Design and Implementation of Charge Pump Phase-Locked Loop Frequency Source Based on GaAs pHEMT Process

This paper realized a charge pump phase locked loop (CPPLL) frequency source circuit based on 0.15 μm Win GaAs pHEMT process. In this paper, an improved fully differential edge-triggered frequency discriminator (PFD) and an improved differential structure charge pump (CP) are proposed respectively. In addition, a low noise voltage-controlled oscillator (VCO) and a static 64:1 frequency divider is realized. Finally, the phase locked loop (PLL) is realized by cascading each module. Measurement results show that the output signal frequency of the proposed CPPLL is 3.584 GHz–4.021 GHz, the phase noise at the frequency offset of 1 MHz is −117.82 dBc/Hz, and the maximum output power is 4.34 dBm. The chip area is 2701 μm × 3381 μm, and the power consumption is 181 mw.

Green Route for Fabrication of Water-Treatable Thermoelectric Generators

Since future energy harvesting technologies require stable supply and high-efficiency energy conversion, there is an increasing demand for high-performance organic thermoelectric generators (TEGs) based on waterproof thermoelectric materials. The poor stability of n-type organic semiconductors in air and water has proved a roadblock in the development of reliable thermoelectric power generators. We developed a simple green route for preparing n-type carbon nanotubes (CNTs) by doping with cationic surfactants and fabricated films of the doped CNTs using only aqueous media. The thermoelectric properties of the CNT films were investigated in detail. The nanotubes doped using a cationic surfactant (cetyltrimethylammonium chloride (CTAC)) retained an n-doped state for at least 28 days when exposed to water and air, indicating higher stability than that for contemporary CNT-based thermoelectric materials. The wrapping of the surfactant molecules around the CNTs is responsible for blocking oxygen and water from attacking the CNT walls, thus, extending the lifetime of the n-doped state of the CNTs. We also fabricated thermoelectric power conversion modules comprising CTAC-doped (n-type) and sodium dodecylbenzenesulfonate- (SDBS-) doped (p-type) CNTs and tested their stabilities in water. The modules retained 80±2.4% of their initial maximum output power (at a temperature difference of 75°C) after being submerged in water for 30 days, even without any sealing fills to prevent device degradation. The remarkable stability of our CNT-based modules can enable the development of reliable soft electronics for underwater applications.

LD-pumped high-power continuous-wave Pr3+:YLF deep red lasers at 718.5 and 720.8 nm

We demonstrated 22 W LD-pumped high-power continuous-wave (CW) deep red laser operations at 718.5 and 720.8 nm based on an a-cut Pr3+:YLF crystal. The output power of both polarized directions reached the watt-level without output power saturation. A single wavelength laser operated at 720.8 nm in the π-polarized direction was achieved, with a high output power of 4.5 W and high slope efficiency of approximately 41.5%. To the best of our knowledge, under LD-pumped conditions, the laser output power and slope efficiency are the highest at 721 nm. By using a compact optical glass plate as an intracavity etalon, we suppressed the π-polarized 720.8 nm laser emission. And σ-polarized single-wavelength laser emission at 718.5 nm was achieved, with a maximum output power of 1.45 W and a slope efficiency of approximately 17.8%. This is the first time that we have achieved the σ-polarized laser emission at 718.5 nm generated by Pr3+:YLF lasers.

Hybrid Power System for the Range Extension of Security Robots: Prototyping Phase

This paper describes our best practices related to hybrid power system (HPS) development with a focus on the prototyping phase. Based on the main development goals of our security robot, 24 h continuous operation on a single charge as a top priority, the HPS specifications were developed in the previous phase. For long-duration missions, batteries are hybridized with hydrogen fuel cells. By hybridization, the practical issues of fuel cells can be addressed such as lack of durability and low power density. With the developed specifications of the HPS, its components were acquired and installed to build a prototype. Using an electronic load coupled with a charge-discharge system controller, the constructed prototype was tested, discovering the maximum output power (850 W) that the fuel cell can sustain for 24 h. To further increase the energy density of the HPS, its structure was converted to a plug-in hybrid. With the developed HPS simulator, the converted HPS was simulated, predicting an extended hours of operation (2.07 h) based on the larger battery (7S12P) over the widest SOC window (90%). The plug-in HPS prototype was integrated into the security robot. On a dedicated chassis dynamometer, the integrated prototype was tested, demonstrating its capability to continuously operate the security robot for 24 h.

Effect of Nonlinear Dispersion Fiber Length and Input Power on Raman Scattering

The increasing demand for information transmission makes the problem of establishing a laser system is operating in C-band (1530-1565nm) wavelength region is a significant task, which attracts a lot of researchers' attention lately. In this paper, the ability to produce signals of multi wavelengths using a single light source was adopted to employ the Raman scattering effect for establishing Raman shift configuration-based multi-wavelength fiber lasers, which is not currently addressed in available schemes. This is what prompted to simulate the performance of C-band multi-wavelength produced by Raman fiber laser that utilizing fiber Bragg grating (FBG) to amplify pumped power and also utilizing the single-mode fiber (SMF) as the nonlinear gain medium. The proposed laser system is designed by OptiSystem software. The resulted maximum output power was 22.07dB at Wavelength Division Multiplexing (WDM) of 23.01dB input power. The achieved multi-wavelength that generated by Bragg grating and SMF was containing six Stokes and anti-Stokes, they are: 1548.51nm, 1549, 31nm, 1550.116nm, 1550.91nm, 1551.72nm, and 1552.52nm, in which the resulted computed efficiency of the system was raised up to 80.23% at input power 20 dB and dispersion fiber length of 0.2 km.

β-Ga2O3 Used as a Saturable Sbsorber to Realize Passively Q-Switched Laser Output

β-Ga2O3 crystals have attracted great attention in the fields of photonics and photoelectronics because of their ultrawide band gap and high thermal conductivity. Here, a pure β-Ga2O3 crystal was successfully grown by the optical floating zone (OFZ) method, and was used as a saturable absorber to realize a passively Q-switched all-solid-state 1 μm laser for the first time. By placing the as-grown β-Ga2O3 crystal into the resonator of the Nd:GYAP solid-state laser, Q-switched pulses at the center wavelength of 1080.4 nm are generated under a output coupling of 10%. The maximum output power is 191.5 mW, while the shortest pulse width is 606.54 ns, and the maximum repetition frequency is 344.06 kHz. The maximum pulse energy and peak power are 0.567 μJ and 0.93 W, respectively. Our experimental results show that the β-Ga2O3 crystal has great potential in the development of an all-solid-state 1 μm pulsed laser.

Experimental and Theoretical Study of an Actively Q-Switched Tm:YLF Laser with an Acousto-Optic Modulator

We report the characteristics of a diode-end-pumped, high-repetition-rate, acoustic-optic (AO) Q-switched Tm:YLF laser operating from 5 kHz to 10 kHz. In the continuous-wave (CW) regime, a maximum average output power of 8.5 W was obtained with a slope efficiency of 30.7%. Under the AO Q-switching regime, a maximum output power of 7.32 W was obtained at a repetition frequency of 5 kHz with a pulse width of 68 ns and a pulse energy of 1.4 mJ, corresponding to a peak power of 21.5 kW. A time-dependent rate equation model is introduced to theoretically analyze the results obtained in the experiment, in which the cross-relaxation phenomenon, upconversion losses and ground-state depletion are taken into account. Additionally, the evolution processes of population inversion density and intracavity photon number density with time are also presented. The theoretical results well predict the dependence of laser output characteristics of Tm:YLF crystal on the incident pump powers.

A single-stage full bridgeless boost half-bridge AC/DC converter with bidirectional switch

This paper proposes an isolated full bridgeless single stage alternating current-direct current (AC-DC) converter. The proposed converter integrates the operation of a pure bridgeless power factor correction with input boost inductor cascaded with center-tap transformer and half bridge circuit. In addition, the bidirectional switch can be driven with single control signal which further simplifies the controller circuit. It is also proved that this converter reduces the total number of components compared to some conventional circuit and semi-bridgeless circuit topologies. The circuit operation of the proposed circuit is then confirmed with the small signal model, large signal model, circuit simulation and then verified experimentally. It is designed and tested at 115 Vac, 50 Hz of input supply, and 20 Vdc output voltage with maximum output power of 100 W. In addition, the crossover distortion at the input current is minimize at high input line frequency.

Design Optimization and Comparison of Cylindrical Electromagnetic Vibration Energy Harvesters

Investigating the coil–magnet structure plays a significant role in the design process of the electromagnetic energy harvester due to the effect on the harvester’s performance. In this paper, the performance of four different electromagnetic vibration energy harvesters with cylindrical shapes constrained in the same volume were under investigation. The utilized structures are (i) two opposite polarized magnets spaced by a mild steel; (ii) a Halbach array with three magnets and one coil; (iii) a Halbach array with five magnets and one coil; and (iv) a Halbach array with five magnets and three coils. We utilized a completely automatic optimization procedure with the help of an optimization algorithm implemented in Python, supported by simulations in ANSYS Maxwell and MATLAB Simulink to obtain the maximum output power for each configuration. The simulation results show that the Halbach array with three magnets and one coil is the best for configurations with the Halbach array. Additionally, among all configurations, the harvester with two opposing magnets provides the highest output power and volume power density, while the Halbach array with three magnets and one coil provides the highest mass power density. The paper also demonstrates limitations of using the electromagnetic coupling coefficient as a metric for harvester optimization, if the ultimate goal is maximization of output power.