four different growth mediums. The growth medium has shown to affect the morphology and the size of the different nanostructures. We observed that the medium containing zinc nitrate anions yields the nanorods, in a medium containing zinc acetate anions nano-candles are obtained. While in a medium containing zinc chloride anions ZnO nano-discs were obtained and in a medium containing zinc sulfate anions nano-flakes are achieved. Growth in these different mediums has also shown effect on the optical emission characteristics of the different ZnO nanostructures.

Low power wireless electronics is becoming more popular due to durability, portability and small dimension. Especially, electronic devices in instruments, scientific and medical (ISM) band is convenient from the spectrum regulations and technology availability point of view. In the communication engineering society, to make a robust transceiver is always a matter of challenges for the better performance.

However, in this thesis work, a new approach of design and performance analysis of Low-Noise Amplifier with Band-Pass filter is performed at 2.45 GHz under the communication electronics research group of Institute of Science and Technology (ITN). Band-Pass Filtered Low-Noise Amplifier is designed with lumped components and transmission lines. Performances of different designs are compared with respect to noise figure, gain, input and output reflection coefficient. In the design process, a single stage LNA is designed with amplifier, ATF-58143. Maximally flat band-pass (BPF) filters were designed with lumped components and distributed elements. Afterwards, BPF is integrated with the LNA at the front side of LNA to get a compact Band-Pass Filtered Low-Noise Amplifier with good performance.

Advanced Design System (ADS) tool was used for design and simulation, and each design was tuned to get the optimum value for noise figure, gain and input reflection coefficient. LNA stand-alone gives acceptable value of noise figure and gain but the bandwidth was too wide compared to specification. Band-Pass Filtered Low-Noise Amplifier with lumped components gives also considerable values of noise and gain. But the gain was not so flat and the bandwidth was also wide. Then, Band-Pass Filtered Low-Noise Amplifier was designed with transmission lines where the optimum value of noise figure and gain was found. The gain was almost flat over the whole band, i.e., 2.4-2.5 GHz compared to LNA stand-alone and Band-Pass Filtered Low-Noise Amplifier designed with lumped components. It is observed that deviations of results from schematic to layout level are considerable, i.e., electromagnetic simulation is needed to predict the Band-Pass Filtered Low-Noise Amplifier performance.

Prototype of LNA, Band-Pass Filtered Low-Noise Amplifier with lumped and transmission lines are made at ITN’s PCB laboratory. Due to unavailability of exact values of Murata components and for some other technical reasons, the measured values of Band-Pass Filtered Low-Noise Amplifier with lumped components and transmission lines are deviated compared to predicted values from simulation.

We develop a tool to explore the behavior of parameterized systems (i.e., systems consisting of an arbitrary number of identical processes that synchronize using shared variables or global communications) and to ease user interaction with tools that verify them. The tool includes a user friendly GUI that allows the user to describe a parameterized system and to perform guided, interactive or random simulation. This tool empowers the user to plug in several independent verifiers to perform verification. A mockup verifier is developed in order to facilitate the development of the tool and testing the required functionalities. The mockup verifier involves parsing descriptions of the parameterized systems to be analyzed. In order to interact with the verifier, the tool is user friendly and flexible in the sense that the user can plug in a verifier developed in any language as long as it allows to perform a number of basic computations on the parameterized system (such as the set of enabled transitions or the set of successor configurations). In order to plug in a new tool, our tool needs to be able to make use of these operations, for instance using a wrapper written for a verifier particular to a class of parameterized systems. Given these operations, our tool enables the user to carry out various types of simulations like random, interactive or guided simulations. Moreover, our tool can submit verification queries to the underlying verifier and walk the user through the generated counter examples as if it was a simulation session.

In Ericsson, the Automation Team automates test cases that are frequently rerun. This process involves copying data related to a particular Configured Test Case from a database and then pasting it into a java file created to run a test case. In one java file, there can be more than one Configured Test Cases. So information can vary. Then the tester has to add package name, necessary imports, member variables, preamble and post amble methods, help methods and main execution methods. A lot of time and effort are consumed in writing the whole code. The Automation Team came up with a proposal of having a tool that can generate this whole information and the tester just has to add or remove minor changes. This will save time and resources. So the development of tool started and finally a tool named Automatic Test Builder developed in java was created to help automation teams in Ottawa, Kista and Linkoping.

This document elaborates problem statement, opted approach, tools used in development process, a detailed overview of all development stages of Automatic Test Builder. This document also explains issues what came during the development, evaluation and usability analysis of Automatic Test Builder.

Abrasive Waterjet cutting (AWJ) presents many advantages over competing machining techniques, but several issues are related to the high volume of materials (and in particular of abrasive) used in the process.

In this study, the environmental impact of the material flows in the abrasive waterjet industry has been analyzed adopting a life cycle perspective in order to individuate which phases place the largest burden on the environment. Moreover, three alternative abrasives (crushed rock, recycled glass and synthetic abrasive) and three disposal practices (in-site recycling, off-site recycling and recycling as construction material) have been also evaluated to estimate the benefits that can be achieved if these could be used in place of garnet abrasives and landfilling.

The transportation of the abrasive resulted to be the phase that has the largest influence in every case and thus should be reduced as much as possible. For what concerns the alternative options, the usage of recycled glass and the in-site recycling of the abrasive were the two alternatives with the best environmental performances. However, crushed rock could be the best option for what concerns the global warming potential if carbon sequestration due to carbonation of silicate rocks is taken into account. Off-site recycling and recycling as construction material are good options only if the transportation to the recycling site can be reduced. Synthetic abrasive are instead found to have a much larger impact compared to every other alternative examined.

The Ontology Alignment Evaluation Initiative (OAEI) aims at comparing ontology matching systems on precisely defined test cases. These test cases can be based on ontologies of different levels of complexity and use different evaluation modalities (e.g., blind evaluation, open evaluation, or consensus). The OAEI 2021 campaign offered 13 tracks and was attended by 21 participants.This paper is an overall presentation of that campaign.

The Ontology Alignment Evaluation Initiative (OAEI) aims at comparing ontology matching systems on precisely defined test cases. These test cases can be based on ontologies of different levels of complexity and use different evaluation modalities (e.g., blind evaluation, open evaluation, or consensus).The OAEI 2020 campaign offered 12 tracks with 36 test cases, and was attended by 19 participants. This paper is an overall presentation of that campaign. 

The Ontology Alignment Evaluation Initiative (OAEI) aims at comparing ontology matching systems on precisely defined test cases. These test cases can be based on ontologies of different levels of complexity and use different evaluation modalities. The OAEI 2022 campaign offered 14 tracks and was attended by18 participants. This paper is an overall presentation of that campaign

Ontologies have been proposed as a means towards making data FAIR (Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, Reusable) and has recently attracted much interest in the materials science community. Ontologies for this domain are being developed and one such effort is the Materials Design Ontology. However, to obtain good results when using ontologies in semantically-enabled applications, the ontologies need to be of high quality. One of the quality aspects is that the ontologies should be as complete as possible. In this paper we show preliminary results regarding extending the Materials Design Ontology using a phrase-based topic model.

Additive manufacturing is an innovative production approach aimed at creating products that traditionaltechniques cannot produce with the desired quality and requirements. Throughout the additive manufacturing process, data is either used (such as materials properties, printer characteristics and settings)or generated (such as monitoring data during printing, slicing strategies setting parameters). However, managing such data with complex relationships remains a significant challenge in both research andindustry in the additive manufacturing field. To address this issue, we developed a modular ontology that can be used as the basis for a framework that supports decision-making systems, facilitate semantics-aware data management, and enhance the understanding and optimization of additive manufacturingprocesses. In this paper we focus on one of the state-of-the-art additive manufacturing approaches, i.e., powder bed fusion. To show the use and the feasibility of our approach, we created a knowledge graph for an actual additive manufacturing experiment based on our ontology, and show how queries relevant to domain experts can be answered using this knowledge graph.

Printed electronics are considered for wireless electronic tags and sensors within the future Internet-of-things (IoT) concept. As a consequence of the low charge carrier mobility of present printable organic and inorganic semiconductors, the operational frequency of printed rectifiers is not high enough to enable direct communication and powering between mobile phones and printed e-tags. Here, we report an all-printed diode operating up to 1.6 GHz. The device, based on two stacked layers of Si and NbSi2 particles, is manufactured on a flexible substrate at low temperature and in ambient atmosphere. The high charge carrier mobility of the Si microparticles allows device operation to occur in the charge injection-limited regime. The asymmetry of the oxide layers in the resulting device stack leads to rectification of tunneling current. Printed diodes were combined with antennas and electrochromic displays to form an all-printed e-tag. The harvested signal from a Global System for Mobile Communications mobile phone was used to update the display. Our findings demonstrate a new communication pathway for printed electronics within IoT applications.

Detta examensarbete utfördes på IDA (Institutionen för datavetenskap) vid Linköpings universitet. 

Syftet med det här examensarbetet var att utveckla ett program som skulle skapa förutsättningar för generativ konst med hjälp av MyPaint som är ett digitalt rit/målarverktyg. Metoden gick ut på att registrera vad användaren skapat för komponenter, dvs. musinteraktioner och kortkommandon, och därefter använda dem algoritmiskt.

Examensarbetet resulterades i ett program (SharpArt), som fångar musinteraktioner samt simulerar tangentbordstryckningar (kortkommandon) från och till Mypaint, vilket i sin tur skapar komponenter som används algoritmiskt. Programmet kan även positionera objektet på canvasen enligt det önskade koordinatvärdet.

The assignment of this master thesis consists of initiating power, subcarrier allocation in a dynamic FFR based scheme designed for multi-cell OFDMA networks and to enhance the throughput of all center users in bandwidth hungry borrower cells (overloaded cells) which was previously degraded by original FFR3 scheme as a result of partitioning of system bandwidth into center and edge bands respectively. The method uses band borrowing to compensate center user’s throughput loss in a semi and fully overloaded system. The scheme uses dynamic programming method (0/1 knapsack problem) to bargain an edge band on various power levels and tends to check the best combination (power and sub-carrier) which the system can utilize while still maintaining acceptable throughput loss for the users at the edge of the neighboring cell (lender cell).

The algorithm consists of generating a borrowing request to neighboring cells for utilizing their edge bands by the overloaded borrower cell if their average center user throughput reaches below a minimum threshold value set in the system. The borrowing method uses 0/1 knapsack problem to capture an edge band based on limiting factors of total cost in average throughput losses by neighbors (Ci) and Un (tolerable mean user edge user throughput loss by lending cell). While solving knapsack problem the lender (neighbors) will check Ci and Un before granting the right to use its edge band. The later stage requires reducing subcarrier power level in order to utilize the lenders edge band using "soft borrower" mode. The borrowed sub-carriers will be activated take power from the original center band sub-carriers of the overloaded cell by taking into account the interference between the lender and the borrower. In case of negative (0) reply from the lender cell after the first request, multiple requests are generated at reduce power level at every step to order to acquire more bands. If a neighbor has band borrowing requests from multiple overloaded base stations, the band will be granted to the one which gives minimal loss in terms of throughput to the lender cell.

The simulation results are analyzed w.r.t reuse-1 and FFR3 scheme of a multi cell regular and irregular scenarios comprising of lightly to heavily overloaded cells with various subcarrier allocation patterns. An overhead and time assessment is also presented between borrower and lender cells. Simulation results show an increase of 60% in center user’s throughput w.r.t original FFR3 scheme with an acceptable loss of 18% at the edges in complex overloaded scenarios while the overall system throughout increases by 35%.

We present a decision procedure for a logic that combines (i) word equations over string variables denoting words of arbitrary lengths, together with (ii) constraints on the length of words, and on (iii) the regular languages to which words belong. Decidability of this general logic is still open. Our procedure is sound for the general logic, and a decision procedure for a particularly rich fragment that restricts the form in which word equations are written. In contrast to many existing procedures, our method does not make assumptions about the maximum length of words. We have developed a prototypical implementation of our decision procedure, and integrated it into a CEGAR-based model checker for the analysis of programs encoded as Horn clauses. Our tool is able to automatically establish the correctness of several programs that are beyond the reach of existing methods.

We propose an automatic fence insertion and verification framework for concurrent programs running under relaxed memory. Unlike previous approaches to this problem, which allow only variables of finite domain, we target programs with (unbounded) integer variables. The problem is difficult because it has two different sources of infiniteness: unbounded store buffers and unbounded integer variables. Our framework consists of three main components: (1) a finite abstraction technique for the store buffers, (2) a finite abstraction technique for the integer variables, and (3) a counterexample guided abstraction refinement loop of the model obtained from the combination of the two abstraction techniques. We have implemented a prototype based on the framework and run it successfully on all standard benchmarks together with several challenging examples that are beyond the applicability of existing methods.