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The paper deals with the design of a device for sound reproduction to be fixed to a supporting surface. The device is made up of two different types of acoustic actuators based on different technologies. This allows to reproduce sound in the range of frequencies from 20 Hz to 20 kHz. The generation of sound at high frequencies is demanded to a magnetostrictive actuator, while a more traditional magnetodynamics actuator is used to generate sound at low frequencies. The coupling between these two actuators leads to a device having small overall dimensions and high performance.

Design and fabrication of electrochemical energy storage systems with both high energy and power densities as well as long cycling life is of great importance. As one of these systems, Battery-supercapacitor hybrid device (BSH) is typically constructed with a high-capacity battery-type electrode and a high-rate capacitive electrode, which has attracted enormous attention due to its potential applications in future electric vehicles, smart electric grids, and even miniaturized electronic/optoelectronic devices, etc. With proper design, BSH will provide unique advantages such as high performance, cheapness, safety, and environmental friendliness. This review first addresses the fundamental scientific principle, structure, and possible classification of BSHs, and then reviews the recent advances on various existing and emerging BSHs such as Li-/Na-ion BSHs, acidic/alkaline BSHs, BSH with redox electrolytes, and BSH with pseudocapacitive electrode, with the focus on materials and electrochemical performances. Furthermore, recent progresses in BSH devices with specific functionalities of flexibility and transparency, etc. will be highlighted. Finally, the future developing trends and directions as well as the challenges will also be discussed; especially, two conceptual BSHs with aqueous high voltage window and integrated 3D electrode/electrolyte architecture will be proposed.

This work illustrates the potentiality of a mixed array merging the Nanowire and thin film metal oxide technologies to develop an electronic nose as a tool to monitor the human skin and food pathogen micro biota. Nanowire and thin film sensors have been fabricated, characterized and then integrated together to develop a hybrid device that can enhance the sensing performance. Different blends of microorganisms grown in artificial sweat have been tested. Classical techniques, like GC-MS (Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry) with SPME (Solid Phase Micro Extraction) have been employed in parallel, in order to have a multidisciplinary approach and a consistent data set. The obtained results show the potentiality of the proposed electronic nose to discriminate between the different blends of microorganisms and to follow up microbiota growth inside the blends. (C) 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

In this work, carbon-based conducting electrodes based on two different types of carbon nanofibers (CNF) have been produced by the dip and dry coating method onto cotton substrates. Furthermore, activated carbon (Norit A Supra Eur) and manganese oxide (MnO2) have been subsequenlty added to the CNF-based dip-coated cotton fabrics electrodes and asymmetric supercapacitors have been constructed and tested with the focus of obtaining devices with increased capacitive performance. In particular, the carbon-based active layer was prepared by spreading on the CNF-based electrodes a slurry containing the activated carbon (AC) material, graphite fibres, polyvinylidene difluoride (PVDF) as binder and N,N dimethylacetamide (DMA) solvent, whereas the MnO2 based active layer was prepared by spreading on the CNF-based textile electrodes a slurry formed by MnO2, carbon black, graphite fibers, PVDF and DMA. A solution of 1M Na2SO4 impregnated in porous paper separator (Nippon Kodoshi Corportion, Japan) was employed as neutral aqueous electrolyte. The supercapacitors were electrochemical investigated by cyclic voltammetry (CV), galvanostatic charge/discharge (GCD) and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS). The results indicated that with this particular combination of carbon and manganese oxide active layers on CNF-based cotton fabrics it was possible to obtain specific capacitance of 100 F/g and a high specific energy density of 10 Wh/kg., This work was partly financed by FEDER funds through the Competitivity Factors Operational Programme - COMPETE and by national funds through FCT – Foundation for Science and Technology within the scope of the project POCI-01-0145-FEDER-007136. A. J. Paleo acknowledges the support of COST Action CA15107- Multi-Functional Nano-Carbon Composite Materials Network (MultiComp) by means of a short term scientific mission (STSM)., info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion

This article treats question of the role of technologies in the strategies of teaching by focussing on the digital resources. The text presents the work carried out on the hybrid devices of formation. Professors indeed seek new modes of transmission and of appropriation of the knowledge to interest and justify learning them. Behind these digital tools for remote formation work of the professionals. The contribution of this article lies in the presentation of cards trades carried out starting from interviews. Three dimensions are retained : The people who work with the good performance of a ENT in the secondary ; For the superior we focus on two departments of French universities which set up remote formations ; A card trade of creative of a platform of formation., Cet article traite de la question du rôle des technologies dans les stratégies d'enseignement en mettant l'accent sur les ressources numériques. Le texte présente des travaux effectués sur les dispositifs hybrides de formation. Des professeurs cherchent en effet de nouveaux modes de transmission et d'appropriation des savoirs pour intéresser et motiver les apprenants. Derrière ces outils numériques de formation à distance travaillent des professionnels. L'apport de cet article réside dans la présentation de fiches métiers réalisés à partir d'interviews. Trois dimensions sont retenues :  Les personnes qui travaillent au bon fonctionnement d'un ENT dans le secondaire ;  Pour le supérieur nous mettons l'accent sur deux départements d'universités françaises qui mettent en place des formations à distance ;  Une fiche métier d'une créatrice d'une plate-forme de formation.

A novel hybrid device is described herein for performing simultaneous Positron Emission Tomography (PET) and Ultrafast Ultrasound Imaging (UUI) in vivo. This study aims in qualifying this device for in-vivo studies. Two major issues are addressed: the co-registration of the images originating from each modality and the effect of placing a US probe inside a PET system on the PET images. Experiments on UUI/CT and PET phantoms were performed for the co-registration calibration of this prototype and for quantifying the effect of the US probe on the PET signal.

We have investigated surface acoustic wave propagation in Ni/LiNbO$_3$ hybrid devices. We have found the absorption and phase velocity are dependent on the sign of wave vector in a device, which indicates the nonreciprocal propagation characteristic of systems with time reversal and spatial inversion simultaneously broken symmetries. The nonreciprocity is reversed by the 180$^\circ$ rotation of magnetic field. Nonreciprocity seems largely dependent on the shape of ferromagnetic Ni film. The origin of these observations is ascribed to film shape dependent magnetoelastic coupling., 12 pages, 6 figures

Asymmetric Dual-k Spacer (ADS) Trigate Wavy FinFET is a novel hybrid device that combines three major advanced technologies i.e., ultra-thin body (UTB), Wavy channel FinFET, and asymmetric spacer engineering on a single silicon on insulator (SOI) platform. This innovative architecture as compared to trigate FinFETs enables to enhance the device performance without increasing the chip area. Recently, high-k dielectric spacer materials are of research interest due to their better electrostatic control and more immune towards short channel effects (SCEs) in nanoscale devices. For the first time, this paper introduces an asymmetric high-k dielectric spacer near the source side with optimized length in Wavy channel FinFET and claims an improvement in device integrity. From extensive 3-D device simulation, the proposed device is found to be superior in performance as compared to the trigate FinFET.

For vibration and displacement sensors, robustness is one of the key requirements. Optical measurement concepts are among the most promising possibilities to achieve it. The presented microoptoelectromechanical system sensor modulates a light flux by means of two congruently placed aperture gratings: one etched into a seismic mass and the other fixed to the sensor package. Commercially available LED and photodetector components at the top and bottom of the sandwich structure generate and detect this modulated light flux and allow for a cost-effective implementation. The prototype used for experimental verification is actuated by inertial forces and exhibits a high sensitivity of 0.85 mV/nm for displacements of the seismic mass and a corresponding noise level of about 14 pm/√Hz. This sensitivity and noise level can be further improved, paving the way for small, lightweight, robust, and high-precision displacement sensors for a large variety of applications.

SUMMARY In this paper, we propose the optimization of the parameters of a hybrid antenna for wireless applications by using a multi-objective evolutionary programming (EP). Specifically, the antenna proposed is formed by a planar inverted-F antenna and a coplanar patch, in the same structure. The objective functions to carry out the optimization process are related to the antenna's bandwidth and the gain requirements in the wireless applications considered. In fact, the antenna is intended to be used in mobile and WIFI applications simultaneously. To be concise, we have utilized an improved fast EP optimization approach that includes a selection mechanism based on nondominated ranking procedure with crowding distance to maintain diversity in the population. In the experimental part of the paper, we show that the multi-objective EP–improved fast EP is able to obtain excellent results in the parameters' design of this hybrid device, with reasonable values of both bandwidth and gain values. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

SBA-3/cotton fiber composite materials have been in situ synthesized via a confinement self-assembly process by using cetyltrimethyl ammoniumbromide (C16H33(CH3)3NBr, CTAB) as a template to control the mesostructure and cotton fiber, a green and facile material, as a matrix to control the morphology. This kind of composite materials present the morphology of cotton fibers, and SBA-3 particles cover the surfaces of cotton fibers. Compared with powdery SBA-3, smaller silica particles are formed on these composite materials, which is beneficial for enhancing the availability of pores in mesoporous silica; and the cotton fibers promote the dispersion of functional modified guest in mesoporous silica. After modification with tetraethylenepentamine, these SBA-3/cotton fiber composite materials exhibit considerable CO2 adsorption capacity and stable cyclic adsorption–desorption performance. These composite materials can be directly used as cheaper shaped composites for practical CO2 capture, and this synthetic route has the potential to prepare some functional devices.

We produce four distinct ZnO nanorod diode structures that are based on ZnO nanorods produced at pH 6 and pH 11 and have the p-type material PEDOT:PSS (hybrid device) or CuSCN (all inorganic device). After testing the performance of the diodes we show a rectification of 1050 at ±1V in the dark for the inorganic device. The device also exhibits good UV photodetection showing a rapid ca0.1ms turn on and off to a source of illumination. The hybrid devices performed as previously reported with a rectification of 25 at ±1V in both dark and under illumination. We ascribe the performance of the devices to the differences in morphology in the ZnO brought about by the processing conditions and the way in which the p-type layer coats the nanostructure.

In this paper, fully integration of a hybrid transflective device consisting of a PSCT and an OLED were demonstrated. Thickness of this hybrid device was two glass substrates, which was the same as a usual LCD, with OLED fabricated on the inner side of the glass substrate. With suitable design of the process flow, electrical and optical characteristics of the OLED were little affected by the following LCD processes.

In order to improve the performances of the solution processed full-color Organic Light Emitting Diodes (OLEDs), we develop “the advanced hybrid device structure”. This new hybrid device has the hybrid connecting layer (HCL) which is fabricated as a common layer on the solution processed red-green layers, and under the evaporated blue common layer. This HCL has two different roles depending on each color, the first is improvement of hole injection to the blue emissive layer, and the second is confinement of triplet excitons for red and green emissive layer. We found that HCL can operate as an efficiency enhancement layer for all emissive layers.

A synthetic hybrid nanomotor, which combines chemically powered propulsion and magnetically driven locomotion, is described. The new catalytic-magnetic nanomotor consists of a flexible multisegment Pt-Au-Ag(flex)-Ni nanowire, with the Pt-Au and Au-Ag(flex)-Ni portions responsible for the catalytic and magnetic propulsion modes, respectively. The experimental data and theoretical considerations indicate that the hybrid design only minimally compromises the individual propulsion modes. Rapid and convenient switching from the catalytic to the magnetic mode is illustrated. The resulting catalytic-magnetic adaptive nanomotor can address the fuel depletion and salt limitation common to chemically powered motors by switching to magnetic propulsion. Reversal of the motion direction is also achieved upon applying the magnetic field. Such use of two sources to power a hybrid device offers a broader scope of operation and holds considerable promise for designing adaptive nanovehicles that reconfigure their operation in response to environmental changes or unexpected events.

Chitin and Chitosan are promising biopolymers to be useful in the construction of electrochemical hybrid devices. As evident in biominerals, chitin plays important roles to stabilize layered structures and chitosan has the capability to form a gel. In this paper, we review the recent research progress on chitin and chitosan in the application of materials science. We also report our observation witha-chitin in the gelation process. A different molecular structure at the nano-level results in a different behavior of gelation. This understanding can provide an important foundation in the application of chitin and chitosan for electrochemical hybrid devices.

The application of SPECT/CT hybrid imaging devices, which consist of SPECT (single photon emission computed tomography) and CT (X-ray computed tomography) promises advances in clinical practice. The hybrid device offers improved evaluation of functional and anatomical information by e. g. exact registration as well as increased patient comfort and improved logistics. - However the complexity of the single modalities is further increased by the combination of both. Therefore, for making use of the full potential of SPECT/CT, background knowledge about physical and technical aspects of both modalities is mandatory. SPECT is based on the gamma camera principle and by the use of collimators gains views of the activity distribution of the patient under different angles. Out of the views a 3-dimensional estimate of the activity distribution is formed by using reconstruction techniques. Image degrading effects like photon scatter and photon attenuation can be partially corrected by applying several methods. - In CT, transmission images for X-ray radiation of the examined object are formed. By analogy with SPECT, it is necessary to choose a compromise between image quality and radiation dose of the patient. For this, knowledge and understanding of the key parameters of CT are imperative. - Furthermore the requirements for constancy testing of the hybrid SPECT/CT for ensuring the stability of the imaging capabilities should not be neglected in clinical practice.

Este artigo pretende provocar uma reflexão sobre a virtual convivência dos servidores humanos e os servidores não-humanos, especialmente nas universidades. A proposta é ensaiar uma visada do quanto essa convivência produz transmutações e hibridizações do trabalho humano em não-humano e vice-versa. Segundo o Regime Jurídico dos Servidores Públicos Civis da União, Lei número 8.112, de 11 de dezembro de 1990, em seu artigo segundo: “servidor é a pessoa legalmente investida em cargo público”. E o servidor não-humano? Em informática, servidor é o artefato híbrido constituído de software-hardware, configurado como um sistema de computação centralizada, apto para fornecer serviços a uma rede de dispositivos clientes ou hosts. Estas relações cliente-servidor / humanos-não-humanos produzem tensões e controvérsias.

An optical mode converter between hybrid device and Si waveguide is the key component for efficient and stable operation of III–V/silicon-on-insulator (SOI) hybrid photonic integrated circuits (PICs). In this study, we introduced a double taper structure into such a mode converter and investigated the coupling efficiency dependence on their structural parameters. By using N2 plasma activated bonding technology, III–V/SOI double-taper-type mode couplers with various taper-tip-widths and taper lengths were fabricated, and their coupling efficiencies were evaluated. As the result, a coupling efficiency of as high as −0.2 dB was achieved for a double-taper device with a tip width of 0.4 µm and total length of 85 µm.

The aim of this study was to investigate the performance of different orthodontic devices for mandibular symphyseal distraction osteogenesis (MSDO). Two performance parameters were analysed, the first of which concerned the stability guaranteed by a distractor in the fracture gap under mastication loads and the second the level of reliability with which a distractor transfers a given expansion to the mandibular bone, inasmuch as the more reliable the device the smaller the difference between the degree of expansion provided to the device and the displacement achieved on the mandibular arch. Hence, a non-linear finite element (FE) model of a human mandible with different devices (tooth-borne, bone-borne, and hybrid) was constructed and then utilized to assess the structural behaviour of the mandibular bone under distraction and mastication loads. An ad hoc algorithm was developed to simulate progressive expansion of the devices; a distraction protocol comprising a 10 day latency period and a 6 day distraction period was hypothesized. The first hypothetical expansion given to the device was 2 mm, and the five subsequent expansions were 1 mm. The results showed that the hybrid device was the most stable appliance under mastication loads, followed by the tooth- and bone-borne devices. However, parasitic rotations of the mandibular arms caused by mastication might counteract the benefits of distraction. The tooth-borne device was found to have the highest reliability in transferring expansion to the mandibular bone. For this device, mandibular expansion was less than the nominal aperture of the distractor by no more than 15 per cent. Lower values of reliability were achieved with the bone-borne device. As the values of the aperture of the appliances increased, the stability guaranteed in the fracture gap increased while the reliability in transferring expansion to the mandibular arch decreased.

Nanocomposites of Ni(OH)2 or NiO have successfully been used in electrodes in the last five years, but they have been falsely presented as pseudocapacitive electrodes for electrochemical capacitors and hybrid devices. Indeed, these nickel oxide or hydroxide electrodes are pure battery-type electrodes which store charges through faradaic processes as can be shown by cyclic voltammograms or constant current galvanostatic charge/discharge plots. Despite this misunderstanding, such electrodes can be of interest as positive electrodes in hybrid supercapacitors operating under KOH electrolyte, together with an activated carbon-negative electrode. This study indicates the requirements for the implementation of Ni(OH)2-based electrodes in hybrid designs and the improvements that are necessary in order to increase the energy and power densities of such devices. Mass loading is the key parameter which must be above 10 mg·cm−2 to correctly evaluate the performance of Ni(OH)2 or NiO-based nanocomposite electrodes and provide gravimetric capacity values. With such loadings, rate capability, capacity, cycling ability, energy and power densities can be accurately evaluated. Among the 80 papers analyzed in this study, there are indications that such nanocomposite electrode can successfully improve the performance of standard Ni(OH)2 (+)//6 M KOH//activated carbon (−) hybrid supercapacitor.

Synchronous peri-anastomotic pseudo-aneurysms were discovered in a 65-year-old man 26 years after an aorto-bi-iliac bypass and 11 years after an ileo-femoral bypass. He was a poor surgical candidate owing to his obesity, hostile abdomen, and multiple medical comorbidities. Therefore, a novel hybrid device was designed that was part stent graft with the addition of two 6-mm Dacron limbs for anastomosis onto the superficial femoral and profunda femoris arteries. An unexpected type 2 endoleak developed through the internal iliac artery, which was thought to be occluded. This was successfully treated with a direct injection of bovine thrombin. This was an excellent outcome, and the patient made an uneventful recovery.

The aim of this study is to present the treatment of a juxtarenal inflammatory aneurysm using a Nellix device (Endologix, Inc., Irvine, CA) to seal the entire aneurysmatic aorta combined with bilateral iliac–renal bypass using the Gore hybrid vascular graft (W. L. Gore & Associates, Inc., Flagstaff, AZ). A 63-year-old man was diagnosed with a 6-cm juxtarenal inflammatory aneurysm. It was initially decided to treat him with an aorto-aortic bypass and to revascularize the 2 renal arteries with “graft to renal artery bypass” using Gore hybrid vascular grafts. Due to the high intraoperative bleeding preparing the proximal neck and the tight adhesion of the aorta to the adjacent structures, we decided to change our plans and to treat the patient using the Nellix system combined with bilateral iliac–renal bypass using the Gore hybrid vascular grafts. Contrast computed tomography control at 1 month showed complete sealing of the aneurysm sac and patent iliac renal bypasses. The reported case demonstrated that the Nellix Endovascular Aneurysm Sealing system combined with Gore hybrid vascular grafts for bilateral iliac–renal bypass showed that it can be an effective modality for the treatment of juxtarenal, inflammatory aortic aneurysm and revascularization of the renal arteries from the distal iliac arteries.

Phonon-assisted electronic tunnelings through a vibrating quantum dot embedded between normal and superconducting leads are studied in the Kondo regime. In such a hybrid device, with the bias applied to the normal lead, we find a series of Kondo sidebands separated by half a phonon energy in the differential conductance, which are distinct from the phonon-assisted sidebands previously observed in the conventional Andreev tunnelings and in systems with only normal leads. These Kondo sidebands originate from the Kondo-Andreev cooperative cotunneling mediated by phonons, which exhibit a novel Kondo transport behavior due to the interplay of the Kondo effect, the Andreev tunnelings, and the mechanical vibrations. Our result could be observed in a recent experiment setup [J. Gramich \emph{et al.}, PRL \textbf{115}, 216801 (2015)], provided that their carbon nanotube device reaches the Kondo regime at low temperatures., Comment: Main text: 6 pages, 3 figures; SM: 13 pages, 7 figures. Accepted by PRB Rapid Communication. Disordered references have been corrected

A new type of light-emitting hybrid device based on colloidal quantum dots (QDs) and an ionic transition metal complex (iTMC) light-emitting electrochemical cell (LEC) is introduced. The developed hybrid devices show light emission from both active layers, which are combined in a stacked geometry. Time-resolved photoluminescence experiments indicate that the emission is controlled by direct charge injection into both the iTMC and the QD layer. The turn-on time (time to reach 1 cd/m2) at constant voltage operation is significantly reduced from 8 min in the case of the reference LEC down to subsecond in the case of the hybrid device. Furthermore, luminance and efficiency of the hybrid device are enhanced compared to reference LEC directly after device turn-on by a factor of 400 and 650, respectively. We attribute these improvements to an increased electron injection efficiency into the iTMC directly after device turn-on. © 2016 American Chemical Society.

An In 1− x Ga x As / GaSb y As 1− y hetero-system with staggered band-lineups as solid-state platform for design of an interband resonant double-barrier tunneling diode (I-RTD) based optically-pulsed (OT) hybrid device for generating THz oscillations is theoretically investigated. It is demonstrated that this optical I-RTD hybrid is compatible with the robust state-of-art 1.55 micron laser technology Multi-band wave equations in the framework of six-band Kane's model are applied for understanding the carrier dynamics when strain-induced effects are present. Simulation results for practical circuit implementations clearly show the superiority of this new oscillator concept.

A breakthrough in the area of PVD/CVD coating technologies, as in other surface engineering technologies, requires not only technical innovation but also innovative technological and organisational support. The cohesion of these diverse areas forms a basis for obtaining theoretical and physical models, which give rise to prototypes for the rapid application of breakthrough solutions. Mechanisms and structures aimed at reaching breakthrough research objectives are presented, taking as an example the investigation and application of new materials, particularly using surface engineering PVD plasma technologies. The advanced technology of thermal barrier coatings (TBC) is described and the associated process development, including the design and construction of a unique hybrid device for TBC creation, are presented. By means of this example, a combination of breakthrough and incremental research is explored and a real path for balancing research and knowledge transfer, leading to innovative solutions ...

We demonstrate that solution processed high efficiency and saturated red phosphorescent OLEDs can be achieved using a soluble small molecule (SSM) as the host material. Two structures of ITO /PEDOT /interlayer /SSM:Ir(piq)3 /LiF /Al and ITO /PEDOT /interlayer /SSM:Ir(piq)3 /sublimated Balq /sublimated Alq3 /LiF /Al were employed as all soluble processed devices and hybrid devices, respectively. A 6.36 cd/A of maximum luminance efficiency and a 3.22 lm/W of maximum power efficiency were obtained in a hybrid device. The CIE coordinate was (0.67, 0.33).

The advent of power semiconductor technology allowed the integration of semiconductor power devices and their control integrated circuits within the same hybrid device. This chapter has briefly reviewed the advantages of this integration, the technology options, and provided a historical perspective on the topic. Finally, the conventional usage of SPM has been extended with a new class of multi-module power converters based on a network of switches, implemented with multiple SPM and ready to provide even better performance.

This paper compares the economic viability and performance outcomes of two different thermoelectric device architectures to determine the advantages and appropriate use of each configuration. Hybrid thermoelectric coolers employ thin-film thermoelectric materials sandwiched between a plastic substrate and formed into a corrugated structure. Roll-to-roll manufacturing and low-cost polymer materials offer a cost advantage to the hybrid architecture at the sacrifice of performance capabilities while conventional bulk devices offer increased performance at a higher cost. Performance characteristics and cost information are developed for both hybrid and conventional bulk single-stage thermoelectric modules. The design variables include device geometry, electrical current input, and thermoelectric material type. The trade-offs between cooling performance and cost will be explored and the thermoelectric system configuration analyzed for both hybrid and conventional bulk thermoelectric coolers.Copyright © 2015 by ASME

International audience; This paper presents a method for localizing an Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) in indoor or outdoor environments. The approach has the ability to estimate the 3D pose of the on-board camera by using a Harris corner detector and the Levenberg-Marquardt (LM) with the Random Sample Consensus (RANSAC) algorithm to perform detection. The implementation of such computational intensive tasks in embedded system is necessary for the autonomy of UAV. Accelerators implemented on FPGA provide a solution to reach required performances. In addition to the algorithm development, we present the embedding of a real time camera pose estimation algorithm on a Xilinx System on Programmable Chip (SoPC) platform. Partition- ing of our embedded application into hardware and software parts on a Zynq Board has significantly reduced the execution time when compared with software implementation, while offering necessary reconfiguration capabilities.

In this paper, a new type of hybrid switching device with parallel connection of SiC and Si active switches, such as “SiC JFET + Si IGBTs” or “SiC MOSFET + Si IGBTs”, is introduced and applied to a 250kW back-to-back Voltage Source Converter (VSC). Considering the different switching speeds and output characteristics of SiC and Si devices in such hybrid structure, a novel optimal switching pattern is proposed to enable the Zero Voltage Switching (ZVS) for Si IGBTs. This proposed switching pattern optimally utilizes the better conduction characteristics and lower switching loss of SiC devices based on the instantaneous load current values, therefore significantly reduces the semiconductor losses in comparison to conventional all-Si VSCs. Simulations of back-to-back converters with different hybrid devices namely, “SiC JFET + Si IGBTs” and “SiC MOSFET + Si IGBTs”, are carried out in PLECS environment. Simulation results illustrate that the overall efficiency of back-to-back VSC can be improved by up to 4.8% if conventional Si devices are replaced with “SiC+Si” hybrid devices with the proposed switching pattern.

We report on the observation of gate-tunable proximity-induced superconductivity and multiple Andreev reflections (MAR) in a bulk-insulating BiSbTeSe$_2$ topological insulator nanoribbon (TINR) Josephson junction (JJ) with superconducting Nb contacts. We observe a gate-tunable critical current ($I_C$) for gate voltages ($V_g$) above the charge neutrality point ($V_{CNP}$), with $I_C$ as large as 430 nA. We also observe MAR peaks in the differential conductance ($dI/dV$) versus DC voltage ($V_{dc}$) across the junction corresponding to sub-harmonic peaks (at $V_{dc} = V_n = 2\Delta_{Nb}/en$, where $\Delta_{Nb}$ is the superconducting gap of the Nb contacts and $n$ is the sub-harmonic order). The sub-harmonic order, $n$, exhibits a $V_g$-dependence and reaches $n = 13$ for $V_g = 40$ V, indicating the high transparency of the Nb contacts to TINR. Our observations pave the way toward exploring the possibilities of using TINR in topologically protected devices that may host exotic physics such as Majorana fermions.

The electrical properties of Au/PtOEP/p-Si/Al and Au/PtOEP/n-Si/Al devices were studied in terms of current–voltage I–V characteristics at different temperatures ranging from 308 to 388 K. The two diodes were fabricated with the same qualifications. They showed a rectification behavior. The conduction mechanisms at forward and reverse bias and diode parameters as a function of the temperature for these devices were determined and discussed. The variation of the C −2–V characteristics for two diodes exhibited a straight line fit which supports the abrupt diode type. The interface state density N ss was determined from the I–V and C–V data using Card and Rhoderick’s model. Also, the impedance spectroscopy plots for the two diodes and suitable equivalent circuit model were established to evaluate the details of interface carrier transfer and recombination processes.

The [FeFe]-hydrogenase CpHydA from Clostridium perfringens was immobilized by adsorption on anatase TiO2 electrodes for clean hydrogen production. The immobilized enzyme proved to perform direct electron transfer to and from the electrode surface and catalyses both H2 oxidation (H2 uptake) and H2 production (H2 evolution) with a current density for H2 evolution of about 2 mA cm(-1). The TiO2/CpHydA bioelectrode remained active for several days upon storage and when a reducing potential was set, H2 evolution occurred with a mean Faradaic efficiency of 98%. The high turnover frequency of H2 production and the tight coupling of electron transfer, resulting in a Faradaic efficiency close to 100%, support the exploitation of the novel TiO2/CpHydA stationary electrode as a powerful device for H2 production.