Ultrasound-driven microbubble (MB) activity is used in therapeutic applications such as blood clot dissolution and targeted drug delivery. The safety and performance of these technologies are linked to the type and distribution of MB activities produced within the targeted area, but controlling and monitoring these activities in vivo and in real time has proven to be difficult. As therapeutic pulses are often milliseconds long, MB monitoring currently requires a separate transducer used in a passive reception mode. Here, we present a simple, inexpensive, integrated setup, in which a focused single-element transducer can perform ultrasound therapy and monitoring simultaneously. MBs were made to flow through a vessel-mimicking tube, placed within the transducer's focus, and were sonicated with therapeutic pulses (peak rarefactional pressure: 75-827 kPa, pulse lengths: [Formula: see text] and 20 ms). The MB-seeded acoustic emissions were captured using the same transducer. The received signals were separated from the therapeutic signal with a hybrid coupler and a high-pass filter. We discriminated the MB-generated cavitation signal from the primary acoustic field and characterized MB behavior in real time. The simplicity and versatility of our circuit could make existing single-element therapeutic transducers also act as cavitation detectors, allowing the production of compact therapeutic systems with real time monitoring capabilities.

Tackling issues of implantation-caused defects and contamination, this paper presents a new complementary metal–oxide–semiconductor (CMOS) image sensor (CIS) pixel design concept based on a native epitaxial layer for photon detection, charge storage, and charge transfer to the sensing node. To prove this concept, a backside illumination (BSI), p-type, 2-µm-pitch pixel was designed. It integrates a vertical pinned photo gate (PPG), a buried vertical transfer gate (TG), sidewall capacitive deep trench isolation (CDTI), and backside oxide–nitride–oxide (ONO) stack. The designed pixel was fabricated with variations of key parameters for optimization. Testing results showed the following achievements: 13,000 h+ full-well capacity with no lag for charge transfer, 80% quantum efficiency (QE) at 550-nm wavelength, 5 h+/s dark current at 60 °C, 2 h+ temporal noise floor, and 75 dB dynamic range. In comparison with conventional pixel design, the proposed concept could improve CIS performance.

Hyperdoped or supersaturated semiconductors are gathering the attention of industry and research institutions due to their sub-bandgap photon absorption properties. In this study, two fast and non-invasive techniques, Time-Resolved Reflectometry (TRR) and Haze Measurements, are applied to infer the melt and solidification regimes of Ti supersaturated 300 mm silicon wafers, aiming to ease the characterization process towards high volume manufacturing of supersaturated materials. Ti supersaturation is attained by using an ion implantation process with a dose 3x1015 cm-2, which amorphizes the surface. Crystalline quality is then recovered by means of a XeCl UV Nanosecond Laser Annealing (NLA) process. TRR technique is used to determine two different melting and solidification processes of the laser annealed implanted surface. A first brief, low temperature peak (α peak) is associated with the melting process of the amorphized surface, followed by a longer peak/plateau (β1 peak/plateau), linked to the melting process of the crystalline phase below the amorphized layer, at sufficiently high laser fluences. Haze technique is used to indirectly measure the crystalline quality after the solidification process of the laser-annealed surface. Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM) measurements are used to obtain the surface roughness value and cross-section HRTEM micrographs to check crystalline quality.