Terahertz radiation – also known as submillimeter radiation, terahertz waves, tremendously high frequency (THF), T-rays, T-waves, T-light, T-lux or THz – consists of electromagnetic waves within the ITU-designated band of frequencies from 0.3 to 3 terahertz (THz), although the upper boundary is somewhat arbitrary and is considered by some sources as 30 THz. One terahertz is 1012 Hz or 1,000 GHz. Wavelengths of radiation in the terahertz band correspondingly range from 1 mm to 0.1 mm = 100 μm. Because terahertz radiation begins at a wavelength of around 1 millimeter and proceeds into shorter wavelengths, it is sometimes known as the submillimeter band, and its radiation as submillimeter waves, especially in astronomy. This band of electromagnetic radiation lies within the transition region between microwave and far infrared, and can be regarded as either.
Geant4 is a platform for "the simulation of the passage of particles through matter" using Monte Carlo methods. It is the successor of the GEANT series of software toolkits developed by The Geant4 Collaboration, and the first to use object oriented programming. Its development, maintenance and user support are taken care by the international Geant4 Collaboration. Application areas include high energy physics and nuclear experiments, accelerator and space physics studies. The software is used by a number of research projects around the world.
Silicon on sapphire (SOS) is a hetero-epitaxial process for metal–oxide–semiconductor (MOS) integrated circuit (IC) manufacturing that consists of a thin layer of silicon grown on a sapphire wafer. SOS is part of the silicon-on-insulator (SOI) family of CMOS technologies.
Radiation hardening is the process of making electronic components and circuits resistant to damage or malfunction caused by high levels of ionizing radiation, especially for environments in outer space, around nuclear reactors and particle accelerators, or during nuclear accidents or nuclear warfare.
Photodetectors, also called photosensors, are sensors of light or other electromagnetic radiation. There are a wide variety of photodetectors which may be classified by mechanism of detection, such as photoelectric or photochemical effects, or by various performance metrics, such as spectral response. Semiconductor-based photodetectors typically use a p–n junction that converts photons into charge. The absorbed photons make electron–hole pairs in the depletion region. Photodiodes and photo transistors are a few examples of photo detectors. Solar cells convert some of the light energy absorbed into electrical energy.
A single-event upset (SEU), also known as a single-event error (SEE), is a change of state caused by one single ionizing particle striking a sensitive node in a live micro-electronic device, such as in a microprocessor, semiconductor memory, or power transistors. The state change is a result of the free charge created by ionization in or close to an important node of a logic element. The error in device output or operation caused as a result of the strike is called an SEU or a soft error.
An image sensor or imager is a sensor that detects and conveys information used to form an image. It does so by converting the variable attenuation of light waves into signals, small bursts of current that convey the information. The waves can be light or other electromagnetic radiation. Image sensors are used in electronic imaging devices of both analog and digital types, which include digital cameras, camera modules, camera phones, optical mouse devices, medical imaging equipment, night vision equipment such as thermal imaging devices, radar, sonar, and others. As technology changes, electronic and digital imaging tends to replace chemical and analog imaging.
ROBUSTA is a nano-satellite scientific experiment developed by the University of Montpellier students as part of a Centre National d'Études Spatiales (CNES) call for student projects in the field of orbital systems.
RF Micropower is a fabless semiconductor company based in Phoenix, Arizona that sells and licenses the RFuP technology that was initially developed by SJT Micropower, Inc. The company's proprietary technology enables high voltage Si-MESFET transistors to be fabricated on commercial SOI CMOS processes without altering the native process or adding additional fabrication steps which allows high levels of monolithic integration. These power transistors can operate at voltages that are 20 times higher than the baseline CMOS transistors and at several Watts of power. The technology has been implemented in various integrated circuit solutions including RF power amplifiers and power regulation circuits. According to their website, they have demonstrated Si-MESFETs at the 350 nm, 250 nm, 150 nm, 45 nm and 32 nm process nodes. The smallest process node for MESFETs on any type of substrate is currently 32 nm.
Ronald D Schrimpf is an American electrical engineer and scientist. He is the Orrin H. Ingram Chair in Engineering, Electrical Engineering & Computer Science at Vanderbilt University. where his research activities focus on microelectronics and semiconductor devices. He is affiliated with the Radiation Effects and Reliability Group at Vanderbilt University where he works on the effects of radiation on semiconductor devices and integrated circuits. He also serves as the Director of the Institute for Space and Defense Electronics at Vanderbilt. He is best known for his work in the field of ionizing radiation response on Bipolar junction transistor (BJT) and Enhanced Low Dose Rate Sensitivity in BJT.
Daniel M. Fleetwood is an American scientist, inventor, engineer and innovator. He is credited as being one of the first to identify the origins of flicker noise in semiconductor devices and its usefulness in understanding the effects of ionizing radiation on microelectronic devices and materials.
Direct energy conversion (DEC) or simply direct conversion converts a charged particle's kinetic energy into a voltage. It is a scheme for power extraction from nuclear fusion.
The Centre Spatial Universitaire (CSU) Montpellier-Nîmes is a division of the University of Montpellier. Its purpose is to educate students in space sciences through the design, production and testing of nanosatellites. The CSU was created to consolidate nanosatellite activities that were initiated in 2006 by the RADIAC team of the Institut d'Electronique et des Systèmes, a research institute also affiliated with the university.
Frede Blaabjerg is a Danish professor at Aalborg University. At Aalborg, he works in the section of Power Electronic Systems of the department of Energy Technology. Blaabjerg's research concerns the applications of power electronics, including adjustable-speed drives, microgrids, photovoltaic systems, and wind turbines. By the number of citations, he is the most cited author of several IEEE journals: IEEE Transactions on Power Electronics, IEEE Transactions on Industry Applications, IEEE Journal of Emerging and Selected Topics in Power Electronics.
Synchronverters or virtual synchronous generators are inverters which mimic synchronous generators (SG) to provide "synthetic inertia" for ancillary services in electric power systems. Inertia is a property of standard synchronous generators associated with the rotating physical mass of the system spinning at a frequency proportional to the electricity being generated. Inertia has implications towards grid stability as work is required to alter the kinetic energy of the spinning physical mass and therefore opposes changes in grid frequency. Inverter-based generation inherently lacks this property as the waveform is being created artificially via power electronics.
Marcelo Godoy Simões is a Brazilian-American scientist engineer, professor in Electrical Engineering in Flexible and Smart Power Systems, at the University of Vaasa. He was with Colorado School of Mines, in Golden, Colorado, for almost 21 years, where he is a Professor Emeritus. He was elevated to Fellow of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) for applications of artificial intelligence in control of power electronics systems.
C. Frank Wheatley Jr. was an electrical engineer responsible for a number of innovations within the semiconductor industry, including the patent of the insulated-gate bipolar transistor (IGBT). His work within the semiconductor industry garnered him a variety of awards, including his induction into the New Jersey Inventors Hall of Fame and election as an IEEE Fellow.
William Hugh Robinson is an American engineer who is Professor of Electrical Engineering and Vice Provost for Academic at Vanderbilt University. His research considers sophisticated computer systems for consumer and industrial use. He is an advocate for improving access to engineering, and leads several investigations into programmes that better support people from marginalised groups.
TMOS is a type of thermal sensor consisting in a micromachined thermally isolated transistor fabricated using CMOS-SOI(Silicon on Insulator) MEMS(Micro electro-mechanical system) technology. It has been developed in the last decade by the Technion - Israel Institute of Technology. A thermal sensor is a device able to detect the thermal radiation emitted by an object located in the FOV(Field Of View) of the sensor. Infrared radiation striking the sensor produces a change in the temperature of the device that as a consequence generates an electric output signal proportional to the incident IR power. The sensor is able to measure the temperature of the object radiating thanks to the information contained in the impinging radiation, exploiting in this sense Stefan - Boltzmann law. TMOS detector has two important characteristics that make it different from others: it's an active and uncooled sensor.
Willy Sansen was an electrical engineer, academic, and author. He is an emeritus Professor of Engineering Science at the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven.
