Abstract: A semiconductor device and fabrication method thereof are provided. The method includes forming at least one dummy gate structure and sidewall spacers of the dummy gate structure in a first dielectric layer, together on a substrate, and removing the dummy gate structure, thereby forming a first opening between the sidewall spacers. The method further includes forming a gate structure in the first opening and having a top surface levelled the first dielectric layer, removing a portion of the sidewall spacers and a portion of the gate structure, respectively, to form a second opening in the first dielectric layer, on remaining sidewall spacers, and on remaining gate structure, and forming a capping layer to fill the second opening and to have a top surface levelled with the first dielectric layer.

Abstract: Embodiments relate to a voltage oscillator (VCO) that uses a replica bias circuit to generate a cascode bias voltage. The VCO generate an output periodic signal having a frequency and phase that is less or not susceptible to voltage swings by using a bias voltage generated in a replica bias circuit that replicates a voltage-to-current converter in the VOC. The bias voltage is generated and regulated according to a power supply voltage that supplies power to the VCO to account for voltage variations in the power supply voltage.

Abstract: A cooling system includes a first section of high temperature superconducting (HTS) cable configured to receive a first flow of coolant and to permit the first flow of coolant to flow therethrough. The system may further include a second section of high temperature superconducting (HTS) cable configured to receive a second flow of coolant and to permit the second flow of coolant to flow therethrough. The system may further include a cable joint configured to couple the first section of HTS cable and the second section of HTS cable. The cable joint may be in fluid communication with at least one refrigeration module and may include at least one conduit configured to permit a third flow of coolant between said cable joint and said at least one refrigeration module through a coolant line separate from said first and second sections of HTS cable. Other embodiments and implementations are also within the scope of the present disclosure.

Abstract: A method for cooling high temperature superconducting (HTS) cable comprising receiving a first flow of coolant at a first section of HTS cable and permitting the first flow of coolant to flow therethrough. The method also includes receiving a second flow of coolant at a second section of HTS cable and permitting the second flow of coolant to flow therethrough. The first section of HTS cable and said second section of HTS cable are coupled via a cable joint, the cable joint electrically connecting the first and second sections of HTS cable. The cable joint is in fluid communication with at least one refrigeration module. The cable joint includes at least one conduit configured to permit a third flow of coolant between the cable joint and the at least one refrigeration module through a coolant line separate from the first and second sections of HTS cable.

Abstract: A bulk, sintered solid solution-comprising ceramic article useful in semiconductor processing, which is resistant to erosion by halogen-containing plasmas and provides advantageous mechanical properties. The solid solution-comprising ceramic article is formed from a combination of yttrium oxide and zirconium oxide. The bulk, sintered solid solution-comprising article is formed from zirconium oxide at a molar concentration ranging from about 96 mole % to about 94 mole %, and yttrium oxide at a molar concentration ranging from about 4 mole % to about 6 mole %.

Abstract: A video noise analyzer for detecting residual point noise in a video generates a list of candidate defective pixels by joining results of a temporal invariance detector and a spatial outlier detector. A data store is structured to contain data describing the candidate defective pixels and/or the blocks from which the pixels were selected. In other embodiments, a video noise analyzer includes a first salient analyzer structured to compare pixels within a block to a mean value of other pixels within the same block, a first threshold processor to generate a first pixel candidate list including pixels that differ significantly from their neighboring pixels, a second salient analyzer structured to generate a difference value between a subject pixel, its neighboring pixels, and neighbors of the neighboring pixels, and an identifier to label as a candidate dead pixel those pixels having a frequency occurrence of visual saliency greater than a predefined frequency threshold.

Abstract: The present invention belongs to the technical field of video recording and provides a video generating method and apparatus of a video generating system, the video generating system comprises a system target orientating camera, a target tracking camera and a panorama camera, the method comprises: when it is judged that a target object included in the image collected by the target tracking camera is a person, and the person lies within a scope of a lens of the target tracking camera, switching the target tracking camera such that it serves as a video generating source and generating a video according to images collected by the target tracking camera; when it is judged that the target object included in an image collected by the target tracking camera is a person, and the person lies out of the scope of the lens of the target tracking camera, or it is judged that the target object included in an image collected by the target tracking camera is not a person, switching the panorama camera such that it serves as

Abstract: A method for cooling high temperature superconducting (HTS) cable comprising receiving a first flow of coolant at a first section of HTS cable and permitting the first flow of coolant to flow therethrough. The method also includes receiving a second flow of coolant at a second section of HTS cable and permitting the second flow of coolant to flow therethrough. The first section of HTS cable and said second section of HTS cable are coupled via a cable joint, the cable joint electrically connecting the first and second sections of HTS cable. The cable joint is in fluid communication with at least one refrigeration module. The cable joint includes at least one conduit configured to permit a third flow of coolant between the cable joint and the at least one refrigeration module through a coolant line separate from the first and second sections of HTS cable.

Abstract: A cooling system includes a first section of high temperature superconducting (HTS) cable configured to receive a first flow of coolant and to permit the first flow of coolant to flow therethrough. The system may further include a second section of high temperature superconducting (HTS) cable configured to receive a second flow of coolant and to permit the second flow of coolant to flow therethrough. The system may further include a cable joint configured to couple the first section of HTS cable and the second section of HTS cable. The cable joint may be in fluid communication with at least one refrigeration module and may include at least one conduit configured to permit a third flow of coolant between said cable joint and said at least one refrigeration module through a coolant line separate from said first and second sections of HTS cable. Other embodiments and implementations are also within the scope of the present disclosure.

Abstract: A solid solution-comprising ceramic article useful in semiconductor processing, which is resistant to erosion by halogen-containing plasmas. The solid solution-comprising ceramic article is formed from a combination of yttrium oxide, zirconium oxide, and aluminum oxide. In a first embodiment, the solid solution-comprising ceramic article is a solid, sintered body of the solid solution ceramic material. In a second embodiment, the solid solution-comprising article comprises a substrate underlying a solid solution-comprising coating.

Abstract: A solid solution-comprising ceramic article useful in semiconductor processing, which article may be in the form of a solid, bulk ceramic, or may be in the form of a substrate having a ceramic coating of the same composition as the bulk ceramic material on at least one outer surface. The ceramic article is resistant to erosion by halogen-containing plasmas and provides advantageous mechanical properties. The solid solution-comprising ceramic article is formed from a combination of yttrium oxide and zirconium oxide. The ceramic-comprising article includes ceramic which is formed from zirconium oxide at a molar concentration ranging from about 96 mole % to about 91 mole %, and yttrium oxide at a molar concentration ranging from about 4 mole % to about 9 mole %.

Abstract: A cooling system includes a first section of high temperature superconducting (HTS) cable configured to receive a first flow of coolant and to permit the first flow of coolant to flow therethrough. The system may further include a second section of high temperature superconducting (HTS) cable configured to receive a second flow of coolant and to permit the second flow of coolant to flow therethrough. The system may further include a cable joint configured to couple the first section of HTS cable and the second section of HTS cable. The cable joint may be in fluid communication with at least one refrigeration module and may include at least one conduit configured to permit a third flow of coolant between said cable joint and said at least one refrigeration module through a coolant line separate from said first and second sections of HTS cable.

Abstract: A new jacket design method is disclosed, especially for deepwater water heavy jacket applications. The method utilizes a special type of air bags, called Ship Launching Air Bags (SLAB), to provide low cost temporary buoyancy used for jacket installation purpose only. A designer only needs to satisfy the jacket stiffness for the resistance of environmental and gravity loads without the consideration of jacket reserve buoyancy. The required jacket reserve buoyancy could be increased with the utilization of temporally attached SLABs during the jacket installation.

Abstract: A cryogenically-cooled HTS cable is configured to be included within a utility power grid having a maximum fault current that would occur in the absence of the cryogenically-cooled HTS cable. The cryogenically-cooled HTS cable includes a continuous liquid cryogen coolant path for circulating a liquid cryogen. A continuously flexible arrangement of HTS wires has an impedance characteristic that attenuates the maximum fault current by at least 10%. The continuously flexible arrangement of HTS wires is configured to allow the cryogenically-cooled HTS cable to operate, during the occurrence of a maximum fault condition, with a maximum temperature rise within the HTS wires that is low enough to prevent the formation of gas bubbles within the liquid cryogen.

Abstract: Specialty ceramic materials which resist corrosion/erosion under semiconductor processing conditions which employ a corrosive/erosive plasma. The corrosive plasma may be a halogen-containing plasma. The specialty ceramic materials have been modified to provide a controlled electrical resistivity which suppresses plasma arcing potential.

Abstract: The invention provides a CMOS CT detector design with high linearity, quantum-limited noise, good scalability, high fill factor with a single CMOS chip utilizing synchronous partial quantization. The CMOS CT detector includes a pixel array, digital column buses, analog column buses, column processing circuits, a shift register, a control signal generation circuit, and a reference generation circuit, and implements a synchronous partial quantization scheme with reset, integration and analog readout phases. Each pixel of the pixel array further includes a photodiode; an integration capacitor; an OPAMP; a reset switch; a comparator; a 1-bit dynamic random-access-memory (DRAM) cell; a circuit block for enabling subtraction of a substantially fixed amount of charge from the integrated photocharge if the integrated photovoltage increases beyond the reference voltage; an integration node; an analog buffer; and a switch coupled between the output of the DRAM cell and the digital column bus.

Abstract: Described herein is a circuit and related method for improving the dynamic range and the linearity characteristic of a CMOS image sensor. In various embodiments of the CMOS image sensor, a current sampler, a comparator, and a 1-bit memory are incorporated in each pixel circuit. In the image sensor, pixels are arranged in columns and a column slice is used to read the digital and analog singles from each column. In addition, a calibration circuit is incorporated in the sensor circuit for providing calibration current, which is used to generate calibration parameter. The image sensor operates in three non-overlapping modes: the difference mode, the WDR mode, and the calibration mode. The image sensor is switched among the three modes by control signals, which are provided to the image sensor by various control circuits. The image sensor normally operates in the difference mode and switches to the WDR mode when the difference between consecutive frames is over a threshold.

Abstract: A ceramic coated article useful in semiconductor processing, which is resistant to erosion by halogen-containing plasmas. The ceramic coated article includes an aluminum substrate coated with a solid solution coating formed from a combination of yttrium oxide and zirconium oxide. The ceramic coating is formed from yttrium oxide at a molar concentration ranging from about 90 mole % to about 70 mole %, and zirconium oxide at a molar concentration ranging from about 10 mole % to about 30 mole %. In a second embodiment, the ceramic article includes ceramic which is formed from zirconium oxide at a molar concentration ranging from about 96 mole % to about 94 mole %, and yttrium oxide at a molar concentration ranging from about 4 mole % to about 6 mole %.

Abstract: A method of controlling fault currents within a utility power grid is provided. The method may include coupling a superconducting electrical path between a first and a second node within the utility power grid and coupling a non-superconducting electrical path between the first and second nodes within the utility power grid. The superconducting electrical path and the non-superconducting electrical path may be electrically connected in parallel. The superconducting electrical path may have a lower series impedance, when operated below a critical current level, than the non-superconducting electrical path. The superconducting electrical path may have a higher series impedance, when operated at or above the critical current level, than the non-superconductor electrical path.

Abstract: A solid solution-comprising ceramic article useful in semiconductor processing, which is resistant to erosion by halogen-containing plasmas. The solid solution-comprising ceramic article is formed from a combination of yttrium oxide, zirconium oxide, and aluminum oxide. In a first embodiment, the solid solution-comprising ceramic article is a solid, sintered body of the solid solution ceramic material. In a second embodiment, the solid solution-comprising article comprises a substrate underlying a solid solution-comprising coating.