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This paper reviews materials and structural approaches that have been developed to reduce the excess noise in avalanche photodiodes and increase the gain-bandwidth product.

Purpose This study aims to present two stage pseudomorphic high electron mobility transistor-based low noise amplifier (LNA) designed using low temperature co-fire ceramic (LTCC) technique for ultra-high frequency (UHF) band. The LNA operates in the frequency range of (400∼500) MHz which is suitable for wireless communication applications. Design/methodology/approach This LNA uses resistive capacitive (RC) feedback in the first stage to have wide bandwidth and interstage network for gain enhancement. By using external RC feedback, stability is improved and noise matching in the input stage is isolated by decoupling inductor. The excellent performance parameters including gain, noise figure (NF), wideband and linearity are attained without affecting the power consumption, compactness and cost of the proposed design. Findings Simulation is carried out using advanced design software and the result shows that gain of 33.7 dB, NF 0.416 dB and 1 dB compression point (P1dB) of 18.59 dBm are achieved with a supply voltage of 2.5 V. The return loss of input and output are −19.3 dB and −10.5 dB, respectively. From the above aforementioned parameters, it is confirmed that the proposed LNA is a promising candidate for receivers where high gain and very low NF are always demandable with good linearity for applications operating in the UHF band. Originality/value The innovation of the proposed LNA is that the concurrent attainment of high gain, low NF, wideband, optimum input matching, good stability by RC feedback and interstage network using LTCC technique to achieve robustness, low cost and compactness to prove the applicability of design for wireless applications.

Semiconductor deposition on magnetron's cathode surface using different materials such as gallium nitride (GaN) and silicon carbide (SiC) semiconductors is conducted to grow approximately 80, 100 and 120 nm plasma layers. The cathode is then used to generate high frequency and low-power microwave for further comparison and analysis with the conventional magnetron operation. Parameter of analysis to identify the efficiency includes electron drift velocity, harmonic order, total harmonic distortion, low harmonic distortion, and spectrum observation. The sputtered cathode of the magnetron is used to generate a low-power microwave observing a generator efficiency up to 93 and 88% for GaN and SiC materials, respectively, compared to the conventional material, which observes 37% of efficiency at 2450 MHz, 5 W. Also reported is the quality of semiconductor sputtering on the magnetron cathode, which was manipulated by the deposition period, temperature, and plasma layer growth thickness.

In this article, we propose a CMOS active balun targeting high linearity up to high voltage swing and over wide bandwidth for direct RF sampling applications. All the blocks of this active balun are derived using a common highly linear building block (HLBB). The HLBB is designed using an inverter with strong source degeneration. To increase the linearity of this HLBB further, its nonlinearity mechanisms are analyzed in detail. A bootstrapping technique is included in the HLBB to reduce the dominant nonlinearity. Furthermore, a pre-distortion technique cancels most of the non-linearity of the output driving stages. All the linearization techniques proposed are robust to process, voltage, and temperature (PVT) changes. The measured results of the active balun realized on-chip in a 22-nm FDSOI CMOS shows < - 44-dBc third harmonic distortion (HD3) up to 1.5- V p-p output swing over 0.01-5.4 GHz. The measured gain and phase errors of the balun action are less than 0.5 dB and ± 5, respectively. The chip is powered from a 5-V supply and dissipates 925 mW.

InGaAs/InP single-photon avalanche diode (SPAD) with small active diameter and backside microlens was fabricated and its dark count and after-pulse noises were characterized. In addition, by optimizing multiplication layer and reducing the active diameter, high photon detection efficiency (PDE) was achieved as well as suppressed dark count probability (DCP) and after-pulse probability (APP) near room temperature. The gated Geiger-mode characteristics of SPAD were investigated with the gate amplitude of 6.6 V and repetition frequency of 10 MHz. Superior single-photon detection characteristics as PDE of 20.9%, DCP of 1.02 × 10–5 and APP of 0.8% were observed at the operation temperature of + 20 °C. It is a promising result that allows compact and low-cost detector module for quantum key distribution system with simple cooling apparatus.

This article presents a complete design flow of a low noise transimpedance amplifier for 10 Gbps optoelectronic receivers. The proposed topology is based on the shunt-shunt structure with negative feedback. A set of equations was deduced from the frequency analysis and noise analysis. An optimization algorithm is proposed in order to maximize the bandwidth and improve the noise performance simultaneously. Experimental results shown a 51 dBΩ transimpedance gain, a 10.54 Ghz bandwidth and an input referred current noise equal to 6.8, the lowest one between other state-of-art designs. The circuit was manufactured in 130 nm RF CMOS technology.

This paper presents a comprehensive TCAD based assessment to evaluate the intrinsic gain and minimum noise figure metrics of the T – Gate, and the π – Gate AlGaN/AlN/GaN HEMTs along with their recessed architectures. The work presented in this paper, to the best of author’s knowledge, is first in its attempt to systematically bring out both the effect of minimum noise figure metrics and intrinsic gain at the device level for the π – Gate architecture and their recessed counterparts whilst evaluating its stability for high frequency operations. Comparison demonstrates an enhancement in intrinsic gain by 64.5% in case of asymmetric π – Gate and 77% for asymmetric recessed π – Gate in comparison to their T – Gate counterparts. Further, the said architectures possess a wider range of flat gain operation with suppressed values of minimum noise figure metrics. These modifications result in a modest trade off in the minimum noise figures when best case is considered and compared with their T – Gate counterparts. Additionally, it is also demonstrated that such device architectures demonstrate much stable high frequency operation in comparison to their primer. The results so presented establish the superiority of the π – Gate AlGaN/AlN/GaN HEMTs for low noise and high gain applications.

Benefited from the high breakdown voltage and low noise characteristics, GaN high-electron mobility transistors (HEMTs) can be used for manufacturing of robust low noise amplifiers (LNAs). Therefore, limiter circuits which protect the entire system are no longer necessary and systems with smaller volume can be realized. In this letter, a LNA with low noise figure (NF) and longtime survivability for high input power stress is designed and fabricated in a 100-nm GaN process. The LNA achieves a minimum NF of 0.8 dB and a flat gain of 21 ± 0.5 dB from 18 to 31 GHz. The LNA can survive in a 28-30-dBm input stress for 60 min without significant performance degradation.

A high quality, compact 1GHz preamplifier suitable for operation in conjunction with micro channelplates (MCP) and silicon Photomultipliers (SiPM), that is comprised of two integrated circuits is described inthis paper. The amplifier requires no adjustment and has a flat response from low frequencies and adequatebandwidth for high speed measurement systems.

We report scaled, graded-channel AlGaN/GaN HEMTs with an extrinsic fT and fMAX of 170 GHz and 363 GHz, which is the highest in emerging graded-channel GaN HEMTs. At 50-nm gate length, the fT*Lg of 8.5 GHz $\ast \mu \text{m}$ is comparable to that of conventional scaled AlGaN/GaN HEMTs fabricated together. At low DC power, the scaled graded-channel AlGaN/GaN HEMTs show a higher fMAX than the scaled AlGaN/GaN HEMT with the same gate length. The devices also exhibit a 2 dB improvement in gain at low DC bias, and the measured minimum noise figure was as low as 0.5 dB at 30 GHz. This is comparable to state-of-the-art device noise figure from a 20-nm gate length AlGaN/GaN HEMT. The combination of improved fT, fMAX, and minimum noise figure at low DC power for the graded-channel AlGaN/GaN HEMTs shows great promise for ultra-low-power, low-noise amplifiers.

In Korea, the transverse tining method has been applied to the surface texture of concrete pavements as it provides excellent skid resistance that improves road safety. However, transverse tining p...

Two-dimensional transition metal carbides/nitrides, known as MXenes, have been recently receiving attention for gas sensing. However, studies on hybridization of MXenes and 2D transition metal dichalcogenides as gas-sensing materials are relatively rare at this time. Herein, Ti3C2Tx and WSe2 are selected as model materials for hybridization and implemented toward detection of various volatile organic compounds. The Ti3C2Tx/WSe2 hybrid sensor exhibits low noise level, ultrafast response/recovery times, and good flexibility for various volatile organic compounds. The sensitivity of the hybrid sensor to ethanol is improved by over 12-fold in comparison with pristine Ti3C2Tx. Moreover, the hybridization process provides an effective strategy against MXene oxidation by restricting the interaction of water molecules from the edges of Ti3C2Tx. An enhancement mechanism for Ti3C2Tx/WSe2 heterostructured materials is proposed for highly sensitive and selective detection of oxygen-containing volatile organic compounds. The scientific findings of this work could guide future exploration of next-generation field-deployable sensors., Two-dimensional transition metal carbides and nitrides are promising for gas sensor applications. Here the authors report a nanohybrid-based wireless monitoring system with capabilities for selectivity and sensing for volatile organic compounds that are enhanced by heterojunction interfaces.

The article presents the results of a research of the possibility of using discrete devices based on gallium nitride of the centimeter wavelength range for receivers of space systems and as part of ground-based radio astronomy observation systems using cryogenic cooling units.

The development of X-ray diffractometry at the turn of the 21st century is presented. The review covers instrumentation development for structural studies based on the use of both standard continuously radiating X-ray generators and state-of-the-art sources of ultrashort and ultra-bright X-ray pulses. The latter technique enables investigation of the structural dynamics of condensed matter in a 4D space–time continuum with a resolution reaching a tenth of a femtosecond. New engineering approaches to enhancing the sensitivity, accuracy, and efficiency of X-ray diffraction experiments are discussed, including new and promising X-rays sources, reflective collimating and focusing X-ray optical devices, and fast low-noise and radiation-resistant position-sensitive X-ray detectors, as well as a new generation of X-ray diffractometers developed based on these elements. The presentation is focused on modern engineering solutions that enable academic and applied-research laboratories to perform X-ray diffraction studies on-site, which earlier were only feasible using synchrotron radiation sources at international resource sharing centers.

The helical gear pairs are widely used in different mechanical constructs. The main advantage is the good efficiency and the low noise during the connection.We have worked out a computer software with which the designing process of the helical gears could be eased. Based on the calculated gear parameters the CAD models of the elements could be prepared. Knowing of the geometries the assembly could be created based on the fixed freedom degrees and the elementary centre distance. We have designed five types of gear pairs. The differences are only the different tooth traces. All of other parameters have not been modified. We have done TCA which is meant we have analyzed the effect of the modified parameter for the normal stress, normal deformation and the normal elastic strain on the contact zone. Based on the results we have prepared diagrams for the analysis of the correlations between the changing parameters.

The demand from industry to produce high credibility measurement data down to ever lower frequencies with ever lower noise is increasing. Recently also a demand to support the operation of global networks for environmental monitoring and research in areas such as climate change and non-proliferation of nuclear weapons has evolved. The EUROPEAN METROLOGY PROGRAMME FOR INNOVATION AND RESEARCH (EMPIR) has initiated several projects to support this area. This project 19ENV03 Infra-AUV has received funding from the EMPIR programme co-financed by the Participating States and from the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme. Several national metrology institutes including the DPLA are participating.The expected resulting calibration capability will bring much needed key metrology concepts, such as traceability and measurement uncertainty, into focus in these applications for the first time.Vibration transducers for such purposes must be calibrated to yield trustworthy results and provide traceability to SI-system accordingly. For these calibrations to be feasible, suitable ultra low noise accelerometers and signal analysis are needed.High sensitivity piezoelectric accelerometers with integrated electronics have normally not been considered feasible for these purposes due to the low frequency limit imposed by the internal and external electronics.In this paper we present some considerations found relevant when preparing laboratory premises for low frequency and ultra-low frequency calibration in general along with recent results from the DPLA system built on a high-performance analysis system realising the ISO 16063-11 Method 3.We also present some preliminary results of analysis based on real signals from two accelerometers using the coherent power (COP) and argument (COA) method (COPA) as described in an earlier paper [1].

Operational Transconductance Amplifier (OTA) is an important circuit block used in the design of filter, amplifiers and oscillators for various analog-mixed circuit systems. However, design of a low-noise, high-gain OTA with low-power consumption is a challenging task in CMOS technology owing to high-power requirements of OTA for emulating high gain. This paper represents the design of gate-driven quasi-floating bulk recycling folded cascode (GDQFB RFC) OTA which has been shown to provide low-noise operation, emulates high gain and draws very less power. The design utilizes the gate-driven quasi-floating bulk (GDQFB) technique on a recycling folded cascode structure, which enhances the transconductance of OTA and improves its performance. All the post-layout simulation results have been obtained in 0.18-μm CMOS N-well technology using BSIM3V3 device models. The obtained results indicate very high gain of 100.4 dB, gain-bandwidth of 69 kHz, phase margin of 51.9∘ with power consumption of 2.31μW from ±0.9V supply voltage. The input referred noise emulated by proposed OTA is 0.684, 0.21 and 0.0592μV/√Hz @ 1 Hz, 10 Hz and 1 kHz, respectively. The input common mode range and output voltage swing are found to be −0.402 to 0.669 V and −0.493 to 0.610 V, respectively. Corner simulations and Monte Carlo analysis have been performed to verify the robustness of the proposed OTA. The proposed OTA can be used in design of filters and amplifiers for bio-instruments, sensor applications, neural recording applications and human implants etc.

In renewable energy-based systems, converters and fuel cells play an essential role. One of the main sources of power for portable applications and standalone applications is fuel cells. Among various fuel cells types so far, PEMFC (Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cell) is an important fuel cell having characteristics like fast response, low operating temperature, high power/mass ratio, low noise, little emission or no emission and stable operation. Variation of temperature affects fuel cell systems performance. The paper aims at modelling PEMFC, different types of power converters and impact of temperature variation. Simulation of PEM fuel cell-based energy system with different power converters for the variation of operating temperature is performed using MATLAB Simulink and results are tabulated and discussed.

The paper presents a design-oriented analysis of a dipole nanoantenna suspended above a cavity. A thermocouple junction resolves the temperature of the antenna. The low thermal inertia of the device and low noise provide a high potential for high detectivity. Experimental results are compared to the model.

We report on a compact optical frequency comb, operating in the wavelength range from 670 to 1500 nm, based on diode-pumped low-noise femtosecond Yb:CALGO amplified laser system. Both the carrier-envelope offset and repetition rate are phase-locked to reference synthesizers. A full characterization of the frequency comb, in terms of frequency stability, phase noise analysis, and optical beating against a single-frequency non-planar ring oscillator Nd:YAG laser, is presented, showing the excellent properties of the Yb:CALGO comb.

Scaling down technology demotes the parameters of AC-coupled neural amplifiers, such as increasing the low-cutoff frequency due to the short-channel effects. To improve the low-cutoff frequency, one solution is to increase the feedback capacitors' value. This solution is not desirable, as the input capacitors have to be increased to maintain the same gain, which increases the area and decreases the input impedance of the neural amplifier. We analytically analyze the small-signal behavior of the neural amplifier and prove that the main reason for the increase of the low-cutoff frequency in advanced CMOS technologies is the reduction of the input resistance of the operational transconductance amplifier (OTA). We also show that the reduction of the input resistance of the OTA is due to the increase in the gate oxide leakage in the input transistors. In this paper, we explore this fact and propose two solutions to reduce the low-cutoff frequency without increasing the value of the feedback capacitor. The first solution is performed by only simulation and is called cross-coupled positive feedback that uses pseudoresistors to provide a negative resistance to increase the input resistance of the OTA. As an advantage, only standard CMOS transistors are used in this method. Simulation results show that a low-cutoff frequency of 1.5 Hz is achieved while the midband gain is 30.4 dB at 1 V. In addition, the power consumption is 0.6 μW. In the second method, we utilize thick-oxide MOS transistors in the input differential pair of the OTA. We designed and fabricated the second method in the 65 nm TSMC CMOS process. Measured results are obtained by in vitro recordings on slices of mouse brainstem. The measurement results show that the bandwidth is between 2 Hz and 5.6 kHz. The neural amplifier has 34.3 dB voltage gain in midband and consumes 3.63 μW at 1 V power supply. The measurement results show an input-referred noise of 6.1 μVrms and occupy 0.04 mm2 silicon area.

In this paper, millimeter-wave signals are generated with characteristics of high gain and low noise using optical frequency comb, where generated signals are tunable at a wider range (approx 50 GHz in both the sides) around the central frequency 94 GHz. Concept of electrical mixing is incorporated to achieve the tuning of the signals. Result shows that adopted methodology is far superior to conventional optical mixing and stable, high gain and low noise microwave signals are obtained in all the tuned frequencies. Wider tuning range speaks about the supremacy of the proposed scheme both in optical as well as in RF spectrum.

Affinity-based electrochemical (EC) sensors offer a potentially valuable approach for point-of-care (POC) diagnostics applications, and for the detection of diseases, such as sepsis, that require simultaneous detection of multiple biomarkers, but their development has been hampered due to biological fouling and EC noise. Here, an EC sensor platform that enables detection of multiple sepsis biomarkers simultaneously by incorporating a nanocomposite coating composed of crosslinked bovine serum albumin containing a network of reduced graphene oxide nanoparticles that prevents biofouling while maintaining electroconductivity is described. Using nanocomposite coated planar gold electrodes, a sensitive procalcitonin (PCT) sensor is constructed and validated in undiluted serum, which produced an excellent correlation with a conventional ELISA (adjusted r 2 = 0.95) using clinical samples. A single multiplexed platform containing sensors for three different sepsis biomarkers—PCT, C-reactive protein, and pathogen-associated molecular patterns—is also developed, which exhibits specific responses within the clinically significant range without any cross-reactivity. This platform enables sensitive simultaneous EC detection of multiple analytes in human whole blood, and it can be applied to detect any target analyte with an appropriate antibody pair. Thus, this nanocomposite-enabled EC sensor platform may offer a potentially valuable tool for development of a wide range of clinical POC diagnostics.

In this article, evaluation results of the readout interface (RI) for a capacitive MEMS microphone are presented and compared to other works. These experimental results were obtained by measurement...

The surface structure of gear flanks has an impact on the performance of the gear mesh. Especially clearly visible structures are often expected to severely influence noise behavior. However, the evaluation proves to be difficult. Gears produced by skiving have a particular surface structure that is different from hobbed gears. Skiving is a continuous cutting technology for rotational symmetric and periodic structures. It is a very productive manufacturing process that can be used for internal and external gears. Soft machining as well as gear finishing is possible. This leads to increased use of skiving in gear production and the requirement to characterize the resulting flanks. Standard modifications and periodic flank modifications will lead to low noise excitation. On a smaller scale, even the traces of the tooling from the manufacturing process have an impact on gear noise. The present study offers a geometrical approach to derive the microstructure of the flank surface from the skiving process. The effects of machining parameters on the microstructures are analyzed and the impact on noise is discussed.

Structural health monitoring (SHM) of engineering structures plays a crucial role in ensuring their safety and integrity. Acoustic emissions (AE) can be one of the several ways to monitor the structural health. Fiber Bragg grating (FBG)-based AE measurement technique is emerging as a solution to assess cracks in structures remotely and has advantages of being less bulky and having low noise, high bandwidth and ease of implementation. This paper presents a study on the impact of AE signals on FBGs attached to a substrate, focusing on the directional sensitivity using different configurations. For ease of installation, the FBG sensors are metallically packaged similar to lead zirconium titanate (PZT) sensors in which they can withstand temperatures of up to 250 °C. The directional AE sensitivity of the packaged FBG sensor device is studied and compared with that of a surface attached FBG. Experimentally, the AE signals are generated by a metal ball drop impact on aluminum plate and are measured using an FBG AE interrogation system. A numerical simulation of the design was carried out using ANSYS explicit dynamics and the AE wave propagation in structure was analyzed and experimentally verified.

Accepted: 2019-04-04, 資料番号: SA1190018000

The use of asbestos material is being avoided to manufacture the brake pads as it is harmful and toxic in nature. Further it leads to various health issues like asbestosis, mesothelioma and lung cancers. These brake pads can be replaced by natural fibers like Palm kernel (0–50%), Nile roses (0–15%) and Wheat (0–10%) with additives like aluminum oxide (5%–20%) and graphite powder (10%–35%). Phenolic resin of 35% is utilized as a binder. Particulated Nile roses are used to increase the friction coefficient and wheat powder is used to reduce the wear rate. Aluminum oxide and graphite are abrasive in nature. This helps to make brake pads with high friction co-efficient and less wear rate with low noise pollution. The wear of the proposed composites have been investigated at different speeds. Various tests like wear on pin-on-disc apparatus, hardness on the Rockwell hardness apparatus and oil absorption test have been conducted. Phenolic resin produces good bonding nature to fiber. Thus, Fibers found to have performed palatably among all commercial brake pads. The objective of the research indicates that Palm kernal shell could be a conceivable alternative for asbestos in friction coating materials. Keywords: Friction materials, Palm kernel fiber, Nile rose, Wheat, Brake pad, Wear test, Hardness test, Oil absorption test

This letter presents a low-noise integrated potentiostat for affinity-free molecular detection in applications for personalized medicine. The affinity-free sensing technique uses a digital classifier to identify molecules through unique vibrational signatures. The sensing mechanism relies on coherent interference of electron wave functions at the interface between a nanoscale working electrode and a liquid electrolyte. Coherence at the sensing interface is enabled by low-noise feedback, which reduces the effective temperature of the electrons. The described three-channel potentiostat IC uses chopping and correlated double sampling to achieve an input-referred voltage noise of 12 nV/rt-Hz at 30 Hz and a current resolution of 1.8 pArms with 0.5-s averaging time. Each channel consumes 5 mW and occupies 0.41 mm2 in 65-nm CMOS.

Open Graded Friction Course (OGFC) brings sustainability benefits in safety, low noise, urban heat island, and storm water management. This study investigated the preparation and effectiveness of composite phase change material (PCM) for performance improvement of OGFC. The composite PCM with SiO2 as shell and PEG in the core was prepared with cement capsulation. The water-cement ratio of 0.4 and cement-PCM ratio of 2.0 was recommended to prepare the composite PCM. The effects of PCM on temperature reduction, raveling resistance, compressive strength, volume stability, and anti-icing performance of OGFC were evaluated using comprehensive laboratory tests. It was found that the addition of PCM could retard temperature change of OGFC as ambient temperature changed. The appropriate mass content of PCM was determined to be 0.8%–1.1% based on the test results of Cantabro loss ratio and compressive strength after freezing-thawing cycles along with the benefits of temperature adjustment. The volumetric change measured in the freezing-thaw process proved that the composite PCM improved volume stability of OGFC at dry and saturated conditions. The effect of freezing-thaw cycles on the performance of PCM was minor. The PCM could help reduce the adhesion strength of ice to OGFC and thus retard ice formation. The study findings suggest that the cement-encapsulated PEG/SiO2 can be used to adjust internal temperatures of OGFC and improve the performance of OGFC subject to freezing-thaw cycles.

A low noise, high gain, stable radiometer front-end is presented for non-invasive tissue thermometry using custom designed narrow band low noise amplifiers (LNAs) and band pass filter (BPF) with 1....

In this paper, directional filters (DFs) are first proposed to improve the stability of multichip modules (MCMs), and a new integration approach between microstrip line on liquid crystal polymer (LCP) substrate and electrooptic (EO) modulator on lithium niobate substrate is presented, together enabling an EO front-end receiving MCM at 95 GHz for passive millimeter-wave (mmW) imaging with large distributed aperture. The DFs can efficiently pick the spectrum of interest with low reflection and drop the undesired out-of-band power to the additional ports, thus reducing the possibility of oscillation. With the above and some other integration and packaging technologies, the multilayer LCP-based MCM achieves a high gain of more than 63 dB, a 3-dB bandwidth of 4.7 GHz centered at 95 GHz, and a low noise figure of less than 6 dB within this spectrum, which was characterized using both radio frequency and optical measurement approaches. The packaged MCM has been successfully utilized in passive mmW imaging and may find lots of applications in other wireless systems.

In our strive to improve upon low power high speed devices for digital and mixed signal applications, Symmetric Lateral Bipolar Transistor has come out as a promising candidate and gained importance of late. Researchers in the field have shown improved performance parameters with this novel device for digital and analog applications. We investigate for the first time the impact of substrate bias for symmetric lateral bipolar transistor on Silicon Germanium on Insulator (SiGe-OI) with varying thickness of active device area (TSiGe), thickness of BOX layer (TBox) and k-values of dielectric BOX layer for analog/mixed signal applications. We optimize our design in terms of major performance parameters like gain and fT by varying parameters like TSiGe, TBox and k-values of dielectric BOX under substrate biased condition. We were able to achieve an improvement in gain and fT (in GHz) by almost 41.7% @ IC ˜ 1 μA/μm and 1.4% respectively by increasing the k-value of BOX from 3.9 to 22 with substrate bias. We studied for the first time complementary symmetric lateral bipolar (CSLB) inverter with the introduction of high-k BOX along with substrate bias for digital applications. The inverter shows a low noise margin (NML) and a high noise margin (NMH) of 0.45 V and 0.37 V respectively when operated at 1.0 V.