Search

In this study, a constant-power inductive-coupling transmitter for low-power supply-sensing biosensing platforms is proposed. The proposed inductive-coupling transmitter is composed of two driving transistors with different inputs from different pulse generators. The two pulse generators have different working threshold voltages, and one of them works as the main driving switch, while the other works as an auxiliary driving switch, which turns on only at low supply voltages. This auxiliary driving technique realizes the constant power characteristics of the inductive-coupling transmitter because the auxiliary driving transistor only functions at low supply voltages, which reduces waste power at high supply voltages. To verify the effectiveness of the proposed inductive-coupling transmitter, a test chip is fabricated using 65 nm silicon-onthin- box (SOTB) CMOS technology. The test chip successfully demonstrates constant power characteristics, whereas the power consumed by the conventional inductive-coupling transmitter increases with an increase in the supply voltage. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In order to develop a novel technique for the fabrication of hybrid materials containing polymers and nanocarbons, we examined the surface modification of pristine multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) with benzyl-type polymer side chain radicals generated through photolysis of 4-(chloromethyl)benzoate moieties. The polymer with a 4-(chloromethyl)benzoate side chain was prepared by the esterification of polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) with corresponding acid chloride. The synthesized polymer and MWCNTs were mixed in N-methylpyrrolidone and irradiated with ultraviolet (UV) light. Structural changes of the polymer and MWCNTs were observed by means of X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and Raman spectroscopy. The XPS results revealed that scission of the C–Cl bonds of the chloromethyl groups and benzyl-type radical formation occurred. The incremental surface defects of the MWCNTs caused by UV irradiation were confirmed by means of Raman spectroscopy. These results support the covalent bond formation between the polymer side chain and MWCNT sidewalls by radical addition reaction. The photothermal conversion characteristics of the prepared materials were also evaluated.

The world’s smallest (0.36 mm2) solid-state CMOS-compatible glucose fuel cell, which exhibits an open-circuit voltage (OCV) of 228 mV and a power generation density of 1.32 µW/cm2 with a 30 mM glucose solution, is reported in this paper. Compared with conventional wet etching, dry etching (reactive ion etching) for patterning minimizes damage to the anode and cathode, resulting in a cell with a small size and a high OCV, sufficient for CMOS circuit operation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]