Active Layer

In MicroPattern Gas Detectors (MPGD) when the pixel size is below 100μm and the number of pixels is large (above 1000) it is virtually impossible to use the conventional PCB read-out approach to bring the signal charge from the individual pixel to the external electronics chain. For this reason a custom CMOS array of 2101 active pixels with 80μm pitch, directly used as the charge collecting anode of a GEM amplifying structure, has been developed and built. Each charge collecting pad, hexagonally shaped, realized using the top metal layer of a deep submicron VLSI technology is individually connected to a full electronics chain (pre-amplifier, shaping-amplifier, sample & hold, multiplexer) which is built immediately below it by using the remaining five active layers. The GEM and the drift electrode window are assembled directly over the chip so the ASIC itself becomes the pixelized anode of a MPGD. With this approach, for the first time, gas detectors have reached the level of integration and resolution typical of solid-state pixel detectors. Results from the first tests of this new read-out concept are presented. An Astronomical X-ray Polarimetry application is also discussed.

An optical biosensor based on vegetal cells entrapped in an inorganic translucent matrix and fluorescence detection has been developed. The biosensor uses Chlorella vulgaris immobilized in a translucent support produced from sol–gel technology. The translucence of the structure enables the algal active layer to be placed directly in contact with the optical fibers for fluorescence detection. This configuration has many advantages over the use of an opaque support because no space between the optical fibers and the active layer is required to collect fluorescence. This reagentless biosensor allows determination of diuron as an anti-PSII herbicide and its long term activity is assessed.

This paper shows a physical approach to large-signal electro-thermal simulation of AlGaN/GaN HEMTs. The dynamic thermal behavior of the HEMT is described by a 3D network of thermal resistances and capacitances describing the physical structure of the HEMT, and including features such as the thermal boundary resistance between GaN and SiC, and the die-attach, as well as temperature non-uniformity along the gate finger. The thermal network is self-consistently coupled inside ADS with an electro-thermal large-signal model.

In this paper, for the first time, we propose a partial silicon-on-insulator (P-SOI) lateral double-diffused metal-oxide-semiconductor-field-effect-transistor (LDMOSFET) with a modified buried layer in order to improve breakdown voltage (BV) and self-heating effects (SHEs). The main idea of this work is to control the electric field by shaping the buried layer. With two steps introduced in the buried layer, the electric field distribution is modified. Also a P-type window introduced makes the substrate share the vertical voltage drop, leading to a high vertical BV. Moreover, four interface electric field peaks are introduced by the buried P-layer, the Si window and two steps, which modulate the electric field in the SOI layer and the substrate. Hence, a more uniform electric field is obtained; consequently, a high BV is achieved. Furthermore, the Si window creates a conduction path between the active layer and substrate and alleviates the SHE. Two-dimensional simulations show that the BV of double step partial silicon on insulator is nearly 69% higher and alleviates SHEs 17% in comparison with its single step partial SOI counterpart and nearly 265% higher and alleviate SHEs 18% in comparison with its conventional SOI counterpart.

A snow addition experiment in moist acidic tussock tundra at Toolik Lake, Alaska, increased winter snow depths 2–3 m, and resulted in a doubling of the summer active layer depth. We used radiocarbon (∆14C) to (1) determine the age of C respired in the deep soils under control and deepened active layer conditions (deep snow drifts), and (2) to determine the impact of increased snow and permafrost thawing on surface CO2 efflux by partitioning respiration into autotrophic and heterotrophic components. ∆14C signatures of surface respiration were higher in the deep snow areas, reflecting a decrease in the proportion of autotrophic respiration. The radiocarbon age of soil pore CO2 sampled near the maximum mid-July thaw depth was approximately 1,000 years in deep snow treatment plots (45–55 cm thaw depth), while CO2 from the ambient snow areas was ~100 years old (30-cm thaw depth). Heterotrophic respiration ∆14C signatures from incubations were similar between the two snow depths for the organic horizon and were extremely variable in the mineral horizon, resulting in no significant differences between treatments in either month. Radiocarbon ages of heterotrophically respired C ranged from <50 to 235 years BP in July mineral soil samples and from 1,525 to 8,300 years BP in August samples, suggesting that old soil C in permafrost soils may be metabolized upon thawing. In the surface fluxes, this old C signal is obscured by the organic horizon fluxes, which are significantly higher. Our results indicate that, as permafrost in tussock tundra ecosystems of arctic Alaska thaws, carbon buried up to several thousands of years ago will become an active component of the carbon cycle, potentially accelerating the rise of CO2 in the atmosphere.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1007/s00442-009-1556-x) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.