Physical characterization of semiconductor device has always been a challenging task for device engineers and researchers. Up to now, standard methods for characterizing semiconductors did not provide an effective means for determining two-dimensional quantities of sub-device scale. These methods include Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM), Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM), Secondary Ion M...

Historically, functional testing of interfaces was used not only to screen defects but also to “truncate” the tail of the silicon fabrication process distribution induced out of spec devices. With the advent of Source Synchronous and High Speed Serial like interfaces, there is no longer a “tail” of performance and therefore it is no longer possible to “bin” based on interface performance withou...

Editorial Board Pattern Sensitivity in MOS Memories p. 2 Diagnostic Testing of MOS Random Access Memories p. 6 Testing Semiconductor Memories p. 11 What Is Necessary for Testing "ROMs" and "PROMs"? p. 26 Microprocessor Function Test Generation on the Sentry 600 p. 32 A Tutorial Paper on Software Approaches to Testing of Microprocessor Systems p. 41 Can a User Test LSI Microprocessors Effectivel...

Colloidal quantum dots offer broad tuning of semiconductor band structure via the quantum size effect. In this paper, we present a detailed investigation on the influence of the thickness of colloidal lead sulfide (PbS) nanocrystals (active layer) to the photovoltaic performance of colloidal quantum dot solar cells. The PbS nanocrystals (QDs) were synthesized in a non-coordinating solvent, 1-oc...

This document describes the research plans of the MRJ Semiconductor Device Modeling Program at NAS as of September 1997. The general motivation and approach for this work is presented first. Then, for each specific project in the program, the motivation, approach, and specific plans for the contract year are described.

The agricultural civilization in the cultural history of man was said to be the result of two genetic accidents which gave birth to a new species of bread wheat some 10,000 years ago, involving wild wheat and goat grass. Large-scale agricultural activity in man's society followed. Great inventions or discoveries could be considered to be such genetic accidents-mutations. New knowledge, arising ...

Increased leakage and process variations make distinction between fault-free and faulty chips by IDDQ test difficult. Earlier the concept of Current Ratios (CR) was proposed to screen defective (outlier) chips. However, it is not capable of catching certain defects. Neighboring chips on a wafer have similar fault-free parameters that are correlated through the underlying fabrication process. Ba...

The carbon nanotube and graphene nanoribbon band structure is derived using the two-band k · p method and shown to have a similar band structure as a III-V semiconductor. Contrary to a previous claim, it is shown that the tunnelling probability is lower for a graphene based semiconductor than for a III-V semiconductor with the same bandgap. Considering the relation between the bandgap and the e...