Nicolò Speciale

Impact of LER and Random Dopant Fluctuations on FinFET Matching Performance

Parameter variations pose an increasingly challenging threat to the CMOS technology scaling. Among the sources of variability, line-edge-roughness (LER) and random dopant (RD) fluctuations are significant in current technology nodes. In this paper, the impact of the LER and RD on the matching performance of FinFETs is investigated for the LSTP-32 nm node, where these devices represent an attractive alternative to the planar CMOS transistors. Line-edge-roughness contributions from the fin, top-, and side wall-gates of n- and p-channel FinFETs are compared by means of 2-D and 3-D technology computer-aided design (TCAD) simulations, performed with a quantum-corrected hydrodynamic model on large statistical ensembles. Correlations between geometrical roughness and resulting electrical parameters are analyzed to provide further insight into the impact of the LER. A noise analysis approach is adopted to evaluate the impact of RD fluctuations throughout the impurity concentration ranges of interest, providing a direct comparison with the line-edge-roughness contributions. The impact of the extension doping profile specifications on the LER- and RD-induced mismatch is investigated, highlighting the potential drawbacks of junction engineering.

Ultrasonic guided-waves characterization with Warped Frequency Transforms

In this work a new time-frequency procedure for the extraction of multimodal and dispersive guided waves (GWs) from a recorded time-waveform is presented. The proposed ldquoWarped Frequency Transformrdquo (WFT) is based on a time-frequency domain tiling chosen to match the spectro-temporal structure of the different propagating guided waves by selecting an appropriate warping map which generates non-linearly frequency modulated atoms. The WFT transformation is fast, invertible, covariant to group velocity-delay shifts and, in force of the more flexible tiling, presents enhanced modes extraction capabilities. An application to Lamb Waves propagating in an isotropic plate is presented to show the potential of the proposed procedure.

A passive monitoring technique based on dispersion compensation to locate impacts in plate-like structures

A method for impact location in plate-like structures is proposed. The approach is based on guided waves dispersion compensation. Procedures based on dispersion compensation are usually applied to active monitoring techniques, as they require the knowledge of the time of impact to effectively compensate the guided waves dispersive behaviour. Unfortunately, this knowledge is not given in passive monitoring techniques. Despite this limit, the proposed dispersion compensation procedure is useful as it removes in the group delay of the acquired signals the dependence on the travelled distance. By cross-correlating the signals related to the same event acquired by different sensors, the difference in travelled distances can be determined and used to locate the wave source via hyperbolic positioning. The results show that the developed tool could pave he way for a new class of procedures to locate impacts in waveguides.

Acoustic emission localization in plates with dispersion and reverberations using sparse PZT sensors in passive mode

A strategy for the localization of acoustic emissions (AE) in plates with dispersion and reverberation is proposed. The procedure exploits signals received in passive mode by sparse conventional piezoelectric transducers and a three-step processing framework. The first step consists in a signal dispersion compensation procedure, which is achieved by means of the warped frequency transform. The second step concerns the estimation of the differences in arrival time (TDOA) of the acoustic emission at the sensors. Complexities related to reflections and plate resonances are overcome via a wavelet decomposition of cross-correlating signals where the mother function is designed by a synthetic warped cross-signal. The magnitude of the wavelet coefficients in the warped distance?frequency domain, in fact, precisely reveals the TDOA of an acoustic emission at two sensors. Finally, in the last step the TDOA data are exploited to locate the acoustic emission source through hyperbolic positioning. The proposed procedure is tested with a passive network of three/four piezo-sensors located symmetrically and asymmetrically with respect to the plate edges. The experimentally estimated AE locations are close to those theoretically predicted by the Cram?r?Rao lower bound.

Double-channel, frequency-steered acoustic transducer with 2-D imaging capabilities

A frequency-steerable acoustic transducer (FSAT) is employed for imaging of damage in plates through guided wave inspection. The FSAT is a shaped array with a spatial distribution that defines a spiral in wavenumber space. Its resulting frequency-dependent directional properties allow beam steering to be performed by a single two-channel device, which can be used for the imaging of a two-dimensional half-plane. Ad hoc signal processing algorithms are developed and applied to the localization of acoustic sources and scatterers when FSAT arrays are used as part of pitch-catch and pulse-echo configurations. Localization schemes rely on the spectrogram analysis of received signals upon dispersion compensation through frequency warping and the application of the frequency-angle map characteristic of FSAT. The effectiveness of FSAT designs and associated imaging schemes are demonstrated through numerical simulations and experiments. Preliminary experimental validation is performed by forming a discrete array through the points of the measurement grid of a scanning laser Doppler vibrometer. The presented results demonstrate the frequency-dependent directionality of the spiral FSAT and suggest its application for frequency-selective acoustic sensors, for the localization of broadband acoustic events, or for the directional generation of Lamb waves for active interrogation of structural health.

A restoration framework for ultrasonic tissue characterization

Ultrasonic tissue characterization has become an area of intensive research. This procedure generally relies on the analysis of the unprocessed echo signal. Because the ultrasound echo is degraded by the non-ideal system point spread function, a deconvolution step could be employed to provide an estimate of the tissue response that could then be exploited for a more accurate characterization. In medical ultrasound, deconvolution is commonly used to increase diagnostic reliability of ultrasound images by improving their contrast and resolution. Most successful algorithms address deconvolution in a maximum a posteriori estimation framework; this typically leads to the solution of ℓ2-norm or ℓ1-norm constrained optimization problems, depending on the choice of the prior distribution. Although these techniques are sufficient to obtain relevant image visual quality improvements, the obtained reflectivity estimates are, however, not appropriate for classification purposes. In this context, we introduce in this paper a maximum a posteriori deconvolution framework expressly derived to improve tissue characterization. The algorithm overcomes limitations associated with standard techniques by using a nonstandard prior model for the tissue response. We present an evaluation of the algorithm performance using both computer simulations and tissue-mimicking phantoms. These studies reveal increased accuracy in the characterization of media with different properties. A comparison with state-of-the-art Wiener and ℓ1-norm deconvolution techniques attests to the superiority of the proposed algorithm.

Fast Computation of Frequency Warping Transforms

In this paper, we introduce an analytical approach for the frequency warping transform. Criteria for the design of operators based on arbitrary warping maps are provided and an algorithm carrying out a fast computation is defined. Such operators can be used to shape the tiling of time-frequency (TF) plane in a flexible way. Moreover, they are designed to be inverted by the application of their adjoint operator. According to the proposed model, the frequency warping transform is computed by considering two additive operators: the first one represents its nonuniform Fourier transform approximation and the second one suppresses aliasing. The first operator is fast computable by various interpolation approaches. A factorization of the second operator is found for arbitrary shaped nonsmooth warping maps. By properly truncating the operators involved in the factorization, the computation turns out to be fast without compromising accuracy.

Guided wave expansion in warped curvelet frames

Lamb wave testing for structural health monitoring (SHM) often relies on analysis of wavefields recorded through scanning laser Doppler vibrometers (SLDVs) or ultrasonic scanners. Damage detection and characterization with these techniques requires isolation of defect-induced reflections in the wavefield from the injected wave packet and from scattering events associated with structural features such as boundaries, rivets, joints, etc. This is a challenging task when dealing with complex structures and multimodal, dispersive propagation regimes, whereby various wave contributions in both the time/space and the frequency/wavenumber domain overlap. A new mathematical tool named warped curvelet frames (WCFs) is proposed to effectively decompose the recorded wavefields. The presented technique results from the combination of two operators, i.e., the curvelet transform (CT) and the warped frequency transform (WFT). The CT provides an optimally sparse representation of nondispersive wave propagators. Combining the CT with the WFT allows for a flexible analysis of multimodal wave propagation in dispersive media. Exploiting the spatial and temporal localization of curvelets, as well as the spectro-temporal adaptation of the analysis frame to the characteristics of each propagating mode, provided by frequency warping, a convenient decomposition of guided waves is achieved and relevant contributions can be effectively isolated. The proposed approach is validated through dedicated simulations and further tested experimentally to demonstrate the effectiveness of the method in separating guided wave modes corresponding to acoustic events in close spatial proximity.

Analytical computation of fast frequency warping

In this work we introduce an analytical characterization of the frequency warping operator of arbitrary shaped non-smooth warping maps. The transformation matrix is decomposed in two additive terms: the first term represents its nonuniform Fourier transform approximation while the second term is imposed for aliasing suppression. The first transformation is known to be analytically characterized and fast computable by an interpolation approach. For the second transformation an analytical representation is introduced which allows a fast computation and a simple design. Finally, an example of a potential application is shown.

Fiber Optic Broadband Ultrasonic Probe for Virtual Biopsy: Technological Solutions

An ultrasonic probe was developed by using, in conjunction, opto-acoustic and acousto-optic devices based on fiber optic technology. The intrinsic high frequency and wide bandwidth associated both to the opto-acoustic source and to the acousto-optic receiving element could open a way towards a “virtual biopsy” of biological tissue. A Micro-Opto-Mechanical-System (MOMS) approach is proposed to realize the broadband ultrasonic probe on micromachined silicon frames suited to be mounted on the tip of optical fibers.