Tyndall National Institute - Book Chapters

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    Pushing the limits of kT/C noise in Delta-Sigma Modulators
    (Springer Nature Ltd., 2023-06-23) Kalogiros, Spyridon; Salgado, Gerardo; Lyden, Colin; McCarthy, Kevin; O’Connell, Ivan
    Thermal noise, which is sampled and aliases in-band in discrete-time systems, limits the achievable performance of switched-capacitor noise-shaping Analog-to-Digital Converters (ADCs). While the performance of such ADCs has advanced significantly over the last 20 years, as quantified by the Schreier figure of merit (FoMS), the theoretical limit of 192 dB remains unchallenged. Over that period, the envelope of ADC performance has advanced from a FoMS of 163 dB, 20 years ago, to 186 dB today, with a rate of advancement, corresponding to ADC performance, which is doubling every 1.6 years. However, this rate of advancement has started to slow in recent years. This chapter will review some of the recent advancements in relation to reducing the thermal noise in switched-capacitor Delta-Sigma Modulators. In addition, this chapter will address many of the challenges associated with breaking the 192 dB FoMS performance barrier.
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    An assessment of sputtered nitrogen-doped nickel oxide for all-oxide transparent optoelectronic applications: The case of hybrid NiO:N/TiO2 heterostructure
    (B P International, 2022-02-12) Aivalioti, Chrysa; Papadakis, Alexandros; Manidakis, Emmanouil; Kayambaki, Maria; Androulidaki, Maria; Tsagaraki, Katerina; Pelekanos, Nikolaos T.; Stoumpos, Constantinos; Modreanu, Mircea; Crăciun, Gabriel; Romanitan, Cosmin; Aperathitis, Elias
    ransition metal oxides present a unique category of materials due to their versatile optical, electrical and mechanical properties. Nickel oxide (NiO) is an intrinsic p-type oxide semiconductor. P-NiO with controllable and reproducible physico-chemical properties, if combined with transparency and low temperature (low-T) fabrication processes, can be fully exploited in many transparent and/or flexible devices for applications, like energy management (production, manipulation, storage), sensing, wearable and health care electronics, etc. Reproducibility, transparency and low-T fabrication processes of p-type NiO are the motivation of this work. Nitrogen is one of the dopants used for modifying the properties of NiO. Until now, nitrogen-doped NiO, has shown inferior properties than those of pure NiO. In this work, we present nitrogen-doped NiO (NiO:N) thin films with enhanced properties compared to those of the undoped NiO. The NiO:N films were grown by sputtering on room-temperature substrates in plasma containing 50% Ar and 50% (O2+N2) gases. The undoped NiO film was oxygen-rich, single-phase cubic NiO, having transmittance less than 20%. Upon doping with nitrogen, the films became more transparent (around 65%), had a wide direct band gap (up to 3.67 eV) and showed clear evidence of indirect band gap, 2.50-2.72 eV, depending on %(O2-N2) in plasma. The changes in the properties of the films such as structural disorder, energy band gap, Urbach states and resistivity were correlated with the incorporation of nitrogen in their structure. The optimum NiO:N film was used to form a diode with spin-coated, mesoporous on top of a compact, TiO2 film. The hybrid NiO:N/TiO2 heterojunction was transparent showing good output characteristics, as deduced using both I-V and Cheung’s methods. The diode’s transparency and characteristics were further enhanced upon thermal treatment and this was attributed to improved NiO:N properties with annealing. Transparent NiO:N films can be realized for all-oxide flexible optoelectronic devices.
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    Energy challenges for ICT
    (InTechOpen, 2017-03-22) Fagas, Giorgos; Gallagher, John P.; Gammaitoni, Luca; Paul, Douglas J.; Seventh Framework Programme
    The energy consumption from the expanding use of information and communications technology (ICT) is unsustainable with present drivers, and it will impact heavily on the future climate change. However, ICT devices have the potential to contribute significantly to the reduction of CO2 emission and enhance resource efficiency in other sectors, e.g., transportation (through intelligent transportation and advanced driver assistance systems and self-driving vehicles), heating (through smart building control), and manufacturing (through digital automation based on smart autonomous sensors). To address the energy sustainability of ICT and capture the full potential of ICT in resource efficiency, a multidisciplinary ICT-energy community needs to be brought together covering devices, microarchitectures, ultra large-scale integration (ULSI), high-performance computing (HPC), energy harvesting, energy storage, system design, embedded systems, efficient electronics, static analysis, and computation. In this chapter, we introduce challenges and opportunities in this emerging field and a common framework to strive towards energy-sustainable ICT.
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    Wearable technology supported home rehabilitation services in rural areas: emphasis on monitoring structures and activities of functional capacity. Handbook
    (Publications of Karelia University of Applied Sciences B, 2019-10) Alamäki, Antti; Nevala, Elina; Barton, John; Condell, Joan; Munoz Esquivel. Karla; Nordström, Anna; Tedesco, Salvatore; Kelly, Daniel; Heaney. David; Tyndall National Institute, Cork Ireland; Ulster University; University College Cork; Västerbotten Läns Landsting; Umeå Universitet; Karelia University of Applied Sciences, Finland; European Regional Development Fund
    The sustainability of modern healthcare systems is under threat. – the ageing of the population, the prevalence of chronic disease and a need to focus on wellness and preventative health management, in parallel with the treatment of disease, pose significant social and economic challenges. The current economic situation has made these issues more acute. Across Europe, healthcare expenditure is expected to rice to almost 16% of GDP by 2020. (OECD Health Statistics 2018). Coupled with a shortage of qualified personnel, European nations are facing increasing challenges in their ability to provide better-integrated and sustainable health and social services. The focus is currently shifting from treatment in a care center to prevention and health promotion outside the care institute. Improvements in technology offers one solution to innovate health care and meet demand at a low cost. New technology has the potential to decrease the need for hospitals and health stations (Lankila et al., 2016. In the future the use of new technologies – including health technologies, sensor technologies, digital media, mobile technology etc. - and digital services will dramatically increase interaction between healthcare personnel and customers (Deloitte Center for Health Solutions, 2015a; Deloitte Center for Health Solutions 2015b). Introduction of technology is expected to drive a change in healthcare delivery models and the relationship between patients and healthcare providers. Applications of wearable sensors are the most promising technology to aid health and social care providers deliver safe, more efficient and cost-effective care as well as improving people’s ability to self-manage their health and wellbeing, alert healthcare professionals to changes in their condition and support adherence to prescribed interventions. (Tedesco et al., 2017; Majumder et al., 2017). While it is true that wearable technology can change how healthcare is monitored and delivered, it is necessary to consider a few things when working towards the successful implementation of this new shift in health care. It raises challenges for the healthcare systems in how to implement these new technologies, and how the growing amount of information in clinical practice, integrates into the clinical workflows of healthcare providers. Future challenges for healthcare include how to use the developing technology in a way that will bring added value to healthcare professionals, healthcare organizations and patients without increasing the workload and cost of the healthcare services. For wearable technology developers, the challenge will be to develop solutions that can be easily integrated and used by healthcare professionals considering the existing constraints. This handbook summarizes key findings from clinical and laboratory-controlled demonstrator trials regarding wearables to assist rehabilitation professionals, who are planning the use of wearable sensors in rehabilitation processes. The handbook can also be used by those developing wearable sensor systems for clinical work and especially for use in hometype environments with specific emphasis on elderly patients, who are our major health care consumers.
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    Mesoporous materials as templates for semiconductor nanowires assembly
    (IOS Press, 2003) Holmes, Justin D.; Morris, Michael A.; Ryan, Kevin M.; European Commission; Intel Corporation; Intel Ireland Ltd.
    In this chapter is described a novel approach for synthesizing mesoporous silicas with tunable pore diameters, wall thickness and pore spacings that can be used as templates for the assembly of semiconductor nanowire arrays. Silicon and germanium nanowires, with size monodisperse diameters, can readily be formed within the mesoporous silica matrix using a supercritical fluid inclusion technique. These nano-composite materials display unique optical properties such as intense room temperature ultraviolet and visible photoluminescence. The implication of these mesoporous nanowire materials for future electronic and opto-electronic devices is discussed.