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The electrical performance of stretchable electronic inks degrades as they undergo cyclic deformation during use, posing a major challenge to their reliability. The experimental characterization of ink fatigue behavior can be a time-consuming process, and models allowing accurate resistance evolution and life estimates are needed. Here, a model is proposed for determining the electrical resistance evolution during cyclic loading of a screen-printed composite conductive ink. The model relies on two input specimen-characteristic curves, assumes a constant rate of normalized resistance increase for a given strain amplitude, and incorporates the effects of both mean strain and strain amplitude. The model predicts the normalized resistance evolution of a cyclic test with reasonable accuracy. The mean strain effects are secondary compared to strain amplitude, except for large strain amplitudes (>10%) and mean strains (>30%). A trace width effect is found for the fatigue behavior of 1 mm vs 2 mm wide specimens. The input specimen-characteristic curves are trace-width dependent, and the model predicts a decrease inN_fby a factor of up to 2 for the narrower trace width, in agreement with the experimental results. Two different methods are investigated to generate the rate of normalized resistance increase curves: uninterrupted fatigue tests (requiring ∼6–7more »cyclic tests), and a single interrupted cyclic test (requiring only one specimen tested at progressively higher strain amplitude values). The results suggest that the initial decrease in normalized resistance rate only occurs for specimens with no prior loading. The minimum-rate curve is therefore recommended for more accurate fatigue estimates.

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The limited short circuit (SC) capability of GaN high-electron-mobility transistors (HEMTs) has become a critical concern for their adoption in many power applications. Recently, breakthrough SC robustness was demonstrated in a 650-V rated vertical GaN Fin-JFET with a short circuit withstanding time of over 30 µs at 400 V bus voltage (V BUS ), showing great potential for automotive powertrain and grid applications. This work presents the first study on the repetitive SC robustness of this GaN Fin-JFET at a V BUS of 400 V and 600 V. The GaN Fin-JFET survived 30,000 cycles of 400 V, 10 µs SC stresses without any degradation in device characteristics. At a 600 V V BUS , it survived over 8,000 cycles of 10 µs SC stresses before an open-circuit failure. This open-circuit failure signature allows the GaN Fin-JFET to retain its avalanche breakdown voltage and is highly desirable for system safety. Besides, an increase in gate leakage was observed during the 600 V repetitive test, which can be used as a precursor to predict device failure. As far as we know, this is the first report of an exceptional repetitive SC robustness in a power transistor at a V BUS close tomore »its rated voltage.« less

GaN high-electron-mobility transistors (HEMTs) are known to have no avalanche capability and insufficient short-circuit robustness. Recently, breakthrough avalanche and short-circuit capabilities have been experimentally demonstrated in a vertical GaN fin-channel junction-gate field-effect transistor (Fin-JFET), which shows a good promise for using GaN devices in automotive powertrains and electric grids. In particular, GaN Fin-JFETs demonstrated good short-circuit capability at avalanche breakdown voltage (BV AVA ), with a failure-to-open-circuit (FTO) signature. This work presents a comprehensive device physics-based study of the GaN Fin-JFET under short-circuit conditions, particularly at a bus voltage close to BV AVA . Mixed-mode electrothermal TCAD simulations were performed to understand the carrier dynamics, electric field distributions, and temperature profiles in the Fin-JFET under short-circuit and avalanche conditions. The results provide important physical references to understand the unique robustness of the vertical GaN Fin-JFET under the concurrence of short-circuit and avalanche as well as its desirable FTO signature.

With the rapid growth of online learning at community colleges and the low course completion and performance associated with it, there has been increasing need to identify effective ways to address the challenges in online teaching and learning at this particular setting. Based on open-ended survey responses from 105 instructors and 365 students from multiple community colleges in a state, this study examined instructors’ and students’ perceptions of effective and ineffective instructional practices and changes needed in online coursework. By combining structural topic modelling techniques with human coding, we identified instructional practices that were perceived by both instructors and students as effective in supporting online learning as well as ineffective and needing improvement. Moreover, we identified a handful of misalignments between instructors and students in their perceptions of online teaching, including course workload and effective ways to communicate.

We present the first theoretical and experimental evidence of time-resolved dynamic x-ray magnetic linear dichroism (XMLD) measurements of GHz magnetic precessions driven by ferromagnetic resonance in both metallic and insulating thin films. Our findings show a dynamic XMLD in both ferromagnetic Ni₈₀Fe₂₀and ferrimagnetic Ni_0.65Zn_0.35Al_0.8Fe_1.2O₄for different measurement geometries and linear polarizations. A detailed analysis of the observed signals reveals the importance of separating different harmonic components in the dynamic signal in order to identify the XMLD response without the influence of competing contributions. In particular, RF magnetic resonance elicits a large dynamic XMLD response at the fundamental frequency under experimental geometries with oblique x-ray polarization. The geometric range and experimental sensitivity can be improved by isolating the 2ωFourier component of the dynamic response. These results illustrate the potential of dynamic XMLD and represent a milestone accomplishment toward the study of GHz spin dynamics in systems beyond ferromagnetic order.