We have studied the electrical and breakdown characteristics of 5 nm-thick HfSiOxNy (Hf/(Hf + Si)=0.43, nitrogen content=4.5-17.8 at.%) in Al-gate and NiSi-gate capacitors. For Al-gate capacitors, the flat-band shift due to positive fixed charges increases with the nitrogen content in the dielectric layer. In contrast, for NiSi-gate capacitors, the flat band is almost independent of the nitrogen content, which is presumably controlled by the quality of the interface between NiSi and the dielectric layer. The leakage current markedly increases with nitrogen content. Correspondingly, although the time-to-soft breakdown, tSBD, gradually decreases with increasing nitrogen content, the charge-to-soft breakdown, QSBD, increases with the nitrogen content. For Al-gate capacitors, the Weibull slope of time-dependent dielectric breakdown (TDDB) under constant voltage stress (CVS) remains constant at 2 for a nitrogen content of up to 12.5 at.% and then decreases to unity at 17.8 at.%. This must be a condition critical to the formation of the percolation path for breakdown. In contrast, for NiSi gate capacitors, a Weibull slope smaller than unity was obtained, suggesting that structural inhomogeneity, involving defect generation, is introduced during the NiSi gate fabrication, but this negative impact is reduced with nitrogen incorporation.

In this paper we give a simple algorithm to generate all partitions of a positive integer n. The problem is one of the basic problems in combinatorics, and has been extensively studied for a long time. Our algorithm generates each partition of a given integer in constant time for each without repetition, while best known algorithm generates each partition in constant time on "average." Also, we propose some algorithms to generate all partitions of an integer with some additional property in constant time.

Accurate extraction of the trap position in the oxide in deep-submicron MOSFET by RTN measurement has been investigated both theoretically and experimentally. The conventional equation based on the ratio of emission time and capture time ignores two effects, that is, the poly gate depletion effect and surface potential variation in strong inversion regime. In this paper, by including both of the two effects, we have derived a new equation which gives us more accurate information of the trap depth from the interface and the trap energy. With experimental result, we compare the trap depth obtained from the new equation and that of the conventional method.

The most time consuming operation to verify a signature with the Elliptic Curve Digital Signature Algorithm is a multi-scalar multiplication with two scalars. Efficient methods for its computation are the Shamir method and the Interleave method, whereas the performance of those methods can be improved by using general base-2 representations of the scalars. In exchange for the speed-up, those representations require the precomputation of several points that must be stored. In the case of two precomputed points, the Interleave method and the Shamir method provide the same, optimal efficiency. In the case of more precomputed points, only the Interleave method can be sped-up in an optimal way and is currently more efficient than the Shamir method. This paper proposes a new general base-2 representation of the scalars that can be used to speed up the Shamir method. It requires the precomputation of ten points and is more efficient than any other representation that also requires ten precomputed points. Therefore, the proposed method is the first to improve the Shamir method such that it is faster than the Interleave method.

A precoding scheme is described for multiple-input and multiple-output orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing systems with a QR-decomposition maximum likelihood detector (MLD) incorporated with a parallel interference canceller (PIC) at a receiver. Transmit antenna ranking based on received substream signal power or per-substream minimum Euclidean distances is fed back to a transmitter. Based on the ranking information, precoding matrices are determined as permutation matrices such that specific packets are transmitted from transmit antennas with higher channel quality over the whole subcarriers. The simulation results demonstrated that precoding effectively utilizes PIC by reducing the possibility that all substreams are incorrectly decoded and thus improves the transmission performance of a QR-decomposition MLD with PIC.

To overcome the demerits of two passive optical networks; the small link capacity of the TDM-PON, and the ineffective link utilization of the WDM-PON; we propose a novel access network architecture featuring a WDM-based feeder network and a TDM-based distribution network. In this paper, we examine the design issues of the key constituent of SWE-PON (Scalable WDM-based Ethernet hybrid-PON) to validate its economic and practical feasibility. For flawless network operation, the wavelength tuning rule is investigated so that it does not collide between wavelengths from the tunable lasers belonging to the WDM coupler. Also, the potential problem between the tunable laser and the reflective operational device is analyzed in detail. From the numerical analysis and simulation, we demonstrate the variation of the network performance in terms of the upstream traffic delay and throughput of the ONU in accordance with the sharing structure of distribution network and the number of tunable laser devices (TLDs) at the feeder network.

It is widely believed to take exponential time to find a solution of a system of random multivariate polynomials because of the NP-completeness of such a task. On the other hand, in most of multivariate public key cryptosystems proposed so far, the computational complexity of cryptanalysis is polynomial time due to the trapdoor structure. In this paper, we introduce a new concept, piece in hand (soldiers in hand) matrix, which brings the computational complexity of cryptanalysis of multivariate public key cryptosystems close to exponential time by adding random polynomial terms to original cryptosystems. This is a general concept which can be applicable to any type of multivariate public key cryptosystems for the purpose of enhancing their security. As an implementation of the concept, we propose the linear PH matrix method with random variables. In 2003 Faugere and Joux broke the first HFE challenge (80 bits), where HFE is one of the major variants of multivariate public key cryptosystem, by computing a Grobner basis of the public key of the cryptosystem. We show, in an experimental manner, that the linear PH matrix method with random variables can enhance the security of HFE even against the Grobner basis attack. In what follows, we consider the strength of the linear PH matrix method against other possible attacks.

For the uplink of a radio-on-fiber system or an electromagnetic field sensor, a resonant type optical modulator array connected with antennas can effectively convert a micro/millimeter-wave to a light wave. We designed and fabricated 10 GHz band resonant modulators and micro-strip antennas. And we demonstrated the simultaneous operation of four modulators using power received by micro strip antennas connected to each modulator. We confirmed that the optical phase change induced by the received power could be proportionally increased with the number of arrays.

A novel asymmetric MOSFET with no LDD on the source side is simulated on bulk-Si using a device simulator (SILVACO). In order to overcome the problems of the conventional asymmetric process, a novel asymmetric MOSFET using mesa structure and sidewall spacer gate is proposed which provides self-alignment process, aggressive scaling, and uniformity. First of all, we have simulated to compare the characteristics between asymmetric and symmetric MOSFETs. Basically, both asymmetric and symmetric MOSFETs have an n-type channel (25-nm) and the same physical parameters. When we compare this with the 25-nm symmetric MOSFET, the proposed asymmetric MOSFET shows better device performances.

Copyright protection is a major issue in distributing content on Internet or broadcasting service. One well-known method of protecting copyright is a traitor tracing scheme. With this scheme, if a pirate decoder is made, the content provider can check the secret key contained in it and trace the authorized user/subscriber (traitor). Furthermore, users require that they could obtain services anywhere they want (Anywhere TV). For this purpose, they would need to take along their secret keys and therefore key exposure has to be kept in mind. As one of countermeasures against key exposure, a forward secure public key cryptosystem has been developed. In this system, the user secret key remains valid for a limited period of time. It means that even if it is exposed, the user would be affected only for the limited time period. In this paper, we propose a traitor tracing scheme secure against adaptive key exposure (TTaKE) which contains the properties of both a traitor tracing scheme and a forward secure public key cryptosystem. It is constructed by using two polynomials with two variables to generate user secret keys. Its security proof is constructed from scratch. Moreover we confirmed its efficiency through comparisons. Finally, we show the way how its building blocks can be applied to anywhere TV service. Its structure fits current broadcasting systems.

In this paper we modeled and analyzed the ridge type InGaAlAs/InP semiconductor laser with lateral current confinement structure, and optimized the design for the ridge wave guide with the current confinement. We proposed and fabricated the ridge type InGaAlAs/InP laser with a cost effective selective undercut etching method and demonstrated the improvement of the ridge laser performance. This paper provides a solution to solve the cost/yield issue for conventional BH (buried hetero-structure) type laser and performance issue for conventional ridge type laser.

We study quantum entanglement by Schmidt decomposition for some typical quantum algorithms. In the Shor's exponentially fast algorithm the quantum entanglement holds almost maximal, which is a major factor that a classical computer is not adequate to simulate quantum efficient algorithms.

This paper investigates a scheme to improve a location estimation method for higher estimation accuracy in sensor networks. For the location estimation method, we focus on the maximum likelihood method based on the measurements of received signal strength and its known probability distribution. Using some statistical properties of the estimate obtained by the maximum likelihood method in a simplified situation, we propose a modification of likelihood function in order to improve the estimation accuracy for arbitrary situation. However, since the proposed scheme is derived under a special assumption for the simplification, we should examine the impact of the proposed scheme in more general situations by numerical simulation. From the simulation results, we show the effectiveness of the proposed modification especially in the cases of small number of samples (namely, the measurements of received signal strength) and the channel model with exponential distribution.

Autocloned photonic crystals have corrugated multilayer structure. By related process technology, we can easily fabricate an array of polarizers or waveplates. Patterned photonic crystals are versatile component of many optical systems. This paper focuses on their use in optical microscopy. The main topics are: 1. Use of polarization imaging in microscopy, 2. generation of radial/circular polarization by a polarizer having concentric corrugations, 3. a "longitudinal polarization slit" (a new component) and its function in confocal microscopy, and 4. a polarization converter for generating "z-polarized" light at the focal point. In every application above, autocloned photonic crystals play a central role.

A total coloring of a graph G is a coloring of all elements of G, i.e. vertices and edges, such that no two adjacent or incident elements receive the same color. Let L(x) be a set of colors assigned to each element x of G. Then a list total coloring of G is a total coloring such that each element x receives a color contained in L(x). The list total coloring problem asks whether G has a list total coloring for given L. In this paper, we give a sufficient condition for a series-parallel graph to have a list total coloring, and we present a linear-time algorithm to find a list total coloring of a given series-parallel graph G if G and L satisfy the sufficient condition.

This paper presents a design method for AND-OR-EXOR three-level networks, where a single two-input exclusive-OR (EXOR) gate is used. The network realizes an EXOR of two sum-of-products expressions (EX-SOPs). The problem is to minimize the total number of products in the two sum-of-products expressions (SOPs). We introduce the notion of µ-equivalence of logic functions to develop exact minimization algorithms for EX-SOPs with up to five variables. We minimized all the NP-representative functions for up to five variables and showed that five-variable functions require 9 or fewer products in minimum EX-SOPs. For n-variable functions, minimum EX-SOPs require at most 9·2n-5 (n ≤ 6) products. This upper bound is smaller than 2n-1, which is the upper bound for SOPs. We also found that, for five-variable functions, on the average, minimum EX-SOPs require about 40% fewer literals than minimum SOPs.

We consider the capacitated multi-source multicast tree routing problem (CMMTR) in an undirected graph G=(V,E) with a vertex set V, an edge set E and an edge weight w(e) ≥ 0, e ∈ E. We are given a source set S ⊆ V with a weight g(e) ≥ 0, e ∈ S, a terminal set M ⊆ V-S with a demand function q : M → R+, and a real number κ > 0, where g(s) means the cost for opening a vertex s ∈ S as a source in a multicast tree. Then the CMMTR asks to find a subset S′⊆ S, a partition {Z1,Z2,...,Zl} of M, and a set of subtrees T1,T2,...,Tl of G such that, for each i, ∑t∈Ziq(t) ≤ κ and Ti spans Zi∪{s} for some s ∈ S′. The objective is to minimize the sum of the opening cost of S′and the constructing cost of {Ti}, i.e., ∑s∈S′g(s)+w(Ti), where w(Ti) denotes the sum of weights of all edges in Ti. In this paper, we propose a (2ρUFL+ρST)-approximation algorithm to the CMMTR, where ρUFL and ρST are any approximation ratios achievable for the uncapacitated facility location and the Steiner tree problems, respectively. When all terminals have unit demands, we give a ((3/2)ρUFL+(4/3)ρST)-approximation algorithm.

In this paper, we propose a stochastic dynamic local search (SDLS) method for Multiple-Valued Logic (MVL) learning by introducing stochastic dynamics into the traditional local search method. The proposed learning network maintains some trends of quick descent to either global minimum or a local minimum, and at the same time has some chance of escaping from local minima by permitting temporary error increases during learning. Thus the network may eventually reach the global minimum state or its best approximation with very high probability. Simulation results show that the proposed algorithm has the superior abilities to find the global minimum for the MVL network learning within reasonable number of iterations.

Light-induced self-written (LISW) technology is a unique and simple method of forming low-loss 3-dimensional (3-D) optical circuits in photopolymers using radiation from an optical fiber. Since this technology is applicable to almost all kinds of optical fiber and optical wiring, many studies have been carried in a number of different organizations on the applications of this technology. The technology helps simplify optical interconnections, and it is expected that it will reduce the cost of mounting optical devices. In this paper, we introduce LISW technology and report on related studies developed in our research group.

Embedded memories have been used extensively in modern SoC designs. In order to estimate the power consumption of an entire design correctly, an accurate memory power models are needed. However, the memory power model that is commonly used in commercial EDA tools is too simple to estimate the power consumption accurately. In this work, we develop two methods to improve the accuracy of memory power estimation. Our enhanced memory power model can consider not only the operation mode of memory access, but also the address switching effects with scaling capability. The proposed approach is very useful to be combined with the memory compiler to generate accurate power model for any specified memory size without extra characterization costs. Then the proposed dummy modular approach can link our enhanced memory power model into the existing power estimation flow smoothly. The experimental results have shown that the average error of our memory power model is only less than 5%.