Electronics are used in modern oil and gas exploration to collect, log, and/or process data such as heading and inclination, weight on the bit, vibration, seismic/acoustic response, temperature, pressure, radiation, and resistivity of the strata. High-temperature electronics are needed that can reliably operate in deep-well conditions (up to 250°C). The U.S. Department of Energy Deep Trek progr...

The reliability of an integrated circuit (IC) is a strong function of temperature. In this study, we developed domputer-aided design tools to predict the temperature distribution of an IC die and compared it with thermal maps obtained by infrared (IR) imaging. A temperature sensor array fabricated on test chips was used to measure the actual surface temperature of an IC die., This array was use...

An alternative approach for evaluating the efficiency of integrated circuit (IC) design firms is presented in this paper. We took into account the differences between technology groups, containing one or more design firms, and input and output factors to prevent influences of scale (e.g., firm size). Specifically, we employed a directional distance function approach to data envelopment analysis...

The microbeam system at the Radiological Research Accelerator Facility (RARAF) currently has a beam spot size of 0.8 microns in diameter. While this spot size is small enough to hit a targeted spot in the nucleus of a cell with a high degree of certainty, researchers at RARAF hope to accurately target even smaller components of cells in the future. This paper discusses a technique used to measu...

In this chapter a state-of-the-art review on analog integrated circuit (IC) design automation tools applied to the specification translation problem is presented. Having the right topology for a given set of specifications is indispensable for a high performance design. An inadequate topology makes the design more difficult (or even impossible), and may require unnecessary resources, which is n...

This paper presents an investigation on the processes, trends, and applications of the BiCMOS technology in the fields of microelectronics and communication electronics. The investigation will focus on the design perspectives and different modifications that were developed to provide a very-high performance BiCMOS integrated circuit for both digital and mixed-signal applications. E. A. Gonzalez...

This document describes a methodology for estimating the coupling of signals through the substrate of a mixed-signal integrated circuit. Permission to make copies, either paper or electronic, of this work for personal or classroom use is granted without fee provided that the copies are not made or distributed for profit or commercial advantage and that the copies are complete and unmodified. To...

3D integration is the big next step in system integration. It is still an emerging technology though and its implications on die and packages are not fully understood yet. Furthermore, it comes in many different process flavors. Adoption by mainstream designers requires the availability of tools that let them evaluate the cost and benefits of 3D compared to conventional system implementations. ...