[paper] New Design Concept for the IoT Era

Pedro Toledo, Graduate Student Member, IEEE, Roberto Rubino, Graduate Student Member, IEEE, Francesco Musolino, Member, IEEE, and Paolo Crovetti, Senior Member, IEEE

Re-Thinking Analog Integrated Circuits in Digital Terms: A New Design Concept for the IoT Era

IEEE Transactions on Circuits and Systems—II: Express Briefs, 

Vol. 68, No. 3, March 2021

DOI:  10.1109/TCSII.2021.3049680

* DET, Politecnico di Torino (IT)

Abstract: A steady trend towards the design of mostly-digital and digital-friendly analog circuits, suitable to integration in mainstream nanoscale CMOS by a highly automated design flow, has been observed in the last years to address the requirements of the emerging Internet of Things (IoT) applications. In this context, this tutorial brief presents an overview of concepts and design methodologies that emerged in the last decade, aimed to the implementation of analog circuits like Operational Transconductance Amplifiers, Voltage References and Data Converters by digital circuits. The current design challenges and application scenarios as well as the future perspectives and opportunities in the field of digital-based analog processing are finally discussed.

Fig: a) Kuijk’s Bandgap voltage reference [i]. b) Microcontroller-based proof

of concept prototype.

REF:

[i] K. E. Kuijk, “A precision reference voltage source,” IEEE J. Solid-StateCircuits, vol. SSC-8, no. 3, pp. 222–226, Jun. 1973.

[book] MEMS Product Development

Fitzgerald, Alissa M., Chung, Charles C.

MEMS Product Development: From Concept to Commercialization

ISBN 978-3-030-61709-7

Drawing on their experiences in successfully executing hundreds of MEMS development projects, the authors present the first practical guide to navigating the technical and business challenges of MEMS product development, from the initial concept stage all the way to commercialization. The strategies and tactics presented, when practiced diligently, can shorten development timelines, help avoid common pitfalls, and improve the odds of success, especially when resources are limited. MEMS Product Development illuminates what it really takes to develop a novel MEMS product so that innovators, designers, entrepreneurs, product managers, investors, and executives may properly prepare their companies to succeed.

Table of contents (20 chapters)

1. The Opportunities and Challenges of MEMS Product Development, pp. 3-8
2. Economics of Semiconductor Device Manufacturing and Impacts on MEMS Product Development, pp. 9-16
3. Stages of MEMS Product Development, pp. 17-28
4. What Is the Product? Requirements Analysis, pp. 31-45
5. Is There a Business Opportunity? Product Unit Cost Modeling, pp. 47-57
6. What Is the Budget for Development?, pp. 59-70
7. Leveraging Third-Party Intellectual Property to Accelerate Product Development, pp. 71-79
8. Organization Planning for Successful Development, pp. 81-92
9. The MEMS Product: Functional Partitioning and Integration, pp. 95-110
10. Starting a New MEMS Device Design, pp. 111-127
11. Design for Manufacturing: Process Integration and Photomask Layout, pp. 129-148
12. Design for Back-end-of-Line Processes, pp. 149-156
13. Strategies for Codevelopment of the Electronics and Package, pp. 157-166
14. Planning a Development Test Program, pp. 167-183
15. Risk Mitigation Strategies for Prototype Fabrication, pp. 185-195
16. Documenting MEMS Product Technology for Transfer to Manufacturing, pp. 197-211
17. Determining Readiness for Volume Production, pp. 215-222
18. Selecting a Foundry Partner, pp. 223-239
19. Transferring Technology for Production, pp. 241-252
20. Manufacturing Test: Opportunity, Cost, and Managing Risk, pp. 253-268

[mos-ak] [online publications] 18th MOS-AK ESSDERC/ESSCIRC Workshop Grenoble; Sept. 6, 2021

The MOS-AK Association with local technical program promoters and the International MOS-AK Board of R&D Advisers as well as all the Extended MOS-AK TPC Committee have organized its subsequent 18th MOS-AK ESSDERC/ESSCIRC Workshop as a virtual/online event on Sept.6, 2021

Online Publications:

There are MOS-AK technical presentations covering selected aspects of the compact/SPICE modeling and its Verilog-A standardization; see all the slide presentations online at corresponding link:

https://www.mos-ak.org/grenoble_2021/

The MOS-AK Association plans to continue its standardization efforts by organizing future compact modeling meetings, workshops and courses around the globe later this year and thru the next 2022 year, including:

• 14th US MOS-AK Workshop, Silicon Valley (US) Dec. 2021
  
• in timeframe of IEDM and Q4 CMC Meetings
• 4th MOS-AK at LAEDC Workshop, Mexico 2022

W.Grabinski on the behalf of International MOS-AK Committee

WG29092021

 

[paper] Degradations in LDMOS Transistors

Yen-Pu Chen¹, Bikram K. Mahajan¹, Dhanoop Varghese², Srikanth Krishnan², Vijay Reddy²

and Muhammad A. Alam¹

Three-point I–V spectroscopy deconvolves region-specific degradations in LDMOS transistors

Appl. Phys. Lett. 119, 122102 (2021); 

DOI: 10.1063/5.0058477

1 Department of ECE, Purdue University, West Lafayette, Indiana 47906, USA
2 Texas Instruments Inc., Dallas, Texas 75043, USA

Abstract: Unlike traditional logic transistors, hot carrier degradation (HCD) in power transistors involves simultaneous and potentially correlated degradation in multiple regions. One must deconvolve and characterize the voltage- and temperature-dependence of these region-specific degradations to develop a predictive HCD model of power transistors. Unfortunately, power transistors' doping and geometrical complexities make it challenging to use traditional defect-profiling techniques, such as charge-pumping or gated-diode methods. This Letter uses a physics-based tandem-FET model of Laterally Diffused MOS (LDMOS) transistors to develop a “three-point I–V spectroscopy” technique that uses the time-evolution of three critical points of the measured I–V characteristics to extract mobility and threshold voltage degradations in the channel and drift regions. This innovative approach should generalize to other configurations of the LDMOS transistor as well.

Fig: The proposed tandem-FET compact model. The channel (ch) and the drift (dr) regions function individually as a MOSFET with different 𝑉th and dimensions. Three adjustable degradation parameters are 𝛥𝜇𝑐ℎ, 𝛥𝑉𝑐ℎth, and 𝛥𝜇𝑑𝑟.

Acknowledgements: Y.-P.C and B.K.M contributed equally to this work. The authors gratefully acknowledge the access to the characterization facilities at Birck Nanotechnology Center, Purdue University, for the results presented in this article.

[Now Open for Submission] IEEE Journal on Flexible Electronics

The IEEE Journal on Flexible Electronics (J-FLEX) publishes cutting edge research covering all aspects of sensors, transistors, related devices, circuits, systems on flexible, disposable, stretchable and degradable substrates. This includes various functional and sustainable materials, material-integrated sensing, interface subsystems, corresponding actuators, energy harvesting, energy storage devices, modelling, simulation, manufacturing, integration or packaging in soft and flexible substrates and all applications of flexible electronics. Topics such as 3D printed or heterogenous integration, use of sustainable materials and processes aligned with circular economy are also in the scope of this journal.     Submit your article today, and get published in the IEEE Journal on Flexible Electronics.     Best regards, Ravinder Dahiya Editor-in-Chief, IEEE Journal on Flexible Electronics     If you have an IEEE Account, manage your IEEE communications preferences here. Users without an IEEE Account can access the Privacy Portal to view selected preferences and policies.       © 2021 IEEE– All rights reserved.   Website |  Privacy Policy |  Contact