This work presents design and fabrication technologies on vibration-induced electromagnetic micro-generators using LTCC (Low temperature co-fire ceramic) processes. LTCC fabrication with some special advantages has simplistically processes and multilayer stack procedure, resulting in a micro-inducer can consist of the multilayer silver (Ag) induction micro-coils and a helical ceramic micro-spring. Highly electrical conductible Ag and its multilayer micro-coil structures can enhance the power output of generators. This work is composed of three parts. The first part describes the design of two kinds of micro-generator; a magnetic core generator (MCG) and sided-magnet generator (SMG). According to their respective structures, an analytical mode is also developed to investigate its resonant frequency and the spring constant of the micro-spring, as well as the bending stress and fatigue life of the supporting beam. The voltage output, current output and power output on the helical induction micro-coils, as well as the relationship of vibration amplitude versus vibration frequency in the vibrating system are calculated. The second part introduces how to integrate the Ag multilayer induction micro-coils and the helical ceramic micro-spring using LTCC technique, and organize the design and fabrication of LTCC micro-inducers. From the fabrication procedures, it is known that a stacking error places a limit on the total numbers of micro-coils layer. The experimental results verify that the application of LTCC to the fabrication of micro-inducers is feasible, and that the phenomenon of plane warpage, volumetric shrinkage, layer delamination and surface crack of sintered ceramic structures has been fully controlled. In the third part, measurement setup, vibrating tests and experiments on generating electricity are completed. The performances with different-structure devices are evaluated. Voltage output, current output and power output, as well as changing trends of power density with respect to the layer number of induction micro-coils and magnets are discussed. Relationship of the electrical parasitical damping coefficient versus the vibration amplitude and vibration velocity, relationship between the induced inductor and the current output, the power output depending on the electrical load resistance and differences between fabrication lots are investigated. At last, comparisons between analytical and experimental power output are conduced. For MCG micro-generator, the analytical value is 0.88 mW, about 13.6% smaller than the experimental value of 1 mW. For SMG micro-generator, the analytical value is 1.73 mW, about 10.7% larger than the measured value of 1.56 mW. The analytical models are verified. In the MCG device, the experimental results show that a maximum voltage output of 25.19 mV, a current output of 82.9 mA and a power density of 2.36 mW/cm3 under 120 Hz frequency and 0.03-mm amplitude are obtained. In addition, when operated at 69 Hz vibration frequency and vibration amplitude of 0.03 mm, the experimental maximum voltage output, current output and power density of the SMG device are 44.5 mV, 83.1 mA and 2.17 mW/cm3, respectively. Except the power density, other electricity performances of SMG device are better than MCG. Apparently, the power density of MCG and SMG device presented by this study competes favorably with the results from other devices in the literature.

Continuing to scale down the transistor size makes the introduction of high-k dielectric necessary. However, there are still a lot of problems with highk transistors such as worse reliability and Fermi-level pinning. In HfO₂, low crystallization temperature, fixed charge in the bulk and low quality of the Si/HfO₂ interface cause reliability problems. Fermi-level pinning results in high threshold voltage. For the first work in this dissertation, forming Hf1-xTaxO through doping HfO₂ with Ta is used to improve the crystallization temperature and electron mobility. Then, the fluorine passivation of high-k dielectrics is studied. With fluorine passivation, the electron mobility was improved in NMOSFETs with gate stacks of poly-Si/TaN/HfO₂/p-Si with thin TaN layers. Inserting a 1.5nm layer of HfSiON between TaN and HfO₂ completely blocked the fluorine atoms so that they could not reach the Si interface. Thus, no mobility was improved even with fluorine implantation. In order to decrease threshold voltage, we must study mechanisms of Fermi level pinning (FLP) in high-k gate stacks. We summarize three FLP mechanisms: (1) the dipole formation at the interface between metal gate and high-k dielectric due to hybridization; 2) the dipole formation through oxygen vacancy mechanism; (3) the dipole formation at the interface between high-k dielectric and interfacial SiO₂. The rest of dissertation focuses on the mechanism of Vfb shift by capping a thin layer of Me₂O₃ (Me=Gd, Y and Dy) on SiO₂ and HfO₂-based high-k dielectrics with TaN, W and Pt metal gate. It is proposed that the negative Vfb shift with TaN metal gate be due to the dipole formation at the interface between Me₂O₃ and the interfacial SiO₂. An XPS (X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy) study of Gd₂O₃ capping on SiO₂ indicates clear Si, O and Gd related bonding state change at the interface between Gd₂O₃ (or GdSiO) and the interfacial SiO₂. So the bonding state change is the root cause of the dipole formation. When there is an oxygen deficiency in Me₂O₃, another dipole formation through oxygen vacancy mechanism can also be observed. For a full understanding of the Vfb shift, all three FLP mechanisms must be considered. / text

Voltage unbalance performance of a power line depends on a few parameters that are not necessarily constant at any given instance. The random nature of a power system raises questions around the ability of a system planner to allocate equitable share of the power quality parameters, like voltage unbalance, at design stage. Even a more interesting question is whether applying current methods will guarantee that emissions will be under the set limits. The presence of single or dual phase feeders on such a line will result in a more dynamic voltage unbalance. The first part of this research is a study on deterministic method of voltage unbalance allocation presented by the IEC. The IEC 61000-13-3 report is a comprehensive guideline and the best place to start when looking to develop an emissions standard for voltage unbalance. This dissertation presents a method that can be used to set planning levels for unbalance emission at various voltage levels in order to avoid high voltage unbalance at the end user. The method depends on the agreed power of the customer, the power of the unbalanced load, and the system characteristics. The method works well for short feeders with roughly the same negative sequence impedance and equal short circuit levels. In South Africa, however, there are radial feeders that span over 100km. Hence on such a feeder, there can be ratios of 1:10 between sending end and the last customer on the line. Preliminary research revealed that IEC 61000-6-3, a report on allocation of harmonics, has a method applicable to long feeders. This method was investigated extensively and applied to voltage unbalance allocation. At the core of the method is the assumption that feeders have an even distribution of load. To illustrate the application of this method an example is given. The second part of the study explores a stochastic method of voltage unbalance allocation. In this study the possibility of random connection is considered. A Monte Carlo study is presented. The impact of various parameters are analysed and the findings reveal that phase allocation has the most influence on emission. The results show that the method of random connection of loads can be applied in special conditions only i.e. were sizes of loads do not differ greatly and the number of required connections are low. / Thesis (M.Sc.Eng.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, 2011.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Texas at Austin, 2008. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references.

Mémoire (M. Sc. A.)-- Université du Québec à Chicoutimi, 1984. / bibliographie: f. 102-104. Document électronique également accessible en format PDF. CaQCU

Mémoire (M.Sc.A.)-- Université du Québec à Chicoutimi, 1992. / Bibliogr.: f. 108-109. Document électronique également accessible en format PDF. CaQCU

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Texas at Austin, 2007. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references.

Not available / text

Not available / text

Mémoire (M.Eng.)--Université du Québec à Chicoutimi, 1996. / Document électronique également accessible en format PDF. CaQCU