Two-terminal vertical thyristor using Schottky contact emitter to improve thermal instability

In a two-terminal-electrode vertical thyristor, the latch-up and latch-down voltages are decreased when the memory operation temperature of the memory cells increases, resulting in a severe reliability issue (i.e., thermal instability). This study fundamentally solves the thermal instability of a vertical-thyristor by achieving a cross-point memory-cell array using a vertical-thyristor with a structure of vertical n++-emitter, p+-base, n+-base, and p++-emitter. The vertical-thyristor using a Schottky contact metal emitter instead of an n++-Si emitter significantly improves the thermal stability between 293 and 373 K. Particularly, the improvement degree of the thermal stability is increased significantly with the use of the Schottky contact metal work function. Because the thermal instability (i.e., degree of latch-up voltage decrement vs. memory operation temperature) decreases with an increase in the Schottky contact metal work function, the dependency of the forward current density between the Schottky contact metal and p+-Si based on the memory operation temperature reduces with increase in the Schottky contact metal work function. Consequently, a higher Schottky contact metal work function produces a higher degree of improvement in the thermal stability, i.e., W (4.50 eV), Ti (4.33 eV), Ta (4.25 eV), and Al (4.12 eV). Further research on the fabrication process of a Schottky contact metal emitter vertical-thyristor is essential for the fabrication of a 3-D cross-point memory-cell.

DESIGN OF A 3D-PRINTED THREE-CLAW ROBOTIC GRIPPER END-EFFECTOR

The development of a novel 3D-printed three-claw robotic gripper shall be described in this paper with the goal of incorporating various design considerations. Such considerations include the grip reliability and stability, grip force maximization, wide object grasping capability. Modularization of its components is another consideration that allows its parts to be easily machined and reusable. The design was realized by 3D printing using a combination of tough polylactic acid (PLA) material and thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU) material. In practice, additional tolerances were also considered for 3D printing of materials to compensate for possible expansion or shrinkage of the materials used to achieve the required functionality. The aim of the study is to explore the design and eventually deploy the three-claw robotic gripper to an actual robotic arm once its metal work fabrication is finished.

Open reduction and internal fixation of metacarpal fractures using a thermoplastic splint as a surgical instrument

Adequate positioning of the hand is a critical step in hand fracture operative repair that can impact both the clinical outcome and the efficiency of the operation. In this paper, we introduce the use of a thermoplastic splint with an added thumb stabilizing component as a means to increase the surgeon’s autonomy and to streamline the patient care pathway. The thermoplastic splint is custom fabricated preoperatively by the specialist hand therapist. The splint is used prior, during, and post operation with minimal modification. The thumb component assists maintaining the forearm in a stable pronated position whilst drilling and affixing metal work. This is demonstrated in the video of removal of metal work and open reduction and internal fixation of a metacarpal fracture.

Effect of Gate Metal Work-function on Junctionless (JL) Nanowire GAA MOSFET Performance

Metal gate technology is one of the promising methods used to increase the drain current by increasing the electrostatic controllability. Different metals have different work-function that controls the device performance very closely as gate to source voltage is the basic inputs for these. In this paper the dependency of gate metal work-function on device performance (both for nMOS and pMOS) is extensively investigated. The gate metal work-function value is taken as 4.2eV to 5.1eV with one increment to see the change in potential profile. With this condition, the IOn current, IOff current, threshold voltage, transconductance also calculated for these structures. A decrease value in drain current (1e-6 to 1e-7 A) is observed for both the cases with increase in work-function of gate metal. However, the Off current is getting better (1e-7 to 1e-18 A) while moving towards higher metal work-function values. As a result of which the IOn/IOff ratio increases which leads to higher device performances.