Controlling the mechanical, electrical, magnetic, and optical properties of materials by advanced fabrication methods (Le.; Molecular Beam Epitaxy and Metal-Organic Chemical Vapor Deposition) has become the new paradigm in our research era. Sensors, being the most vital part of the electronic data processing and decision making machines, stand to gain the most from engineering of the properties of materials. Microfabrication technology has already contributed significantly to the batch fabrication of micro-sensors with higher over all qualities compared to their counterparts that are...

As we approach the end of the present century, the elementary particles of light (photons) are seen to be competing increasingly with the elementary particles of charge (electrons/holes) in the task of transmitting and processing the insatiable amounts of infonnation needed by society. The massive enhancements in electronic signal processing that have taken place since the discovery of the transistor, elegantly demonstrate how we have learned to make use of the strong interactions that exist between assemblages of electrons and holes, disposed in suitably designed geometries, and replicated...

The field of solid state ionics is multidisciplinary in nature. Chemists, physicists, electrochimists, and engineers all are involved in the research and development of materials, techniques, and theoretical approaches. This science is one of the great triumphs of the second part of the 20th century. For nearly a century, development of materials for solid-state ionic technology has been restricted. During the last two decades there have been remarkable advances: more materials were discovered, modem technologies were used for characterization and optimization of ionic conduction in solids,...

Increasing emphasis on safety, productivity and quality control has provided an impetus to research on better methodologies for fault diagnosis, modeling, identification, control and optimization ofchemical process systems. One of the biggest challenges facing the research community is the processing of raw sensordata into meaningful information. Wavelet analysis is an emerging field of mathematics that has provided new tools and algorithms suited for the type of problems encountered in process monitoring and control. The concept emerged in the geophysical field as a result ofthe need for...

Turbulence takes place in most flow situations whethertheyoccur naturally or in technological systems. Therefore, considerable effort is being expended in an attempt to understand the phenomenon of turbulence. The recent discovery ofcoherent structure in turbulent shear flows and the modem developments in computer capabilities have revolutionized research work in turbulence. There is a strong evidence that the coherent structure in turbulent shear flows is reminiscent of nonlinear stability waves. As such, the interest in nonlinear stability waves has increased not only for the...

Sol--Gel--Optics encompasses numerous schemes for fabricating optical materials from gels -- materials such as bulk optics, optical waveguides, doped oxides for laser and nonlinear optics, gradient refractive index (GRIN) optics, chemical sensors, environmental sensors, and smart' windows. Sol--Gel--Optics: Processing and Applications provides in-depth coverage of the synthesis and fabrication of these materials and discusses the optics related to microporous, amorphous, crystalline and composite materials. The reader will also find in this book detailed...

The history of this book begins way back in 1982. At that time a research proposal was filed with the Dutch Foundation for Fundamental Research on Matter concerning research to model defects in the layer structure of integrated circuits. It was projected that the results may be useful for yield estimates, fault statistics and for the design of fault tolerant structures. The reviewers were not in favor of this proposal and it disappeared in the drawers. Shortly afterwards some microelectronics industries realized that their survival may depend on a better integration between technology-and...

This monograph presents our recent research on Simultaneous Switching Noise (SSN) and related issues for CMOS based systems. Although some SSN related work was previously reported in the literature, it were mainly for Emitter Coupled Logic (ECL) gates using Bipolar Junction Transistors (BJTs). This present work covers in-depth analysis on estimating SSN and its impact for CMOS based devices and systems. At present semiconductor industries are moving towards scaled CMOS devices and reduced supply voltage. SSN together with coupled noise may limit the packing density, and thereby the frequency...

One of the fundamental requirements for the success of a robot task is the capability to handle interaction between manipulator and environment. The quantity that describes the state of interaction more effectively is the contact force at the manipulator's end effector. High values of contact force are generally undesirable since they may stress both the manipulator and the manipulated object; hence the need to seek for effective force control strategies. The book provides a theoretical and experimental treatment of robot interaction control. In the framework of model-based operational space...

Broadband opamps for multi-channel communication systems make strong demands on linearity performance. This book, written for Analog CMOS designers, presents a thorough analysis of the nonlinear behaviour of circuits, to obtain opamps with low distortion.