Automatic integrated circuit test equipment.
Automatic high speed IC test equipment and procedure
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Automatic high speed IC test equipment and procedure
Program results are described in which the use of a/high permittivity rectangular dielectric image waveguide has been investigated for use in microwave and millimeter wavelength circuits. Launchers from rectangular metal waveguide to image waveguide are described. Theoretical and experimental evaluations of the radiation from curved image waveguides are given. Measurements of attenuation due to conductor and dielectric losses, adhesives, and gaps between the dielectric waveguide and the image plane are included. Various passive components are described and evaluations given. Investigations of various techniques for fabrication of image waveguide circuits using ceramic waveguides are also presented. Program results support the evaluation of the image line approach as an advantageous method for realizing low loss integrated electronic circuits for X-band and above.
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Next generation space-based robotics systems will be constructed using distributed architectures where electronics capable of working in the extreme environments of the planets of the solar system are integrated with the sensors and actuators in plug-and-play modules and are connected through common multiple redundant data and power buses.
This work compares design layouts and circuit simulations of the next two prototype NASA Glenn SiC JFET-R IC fabrication runs designated “IC Gen. 12” and “IC Gen. 13”. Even though both generations employ the same physical JFET gate length and chip size, SPICE simulations predict drastic improvements to IC capabilities and performance metrics for Gen. 13 over Gen. 12. The main factors behind simulated performance differences are thinner n-channel layer leading to reduced operating voltages and switch to stepper-based photolithography that enables roughly 4-fold layout area reductions for functionally identical circuit blocks.
New effects that complicate the application of linear devices in space are discussed, including enhanced damage at low dose rate and proton damage, which cause permanent degradtion.
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Because directional couplers involve channel waveguides which are very close to one another, transition regions to regions where channel waveguides are widely separated are utilized. The total length of a directional coupler and transition regions can be minimized for a particular degree of field confinement. Calculations presented for LiNbO3-, GaAlAs-, and SiO2/Si-based optical channel waveguides demonstrate the presence of a minimum total length corresponding to a particular degree of field confinement. The overall length at the minimum is shown to be significantly lower than for other values of field confinement allowing single-mode operation. This implies that either more devices can be integrated on a substrate or that less material is needed for an integrated optical circuit.
In this paper, we present two single stage MMIC amplifiers with the first demonstrating a measured S21 gain of 3-dB at 280-GHz and the second demonstrating 2.5-dB gain at 300- GHz, which is the threshold of the sub-millimeter wave regime. The high-frequency operation is enabled by a high-speed InP HEMT with a 35-nm gate. This is the first demonstrated S21 gain at sub-millimeter wave frequencies in a MMIC.
Electrical properties and failure modes of integrated multilevel microcircuits with silicon oxide-silicon interfaces
Failure modes of large scale multilevel integrated microcircuit arrays
The Early Flight Fission Test Facilities (EFF-TF) team has been tasked by the Marshall Space Flight Center Nuclear Systems Office to design, fabricate, and test an actively pumped alkali metal flow circuit. The system, which was originally designed to hold a eutectic mixture of sodium potassium (NaK), was redesigned to hold lithium; but due to a shift in focus, it is once again being prepared for use with NaK. Changes made to the actively pumped, high temperature loop include the replacement of the expansion reservoir, addition of remotely operated valves, and modification of the support table. Basic circuit components include: reactor segment, NaK to gas heat exchanger, electromagnetic (EM) liquid metal pump, load/drain reservoir, expansion reservoir, instrumentation, and a spill reservoir. A 37-pin partial-array core (pin and flow path dimensions are the same as those in a full design) was selected for fabrication and test. This document summarizes the integration and fill of the pumped liquid metal NaK flow circuit.
Characterization plans for studying effect of space radiation on silicon integrated microcircuits
The purpose of this work is to present a systematic method for the design of multimode quasi-integrated horn antennas. The design methodology is based on the Gaussian beam approach and the structures are optimized for achieving maximum fundamental Gaussian coupling efficiency. For this purpose, a hybrid technique is employed in which the integrated part of the antennas is treated using full-wave analysis, whereas the machined part is treated using an approximate method. This results in a simple and efficient design process. The developed design procedure has been applied for the design of a 20, a 23, and a 25 dB quasi-integrated horn antennas, all with a Gaussian coupling efficiency exceeding 97 percent. The designed antennas have been tested and characterized using both full-wave analysis and 90 GHz/370 GHz measurements.
A large coherent two-dimensional (2D) spatial filter array (SFA), 30 by 30 or larger, is produced by coupling a 2D planar lightwave circuit (PLC) array with a pair of lenslet arrays at the input and output side. The 2D PLC array is produced by stacking a plurality of chips, each chip with a plural number of straight PLC waveguides. A pupil array is coated onto the focal plane of the lenslet array. The PLC waveguides are produced by deposition of a plural number of silica layers on the silicon wafer, followed by photolithography and reactive ion etching (RIE) processes. A plural number of mode filters are included in the silica-on-silicon waveguide such that the PLC waveguide is transparent to the fundamental mode but higher order modes are attenuated by 40 dB or more.
This paper describes initial development and testing of a novel high temperature capacitive pressure sensor system. The pressure sensor system consists of two 4H-SiC 11-stage ring oscillators and a SiCN capacitive pressure sensor. One oscillator has the capacitive pressure sensor fixed at one node in its feedback loop and varies as a function of pressure and temperature while the other provides a pressure-independent reference frequency which can be used to temperature compensate the output of the first oscillator. A two-day repeatability test was performed up to 500C on the oscillators and the oscillator fundamental frequency changed by only 1. The SiCN capacitive pressure sensor was characterized at room temperature from 0 to 300 psi. The sensor had an initial capacitance of 3.76 pF at 0 psi and 1.75 pF at 300 psi corresponding to a 54 change in capacitance. The integrated pressure sensor system was characterized from 0 to 300 psi in steps of 50 psi over a temperature range of 25 to 500C. The pressure sensor system sensitivity was 0.113 kHzpsi at 25C and 0.026 kHzpsi at 500C.
Small magnetic sweep deflection circuits operate a hand-held lunar television camera. They convert timing signals from the synchronizer into waveforms that provide a raster on the vidicon target. Raster size remains constant and linear during wide voltage and temperature fluctuations.
Three nand gate circuits are used to add error detection and reset logic circuitry for initiating and retaining the correct binary state in the flip-flop circuits of a ring counter. As the input signals are counted, the position of the specified state moves in ordered sequence around circuit loop.