A research paper by UM scholars has been ranked the No 1 downloaded in IEEE Journal of Solid-State Circuits
A research paper by scholars from the University of Macau (UM) has been ranked the No 1 downloaded paper in the month of October, 2015, in the IEEE Journal of Solid-State Circuits, the most prestigious journal in the field of microelectronics. The paper, entitled ‘Nested-Current-Mirror Rail-to-Rail-Output Single-Stage Amplifier with Enhancements of DC Gain, GBW and Slew Rate’, is co-authored by Dr Yan Zushu, a graduate from the State Key Laboratory of Analog and Mixed-Signal VLSI and the Faculty of Science and Technology; UM faculty members Prof Mak Pui-In, Dr Law Man-Kay, Vice Rector (Research) Prof Rui Martins; and Prof Franco Maloberti, an honorary professor at UM. According to the record of the IEEE, there are currently more than 3,800,000 papers in the IEEE Xplore, a digital database that makes available all IEEE publications to IEEE members. The database provides publications in electrical engineering, computer science and electronics. Each month, the database generates a list of top 100 downloaded papers, which represent the most significant topics. The research paper from UM was the only JSSC paper to make the October list and was ranked No 48 on the list. ‘The ranking is significant. “Most downloaded” means the paper has generated great interest from researchers and engineers worldwide,’ says Prof Mak. ‘The ranking shows once again that our state key lab not only produces excellent research results that keep attracting the world’s attention, but also produces excellent graduates to contribute to the development of IC in the world.’ The first author of the paper is Dr Yan Zushu, who is a graduate of UM. Dr Yan currently works as a senior engineer at the US-based company Qualcomm Inc, which is the world’s No 1 wireless chip provider. Yan was also the first student from Macao to receive the 2014 Predoctoral Achievement Award from the IEEE Solid-State Circuits Society. The paper concerns a high-performance, single-stage amplifier highly suitable for next-generation, ultra-low-power Liquid Crystal Displays (LCD) in portable and wearable devices. The team’s research results show that this high-performance, single-stage amplifier outperforms even state-of-the-art two-stage and three-stage amplifiers. The paper, which is now included in the JSSC, is widely referred in the academia and industry.