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At least 55 records · Page 3

Hybrid MEMS-CMOS ion traps for NISQ computing

Surging interest in engineering quantum computers has stimulated significant and focused research on technologies needed to make them manufacturable and scalable. In the ion trap realm this has led to a transition from bulk three-dimensional macro-scale traps to chip-based ion traps and included important demonstrations of passive and active electronics, waveguides, detectors, and other integrated components. At the same time as these technologies are being developed the system sizes are demanding more ions to run noisy intermediate scale quantum (NISQ) algorithms, growing from around ten ions today to potentially a hundred or more in the near future. To realize the size and features needed for this growth, the geometric and material design space of microfabricated ion traps must expand. In this paper we describe present limitations and the approaches needed to overcome them, including how geometric complexity drives the number of metal levels, why routing congestion affects the size and location of shunting capacitors, and how RF power dissipation can limit the size of the trap array. Finally, we also give recommendations for future research needed to accommodate the demands of NISQ scale ion traps that are integrated with additional technologies.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗

Investigation into the crystal structure–dielectric property correlation in barium titanate nanocrystals of different sizes

For high capacitance multilayer ceramic capacitors, high dielectric constant and lead-free ceramic nanoparticles are highly desired. However, as the particle size decreases to a few tens of nanometers, their dielectric constant significantly decreases, and the underlying mechanism has yet to be fully elucidated. Herein, we report a systematic investigation into the crystal structure–dielectric property relationship of combustion-made BaTiO 3 (BTO) nanocrystals. When the nanocrystal size was 100 nm and below, a metastable paraelectric cubic phase was found in the as-received BTO (denoted as arBTO) nanocrystals based on an X-ray diffraction (XRD) study. A stable ferroelectric tetragonal phase was present when the nanocrystal size was above 200 nm. Notably, the cubic arBTO (particle size ≤100 nm) exhibited tetragonal fluctuations as revealed by Raman spectroscopy, whereas the tetragonal arBTO (particle size ≥200 nm) contained ~10% cubic fraction according to the Rietveld fitting of the XRD profiles. Thermal annealing of the multi-grain tetragonal arBTO at 950 °C yielded single crystals of annealed BTO (denoted as anBTO), whose dielectric constants were higher than those of arBTO. However, the single crystalline anBTO prevented the formation of 90° domains; therefore, they exhibited a low dielectric constant of ~300. Although X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and high-resolution transmission electron microscopy could not identify the exact structural defects, our study revealed that surface and bulk defects formed during synthesis affect the final crystal structures and thus the dielectric properties of BTO nanocrystals with different sizes. Finally, the understanding obtained from this study will help us design high dielectric constant perovskite nanocrystals for next-generation multilayer ceramic capacitor applications.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

Comparison of 22 kHz and 85 kHz 50 kW Wireless Charging System Using Si and SiC Switches for Electric Vehicle

Fast charging in transportation application requires high-power (>50 kW) operation. The overall size of wireless charging systems (WCS) must increase to meet the high-power requirement. As a result, high power systems produce more electromagnetic field (EMF) emissions. Although higher operating frequencies (85 kHz) reduce the size of inductors and capacitors, system losses tend to increase. High-power systems are traditionally investigated for 10 kHz to 22 kHz operation to reduce the switching loss in the converter, and conductive and magnetic losses in the power pad. The use of SiC MOSFETs reduces conduction and switching losses in the converter even at higher frequencies. In this paper, a comprehensive loss comparison of 50 kW wireless charging system is conducted for 85 kHz and 22 kHz operation of Si MOSFET and SiC MOSFET converters. Detailed performance indexes are compared analytically as a function of frequency and verified using FEA and PLECS. This comprehensive system level study shows that magnetic losses can be reduced significantly, and that EMF emission can be reduced by 50% by moving from 22 kHz to 85 kHz. Moreover, the system requires 50% less copper and allows a significant reduction in the size of the primary and secondary filter capacitor at 85 kHz. The results show that the system efficiency at 85 kHz can be increased by 21% compared to 22 kHz operation by using a SiC MOSFET converter.

Shahidul haque, Moinul↗

Design of Near Infrared and Visible Kinetic Inductance Detectors Using MIM Capacitors

We are developing superconducting Microwave Kinetic Inductance Detectors to operate at near infrared and optical wavelengths for astronomy. In order to efficiently meet with the requirements of astronomical applications, we propose to replace the interdigitated capacitor by a metal–insulator–metal capacitor which has the advantage of presenting a larger capacitance value within a much smaller space. The pixel will occupy a space of typically 100 × 85 µm which is nine times less than a typical pixel size using the interdigitated capacitor operating at the same frequency, below 2 GHz.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗

Reliability Evaluation of Base-Metal-Electrode (BME) Multilayer Ceramic Capacitors for Space Applications

This paper reports reliability evaluation of BME ceramic capacitors for possible high reliability space-level applications. The study is focused on the construction and microstructure of BME capacitors and their impacts on the capacitor life reliability. First, the examinations of the construction and microstructure of commercial-off-the-shelf (COTS) BME capacitors show great variance in dielectric layer thickness, even among BME capacitors with the same rated voltage. Compared to PME (precious-metal-electrode) capacitors, BME capacitors exhibit a denser and more uniform microstructure, with an average grain size between 0.3 and approximately 0.5 micrometers, which is much less than that of most PME capacitors. The primary reasons that a BME capacitor can be fabricated with more internal electrode layers and less dielectric layer thickness is that it has a fine-grained microstructure and does not shrink much during ceramic sintering. This results in the BME capacitors a very high volumetric efficiency. The reliability of BME and PME capacitors was investigated using highly accelerated life testing (HALT) and regular life testing as per MIL-PRF-123. Most BME capacitors were found to fail· with an early dielectric wearout, followed by a rapid wearout failure mode during the HALT test. When most of the early wearout failures were removed, BME capacitors exhibited a minimum mean time-to-failure of more than 10(exp 5) years. Dielectric thickness was found to be a critical parameter for the reliability of BME capacitors. The number of stacked grains in a dielectric layer appears to play a significant role in determining BME capacitor reliability. Although dielectric layer thickness varies for a given rated voltage in BME capacitors, the number of stacked grains is relatively consistent, typically between 10 and 20. This may suggest that the number of grains per dielectric layer is more critical than the thickness itself for determining the rated voltage and the life expectancy of the BME capacitor. Since BME capacitors have a much smaller grain size than PME capacitors, it is reasonable to predict that BME capacitors with thinner dielectric layers may have an equivalent life expectancy to that of PME capacitors with thicker dielectric layers.

Liu, David (Donghang)↗

NEPP Evaluation of Automotive Grade Tantalum Chip Capacitors

Automotive grade tantalum (Ta) chip capacitors are available at lower cost with smaller physical size and higher volumetric efficiency compared to military/space grade capacitors. Designers of high reliability aerospace and military systems would like to take advantage of these attributes while maintaining the high standards for long-term reliable operation they are accustomed to when selecting military-qualified established reliability tantalum chip capacitors (e.g., MIL-PRF-55365). The objective for this evaluation was to assess the long-term performance of off-the-shelf automotive grade Ta chip capacitors (i.e., manufacturer self-qualified per AEC Q-200). Two (2) lots of case size D manganese dioxide (MnO2) cathode Ta chip capacitors from 1 manufacturer were evaluated. The evaluation consisted of construction analysis, basic electrical parameter characterization, extended long-term (2000 hours) life testing and some accelerated stress testing. Tests and acceptance criteria were based upon manufacturer datasheets and the Automotive Electronics Council's AEC Q-200 qualification specification for passive electronic components. As-received a few capacitors were marginally above the specified tolerance for capacitance and ESR. X-ray inspection found that the anodes for some devices may not be properly aligned within the molded encapsulation leaving less than 1 mil thickness of the encapsulation. This evaluation found that the long-term life performance of automotive grade Ta chip capacitors is generally within specification limits suggesting these capacitors may be suitable for some space applications.

Automotive↗

An embedded planar-foil capacitor material, FPGA based interposer, aimed at improving system performance and reduced board size for space based electronics

This paper presents work to date in developing, and testing an embedded planar-foil capacitor based interposer intended to be integrated together with high-density components such as Field Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGAs), and Application Specific Integrated Circuits (ASIC). FPGA devices typically have a large number of I/O and power pins. The high speed enabled by these devices requires a large number of discrete bypass capacitors as close as possible to the power pins. These capacitors take up a considerable amount of the board area on the application circuit board. The developed interposer replaces these components freeing up space of traditional bypass capacitors for other circuitry.

Cheng, Ben↗

An Embedded Planar-Foil Capacitor Material, FPGA Based Interposer, Aimed at Improving System Performance and Reduced Board Size for Space Based Electronics

This paper presents our work to date in developing, and testing an embedded planar-foil capacitor based interposer intended to be integrated together with high-density components such as Field Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGAs), and Application Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC) applications. FPGA devices typically have a large number of I/O and power pins. The high speed enabled by these devices requires a large number of discrete bypass capacitors as close as possible to the power pins. These capacitors take up a considerable amount of the board area on the application circuit board. Our interposer replaces these components freeing up space of traditional bypass capacitors for other circuitry. Our Interposer focuses on the needs of Micro Semi’s RTG4 FPGA. We developed the interposer using COTS embedded foil capacitors. The Interposer is customized to the capacitance requirements for each of the FPGA banks. We evaluated three foil manufactures Oak Mitsui, 3M and TDK. The three different designs were evaluated, but we will focus on the Oak-Mitsui based Interposer that we constructed and tested. Through simulations, we validate the horizontal and vertical interconnect inductances, that FPGA decoupling requirements are met. The use of the interposer results in an overall reduction in our Printed Wiring Board (PWB) area.

Hunter, Don J↗

High-speed x-ray imaging with the Keck pixel array detector (Keck PAD) for time-resolved experiments at synchrotron sources

Modern storage rings are readily capable of providing intense x-ray pulses, tens of picoseconds in duration, millions of times per second. Exploiting the temporal structure of these x-ray sources opens avenues for studying rapid structural changes in materials. Many processes (e.g. crack propagation, deformation on impact, turbulence, etc.) differ in detail from one sample trial to the next and would benefit from the ability to record successive x-ray images with single x-ray sensitivity while framing at 5 to 10 MHz rates. To this end, we have pursued the development of fast x-ray imaging detectors capable of collecting bursts of images that enable the isolation of single synchrotron bunches and/or bunch trains. The detector technology used is the hybrid pixel array detector (PAD) with a charge integrating front-end, and high-speed, in-pixel signal storage elements. A 384×256 pixel version, the Keck-PAD, with 150 µm × 150 µm pixels and 8 dedicated in-pixel storage elements is operational, has been tested at CHESS, and has collected data for compression wave studies. An updated version with 27 dedicated storage capacitors and identical pixel size has been fabricated.

46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ↗

Thermal Analysis of a Polypropylene Capacitor for Resonant Tuning Networks in WPT Applications

This study presents the thermal analysis of polypropylene capacitors operating at high frequencies and high currents used in the resonant tuning networks for electric vehicle (EV) wireless charging systems. The thermal analysis and performance results of the CELEM polypropylene capacitors are presented at different currents for a polyphase wireless power transfer (WPT) system while the study can be expanded to other capacitors by different manufacturers. Thermal equivalent circuit of the capacitor is derived and required cold plate size and design calculations are conducted by modeling the polypropene capacitor in MATLAB. The polypropene capacitor's finite element analysis (FEA) model is developed using COMSOL Multiphysics simulation software, and the thermal characteristics and analysis of the capacitor are presented in this paper.

Aktas, Ahmet↗

Nanoactuators Based on Electrostatic Forces on Dielectrics

Nanoactuators of a proposed type would exploit the forces exerted by electric fields on dielectric materials. As used here, "nanoactuators" includes motors, manipulators, and other active mechanisms that have dimensions of the order of nanometers and/or are designed to manipulate objects that have dimensions of the order of nanometers. The underlying physical principle can be described most simply in terms of the example of a square parallel-plate capacitor in which a square dielectric plate is inserted part way into the gap between the electrode plates (see Figure Typically, the force is small from our macroscopic human perspective. The above equation shows that the force depends on the ratio between the capacitor dimensions but does not depend on the size. In other words, the force remains the same if the capacitor and the dielectric slab are shrunk to nanometer dimensions. At the same time, the masses of all components are proportional to third power of their linear dimensions. Therefore the force-to-mass ratio (and, consequently, the acceleration that can be imparted to the dielectric slab) is much larger at the nanoscale than at the macroscopic scale. The proposed actuators would exploit this effect. The upper part of Figure 2 depicts a simple linear actuator based on a parallel- plate capacitor similar to Figure 1. In this case, the upper electrode plate would be split into two parts (A and B) and the dielectric slab would be slightly longer than plate A or B. The actuator would be operated in a cycle. During the first half cycle, plate B would be grounded to the lower plate and plate A would be charged to a potential, V, with respect to the lower plate, causing the dielectric slab to be pulled under plate A. During the second half cycle, plate A would be grounded and plate B would be charged to potential V, causing the dielectric slab to be pulled under plate B. The back-and-forth motion caused by alternation of the voltages on plates A and B could be used to drive a nanopump, for example. A rotary motor, shown in the middle part of Figure 2, could include a dielectric rotor sandwiched between a top and a bottom plate containing multiple electrodes arranged symmetrically in a circle. Voltages would be applied sequentially to electrode pairs 1 and 1a, then 2 and 2a, then 3 and 3a in order to attract the dielectric rotor to sequential positions between the electrode pairs.

Wang, Yu↗

The Impact of Harness Impedance on Hall Thruster Discharge Oscillations

Hall thrusters exhibit characteristic discharge voltage and current oscillations during steady-state operation. The lower frequency breathing-mode current oscillations are inherent to each thruster and could impact thruster operation and PPU design. The design of the discharge output filter, in particular, the output capacitor is important because it supplies the high peak current oscillations that the thruster demands. However, space-rated, high-voltage capacitors are not readily available and can have significant mass and volume. So, it is important for a PPU designer to know what is the minimum amount of capacitance required to operate a thruster. Through SPICE modeling and electrical measurements on the Hall Effect Rocket with Magnetic Shielding (HERMeS) thruster, it was shown that the harness impedance between the power supply and the thruster is the main contributor towards generating voltage ripple at the thruster. Also, increasing the size of the discharge filter capacitor, as previously implemented during thruster tests, does not reduce the voltage oscillations. The electrical characteristics of the electrical harness between the discharge supply and the thruster is crucial to system performance and could have a negative impact on performance, life and operation.

Pinero, Luis R.↗

The Impact of Harness Impedance on Hall Thruster Discharge Oscillations

Hall thrusters exhibit characteristic discharge voltage and current oscillations during steady-state operation. The lower frequency breathing-mode current oscillations are inherent to each thruster and could impact thruster operation and power processing unit (PPU) design. The design of the discharge output filter, in particular, the output capacitor is important because it supplies the high peak current oscillations that the thruster demands. However, space-rated, high-voltage capacitors are not readily available and can have significant mass and volume. So, it is important for a PPU designer to know what is the minimum amount of capacitance required to operate a thruster. Through Simulation Program with Integrated Circuit Emphasis modeling and electrical measurements on the Hall Effect Rocket with Magnetic Shielding thruster, it was shown that the harness impedance between the power supply and the thruster is the main contributor towards generating voltage ripple at the thruster. Also, increasing the size of the discharge filter capacitor, as previously implemented during thruster tests, does not reduce the voltage oscillations. The electrical characteristics of the electrical harness between the discharge supply and the thruster is crucial to system performance and could have a negative impact on performance, life and operation.

hollow cathodes↗

The Impact of Harness Impedance on Hall Thruster Discharge Oscillations

Hall thrusters exhibit characteristic discharge voltage and current oscillations during steady-state operation. The lower frequency breathing-mode current oscillations are inherent to each thruster and could impact thruster operation and power processing unit (PPU) design. The design of the discharge output filter, in particular, the output capacitor is important because it supplies the high peak current oscillations that the thruster demands. However, space-rated, high-voltage capacitors are not readily available and can have significant mass and volume. So, it is important for a PPU designer to know what is the minimum amount of capacitance required to operate a thruster. Through Simulation Program with Integrated Circuit Emphasis modeling and electrical measurements on the Hall Effect Rocket with Magnetic Shielding thruster, it was shown that the harness impedance between the power supply and the thruster is the main contributor towards generating voltage ripple at the thruster. Also, increasing the size of the discharge filter capacitor, as previously implemented during thruster tests, does not reduce the voltage oscillations. The electrical characteristics of the electrical harness between the discharge supply and the thruster is crucial to system performance and could have a negative impact on performance, life and operation.

ion engines↗

Screening and Qualification of BME Feedthrough Capacitors for a Space Project

Surface mount technology feedthrough ceramic capacitors are gaining popularity in Hi-Rel systems due to small size and great filtering characteristics. In this work, BME feedthrough capacitors compliant with AEC-Q200 requirements have been evaluated, screened and qualified for a space project. Evaluation included analysis of the effect of post-soldering thermal shocks, temperature dependencies of leakage currents, distribution of breakdown voltages, assessments of high-current capability, and thermal resistance of the parts. The parts have been screened and qualified at conditions close to the military requirements for ceramic capacitors. No failures were detected during screening including burning-in, but two samples failed during monitored 2000 hour life testing at 125C and two times rated voltage. Failure analysis revealed manufacturing defects that required additional analysis of screening and qualification test conditions. Highly accelerated life testing (HALT) has been carried out to assess reliability acceleration factors and the probability of failure at the use conditions. An approach to selection of adequate burning-in and life test conditions is discussed.

Alexander Teverovsky↗

Screening and Qualification of BME Feedthrough Capacitors for a Space Project

Surface mount technology feedthrough ceramic capacitors are gaining popularity in Hi-Rel systems due to small size and great filtering characteristics. In this work, BME feedthrough capacitors compliant with AEC-Q200 requirements have been evaluated, screened and qualified for a space project. Evaluation included analysis of the effect of post-soldering thermal shocks, temperature dependencies of leakage currents, distribution of breakdown voltages, assessments of high-current capability, and thermal resistance of the parts. The parts have been screened and qualified at conditions close to the military requirements for ceramic capacitors. No failures were detected during screening including burning-in, but two samples failed during monitored 2000 hour life testing at 125C and two times rated voltage. Failure analysis revealed manufacturing defects that required additional analysis of screening and qualification test conditions. Highly accelerated life testing (HALT) has been carried out to assess reliability acceleration factors and the probability of failure at the use conditions. An approach to selection of adequate burning-in and life test conditions is discussed.

Alexander Teverovsky↗