The fatal spark

Electrostatic discharge (ESD) and latch-up (LU) are the most challenging problems in high-voltage (HV) ICs due to their high power supply voltages. So, an HV LDMOS should be compromised with a high driving capability and high reliability, but it always has obvious conflicts. An MOSFET device fabricated by a multi-finger structure can’t completely turn on, which resulting in the ESD capacity per unit length is very low especially for an HV device. Then, the non-uniform turned-on phenomenon in an LDMOS is seriously impacted the ESD reliability. Therefore, a drain-side engineering is investigated in this paper, which is by adding a field-oxide-device (FOD) structure in the drain side. Does it can solve the non-uniform turned-on problem? After a systematic analysis, it is found that by adding FOD structures in the drain-side is favor to ESD capability (It2 value) in the case of high FOD/n+ ratio as the FOD/N+ area ratio is larger than 80/100. However, as compared with the original reference DUT, the Vh value is increased about 16.37 ~ 59.87 %, which allows devices more robust in the latch-up (LU) immunity.

Electrostatic discharge (ESD) failure is a major reliability problem, and ESD protection is an emerging design challenge for radio-frequency (RF) integrated circuits demanding extremely high reliability for wireless applications in harsh environments. This paper reports the design and optimization of a 5-kV ESD-protected 2.4-GHz power amplifier (PA) circuit in a 0.18-μm RFCMOS technology. A new mixed-mode ESD simulation-design method and an accurate RF ESD characterization technique are used to minimize the inevitable ESD-induced parasitic effects, which can significantly degrade PA circuit performance. A novel ESD-aware PA design technique is utilized to optimize whole-chip <i xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">ESD</i> + <i xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">PA</i> performance. Experiments show that conventional ESD protection can seriously affect the PA circuit, while optimized ESD protection may resolve such a problem. The optimized ESD-protected PA circuit achieves good whole-chip performance, including 5-kV ESD protection, a linear output of 13.5 dBm, a gain of 20.2 dB, and a power-added efficiency of ~ 18%, all favorable in the same design category.

The ESD Effect Experiment of the Integrated DC-DC Transformer

This paper describes the challenges encountered and solutions found to be the problem of developing over-voltage protection for 225 V circuit applications with measured tunable trigger voltages of 100-300 V, measured tunable holding voltages for latch-up immunity of 50-240 V, and corresponding strengths of 8.0-2.4 A Transmission Line Pulse (TLP). The device is engineered using technical computer-aided design and the performance is measured with dc characterization, unpowered TLP, powered and unpowered Electrostatic Discharge (ESD), as well as a 225 V product placement with a 1500-h High Temperature Operating Life lifetime reliability monitor. The final cell enables both 225 V powered and unpowered protection from high voltage switching transients and ESD events.

On electrical sparks and their use for excitation of spectra

An important topic in electronic systems design is electromagnetic compatibility (EMC), which concerns the unintentional generation, propagation and reception of electromagnetic energy. Every electronic system must meet mandatory EMC standards. Basic knowledge of EMC-related issues is introduced in Sect. 6.1. Unintentional coupling of circuits are dealt with in Sect. 6.2, and design options for their prevention, for example, by selecting appropriate reference grounds, are covered in Sect. 6.3. An important measure for assuring the EMC of systems is shielding. Section 6.4 introduces the principle of shielding, and discusses shielding against different types of fields. A related discipline to EMC, electrostatic discharge (ESD), is covered in Sect. 6.5. Finally, we provide recommendations for good EMC practice in electronic systems design in Sect. 6.6.

Industry 4.0 plays a key role in the electronics manufacturing industry, bringing improvements in automation, efficiency, flexibility, value chain integration, predictive maintenance, quality, traceability, innovation and personalization. These advances are essential to drive competitiveness and progress in this ever-evolving industry. In this context, this work seeks to solve the grounding problem presented by the electronics industries, specifically with regard to the Electrostatic Discharge (ESD) system of benches in production lines, thinking about it, this work proposes the creation of an integrated hardware and software system (Ground Tester), based on the concepts of Industry 4.0 that allows supervising the grounding, efficiently and in real time. With the implementation of this system (Ground Tester) it is expected to provide users with an effective tool to ensure electrical safety, reduce operational failures and maximize the productivity of production lines.

CMOS reliability

By the term “Good learning practices” we refer to those activities asociated with professorship itself ,such as those of facilitating and guiding the student learning process, or rather, those activities which are aimed at the student´s thorough learning of specific (related to the field of study ) and generic skills.

There are two key issues in the surface water monitoring, one is long-distance data transmission; second is the power to the monitor. The design uses Siemens TC35i module to transmit data, uses clock timing chips to control the working hours of low-power AVR microcontroller and phone modules. So the two problems are solved effectively. The PC-monitor-interface used LabVIEW software is also simple and clear, it can display real-time data; analyzes the trend of the data-curve; warn much earlier. The practical of result shows that the design is simple, good controllability, high reliability.

Due to their compact structure and high reliability, high-speed switched reluctance motors (SRM) are being paid more and more attention in applications such as aerospace and electric vehicles. Because of the strong nonlinear of SRM, it is difficult to achieve very ideal control effect when the motor rotates at high speed using traditional control method. In addition, at high speed, the control cycle of the motor is very short, and a high speed switched reluctance motor control algorithm with little computation and high control accuracy, which is one of the research priorities of high speed switched reluctance motor control technology. In this paper, a combined control method is proposed, which is mainly used in high speed SRM working in the low voltage and high current state of battery-powered. The combined control method combines the advantages of current chopper control and voltage PWM control, and has good controllability and reduces switching loss.

Based on the knowledge rule models and the analysis mathematical models, the two-level real-time expert control system (ECS) was established. With the self-learning ability in expert optimal mode, the expert system (ES) was developed to find the calcining zone's optimal temperature value. To optimize the process, the real-time control system (RTCS) was designed to realize the control of the feeding capacity and negative pressure by self-adjusting algorithm based on CARMA module and least square method. At present, the system was started to work on the stream, and the long-term application shows that it has high reliability and good practicability. Besides, the process and the product quality are developed, and the power is economized.

A Rapid Assessment Tool for affirming good practice in midwifery education programming

If an influenza pandemic occurs, the spread of the virus should be reduced for as long as possible while an effective vaccine is produced. Influenza spreads mainly by large respiratory droplets (> 5 microm) depositing onto the mucosal surfaces of the eye, mouth or respiratory tract. Hands are another major means for spread, and are frequently contaminated by droplets. The most effective way to reduce the spread of the virus is with good infection control practices and social distancing. Infection control practices include the use of personal protective equipment (PPE), hand hygiene, and respiratory hygiene and cough etiquette. Infected people should be isolated and spatial separation observed in common areas where infected people may be present. Any practices that create aerosols (eg, nebulisation) should be avoided, unless performed with appropriate precautions, especially with all people in the room wearing appropriate PPE. Now is the time to re-examine all our current practices so that we are better prepared, well practised and have good infection control practices in place for all transmissible respiratory infections.

This paper presents an overview of key findings from an evaluation of a national educational programme that aims to provide healthcare staff with the skills and knowledge necessary to ensure good practice in preventing healthcare associated infections. The research methods comprised literature review, large-scale questionnaire surveys of students and mentors on the Cleanliness Champions Programme, and 20 key-informant interviews. The educational programme was found to be fit for purpose, but there was a need for some restructuring and modifications. Nurses were found to comprise around two-thirds of all registrants on the programme. The study also provided some illumination of initial integration into practice. Cleanliness Champions typically reported substantial impact on their personal practice and many cited examples of influence on colleagues’ practice. However there is an urgent need to ensure that other occupational groups join with nursing by enrolling on the programme in much greater numbers. If this is accompanied by further investment, a critical mass may form that has sufficient multidisciplinary momentum to make good infection prevention and control practices more embedded clinical realities within Scotland. Key lessons from the evaluation are identified that may usefully inform similar initiatives and/or other national healthcare education programmes.