There are two commonly discrete approximations for the inverse conductivity problem. Finite element models are heavily used in electrical impedance tomography research as they are easily adapted to bodies of irregular shapes. The other approximation is to use electrical resistor networks for which several uniqueness results and reconstruction algorithms are known for the inverse problem. In this thesis the link between finite element models and resistor networks is established. For the planar case we show how resistor networks associated with a triangular mesh have an isotropic embedding and we give conditions for the uniqueness of the embedding. Moreover, a layered finite element model parameterized by thevalues of conductivity on the interior nodes is constructed. Construction of the finite element mesh leads to a study of the triangulation survey problem. A constructive algorithm is given to determine the position of the nodes in the triangulation with a knowledge of one edge and the angles of the finite element mesh. Also we show that we need to satisfy the sine rule as aconsistency condition for every closed basic cycle that enclosing interior nodes and this is a complete set of independent constraints.

EIT is a method of imaging that exists for a century, initially in geophysics and in recent years in medical imaging. Even though the practical applications of EIT go back to the early 20th century the systematic study of the inverse conductivity problem started in the late 1970s, hence many aspects of the problem remain unexplored. In the study of the inverse conductivity problem usually Finite Element Models are used since they can be easily adapted for bodies of irregular shapes. In this work though we use an equivalent approximation, the electrical resistor network, for which many uniqueness results as well as reconstruction algorithms exist. Furthermore resistor networks are important for EIT since they are used to provide convenient stable test loads or phantoms for EIT systems. In this thesis we study the transfer resistance matrix of a resistor network that is derived from n-port theory and review necessary and sufficient conditions for a matrix to be the transfer resistance of a planar network. The so called “paramountcy” condition may be useful for validation purposes since it provides the means to locate problematic electrodes. In the study of resistor networks in relation to inverse problems it is of a great importance to know which resistor networks correspond to some Finite Element Model. To give a partial answer to this we use the dual graph of a resistor network and we represent the voltage by the logarithm of the circle radius. This representation in combination with Duffin’s non-linear resistor network theory provides the means to show that a non-linear resistor network can be embedded uniquely in a Euclidean space under certain conditions. This is where the novelty of this work lies.

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Background: Positive expiratory pressure (PEP) and continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) are two forms of resistance breathing used in spontaneously breathing patients. With a threshold resistor or a flow resistor, both PEP and CPAP provide a positive (elevated) pressure level during the expiratory phase. With PEP, inspiratory pressure is negative, i.e. lower than ambient air pressure, as during a normal inspiration, but with CPAP, the inspiratory pressure is positive, i.e. higher than ambient air pressure. Methods: This thesis is based on four separate studies in which four different breathing devices, a PEP-bottle (threshold resistor device), a PEP-mask (flow resistor device), a threshold resistor CPAP and a flow resistor device were investigated. Paper I, II and III are based on studies in healthy volunteers. Paper IV is a bench study performed in a hypobaric chamber. Paper I examined differences between two PEP devices, the PEP-bottle and the PEP-mask. Paper II evaluated the performance of a flow resistor CPAP device, (Boussignac CPAP). Paper III investigated the effect of two PEP-devices, a PEP-bottle and a PEP-mask and two CPAP devices, a threshold resistor CPAP and a flow resistor CPAP, on inspiratory capacity (IC). In paper IV, the effect of changes in ambient pressure on preset CPAP levels in two different CPAP devices was compared. Results: With the PEP bottle, both expiration and inspiration began with a zero-flow period during which airway pressure changed rapidly. With the PEP-mask, the zero-flow period was very short and the change in airway pressure almost non-existent (paper I). During normal breathing with the Boussignac CPAP, changes in airway pressure were never large enough to reduce airway pressure below zero. During forced breathing, as airflow increased, both the drop in inspiratory airway pressure and the increase in expiratory airway pressure were potentiated (paper II). IC decreased significantly with three of the breathing devices, the PEP-mask and the two CPAP devices (paper III). With the threshold resistor CPAP, measured pressure levels were close to the preset CPAP level. With the flow resistor CPAP, as the altitude increased CPAP produced pressure levels increased (paper IV). Conclusion: The effect on airway pressure, airflow, IC and the effect of changes in ambient air pressure differ between different kinds of resistance breathing devices. These differences in device performance should be taken into consideration when choosing the optimal resistance breathing device for each patient.

Integration of sensors and silicon-based electronics for harsh environment applications is driven by the automotive industry and the maturity of semiconductor processes that allow embedding sensitive elements onto the same chip without sacrificing the performance and integrity of the electronics. Sensor devices post-processed on top of electronics by surface micromachining allow the addition of extra functionality to the fabricated ICs and creating a sensor system without significant compromise of performance. Smart sensors comprised of sensing structures integrated with silicon carbide-based electronics are receiving attention from more industries, such as aerospace, defense and energy, due to their ability to operate in very demanding conditions. This thesis describes the design and implementation of a novel, integrated thin film temperature sensor that uses a half-bridge arrangement to measure thin film platinum sensitive elements. Processes have been developed to fabricate temperature insensitive thin film tantalum nitride resistors which can be combined with the platinum elements to form the temperature transducing bridge. This circuit was designed to be integrated with an existing silicon carbide-based instrumentation amplifier by post-CMOS processing and to be initially connected to the bond pads of the amplifier input and output ports. Thin films fabricated using the developed TaN and Pt processes have been characterized using resistive test structures and crystallographic measurements of blanket thin film layer samples, and the relationship between the measurement results obtained has been analyzed. An initial demonstration of temperature sensing was performed using tantalum nitride and platinum thin film resistor element chips which were fabricated on passivated silicon substrates and bonded into high temperature packages. The bridge circuit was implemented by external connections through a printed circuit board and the bridge output was connected to a discrete instrumentation amplifier to mimic the integrated amplifier. The temperature response of the circuit measured at the output of the amplifier was found to have sensitivity of 844 μV·°C–1 over the temperature range of 25 to 100 °C. Two integrated microfabrication process flows were evaluated in this work. The initial process provided a very low yield for contact resistance structures between TaN and Pt layers, which highlighted problems with the thin film platinum deposition process. Multiple improvement options have been identified among which removal of the dielectric layer separating TaN and Pt layers and thicker Pt film were considered and a redesign of both layout and the process flow has resulted in improved yield of platinum features produced directly on top of TaN features. Temperature sensitivity of the integrated sensor devices was found to depend significantly on parasitic elements produced by thin film platinum step coverage, the values of which were measured by a set of resistive test structures. A new microfabrication design has enabled the production of a group of integrated temperature sensors that had a sensitivity of 150.84 μV·°C–1 in the temperature range between 25 and 200 °C on one of the fabricated wafers while the best fabricated batch of sensors had a sensitivity of 1079.2 μV·°C–1.

Spacecloth design and development is vital and crucial in Radar Absorbing Materials (RAM) for achieving Low Observability in an Aircraft or an Unmanned Air Vehicle(UAV). The RAM design translates into the spacecloth design. The spacecloths form the constituent layers in a broadband Jaumann absorber in which case they have to be designed for various values of surface resistivity. The design specifications of spacecloth(s) in RAMS is well understood and documented in literature. But the design of spacecloth hitherto, has been the domain of materials' scientists wherein the specified properties of the spacecloth are achieved by an iterative, trial and error process, by mixing various constituents in different proportions to get the design specified surface resistivity in the final end-product. In an effort to bridge this gap, a novel spacecloth for RAM applications is proposed in the thesis. It is proposed that a repetitive geometrical grid network of chip resistors simulates spacecloth. The sheet resistivity of the spacecloth is derived by analyzing various geometries like square, rectangle, triangle and hexagonal grids. The transmission and reflection loss for the chip resistor spacecloth is derived. The design of chip resistor spacecloths for operation at S and C bands is given followed by experimental verification using waveguide simulator experiments. Numerical study of multilayer RAM has been carried out with exponential taper variation of surface resistivities for constituent spacecloth layers and design curves are given for multilayer RAM both for normal and oblique incidence for TE and TM polarizations.

This objective of this project is to develop an understanding of the ink and its interaction with substrate of Penny & Giles controls Ltd's conductive plastic potentiometers, so as to develop alternate ink, substrate and processing methods. Conductive plastic potentiometers comprises, a track containing polymer binder and carbon black, printed on a base plastic substrate. The objectives have to take into account the performance ofthe potentiometers, which are to be improved or maintained. The first stage of the project was concerned with investigating the properties of the carbon black used in the inks, which have a major effect on the performance of the potentiometers. Ten different carbon blacks with different properties were selected. The carbon blacks properties for most of these were characterised by techniques that included transmission electron microscopy, x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, differential scanning calorimetry, laser induced mass spectrometry and the scanning electron microscope. Inks were made with most of individual carbon blacks, and then tracks were produced on the diallyl phthalate plastic substrate. The electric resistance of these tracks was measured allowing the effect of carbon black properties on performance of the track to be studied. Various carbon black were found to provide similar performance to the Vegetabke MR842N, carbon black used currently. The next stage was the investigation of effect of binder on the performance of resistor using the same techniques as used in the first stage so that comparison could be made with the current binder. A phenolic binder was used and again showed similar properties to the DAIP binder used currently

Conveyors are an integral part of modern devices. In this thesis, a slew of areas oscillators and function generators with current and voltage conveyors. Individual applications are categorized according involvement with conveyors and other elements. The functionality of the need for involvement in the program PSpice simulation. As a current conveyor is used OPA861, EL2082, further use of RC circuits and opto-CNY 17.

A quarter of the world's population experience wheezing. These sounds have been used for diagnosis since the time of the Ebers Papyrus (ca. 1500 BC), but the underlying physical mechanism responsible for the sounds is still poorly understood. The main purpose of this thesis is to change this, developing a theory for the onset of wheezing using both experimental and analytical approaches, with implications for both scientific understanding and clinical diagnosis. Wheezing is caused by a fluid structure interaction between the airways and the air flowing through them. We have developed the first systematic set of experiments of direct relevance to this physical phenomena. We have also developed new tools in shell theory using geometric algebra to improve our physical understanding of the self-excited oscillations observed when air flows through flexible tubes. In shell theory, the use of rotors from geometric algebra has enabled us to develop improved physical understanding of how changes of curvature, which are of direct importance to constitutive laws, come about. This has enabled a scaling analysis to be applied to the self-excited oscillations of flexible tubes, showing for the first time that bending energy is dominated by strain energy. We made novel use of multiple camera reconstruction to validate this scaling analysis by directly measuring the bending and strain energies during oscillations. The dominance of strain energy allows a simplification of the governing shell equations. We have developed the first theory for the onset of self-excited oscillations of flexible tubes based on a flutter instability. This has been validated with our experimental work, and provides a predictive tool that can be used to understand wheezing in the airways of the lung. Our theory for the onset of wheezing relates the frequency of oscillation to the airway geometry and material properties. This will allow diagnoses based on wheezing sounds to become more specific, which will allow the stethoscope, which has changed little in the last 200 years, to be brought into the 21st century.

Electrical contacts to devices which pose low resistance continue to be of interest as the dimensions of devices decrease and nanotechnology demands better means of creating electrical access. Continued improvement in the performance of ohmic contacts requires techniques to better characterise and quantify the performance of such contacts. In order to study and estimate the resistance of such contacts or the resistance posed by the interface(s) in such contacts, accurate test structures and evaluation techniques need to be used. The resistance posed by an interface is quantified using its specific contact resistivity (SCR), which is denoted using ƒâc (units: £[cm2). Cross Kelvin resistor (CKR) test structures have been used for the measurement of low values of SCR. A simplified approach to this problem of SCR evaluation (developed previously at RMIT University) using the CKR test structures with varying contact sizes was used and during this work was shown to be accurate for the estimation of low values (less than10-8 £[cm2) of SCR. The silicides of interest in this study were titanium silicide (TiSi2) and nickel silicide (NiSi). These thin films are known for their low resistivity and low barrier heights to both n-type and p-type silicon. The research involved thin film formation and substantial materials characterisation of these thin films. The silicide thin films were formed by vacuum annealing metal thin films on silicon substrates. Silicide thin films formed from metal films deposited by DC magnetron sputtering and electron beam evaporation were compared. The composition, crystallographic orientation, and morphology of these thin films were studied using spectroscopy (AES, SIMS, RBS, in situ Raman spectroscopy), diffraction (Bragg-Brentano and glancing angle XRD, RHEED), and microscopy techniques (TEM, SEM, and AFM). TiSi2 and NiSi thin films were also found to be suitable for microsystems fabrication due to their ability to withstand wet etching of silicon using potassium hydroxide. The SCR of aluminium-titanium silicide ohmic contacts was evaluated to be as low as 6 x 10-10 ƒÇcm2, which is the lowest reported for any two- layer single-interface contact. Characterisation of ohmic contacts comprising of aluminium, nickel silicide, and doped silicon (with shallow implants) were also carried out using the same technique. SCR values as low as 5.0 x 10-9 ƒÇcm2 for contacts to antimony-doped silicon and 3.5 x 10-9 £[cm2 to boron-doped silicon were evaluated.