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The experimental realization of the two-frequency 14N nuclear quadrupole resonance (NQR) technique with use of the gradiometer radiofrequency (RF) probe for applications in the remote detection of explosives and other substances has been proposed. The planar two-frequency gradiometer has been designed, modeled and manufactured. The regions, where the RF magnetic fields are nearly orthogonal to each other, have been determined by finite-element modeling studies. The two-frequency experiments have been carried out for the detection of hexahydro-1,3,5-trinitro-s-triazine C3H6N6O6 (RDX). The possibility of the combined use of the two-frequency 14N NQR technique and the gradiometer RF probe in practice for detection of explosives hidden under clothes or underground has been also discussed.

In this work Earth’s field nuclear magnetic resonance (EFNMR) technique for applications in security scanning devices has been presented. The EFNMR setup has been build based on Magritek low-frequency (0–1 MHz) KEA-2 NMR console. Excepting the NMR console, all components are home-made units, which are a first-order gradiometer RF probe, pre-polarization system, magnetic field shimming system, RF shielding box and passive filters. Our measurements have shown that even in very noisy lab conditions the EFNMR signals of small amounts (~5 ml) of liquid samples could be measured. EFNMR measurements of various liquids have been performed and their spin–lattice T 1 and spin–spin T 2 relaxation constants have been obtained. A possibility to detect, at the same time, both fluorine and proton resonance has been shown by EFNMR measurements of trifluoroacetic acid. A good spectral resolution of EFNMR setup has been demonstrated by the spectroscopic measurements of heteronuclear J-coupling of trimethyl phosphate and fluorobenzene. Furthermore, we have shown that the EFNMR measurements of T 1 and T 2 constants as well as heteronuclear J-coupling of liquids enclosed in metallic containers are feasible. Possible applications of the EFNMR technique in security scanners for the detection of illicit and energetic substances are discussed.

In recent years, radio frequency (RF) energy harvesting systems have gained significant interest as inexhaustible replacements for traditional batteries in RF identification and wireless sensor network nodes. This paper presents an ultra-low-power integrated RF energy harvesting circuit in a SMIC 65-nm standard CMOS process. The presented circuit mainly consists of an impedance-matching network, a 10-stage rectifier with order-2 threshold compensation and an ultra-low-power power manager unit (PMU). The PMU consists of a voltage sensor, a voltage limiter and a capacitor-less low-dropout regulator. In the charge mode, the power consumption of the proposed energy harvesting circuit is only 97 nA, and the RF input power can be as low as $$-$$-21.4 dBm $$(7.24\,\upmu \hbox {W})$$(7.24μW). In the burst mode, the device can supply a 1.0-V DC output voltage with a maximum 10-mA load current. The simulated results demonstrate that the modified RF rectifier can obtain a maximum efficiency of 12 % with a 915-MHz RF input. The circuit can operate over a temperature range from $$-40\hbox { to }125\,^{\circ }\hbox {C}$$-40to125?C which exceeds the achievable temperature performance of previous RF energy harvesters in standard CMOS process.

A radio frequency (RF) driven ion source has been developed at ASIPP (Institute of Plasma Physics, CAS) for the neutral beam injector with a 1 MHz, 25 kW RF power supply system. The paper describes the studies performed with emphasis on the RF matching network system design based on the dedicated Smith chart analyses to improve and simplify the optimized solution. Also the future RF matching network design was analyzed with the matching transformers which were set between the high-power RF transmitter and the RF driven ion source to isolate the high voltage from the accelerator of the ion source.

To meet the testing requirements of high speed components used in modern communication systems, in an efficient and cost effective manner, it is necessary to develop new device performance measurement techniques that are easily scalable to high frequencies. Traditional up/down conversion based transmitter testing architectures are sensitive to the linearity of the mixers and carrier phase noise in the receiver. Direct undersampling based test instrumentation can overcome the limitations imposed by mixers in up/down conversion. A major challenge in direct undersampling based test architecture is to achieve precise phase alignment between different components of the test setup. Such phase alignment of high frequency signals requires the use of expensive test instruments adding to the cost and complexity of the overall test system. To resolve this problem, an incoherent undersampling based test method is developed in this research that eliminates the need for precise phase synchronization between the RF test signal carrier, its amplitude-modulated envelope (generally necessary for measuring amplifier nonlinearity) and the reference sampling clock. A side-benefit, due to the use of signal undersampling, is that signal acquisition is achieved without the use of a Nyquist rate data converter. Multiple RF performance metrics are extracted without the use of a reference receiver. The accuracy of the proposed setup is compared against existing coherent sampling based test setups.

A 2.4 GHz rectifier operating in a region of low RF input power was developed. The rectifier has a cross-coupled bridge configuration and is driven by a differential RF input signal. Since a rectifier needs an RF signal higher than the threshold voltage of transistors, we introduced a pre-biasing circuit to compensate for the threshold voltage. A low-voltage digital circuit, subthreshold voltage regulator, and low-power level shifter were introduced for reducing the power consumption of the pre-biasing circuit and increasing the driving voltage for the switches at the same time. The circuit simulations revealed that the pre-biasing circuit was effective in a low RF input power region. However, the output voltage was degraded in a high power region. Then, we combined the pre-biased rectifier in parallel with a non-biased rectifier. Three types of rectifiers consisting of LC matching circuits, three-stage rectifier cells, and biasing circuits were designed and fabricated using a 0.18-μm mixed signal/RF CMOS process with one poly and six metal layers. The fabricated pre-biased rectifier operated in a region of RF input power of less than −15 dBm, while the non-biased rectifier could not operate in this region. The parallel combination of pre-biased and non-biased rectifiers effectively solved the drawback of the pre-biased rectifier in a high RF input power region.

To test the performance of an expandable bipolar probe as a simple technical solution for extending the coagulation volume.On the basis of a commercially available monopolar radiofrequency (RF) probe (LeVeen), an expandable bipolar RF probe was developed by integrating a second electrode into the probe shaft. The influence of length on the second electrode, and the distance between both electrodes and generator output was investigated by performing ten ablations for each condition on a freshly excised bovine liver. Macroscopically quantified coagulation volumes, lesion shape characteristics, and procedure durations were recorded. Results of the prototype featuring the optimal configuration were compared to the original LeVeen probe and commonly used bipolar RF probe (CelonLabPower).Extension of the shaft electrode length, increasing distance between the shaft electrode and the tip electrode, and reduction of generator output resulted in increasing coagulation volumes. The coagulation volumes the prototype generated were significantly smaller and more elliptically shaped than the monopolar probe (9.4 ± 1.5 cm(3) vs. 12.1 ± 1.6 cm(3)), but were larger than the commercially available bipolar RF probe (vs. 7.3 ± 0.5). The procedure duration of the prototype was comparable to the monopolar probe (467 ± 31 s vs. 464 ± 17 s) and shorter than the bipolar probe (vs. 2009 ± 444 s). In comparison to the commercially available bipolar system, the developed prototype exhibited favorable results.The first benchmark testing of the developed bipolar prototype had promising results. However, further optimization of the applicator design and ablation protocol is needed to enlarge the achievable coagulation volume.

In this paper, we present the general design methods and parameter measurements of a 1-kW solid-state radio frequency (RF) power amplifier at 2856 MHz, for the soft X-ray free electron laser facility. Three-stage amplification with a 4-way combination is used. An RF switch module is integrated with the solid-state RF power amplifier to convert the continuous wave (CW) signal into pulse signal, with adjustable pulse width. The power gain is measured at 57.7 dB at 60 dBm output. The RF phase noise, which is measured by the low-level RF system, is

This paper describes a built-in self test technique for RF subsystems, using low-overhead on-chip detectors to calculate circuit specifications. A novel on-chip amplitude detector has been designed and optimized for RF circuit specification test. The detector has small area overhead with a low-frequency output. A test chip was fabricated in a commercial 0.18 μm CMOS process. By using on-chip detectors in a loopback setup, both the system performance and specifications of the individual components can be accurately measured. Measurements show accurate prediction of system and component specifications.

In this paper, we propose a low-cost approach for testing GHz RF amplifiers. It is demonstrated for the first time that GHz RF amplifiers can be tested for their specifications using oscillation principles. In the test mode, the RF test signal is "self generated" by the amplifier with the help of additional external circuitry which forces the amplifier to oscillate (Barkhausen criterion) around its characteristic frequency. The RF sinusoidal output from the oscillating RF amplifier is down-converted to a lower frequency enabling low frequency test response analysis as well as increased sensitivity to parametric deviations. In addition to the detection of catastrophic failures, it is shown that multiple RF specifications (Gain, P1dB, and Noise Figure) can be predicted via analysis of the frequency of the down-converted response. To account for RF parasitics on the production floor, a calibration technique is proposed in the test-setup. Thus, the proposed method reduces test cost significantly by reducing the cost of test setup (by as much as 80%) and significantly reducing test time. The viability of the proposed test method is demonstrated both by simulation experiments and measurement.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the optimal setting for radiofrequency (RF) ablation combined with direct electrical current (DC) ablation in ex vivo bovine liver. An electrical circuit combining a commercially available RF ablation system with DC was developed. The negative electrode of a rectifier that provides DC was connected to a 3-cm multitined expandable RF probe. A 100-mH inductor was used to prevent electrical leakage from the RF generator. DC was applied for 15 min and followed by RF ablation in freshly excised bovine livers. Electric current was measured by an ammeter. Coagulation volume, ablation duration, and mean amperage were assessed for various DC voltages (no DC, 2.2, 4.5, and 9.0 V) and different RF ablation protocols (stepwise increase from 40 to 80 W, 40 W fixed, and 80 W fixed). Results were compared using Kruskal-Wallis and Mann-Whitney U test. Applying DC with 4.5 or 9.0 V, in combination with 40 W fixed or a stepwise increase of RF energy, resulted in significantly increased zone of ablation size compared with 2.2 V or no DC (P = 0.009). At 4.5 V DC, the stepwise increase of RF energy resulted in the same necrosis size as a 40 W fixed protocol (26.6 +/- 3.9 vs. 26.5 +/- 4.0 ml), but ablation duration was significantly decreased (296 +/- 85 s vs. 423 +/- 104 s; P = 0.028). Mean amperage was significantly lower at 4.5 V compared with 9.0 V (P = 0.028). Combining a stepwise increase of RF energy with a DC voltage of 4.5 V is most appropriate to increase coagulation volume and to minimize procedure time.

This paper presents a new RF testing scheme based on a design-for-testability (DFT) method for measuring functional specifications of RF integrated circuits (IC). The proposed method provides the input impedance, gain, noise figure, voltage standing wave ratio (VSWR) and output signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) of a low noise amplifier (LNA). The RF test scheme is based on theoretical expressions that produce the actual RF device specifications by utilizing the output DC voltages from the DFT chip. This technique can save marginally failing chips in production testing as well as in the system, hence saving a tremendous amount of revenue from unnecessary device replacements.

To acquire high quality in vivo NMR data from rat brain using a vertical 89-mm bore magnet, specially designed NMR probes with integrated RF coils and animal handling capability are required. An RF probe design that is also capable of rat head fixation, body support and suitable for physiology monitoring and maintenance was constructed for an 89 mm bore, 11.7 T, vertical microimager which is equipped with a 57-mm i.d. gradient insert. Design concept and practical aspects of probe construction are described in detail. The device allows accurate and highly reproducible positioning of rat head inside the magnet while providing excellent RF performance. Typical results from fMRI, localized in vivo proton and multinuclear spectroscopy using this probe system are presented.

Percutaneous radio-frequency (RF) ablation of liver tumors is usually performed under guidance of real-time US, but some tumor nodules in some patients cannot be adequately visualized with this technique. We report our preliminary results with an MR-compatible, internally perfused 17-G RF probe adapted to a standard RF generator for impedance-controlled RF ablation under MR guidance. Following initial testing of the probe for MR compatibility, artifacts and macroscopic effects on an ex vivo pig liver, four patients with eight neoplastic liver nodules (five metastatic and three primary), which could not be properly targeted by US, were treated with the cooled-tip technique under MRI guidance in an open 0.23-T magnet. Metallic artifacts produced by the probe were useful for accurate placement and did not interfere with MRI monitoring at the end of the procedure. Based on imaging findings, the immediate result of RF was considered adequate in all instances. Local recurrence occurred in one instance after 6 months, requiring repeat treatment. No adverse effects were noted. Initial experience suggests that the probe we used allows to perform impedance-controlled cooled-tip RF ablation of liver tumors under open-magnet MR guidance.

Background Cardiac morphology and function assessment by MRI is of increasing interest for a variety of mouse models in pre-clinical research. Signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) constraints, however, limit image quality and blood myocardium delineation, which crucially depend on high spatial resolution. Significant gains in SNR can be achieved with a cryogenically cooled RF probe. This study examines the feasibility and potential benefits of CMR in mice employing a 400 MHz cryogenic RF surface coil, compared with a conventional mouse heart coil array operating at room temperature.

Electrostatic ion cyclotron wave dispersion relation has been studied in the experiment THORELLO, a steady-state magnetized toroidal plasma, produced in different neutral gases by hot-filament electron emission and acceleration by a bias voltage. Electron temperature and density, evaluated by Langmuir probes, are of the order of 5eV and 1010 cm−3, respectively. The maximum toroidal magnetic field on the axis is about 2kG. The waves are excited by a pair of thin metallic blades, fed with opposite phase by a low power (

Measurements of mean carrier frequency, periods, and frequency ratio using commercial electronic frequency counters (EFC) suffer from an additional error which depends on the offduty ratio and appears when the measuring time is longer than the rf pulse duration [i]. As shown in [2-4], this error can be eliminated by taking the measurements not continuously but portionwise only when the rf pulse is present. The block diagram of an EFC in which this additional error is eliminated in the carrier frequency measurement mode is shown in Fig. la. The EFC is composed of a limiter amplifier LA for converting the input signal into a pulse train, a pulse counter PC, counter and divider selectors CS and DS, a reference pulse generator RG, timing divider TD, and strobe pulse generator SG.