Browsing by Author "John Muth, Committee Member"

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Analysis and Design Considerations for AC Coupled Interconnection Systems
(2005-03-29) Mick, Stephen; Paul D. Franzon, Committee Chair; John Muth, Committee Member; Rhett Davis, Committee Member; Jacqueline Krim, Committee Member
As the process technologies for microelectronic integrated circuits continue to improve, both the amount of integrated, on-chip functionality and the number of required off-chip interconnections (I/O) will continue to increase. These I/O will not only become more numerous but also will need to be packed densely and be capable of operating both with high bandwidth and low power. Packaging technology research is aimed at increasing I/O density and circuit research is underway to improve the bandwidth and power performance of I/Os. Advances are being made in each of these areas, but industrial roadmaps predict that these advances will not keep pace with the needed improvements. The research in this dissertation addresses this widening technological gap. The central thesis in this work hinges on the recognition that arrays of densely packed, low-power, high-bandwidth I/Os can be created if the physical structure of each I/O is optimized for the type of information it must transmit. For example, the DC component of digital signals carries no information. Instead, digital signals contain information at frequencies well above DC (where the exact frequency spectrum of the information depends upon the edge rate of the data transitions). This can be exploited by recognizing that AC information can be transmitted across a boundary with non-contacting structures such as two plates of a capacitor or two coupled inductors. An I/O array can then be built with non-contacting structures for AC signals and direct contacts such as solder bumps only where DC signal transfers are needed. In this way, AC signal paths are freed from the mechanical constraints of direct, contacting structures and both the compliance and rework problems encountered in other high density interconnect technologies can be alleviated. Capacitive and Inductive AC Coupled Interconnections are extensively analyzed and measured in this work and presented as a means to provide an array of sub-100 micrometer pitched, low-power, multi-gigabit per second per pin interconnections. A packaging structure that enables AC Coupled Interconnections is also presented.
The Chemistry and Surface Microstructure of Si-Based Substrates and their Effect on the Evolution of the Microstructures of III-Nitride Films Grown via Metalorganic Vapor Phase Epitaxy
(2005-03-31) Reitmeier, Zachary J; Robert F. Davis, Committee Chair; Zlatko Sitar, Committee Member; Mark Johnson, Committee Member; John Muth, Committee Member
The present research was undertaken with the goals of understanding the evolution of defects and strain in heteroepitaxial AlN and GaN films deposited via metalorganic vapor phase epitaxy and minimizing those defects through manipulation of the substrate. As observed with atomic force microscopy (AFM), AlN initially grew in the form of flat-topped islands on as-received SiC substrates. Threading dislocations (TDs) observed in transmission electron microscopy (TEM) images initiated at the AlN/SiC interface as the result of defects at the surface of the mechanically polished substrate and/or condensation of point defects. GaN initially grew in the Stranski-Krastanov mode on AlN/SiC before transitioning to the dislocation-mediated step flow mode. The TDs in GaN resulted from the propagation of the TDs present in the AlN layer. The biaxial strain in the GaN layers varied with buffer layer material and layer thickness yet all samples investigated remained in residual compression due to incomplete relaxation of the coherent strain. The presence of strain during the initial growth of Al[subscript x]Ga[subscript 1-x]N layers directly on as-received SiC also resulted in phase-separated regions of Al-rich and Al-poor film. A high temperature hydrogen etch was then used to remove mechanical polishing scratches from the SiC substrates. Subsequently deposited AlN layers featured reduced pit density and the elimination of scratch-induced undulations. GaN layers deposited with AlN buffer layers on these substrates resulted in slightly reduced TD densities as observed by AFM, TEM, and high resolution X-ray diffraction (HRXRD). Regions of dramatically reduced dislocation densities were observed by HRXRD, TEM, and cathodoluminescence for GaN layers on stripe-patterned Si substrates. However, long growth times resulted in outdiffusion of Si from the substrate and subsequent film roughening. Finally, it was demonstrated that the presence of ammonia during heating of GaN templates to the growth temperature for homoepitaxy resulted in removal of carbon- and oxygen-based contaminants from the template surface.
Competitive Relative Performance and Fitness Selection for Evolutionary Robotics
(2003-05-21) Nelson, Andrew Lincoln; Edward Grant, Committee Chair; Mark White, Committee Member; Paul Ro, Committee Member; Wesley E Snyder, Committee Member; John Muth, Committee Member
Evolutionary Robotics (ER) is a field of research that applies evolutionary computing methods to the automated design and synthesis of behavioral robotics controllers. In the general case, reinforcement learning (RL) using high-level task performance feedback is applied to the evolution of controllers for autonomous mobile robots. This form of RL learning is required for the evolution of complex and non-trivial behaviors because a direct error-feedback signal is generally not available. Only the high-level behavior or task is known, not the complex sensor-motor signal mappings that will generate that behavior. Most work in the field has used evolutionary neural computing methods. Over the course of the preceding decade, ER research has been largely focused on proof-of-concept experiments. Such work has demonstrated both the evolvablility of neural network controllers and the feasibility of implementation of those evolved controllers on real robots. However, these proof-of-concept results leave important questions unanswered. In particular, no ER work to date has shown that it is possible to evolve complex controllers in the general case. The research described in this work addresses issues relevant to the extension of ER to generalized automated behavioral robotics controller synthesis. In particular, we focus on fitness selection function specification. The case is made that current methods of fitness selection represent the primary factor limiting the further development of ER. We formulate a fitness function that accommodates the Bootstrap Problem during early evolution, but that limits human bias in selection later in evolution. In addition, we apply ER methods to evolve networks that have far more inputs, and are of a much greater complexity than those used in other ER work. We focus on the evolution of robot controllers for the competitive team game Capture the Flag. Games are played in a variety of maze environments. The robots use processed video data requiring 150 or more neural network inputs for sensing of their environment. The evolvable artificial neural network (ANN) controllers are of a general variable-size architecture that allows for arbitrary connectivity. Resulting evolved ANN controllers contain on the order of 5000 weights. The evolved controllers are tested in competitions of 240 games against hand-coded knowledge-based controllers. Results show that evolved controllers are competitive with the knowledge-based controllers and can win a modest majority of games in a large tournament in a challenging world configuration.
Development of an Internet Addressable Pneumatically Controlled Instrument for Applying Strain to Cells In-Vitro
(2006-06-14) Livingston, Frederick Jerard; Edward Grant, Committee Chair; Ola Harrysson, Committee Member; John Muth, Committee Member
Mechanical stimulation of tissue cells is a popular technique used by tissue engineering researchers to stimulate cell growth. This research requires an instrument that applies in-vitro compression and tension to individual cells, through mechanical loading. The mechanical load in the research reported on here is generated using a vacuum system under computer control. The vacuum system consists of a pneumatic valve that is proportionally controlled from a single board computer, and a pressure transducer to monitor the waveform of the applied mechanical loading. Because the computer control is based on a single-board computer, the mechanical loading of cells can be carried remotely using a network environment and a dedicated IP address. The system is a good example of a smart mechatronic system. The research and development was carried out with support from Flexcell International, a North Carolina based biotechnology company.
Electronic Textile-Based Sensors and Systems for Long-Term Health Monitoring
(2008-07-21) Merritt, Carey Reid; Edward Grant, Committee Chair; H. Troy Nagle, Committee Member; Behnam Pourdeyhimi, Committee Member; John Muth, Committee Member; John Wilson, Committee Member
Personalized long-term health monitoring has the potential to improve medicine's capabilities for diagnosing and correctly treating diseases at an early stage. Recently, progress has been made towards producing clothing that is suitable for such long-term monitoring. This work first reviews the current electronic textile based sensors that are used to measure two vital healthcare parameters, ECG and respiration. The techniques used for designing and fabricating these sensors are discussed and summarized. Furthermore, recommendations are proposed in regards to the development of an unobtrusive, wireless health monitoring garment. The second part of this research involved designing and fabricating two versions of fabric based active electrodes to provide a solution for long-term ECG monitoring clothing. The first version of active electrode involved attaching surface mountable components directly to a textile screen printed circuit using polymer thick film techniques. The second version involved attaching a significantly smaller active electrode interposer board to a simplified electronic textile circuit. Results from ECG tests on the active electrodes indicate that the performance of these new devices is comparable to commercial Ag⁄AgCl electrodes. The interposer based active electrodes were even found capable of surviving a five cycle washing test. This research also explores the potential for using capacitive sensing to serve as an inexpensive method for long-term respiration sensing. Two capacitive sensors were designed and fabricated for detecting chest or abdominal circumference changes. These sensors gave good linearity, sensitivity, and resolution. Respiration measurements obtained with these new sensors that were implemented into a prototype belt show that they are capable of measuring respiration rate and possibly lung function parameters. Finally this research presented a new modular wireless sensor node (MWSN) system for health monitoring clothing applications. The applications for this research involved integrating the MWSN into a custom designed ECG belt, a capacitive sensor respiration belt and an activity patch. Results obtained from these applications demonstrate that the MWSN is capable of interfacing with a diverse selection of health monitoring sensors while maintaining signal fidelity.
Forward-Error Correction Coding for Underwater Free-Space Optical Communication
(2009-08-18) Everett, Jared Scott; John Muth, Committee Member; Brian Hughes, Committee Chair; Keith Townsend, Committee Member
Gallium Nitride (GaN) Heterogeneous Source Drain MOSFET
(2008-05-18) Ma, Lei; John Muth, Committee Member; Leda Lunardi, Committee Member; Mark Johnson, Committee Member; Doug Barlage, Committee Chair
Growth and Characterization of GaN and AlGaN Thin Films and Heterostructures and the Associated Development and Evaluation of Ultraviolet Light Emitting Diodes
(2005-06-28) Park, Ji-Soo; John Muth, Committee Member; Mark Johnson, Committee Member; Robert F. Davis, Committee Chair; Robert Nemanich, Committee Member
AlGaN-based thin film heterostructures have been grown and fabricated into ultraviolet light emitting diodes with and without p-type and/or n-type AlGaN carrier-blocking layers at the top and the bottom of the quantum wells, respectively, and having the principal emission at 353 nm. The highest values of this peak intensity and light output power were measured in the devices containing p-type carrier-blocking layers. Growth of an n-type carrier-blocking layer had an adverse effect on these device characteristics. A broad peak centered at ~540nm exhibited yellow luminescence and was present in the spectra acquired from all the devices. This peak is attributed to absorption of the ultraviolet emission by and re-emission from the p-GaN and/or to the luminescence from the AlGaN within quantum wells by current injection. Individual AlxGa1-xN films (x<0<1) have been grown on Si- and C-terminated 6H-SiC{0001} substrates and characterized for electron emission applications. The large range in the values of x was achieved by changing the fraction of Al in the gas phase from 0 to 0.45. The ionized donor concentration in the n-type, Si-doped AlxGa1-xN films decreased as the mole fraction of Al was increased due to the reduction in the donor energy level and compensation. The use of the SiH4 flow rate, which yields a Si concentration of ~1E19 cm-3 in GaN, established the upper limit of the mole fraction of Al wherein n-type doping could be achieved at ~0.61. The electron affinity of the Si-doped Al0.61Ga0.39N films was as low as 0.1 eV. Increasing the Si doping concentration in AlN films to as high as 1E21cm-3 caused slight degradation in crystal perfection. No difference was found in the Al core level binding energies between undoped and Si-doped AlN films. The results of XPS and UPS experiments showed that the work function of N-polar AlN films was 0.6 eV lower than that of Al-polar films.
Molecular Electronic Memories
(2006-03-27) Amsinck, Christian Johannes; Paul Franzon, Committee Chair; Veena Misra, Committee Member; John Muth, Committee Member; Gregory Parsons, Committee Member
The feasibility of building large memories using molecular electronic devices with bistable conductance-state memory has been investigated. A novel fabrication method for twoterminal molecular memory devices that is integrateable into large-scale arrays while avoiding top-contact evaporation on a molecular monolayer has been developed. A sacrificial layer underneath the top contact metal is wet-etched to create free-standing cantilevers in aqueous solution and a self-assembled monolayer is formed on the underside of the cantilever. Subsequent atmospheric drying causes the freestanding structure to become permanently adhered to the substrate, resulting in a two-terminal molecular structure. This device has been investigated with alkanethiol monolayers as a proof-ofconcept, and the expected decrease in current with increasing chain length is observed. The measured current density in control devices without molecules is also consistent with models of loaded cantilevers. Previously characterized molecules exhibiting memory behavior were also investigated and demonstrated bistable memory effects similar to earlier observations. The scalability of such bistable molecular memory devices was analyzed from a circuits perspective, and the impact of different system parameters was quantified. It is necessary to build large arrays with at least several hundred molecular memory cells along each dimension, in order to prevent peripheral circuitry from dominating the area. It is quantitatively shown how this requirement constrains the minimum allowable forward⁄reverse-bias rectification ratio of the molecular devices, as well as the minimal on⁄off ratio of the two molecular conductance states. The parasitic wiring impedance is negligible in the case of metallic interconnect, but the impedance of currently available molecular wires makes large-scale all-molecular arrays infeasible.
Novel Nanostructured Thin Film Heterostructures: Growth, Nanoscale Characterization and Properties
(2006-08-08) Chugh, Amit; Nadia Elmasry, Committee Member; Jagdish Narayan, Committee Chair; Ronald Scattergood, Committee Member; John Muth, Committee Member
During my graduate study, I have been involved in the growth of new nano heterostructures grown by Pulsed Laser Deposition and by Laser MBE with the emphasis on understanding the thin film growth process by a new paradigm of Domain Matching Epitaxy (DME) and to integrate them on substrates like silicon, sapphire and new metallic substrates like Ni RaBiTS with exciting technological applications. The DME involves matching of integral multiples of lattice planes (diffracting as well as nondiffracting) between the film and the substrate, and this matching could be different in different directions. The idea of matching planes is derived from the basic fact that during thin film growth lattice relaxation involves generation of dislocations whose Burgers vectors correspond to missing or extra planes, rather than lattice constants. In the DME framework, the conventional lattice matching epitaxy (LME) becomes a special case where matching of lattice constants results from matching of lattice planes with a relatively small misfit of less than 7-8%. In large lattice mismatch systems, epitaxial growth of thin films is possible by matching of domains where integral multiples of lattice planes match across the interface. The work done in my doctoral study is divided into two main segments, a) Growth of layered nanostructures and b) growth of nanostructured composite thin films. The three systems studied under the first segment are 1) Growth of epitaxial self-aligned insulating films on metals (Cu) and its integration with Si (100). 2) Growth and integration of LSMO with Si (100). 3) Growth of Si on Ni substrates (highly textured) with TiN as a buffer layer. The heterostructures studied under the second part are 1) Role of Self-assembled Gold Nanodots in Improving the Electrical and Optical Characteristics of Zinc Oxide Films and 2) Growth of high quality epitaxial ZnO-Pt Nanocomposite and ZnO/Pt, Nanolayer Structures on Sapphire (0001). The epitaxial growth of these heterostructures was carried out by Pulsed laser deposition and laser MBE. The epitaxial relationships are given in each case are shown to be due to domain matching epitaxy. X-Ray diffraction and Transmission Electron Microscopy studies confirm the relationship between film and substrate. Also, electrical and optical measurements were done, in order to study the change in these properties.
Polarity Control in GaN Epilayers Grown by Metalorganic Chemical Vapor Deposition
(2008-08-21) Mita, Seiji; John Muth, Committee Member; Gerd Duscher, Committee Member; Ramon Collazo, Committee Member; Zlatko Sitar, Committee Chair
Polarity control of gallium nitride (GaN) on c-plane sapphire substrate was studied via low pressure Metalorganic Chemical Vapor Deposition (MOCVD). Under mass-transport-limited growth regime with a given process supersaturation, the polarities of GaN thin films (i.e. gallium (Ga) and nitrogen (N)-polarities) depended on specific treatments of the sapphire substrate prior to GaN deposition, in addition, identical growth rates for both polar films were obtained. This ability made the fabrication of lateral polar junction (LPJ) GaN structures possible. New designs of novel device structures utilizing the resulting polarity control scheme were developed. N-polar films were consistently obtained after exposing a H2-annealed sapphire substrate to an ammonia atmosphere at temperature above 950°C. Ga-polar films were obtained either by preventing any exposure of the substrate to ammonia prior to deposition or by depositing the film on a properly annealed low temperature aluminum nitride nucleation layer (LT-AlN NL) deposited on a previously ammonia annealed sapphire substrate. As-grown Ga-polar films were generally insulating and smooth surface morphology while N-polar films exhibited n-type conductivity with carrier concentration approaching 1x1019 cm-3 and a rougher surface morphology. Following the established polarity control scheme for GaN films, LPJ structures consisting Ga-polar and N-polar domains side-by-side on a single sapphire wafer were achieved by utilizing a prior patterned AlN⁄bare sapphire template. The two regions were separated by an inversion domain boundary (IDB), which did not hinder the current flow across it, i.e. no energy barrier for the charge carriers. This in principle showed the possibility for the fabrication of lateral junctions and lateral based devices within the GaN technology exploiting polar doping selectivity. Understanding the doping selectivity of the two different polar domains allowed us to fabricate a lateral p⁄n junction in GaN by the simultaneous growth of the p- and n-type regions. Identifying the basic characteristics of a p⁄n junction demonstrated that the fabricated structure was a functional p/n diode. For GaN based junctions, these characteristics were: current rectification, electroluminescence and the photovoltaic effect under UV excitation.
Process and Properties of Nitride-based Thin Film Heterostructures
(2003-11-05) Wang, Haiyan; Jagdish Narayan, Committee Chair; J. Michael Rigsbee, Committee Member; Carl C. Koch, Committee Member; John Muth, Committee Member
The goals of this work were to synthesize nitride-based thin film heterostructures by Pulsed Laser Deposition, study the structural, mechanical, electrical and optical properties of these heterostructures and establish structure-property relations for these materials in order to further improve their properties and design new structures. Domain matching epitaxy was explored in most of these heterostructures and studied in detail for each case. Mechanical and electrical properties of TiN as a function of microstructure varying from nanocrystalline to single crystal TiN films deposited on (100) silicon substrates were investigated. By varying the substrate temperature from 25°C to 700°C during PLD, the microstructure of TiN films changed from nanocrystalline (having uniform grain size of 8 nm) to a single crystal epitaxial film on the silicon (100) substrate. The hardness of TiN films decreased with decreasing grain size. The dependence of resistivity of TiN as a function of the substrate temperature is discussed and correlated with hardness results. High-quality epitaxial B1 NaCl-structured TaN films were deposited on Si(100) and Si(111) substrates with TiN as buffer layer, using pulsed laser deposition. Our method exploits the concept of lattice-matching epitaxy between TiN and TaN and domain-matching epitaxy between TiN and silicon. XRD, TEM, and STEM experiments confirmed the single-crystalline nature of the films with cube-on-cube epitaxy. The stoichiometry of TaN films was determined to be nitrogen deficient (TaN[subscript 0.95]) by RBS. Resistivity of the TaN films was found to be 220μΩ-cm at room temperature with temperature coefficient of resistivity of -0.005K⁻¹. Diffusivity of copper in single-crystal (NaCl-structured) and polycrystalline TaN thin films grown by PLD was investigated. The polycrystalline TaN films were grown directly on Si(100), while single-crystal films were grown with TiN buffer layers. The diffusion distances in epitaxial TaN are found to be about 5nm at 650°C for 30 min annealing. Cu diffusion in polycrystalline TaN thin films is found to be nonuniform with enhanced diffusivities along the grain boundary. By PLD, TiN and TaN targets were arranged in a special configuration that they can be ablated in a sequential manner to obtain TiN-TaN alloy or TiN/TaN superlattice structure. The 60% TaN resulted in superlattice of TaN(3nm) /TiN(2nm), while 30% and 70% TaN generated uniform TaXTi1-XN alloys. TiN buffer layers were deposited first to achieve those epitaxial binary components. XRD and TEM analysis showed the epitaxial nature of these films. Microstructure and uniformity of the superlattice and alloy structures were studied by TEM and STEM. Nanoindentation results suggested high hardness and future hard coating applications for these TiN-TaN composites. Four point probe electrical resistivity measurements and Cu diffusion characteristics study prove that TiN-TaN binary components provide a superior diffusion barrier for copper. Uniform AlxTi1-xN alloys (x up to 70%) and highly aligned TiN/AlN superlattices were deposited by PLD. Microstructure and uniformity for the superlattice structures and alloys were studied by TEM and STEM. Nanoindentation results suggested high hardness for these new structures and four point probe electrical resistivity measurements showed overall insulating behavior for both alloys and superlattices. The eptaxial wurtzite AlN thin films were grown on (0001) &alpha-Al2O3 substrates by PLD. XRD and SAD in TEM revealed the epitaxial growth of AlN on (0001) α -Al2O3 substrate. These AlN films were post-deposition annealed at 1300°C for 30mins. Bright field and dark field TEM and transmittance spectra for the samples before and after annealing prove the annealing can effectively improve the quality of the film. Post-deposition annealing for AlN on α-Al2O3 substrates could be a very promising procedure for high quality optical device fabrications. The eptaxial wurtzite AlN thin films were grown on (111) Si substrates by PLD and Laser-MBE. XRD and SAD in TEM revealed the epitaxial growth of AlN on Si(111) substrate. The interface structure and growth mechanism were studied by high-resolution TEM. Fourier filtered image of cross-sectional AlN/Si(111) samples from both Si (112) zone axes revealed the domain matching epitaxy of 4:5 ratio between a[subscript Si(110)] and a[subscript AlN(2110)].
Rapid Protoyping of a Single-Channel Electroencephalogram-Based Brain-Computer Interface
(2006-11-22) Adcock, David Brooks, Jr; John Muth, Committee Member; Lianne Cartee, Committee Co-Chair; Edward Grant, Committee Chair
This work describes the design, construction and implementation of a single-channel, electroencephalogram-based (EEG) brain-computer interface (BCI) for the prediction of a single-degree-of-freedom kinematic variable. The system employs a custom-built EEG amplifier to increase noise rejection and decrease the overall cost of the BCI. The EEG amplifier output is read into Matlab synchronously with an analog elbow-angle measurement taken from the test subject's left arm. Sampling is done at 300Hz using a 12-bit National Instruments PCI-6025E data acquisition card. Data is software filtered, processed, and logged in Matlab in real-time on a standard PC. At the end of an initial data acquisition period, a feed-forward backpropagation artificial neural network (ANN) is briefly trained off-line to predict subject elbow angle based solely on recorded EEG activity. Upon resuming recording, the system is accurately able to predict the test subject's elbow angle in real-time. If employed in a robotic system, this BCI would have applications in rehabilitation robotics, search and rescue, tele-robotics and exoskeleton research.
Simulation of Digital Circuits based on Amorphous Indium Gallium Oxide Thin Film Transistors.
(2010-10-29) Lothey, Shridevi; Leda Lunardi, Committee Chair; John Muth, Committee Member; William Davis, Committee Member
Stimulated Emission and Laser Action from Gallium Nitride, Aluminium Gallium Nitride, Aluminium Gallium Nitride⁄Gallium NitrideQuantum Wells and Heterostructures
(2007-11-06) Al-Ajmi, Fahed Shammakh; Veena Misra, Committee Member; Mark Johnson, Committee Member; Doug Barlage, Committee Member; John Muth, Committee Member; Robert Kolbas, Committee Chair
Stimulated emission and laser action at 77K and room temperature from GaN and AlGaN epilayers grown by metal-organic vapor chemical deposition on silicon substrates are presented. Electron-hole plasma is found to be the responsible for stimulated emission in these material at room temperature and 77K. Laser action with well developed Fabry-Perot modes from multiple bands was achieved at both temperatures from the GaN epilayer, A value of 2.9 is obtained for the effective index of refraction at room temperature. Also, stimulated emission from AlGaN⁄GaN single quantum wells and heterostructures is demonstrated at 77K and room temperature. Multiple bands exhibiting laser action are demonstrated from a 7.2 nm thick Al(0.06)Ga(0.94)N⁄GaN single quantum well at 77K and room temperature, and an effective index of refraction of 2.70 is obtained at room temperature. The shortest wavelength for laser action from an Al(0.13)Ga(0.87)NବGaN heterostructures at room temperature is also presented. Phonon-assisted stimulated emission from AlGaN⁄GaN quantum wells is first observed in this work. Laser action at 1LO down from multiple bands is demonstrated. Phonon sideband laser action is also observed without any near band edge stimulated emission at 77K.
Towards the Automation of Embryonic Stem Cell Microinjections into Blastocysts
(2009-05-18) Mattos, Leonardo Serra; Edward Grant, Committee Chair; Donald Bitzer, Committee Member; Troy Nagle, Committee Member; John Muth, Committee Member; Randy Thresher, Committee Member
The purpose of the research has been to increase the consistency and efficiency rates of blastocyst microinjections through automation. The research involved the design, implementation, and evaluation of a novel biomanipulation system that is a test-bed for applying intelligent control algorithms. The microinjection process was controlled from a computer via a joystick or by software controllers. These included real-time video processing for the acquisition of experimental data and control. Teleoperated microinjections under the control of both expert and novice operators showed that the system is effective, easy to use, and capable of eliminating the need for the extensive training of microinjection personnel. Experimental results showed that all operators obtained a microinjection success rate over 80%, demonstrating a significant improvement over the tradition manual microinjections. Furthermore, blastocysts injected using this system were more likely to develop to term, and to yield chimeras, than blastocysts injected using the traditional manual method. The experiments also highlighted common problems encountered during the blastocyst microinjection stage, allowing the design and development of effective control algorithms to guide the teleoperated and automatic microinjections. Overall, this research contributed to the full automation of blastocyst microinjection by: 1) significantly improving the microinjection process; 2) significantly improving the microinjection efficiency; 3) creating a new system design optimized for computer controlled microinjections; 4) implementing and evaluating speed-up methods that enable real-time template matching; 5) creating new algorithms to identify and analyze blastocyst images; 6) designing and conducting preliminary tests with control algorithms that automate the microinjection process.