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Abstract The recharge oscillator (RO) is a simple mathematical model of the El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO). In its original form, it is based on two ordinary differential equations that describe the evolution of equatorial Pacific sea surface temperature and oceanic heat content. These equations make use of physical principles that operate in nature: (a) the air‐sea interaction loop known as the Bjerknes feedback, (b) a delayed oceanic feedback arising from the slow oceanic response to winds within the equatorial band, (c) state‐dependent stochastic forcing from fast wind variations known as westerly wind bursts (WWBs), and (d) nonlinearities such as those related to deep atmospheric convection and oceanic advection. These elements can be combined at different levels of RO complexity. The RO reproduces ENSO key properties in observations and climate models: its amplitude, dominant timescale, seasonality, and warm/cold phases amplitude asymmetry. We discuss the RO in the context of timely research questions. First, the RO can be extended to account for ENSO pattern diversity (with events that either peak in the central or eastern Pacific). Second, the core RO hypothesis that ENSO is governed by tropical Pacific dynamics is discussed from the perspective of influences from other basins. Finally, we discuss the RO relevance for studying ENSO response to climate change, and underline that accounting for ENSO diversity, nonlinearities, and better links of RO parameters to the long term mean state are important research avenues. We end by proposing important RO‐based research problems. 

Abstract Surface performance is critically influenced by topography in virtually all real-world applications. The current standard practice is to describe topography using one of a few industry-standard parameters. The most commonly reported number is$$R$$ $R$a, the average absolute deviation of the height from the mean line (at some, not necessarily known or specified, lateral length scale). However, other parameters, particularly those that are scale-dependent, influence surface and interfacial properties; for example the local surface slope is critical for visual appearance, friction, and wear. The present Surface-Topography Challenge was launched to raise awareness for the need of a multi-scale description, but also to assess the reliability of different metrology techniques. In the resulting international collaborative effort, 153 scientists and engineers from 64 research groups and companies across 20 countries characterized statistically equivalent samples from two different surfaces: a “rough” and a “smooth” surface. The results of the 2088 measurements constitute the most comprehensive surface description ever compiled. We find wide disagreement across measurements and techniques when the lateral scale of the measurement is ignored. Consensus is established through scale-dependent parameters while removing data that violates an established resolution criterion and deviates from the majority measurements at each length scale. Our findings suggest best practices for characterizing and specifying topography. The public release of the accumulated data and presented analyses enables global reuse for further scientific investigation and benchmarking. 

FinFET SRAM cells suffer from front-end wearout mechanisms, such as bias temperature instability and hot carrier injection. In this paper, we built a library based on deep neural networks (DNNs) to speed up the process of simulating FinFET SRAM cells' degradation. This library consists of two parts. The first part calculates circuit configuration parameters, wearout parameters, and the other input variables for the DNN. The second part calls for the DNN to determine the shifted circuit performance metrics. A DNN with more than 99% accuracy is achieved with training data from standard Hspice simulations. The correctness of the DNN is also validated in the presence of input variations. With this library, the simulation speed is one hundred times faster than Hspice simulations. We can display the cell's degradation under various configurations easily and quickly. Also, the DNN-based library can help protect intellectual property without showing users the circuit's details. 

We build a modelling and simulation flow to study how the front-end wearout mechanisms affect the FinFET SRAM soft error rate. This flow incorporates process variation, such as device dimensions, and degradation parameters. We first checked the impact of process parameters on critical charge and soft error rate. It is found that a larger gate length and higher temperature help us obtain better reliability for a FinFET SRAM cell under radiation, with a higher Qcrit and lower SER. Then, the time-dependent shift of Qcrit and SER is displayed. Within its range between 0% and 50%, a lower duty ratio leads to worse reliability due to soft errors. Moreover, a higher transition rate causes worse reliability.