Abstract: The present invention is related to a device and corresponding methods for generating an oscillating signal. The device comprises a means for providing a current of spin polarised charge carriers, a magnetic, e.g. ferromagnetic, excitable layer adapted for receiving the generated current of spin polarised charge carriers thus generating an oscillating signal with a frequency Vosc and an integrated means for interacting with said magnetic, e.g. ferromagnetic, excitable layer such that a selection of said oscillation frequency is achieved. No external field needs to be applied to select or tune the frequency. Different types of integrated means can be used, such as e.g. means inducing mechanical stress in the magnetic, e.g. ferromagnetic, excitable layer, means inducing exchange bias interactions and means inducing magnetostatic interactions.

Abstract: A method is provided for forming a capping layer comprising Cu, N, and also Si and/or Ge onto a copper conductive structure, said method comprising the sequential steps of: forming, at a temperature range between 200° C. up to 400° C., at least one capping layer onto said copper conductive structure by exposing said structure to a GeH4 and/or a SiH4 comprising ambient, performing a NH3 plasma treatment thereby forming an at least partly nitrided capping layer, forming a dielectric barrier layer onto said at least partly nitrided capping layer, wherein prior to said step of forming said at least one capping layer a pre-annealing step of said copper conductive structure is performed at a temperature range between 250° C. up to 450° C.

Abstract: The present invention is related to a circuit (1) for detecting activity in a burst-mode receiver. The circuit is arranged for receiving an input signal (2) comprising a preamble. The circuit comprises a differentiator (11) for detecting signal transitions in the input signal (2) whereby the preamble comprises information on operating said differentiator (11). In a preferred embodiment, the information is a time constant. The circuit further comprises an integrator (12) arranged for being fed with an output of the differentiator. The resulting signal is compared to a reference (16). If this reference is crossed, activity is detected. In an embodiment a front-end circuit is presented comprising next to a circuit for detecting activity, a reset circuit arranged for resetting the front-end circuit and a clock phase alignment circuit arranged for recovering the phase.

Abstract: A method involving ion milling is demonstrated to fabricate open-nanoshell suspensions and open-nanoshell monolayer structures. Ion milling technology allows the open-nanoshell geometry and upward orientation on substrates to be controlled. Substrates can be fabricated covered with stable and dense open-nanoshell monolayer structures, showing nanoaperture and nanotip geometry with upward orientation, that can be used as substrates for SERS-based biomolecule detection.

Abstract: Disclosed are an integrated optical coupler, and a method of optically coupling light, between an optical element and at least one integrated optical waveguide. The optical coupler includes a grating structure and is adapted for coupling light to waveguide modes with different polarization with low polarization dependent loss. For example, polarization dependent loss may be smaller than 0.5 dB. The waveguide modes may include a Transverse Electric (TE) waveguide mode and a Transverse Magnetic (TM) waveguide mode. The optical coupler may further include a two-dimensional grating structure adapted for providing polarization splitting for a first optical signal of a first predetermined wavelength and for coupling both polarizations forward or backward.

Abstract: A method is provided for producing a thin substrate with a thickness below 750 microns, comprising providing a mother substrate, the mother substrate having a first main surface and a toughness; inducing a stress with predetermined stress profile in at least a portion of the mother substrate, said portion comprising the thin substrate, the induced stress being locally larger than the toughness of the mother substrate at a first depth under the main surface; such that the thin substrate is released from the mother substrate, wherein the toughness of the mother substrate at the first depth is not lowered prior to inducing the stress. The method can be used in the production of, for example, solar cells.

Abstract: The present disclosure proposes a method for manufacturing in a MEMS device a low-resistance contact between a silicon-germanium layer and a layer contacted by this silicon-germanium layer, such as a CMOS metal layer or another silicon-germanium layer, through an opening in a dielectric layer stack separating both layers. An interlayer is formed in this opening, thereby covering at least the sidewalls of the opening on the exposed surface of the another layer at the bottom of this opening. This interlayer may comprise a TiN layer in contact with the silicon-germanium layer. This interlayer can further comprise a Ti layer in between the TiN layer and the layer to be contacted. In another embodiment this interlayer comprises a TaN layer in contact with the silicon-germanium layer. This interlayer can then further comprise a Ta layer in between the TaN layer and the layer to be contacted.

Abstract: A method for frequency domain equalization of a cyclic CPM signal received via a channel is disclosed. In one aspect, the method includes representing the received cyclic CPM signal as a matrix model comprising a channel matrix representing influence of the channel, separate from a Laurent pulse matrix and a pseudocoefficient matrix respectively representing Laurent pulses and pseudocoefficients determined by Laurent decomposition of the received cyclic CPM signal. The method may further include applying a channel equalizer on the separate channel matrix and after the equalization. It may further include demodulating the received cyclic CPM signal by the matrix model, the demodulation exploiting known correlation properties of the Laurent pulses and the pseudocoefficients.

Abstract: A method for generating a data block for transmission using a continuous phase modulation scheme is disclosed. In one aspect, the method includes inserting payload data in the data block, the payload data having a plurality of payload symbols, each involving an state change in a continuous phase modulation waveform generated from the data block in one of two opposite directions. It may include inserting state compensation data in the data block for cancelling out the state changes, such that the waveform has an end state at the end of the data block equal to a begin state at the beginning of the data block. The state compensation data is determined by determining from the state changes an overall state change caused by the payload data over the waveform and by selecting a set of compensation symbols for the state compensation data on the basis of the overall state change.

Abstract: A dual workfunction semiconductor device which comprises a first and second control electrode comprising a metal-semiconductor compound, e.g. a silicide or a germanide, and a dual workfunction semiconductor device thus obtained are disclosed. In one aspect, the method comprises forming a blocking region for preventing diffusion of metal from the metal-semiconductor compound of the first control electrode to the metal-semiconductor compound of the second control electrode, the blocking region being formed at a location where an interface between the first and second control electrodes is to be formed or is formed. By preventing metal to diffuse from the one to the other control electrode the constitution of the metal-semiconductor compounds of the first and second control electrodes may remain substantially unchanged during e.g. thermal steps in further processing of the device.

Abstract: A low noise amplifying (LNA) circuit comprising an amplifying section (11, 12) and a feedback means (14) arranged for providing input matching from the output to the input. The LNA circuit further comprises at least one frequency band determining inductor (15) having a predetermined resonance frequency for influencing at least one frequency band in which the amplifying section operates. The at least one inductor is directly connected to the output of the circuit and the feedback means (14) provides a feedback connection for the section (s) to the input. In this way, the at least one frequency band in which the amplifying section operates is substantially completely determined by the at least one frequency band determining inductor (15).

Abstract: A method for resolving network contention in a wireless network having a plurality of communication devices is disclosed. In one aspect, the method includes determining a set of initial values of at least three parameters of a first device of the plurality, at least one of the at least three parameters being indicative of the transmit power of that first device. The method further includes determining, given the set of initial values, a gain measure obtainable by changing the set of initial values of the at least three parameters into a set of updated values, the gain measure taking into account the parameter indicative of the transmit power. The method further includes deciding according to the determined gain measure on using the set of updated values of the at least three parameters for the first device. Other inventive aspects relate to systems and software stored on computer readable media.

Abstract: An organic optoelectronic device and a method for manufacturing the same are disclosed. In one aspect, the device has a stack of layers. The stack includes a buffer layer and a first organic semiconductor layer adjacent to the buffer layer at a first side of the buffer layer. The buffer layer includes at least one transition metal oxide doped with a metal.

Abstract: A method of fabricating a multi-gate device is disclosed. In one aspect, the method includes providing a substrate having a first semiconductor layer with a first carrier mobility enhancing parameter, an insulating layer, a second semiconductor layer with a second carrier mobility enhancing parameter different from the first carrier mobility enhancing parameter. A first and second dielectric layer are then provided on the substrate. A first trench is formed in a first active region through the dielectric layers, the second semiconductor layer and the buried insulating layer. A first fin is formed in the first trench, protruding above the first dielectric layer and having the first carrier mobility enhancing parameter. A second trench is formed in a second active region through the dielectric layers. A second fin is formed in the second trench, protruding above the first dielectric layer and having the second mobility enhancing parameter.

Abstract: One inventive aspect relates to a method of estimating carrier frequency offset introduced on an RF multicarrier signal received via a transmission channel on a direct downconversion analog receiver. The method comprises generating a preamble comprising at least one set of training symbols. The method further comprises transmitting the preamble to the receiver. The method further comprises determining a carrier frequency offset estimate from the received preamble by an estimation method which has a higher precision for a first range of carrier frequency offset values and a lower precision for a second range of carrier frequency offset values. The method further comprises introducing a predetermined artificial carrier frequency offset on at least one set of training symbols, the predetermined artificial carrier frequency offset being chosen for shifting the carrier frequency offset of that set of training symbols to the first range.

Abstract: The present invention provides a method (80) for manufacturing a semiconductor tip. The method comprises obtaining (81) a substrate provided with a layer of tip material, providing (82) a doping profile in the layer of tip material, the doping profile comprising a tapered-shaped region of a first dopant concentration, undoped or lightly doped, e.g. having a dopant concentration of 1017 cm?3 or lower, surrounded by a region of a second dopant concentration, highly doped, e.g. having a dopant concentration above 1017 cm?3 , the first dopant concentration being lower than the second dopant concentration, and isotropically etching (83) the layer of tip material by using an etch chemistry for which the etch rate of tip material with the second dopant concentration is substantially higher than the etch rate of the tip material with the first dopant concentration.

Abstract: A method of reducing the influence of the spread of the transmitted light on the feature size during optical lithography is disclosed. The method comprises at least two irradiation steps. During a first irradiation the resist is exposed with the original mask, i.e., comprising substantially the pattern to be obtained in the layer. Thereafter, without developing the exposed resist, an irradiation with at least one exposure is performed whereby the resist is exposed with a second mask, being at least partly the inverse of the original mask. The exposures of the second irradiation step are defocused compared to the first irradiation.

Abstract: An interconnect module and a method of manufacturing the same. The method of making an interconnect module on a substrate comprises forming an interconnect section on the substrate. The interconnect section comprises at least two metal interconnect layers separated by a dielectric layer. The method further comprises forming a passive device on the substrate at a location laterally adjacent to the interconnect section. The passive device comprises at least one moveable element comprising a metal layer. The method further comprises forming the metal layer and one of the at least two metal interconnect layers from substantially the same material.

Abstract: A method and system for configuring at least one video codec at run-time are disclosed. A major limitation for wireless video communication on portable devices is the limited energy budget. In one aspect, the disclosed method and system minimize the energy cost of the two main energy consumers in such a wireless video device, i.e., the energy for video encoding and wireless communication tasks, via a cross-layer approach that explores the trade-off between coding and communication energies.

Abstract: An analog to digital converting device is proposed for generating a digital output signal of an RF analog input signal. The device comprises a first analog to digital converter stage, a mixer, a second analog to digital converter stage and a digital filter. The first analog to digital converter stage generates a first and a second output signal. The first output signal is inputted in the filtering means. The second output signal is being down-converted to a signal with an intermediate frequency or DC. Thereafter, this down-converted signal is being fed to the second analog to digital converter stage. The digital output signal of this second stage is further processed together with the first digital output signal in the digital filter to a digital signal representative of the analog input signal.