Abstract In this thesis, we have fabricated a novel poly-Si thin film transistor with self-aligned SiGe raised source/drain (SiGe-RSD TFT). The SiGe-RSD regions were grown selectively by ultra-high vacuum chemical vapor deposition (UHVCVD) at 550¢J. The resultant transistor structure features a thin active channel region and a self-aligned thick source/drain region, which is ideally suited for optimum performance. A significant improvement on the turn-on current in the transfer characteristics is observed, compared to the conventional TFT counterpart. While the conventional TFT depicts severe resistance-limited output characteristics, especially at high gate bias, due to large source and drain series resistance. The new device, in contrast, exhibits excellent output characteristics. Finally, with comparable leakage current in both structures, the on/off current ratio is approximately 2 order of magnitudes higher in the proposed SiGe-RSD TFTS

Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI) / Drinking despite aversive consequences, or compulsive drinking, is a criterion of alcohol use disorder and can be modeled in rodents by adding bitter quinine into alcohol. Previous studies have shown the development of quinine-resistant ethanol (EtOH) drinking following a drinking history, but used animals that achieved relatively low blood alcohol levels. Selectively bred crossed High Alcohol Preferring (cHAP) mice average over 250 mg/dl during a two-bottle choice procedure. Compulsive drinking is hypothesized to be D1-receptor mediated via the dorsolateral striatum (DLS). We hypothesized that 2 weeks of free-choice EtOH would lead to quinine resistance and intra-DLS infusion of a D1-antagonist, SCH23390, would attenuate quinine-resistant alcohol drinking with no effect on non-conflicted EtOH drinking. Infusion of SCH23390 into the DMS would not affect quinine-resistant drinking. cHAP mice had guide cannulae placed in the DLS or DMS and had either two weeks (2W) of EtOH and water two-bottle choice or were EtOH naïve (0W). Mice were infused with either SCH23390 or saline immediately prior to one 10% EtOH and water test day and SCH23390 did not disturb alcohol drinking. The following day, we adulterated the EtOH with 0.32-g/L quinine (0.89 mM), and mice received the same microinjection. For animals cannulated in the DLS, 2W history group infused with saline drank more quinine-adulterated EtOH than the 0W saline mice. While SCH23390 infused 0W animals looked no different from saline treated mice, it attenuated quinine + EtOH intake in the 2W animals to the level of 0W animals. Interestingly, DMS-cannulated mice demonstrated similar behavior, with SCH23390 reducing EtOH + quinine consumption, while leaving EtOH consumption undisturbed. Quinine resistance following 2 weeks of free-choice EtOH consumption is attenuated by acute administration of a D1-antagonist in the DLS, suggesting that an alcohol history induces compulsivity and that dopamine contributes to this behavior. This is unique to compulsive drinking, as non-conflicted EtOH drinking was unaffected.

Infusion of a dopamine D1-receptor antagonist into both the dorsolateral and dorsomedial striatum interfered with quinine-resistant alcohol drinking, but not unadulterated alcohol consumption. Dopamine in these two brain regions play a role in compulsive-like alcohol consumption.

Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI) / Deficits in impulse control and decision-making have been implicated in the development and maintenance of alcohol use disorders (AUDs). Individuals with AUD often make disadvantageous choices under conditions of probabilistic risk. The Iowa Gambling Task (IGT) is often used to measure risky decision-making, in which impaired individuals tend to favor large, infrequent rewards even when punished for these choices, rather than smaller, safer, and more advantageous rewards. It remains poorly understood if these deficits are behaviors under genetic control and if ethanol intoxication may alter decision-making. High and Low Alcohol Preferring (HAP3 and LAP3, respectively) mice were trained on a novel gambling task to investigate these possible influences. In Experiment 1, HAP3s and LAP3s responded for a 0.1% saccharin solution, choosing between a risky and a safe option. Importantly, choosing the risky option was meant to be ultimately disadvantageous. In Experiment 2, these same HAP3 mice responded for saccharin or saccharin plus 10% ethanol. Contrary to hypothesis, LAP3s preferred the risky option more than HAP3s. Alcohol increased preference for the risky lever, but only in male mice. HAP3 preference for the safe lever may be explained by higher motivation to obtain sweet rewards, or higher overall avidity for responding. Ethanol-induced changes in male risk behavior may be explained by higher androgen levels, but further investigation is required. Similarly, continued research is necessary to optimize a risky decision-making task for both lines, and thus investigate possible genetic differences in risk acceptance that correlate with differences in alcohol intake.

<p>Deficits in impulse control and decision-making have been implicated in the development and maintenance of alcohol use disorders (AUDs). Individuals with AUD often make disadvantageous choices under conditions of probabilistic risk. The Iowa Gambling Task (IGT) is often used to measure risky decision-making, in which impaired individuals tend to favor large, infrequent rewards even when punished for these choices, rather than smaller, safer, and more advantageous rewards. It remains poorly understood if these deficits are behaviors under genetic control and if ethanol intoxication may alter decision-making. High and Low Alcohol Preferring (HAP3 and LAP3, respectively) mice were trained on a novel gambling task to investigate these possible influences. In Experiment 1, HAP3s and LAP3s responded for a 0.1% saccharin solution, choosing between a risky and a safe option. Importantly, choosing the risky option was meant to be ultimately disadvantageous. In Experiment 2, these same HAP3 mice responded for saccharin or saccharin plus 10% ethanol. Contrary to hypothesis, LAP3s preferred the risky option more than HAP3s. Alcohol increased preference for the risky lever, but only in male mice. HAP3 preference for the safe lever may be explained by higher motivation to obtain sweet rewards, or higher overall avidity for responding. Ethanol-induced changes in male risk behavior may be explained by higher androgen levels, but further investigation is required. Similarly, continued research is necessary to optimize a risky decision-making task for both lines, and thus investigate possible genetic differences in risk acceptance that correlate with differences in alcohol intake. </p>

Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI) / Habit expression is emerging as a theory of addiction: subjects begin to use drugs to attain positive reinforcing effects but continue to use in spite of negative effects because the behavior becomes habitual, and therefore divorced from its outcome. Many studies have shown that a history of drug and alcohol use lead to expedited acquisition of a habit, but the acute effects of these drugs on behavior is still unknown. Behaviors that result from acute intoxication, such as increased aggression, risky sexual behavior, and impaired judgment, could be interpreted as habitual: actions performed without regard for the outcome. Therefore, we studied the transition from goal-directed to habitual behavior, when a response is made regardless of outcome value, and how acute intoxication of ethanol (EtOH), amphetamine (AMP), nicotine (NIC), and yohimbine (YOH) affect the resulting behavior. Through a series of four experiments, selectively bred crossed High Alcohol Preferring (cHAP) mice were trained on an operant task to self-administer 1% banana solution, which was subsequently devalued via LiCl CTA. EtOH (1 & 1.5 g/kg), AMP (2.0 mg/kg), NIC (0.5 mg/kg), YOH (1.0 mg/kg), or SAL were administered prior to baseline and post-devaluation tests. We found that acute EtOH at 1- and 1.5-g/kg doses facilitated the expression of a habit, whereas all other pretreatments resulted in devaluation. These data may indicate a unique role for EtOH in facilitating the retrieval of habitual over outcome-based associations. This could shed light on why intoxicated individuals display impaired judgment and a mechanism by which relapse after a period of abstinence can occur.

No description available.

<p>Parkinson’s Disease (PD) and Alcohol Use Disorder (AUD) are neurodegenerative conditions that involve similar neurobiological pathways and affect motivation and reward dysregulations. This project aims to explore whether PD-related insults affect alcohol-related motivation and reward. We utilized paraquat (PQ) exposure as a neurotoxicant-induced model for PD and mice selectively bred for a differential in alcohol preference as a model for genetic and neurobiological susceptibility for high/low alcohol consumption. In Experiment 1, binge-like alcohol drinking after three weeks of PQ exposure (10 mg/kg, i.p. once per week) or saline was assessed in HAP male and female mice. The four-day Drinking in the Dark (DID) procedure was used to induce binge-like alcohol drinking. Dorsal (DS) and ventral (VS) striatal catecholamines were analyzed after DID. Overall, PQ-treated HAP males had significantly lower alcohol intake than saline-treated males. This effect was absent in female HAP mice. Catecholamine quantification showed lower DOPAC levels in VS of PQ-treated vs. saline-treated HAP male mice. Experiment 2 assessed alcohol-induced locomotor sensitization in adult male and female high (HAP) and low-alcohol-preferring (LAP) mice after PQ exposure. Following the same 3 weeks of PQ or saline exposure, mice received 6 sensitization induction days with either 3 g/kg i.p. EtOH or saline. On test day, an alcohol challenge dose of 2 g/kg in all mice was used to determine the expression of locomotor sensitization. PQ exposure had no significant effect on locomotor activity and sensitization. However, PQ-treated mice showed great variability in their alcohol-induced locomotor activity compared to other groups. These data suggest a sex difference in PQ’s effect on alcohol binge-like drinking. However, PQ’s effect on alcohol-induced locomotor sensitization is not conclusive. This project will elucidate potential mechanisms behind PD-related neuropsychiatric comorbid conditions like AUD. Such findings may assist in early diagnosis and treatment refinement, as these comorbidities precede the motor manifestation of PD by decades and significantly impact the quality of life.</p>

The world is slowly moving into increased human-robot interaction where both humans and robots can co-exist in the same domain. For the robot to be able to operate effectively in a man’s designed environment, it becomes necessary to model the robot with human capabilities as humans are seen as more capable. Replicating human becomes a huge challenge due to numerous degrees-of-freedom (DOFs) that human possess resulting into too many variables and nonlinear equations. Other challenges do occur like singularities.   In this thesis, the singularity challenge of a redundant humanoid arm is explored while maintaining a simple 7 DOF serial chain structure. As opposed to the 30 DOF human arm, a simpler 7 DOF humanoid arm is adopted and studied to eliminate the singularity challenges. The singularity problem mainly comes from the elbow and the spherical joints at the shoulder and wrist. A step-by-step review of available inverse kinematics techniques is made with more focus on the iterative Jacobian-based methods. A step-by-step approach is adopted so as to identify the source of singularities while using the iterative Jacobian-based techniques that are able to handle the nonlinearities of the equations.   The Singular Value Filtering (SVF) technique coupled with Selectively Damped Least Squares (SDLS) is employed. Without any restrictions to the stretch of the arm or end-effector pose, the method demonstrates, in conjunction with Euler angle singularity avoidance method, the elimination of singularity problems. This is achieved with no adjustment to kinematic model of the manipulator.

SiGe is a significant enabling technology for therealization of integrated circuits used in high performanceoptical networks and radio frequency applications. In order tocontinue to fulfill the demands for these applications, newmaterials and device structures are needed. This thesis focuseson new materials and their integration into heterojunctionbipolar transistor (HBT) structures as well as using devicesimulations to optimize and better understand the deviceoperation. Specifically, a SiGeC HBT platform was designed,fabricated, and electrically characterized. The platformfeatures a non-selectively grown epitaxial SiGeC base,in situdoped polysilicon emitter, nickel silicide,LOCOS isolation, and a minimum emitter width of 0.4 μm.Alternately, a selective epitaxy growth in an oxide window wasused to form the collector and isolation regions. Thetransistors exhibited cutoff frequency (fT) and maximum frequency of oscillation (fMAX) of 40-80 GHz and 15-45 GHz, respectively.Lateral design rules allowed the investigation of behavior suchas transient enhanced diffusion, leakage current, and theinfluence of parasitics such as base resistance and CBC. The formation of nickel silicide on polysiliconSiGe and SiGeC films was also investigated. The formation ofthe low resistivity monosilicide phase was shown to occur athigher temperatures on SiGeC than on SiGe. The stability of themonosilicide was also shown to improve for SiGeC. Nickelsilicide was then integrated into a SiGeC HBT featuring aselectively grown collector. A novel, fully silicided extrinsicbase contact was demonstrated along with the simultaneousformation of NiSi on thein situdoped polysilicon emitter. High-resolution x-ray diffraction (HRXRD) was used toinvestigate the growth and stability of SiGeC base layers forHBT integration. HRXRD proved to be an effective, fast,non-destructive tool for monitoring carbon out-diffusion due tothe dopant activation anneal for different temperatures as wellas for inline process monitoring of epitaxial growth of SiGeClayers. The stability of the SiGe layer with 0.2-0.4 at% carbonwhen subjected to dopant activation anneals ranging from1020-1100&amp;#176C was analyzed by reciprocal lattice mapping.It was found that as the substitutional carbon increases theformation of boron clusters due to diffusion is suppressed, buta higher density of carbon clusters is formed. Device simulations were performed to optimize the DC and HFperformance of an advanced SiGeC HBT structure with low baseresistance and small dimension emitter widths. The selectivelyimplanted collector (SIC) was studied using a design ofexperiments (DOE) method. For small dimensions the lateralimplantation straggle has a significant influence on the SICprofile (width). A significant influence of the SIC width onthe DC gain was observed. The optimized structure showedbalanced fT/fMAXvalues of 200+ GHz. Finally, SOI BJT transistorswith deep trench isolation were fabricated in a 0.25μmBiCMOS process and self-heating effects were characterized andcompared to transistors on bulk silicon featuring deep trenchand shallow trench isolation. Device simulations based on SEMcross-sections and SIMS data were performed and the resultscompared to the fabricated transistors. Key words:Silicon-Germanium(SiGe), SiGeC,heterojunction bipolar transistor(HBT), nickel silicide,selectively implanted collector(SIC), device simulation, SiGeClayer stability, high resolution x-ray diffraction(HRXRD),silicon-on-insulator(SOI), self-heating.