The textile industry, particularly in the weaving areas, needs sensors to monitor for faults and to aid the automation of warp yarn repair. As MEMS (MicroElectroMechanical Systems) technology advances, sensors and actuators get smaller. MEMS sensors are very powerful and are highly accurate. These sensors are inexpensive and are readily available. Currently, in the textile machinery, drop wires are used to monitor the tension of the warp yarns in the weaving process. These drop wires are abrasive to the warp yarns and can lead to more warp yarn breaks. Therefore, it would be beneficial to develop a system that does not contact the warp yarn in any way, such that extra warp yarns are not broken because of the sensor. This research has led to the development of a sensor system that has no contact with the warp yarn. The main purpose was to show proof of concept for applying a MEMS sensor to the textile machinery, specifically the Jacquard Loom, in order to develop a sensor system having no contact with the warp yarns. A MEMS Accelerometer, available from Analog Devices, was used to monitor the motion of the heddle, whose acceleration properties change based on the presence of the warp yarn. Matlab was used to interpret the data and analyze for broken warp yarns (using recorded data) based on the change in acceleration. Once a warp yarn is determined to have been broken, Matlab would notify the user.

As data frequency increases beyond several Gbps range, low power chip to chip communication becomes more critical. The concept researched in this thesis is inductively coupled interconnect (LCI) over short length transmission line. The data will be transmitted across a 10 cm differential microstrip line on FR-4 material with a transformer on each side of the line. The transmitter and receiver circuits are designed in TSMC 0.18μm process technology and can operate at 2.5 Gbps. The power consumption of the design is 5.53 mW at 2.5 Gbps which yields around 2.21 mW.Gb-1.s-1. This design can achieve BER of less than 10-12. The inductive coupling will reduce DC power because the low frequency DC component of the signal will be blocked by coupling inductors. The power consumed by this design is lower than most of the conventional I/Os that use physical contact interconnects. An H-bridge current steering driver is used at the transmitter and a differential amplifier and Sense-amp Flip flop is used at the receiver.

The research presented in this thesis describes the design and development of the EvBot II, a small, computationally powerful, and robust evolutionary robotics platform equipped with an acoustic array system. The EvBot II represents the next generation of autonomous robots for distributed robot-colony research, and its design has expanded the sensing capabilities and the overall performance of the EvBot robots by the incorporation of two microcontroller units, shaft encoders and a complete acoustic array system for tracking and navigation purposes. The design, development and test of this new robot is described in detail throughout this thesis, including the design of an USB data acquisition system capable of simultaneously sampling eight audio channels as required for the realization of the added acoustic array system. Experiments designed to evaluate the performance of this new robot and its components are also described in this thesis, as well as experimental results showing that it is a well-suited platform for the study of evolutionary robotics, distributed robot-colonies and sensors technologies.

The purpose of this research has been to search for proper metallic gate electrodes for CMOS devices. The most important criteria for an alternative metal gate electrode are (a) appropriate work function for NMOS or PMOS (b) excellent thermal/chemical stability under high temperature (c) low resistivity and high active electrical concentration and (d) feasibility for integration. This dissertation covers the following research areas. The properties of reactive sputtering deposited Ru and RuO2 films were systematically studied. Techniques such as XRD, AFM, XPS and TEM were used to characterize the films. High temperature stability was observed for both Ru and RuO2 films on SiO2 and ZrO2. The films also exhibited low stress, good oxygen barrier properties and were easy to dry etch. Electrical properties were evaluated on MOS capacitors with SiO2 and high-K dielectrics including ZrO2, Al2O3, and Y2O3. Excellent stability of oxide thickness and flatband voltage was observed for SiO2 dielectric capacitors. For capacitors with high-K dielectrics, equivalent oxide thickness (EOT) change and flatband voltage shift as a function of annealing temperature were observed. This was attributed to excess oxygen in the high-K dielectrics that was causing the oxidation of the Si substrate. Next, Ru-Ta alloy films prepared by reactive sputtering were evaluated as gate electrode materials. The alloy film resistivities had a strong dependence on film composition and annealing temperature. XRD and XPS measurements were used to evaluate the phases for alloy films. Ru1Ta1 phase was formed in alloy film with at. % Ta between 40% and 60%. Excellent thermal stability of alloy films with Ta at.% < 60% was observed up to RTA anneal temperatures of 1000C. A non-linear relationship between work function and Ru-Ta alloy composition was measured. The values ranged from 4.2eV to 5eV, making it possible for this alloy to be used as gate electrode for both N- and P-MOSFET device. Finally, NMOSFETs and PMOSFETs using the best gate electrodes, namely, Ru-Ta alloy for NMOS and Ru for PMOS, were fabricated using SiO2 as the gate dielectric. A comprehensive analysis of device performance was made with metal gate electrodes and poly-Silicon controls. Excellent hole mobility for Ru gate P-MOSFET was observed. The mobility of N-MOSFETs with Ru-Ta alloys gate electrode were found to be slightly lower than the universal curve and this was attributed to the presence of interface states arising from the sputtering process. This suggests the need for optimizing the deposition process. In conclusion, Ru-based alloys were evaluated as gate electrodes and were found to exhibit desirable properties to be considered as proper candidates for CMOS devices.

In previous studies, device quality Si-SiO2 interfaces and dielectric bulk films (SiO2) were prepared using a two-step process; i) remote plasma-assisted oxidation (RPAO) to form a superficially interfacial oxide (~0.6 nm) and ii) remote plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition (RPECVD) to deposit the oxide film. The same approach has been applied to the GaN-SiO2 system. After a 300 oC remote N2/He plasma treatment of the GaN surface, residual C and Cl were reduced below Auger electron spectroscopy (AES) detection, and the AES peak ratio of O KLL and N KLL was ~0.06 or ~0.1 monolayer of oxygen. RPAO of GaN surfaces using O2, N2O, and N2O in N2 source gases were investigated by on-line AES to determine the oxidation kinetics and chemical composition of the interfacial oxide. Without an RPAO step, subcutaneous oxidation of GaN takes place during RPECVD deposition of SiO2, and on-line AES indicates a ~0.6-0.8 nm subcutaneous oxide. Compared to single step SiO2 deposition, significantly reduced interface state density (Dit) was obtained at the GaN-SiO2 interface by independent control of GaN-Ga2O3 interface formation by thin RPAO oxide (~1 nm) and SiO2 film deposition by RPECVD. High-low frequency method and conductance method indicate that Dit of GaN Metal-Oxide-Semiconductor (MOS) sample without RPAO is ~5 times larger than that of the sample with RPAO. For the GaN MOS structure with remote plasma oxidation and nitridation, Dit determined at DCmax was low-to-mid x 1011 cm-2eV-1. Also, we report on high temperature and photo-assisted capacitance-voltage (C-V) characteristics.

The purpose of the research has been to increase the consistency and efficiency rates of blastocyst microinjections through automation. The research involved the design, implementation, and evaluation of a novel biomanipulation system that is a test-bed for applying intelligent control algorithms. The microinjection process was controlled from a computer via a joystick or by software controllers. These included real-time video processing for the acquisition of experimental data and control. Teleoperated microinjections under the control of both expert and novice operators showed that the system is effective, easy to use, and capable of eliminating the need for the extensive training of microinjection personnel. Experimental results showed that all operators obtained a microinjection success rate over 80%, demonstrating a significant improvement over the tradition manual microinjections. Furthermore, blastocysts injected using this system were more likely to develop to term, and to yield chimeras, than blastocysts injected using the traditional manual method. The experiments also highlighted common problems encountered during the blastocyst microinjection stage, allowing the design and development of effective control algorithms to guide the teleoperated and automatic microinjections. Overall, this research contributed to the full automation of blastocyst microinjection by: 1) significantly improving the microinjection process; 2) significantly improving the microinjection efficiency; 3) creating a new system design optimized for computer controlled microinjections; 4) implementing and evaluating speed-up methods that enable real-time template matching; 5) creating new algorithms to identify and analyze blastocyst images; 6) designing and conducting preliminary tests with control algorithms that automate the microinjection process.

This project involved developing a surgical robot assistant using an articulated robot running on a linear axis. The research concentrated on studying the localization of an endoscopic tool. The kinematics involved in this type situation requires that a constant point in space (trocar point) is maintained along a rigid tool while repositioning the manipulator. Results show that the localization algorithm and interactive interface developed is capable of using this unique robot configuration to perform the desired task. For this system, error was used as the performance metric. Positioning of the endoscopic manipulator relative to the world coordinate frame was possible to within 0.05 inch. Error in maintaining a constant point in space is evident during repositioning however this was caused by limitations in the robot arm.

The stacking of silicon wafers and processing of through-silicon vias, which is often called 3DIC Technology, has opened up the possibility of improving the performance of circuits that are wire-delay limited. This project explores the design of Static Random Access Memories (SRAM), an important building block in 3DICs. Detailed transistor-level and layout design-data are presented for bit-cells and peripheral circuitry. Two different architectures are tested and their parameters are compared. The thesis concludes with the decision of which architecture proved to be the better one for 1Kb SRAM.

The feasibility of nonvolatile spin-based memory device concepts is explored. The first memory device concept utilizes the electrically controlled paramagnetic-ferromagnetic transition in a diluted magnetic semiconductor layer (quantum well or dot) when the ferromagnetism in the diluted magnetic semiconductor is mediated by itinerant holes. The specific structure under consideration consists of a diluted magnetic semiconductor quantum well (or quantum dot) and a nonmagnetic quantum well, which acts as a hole reservoir, separated by a permeable barrier. The quantitative analysis is done by calculating the free energy of the system. Formation of two stable states at the same external conditions, i.e., bistability, is found feasible at temperatures below the Curie temperature with proper band engineering. The effects of scaling the magnetic quantum well to quantum dot on bistability are analyzed. The bit retention time, i.e., lifetime, with respect to spontaneous leaps between the two stable states is calculated. The write/erase and read operations are discussed as well as the dissipation energy. Also, potential logic operations are proposed. In the second memory concept, the active region is a semiconductor quantum dot sharing an interface with a dielectric magnetic layer. The operating principle of the device is based on the spontaneous magnetic symmetry breaking due to exchange interaction between the magnetic ions in the magnetic layer and the spins of the itinerant holes in the quantum dot. Room temperature operation is possible given the availability of insulating ferromagnetic or antiferromagnetic materials whose Curie temperature is above room temperature. The specific range of material parameters where bistability is achieved is found. Analysis is extended to different quantum dot and magnetic dielectric materials and designs. Influence of material choice and design on the memory robustness, i.e., lifetime, is discussed.

Faults, if remained undetected lead to huge financial losses. Troubleshooting faults requires analytical skills and knowledge of the system. Elementary skills help in solving common faults but faults that are infrequent or those which cannot be debugged by a consumer or even a field technician due to lack of in-depth knowledge of the system requires an expert?s intervention. Experts are not always available in the field and lack of knowledge on the field technician?s part may lead to huge financial losses and inconvenience on the part of the consumer. To avoid such situations an approach to make available expert?s knowledge and capability to the field technicians is demonstrated through this research. A qualitative modeling approach to develop a knowledge representation is outlined here. A qualitative knowledge of the system from expert?s point of view is modeled for a Bosch dishwasher for whom knowledge is extracted to generate a rule base, which reasons the characteristics of the system like an expert. Further it has been explored that using the rule base one can develop a questionnaire using the concept of model based diagnosis for troubleshooting. A qualitative model is useful for this kind of system because it resembles the analytical thinking capability of an expert and in general for any human being making it easier to communicate and interpret. Thus providing such a system to the field technician or even the consumer will simplify the troubleshooting process and will help in reducing downtime and financial losses.