Nicole McFarlane

Assistant Professor

Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science

University of Tennessee

865-974-5419

mcfarlane@utk.edu

Research

CMOS based Neutron Detection

We are working on CMOS based Silicon photomultiplers (SiPM) for detecting neutrons. The SiPM detectors are coupled with scintillators which output photons when impacted by neutrons. Our SiPMs can be tuned for noise and dynamic range.

CMOS based Sensor Design

Our group is interested in mixed signal circuit design techniques for various applications. Our group has recently worked on single photon avalanche diodes in standard CMOS, low noise amplifiers and potentiostat circuits for electrochemical sensing, current mode analog to digital converters, temperature sensors, pH sensors, and impedance sensors.

Biotechnology and bio-sensor design

Our group has active research in biosensors for portable and lab on chip applications. We are interested in the design and characterization of sensors for various applications including healthcare and environmental monitoring. These sensors include CMOS based sensing and novel devices such as vertically aligned carbon nanofibers and carbon nanospikes. Additionally, we have developed sensors such as heart rate and EEG monitors.

Energy and power trade-offs in mixed signal circuit design

We are interested in exploring the tradeoffs in noise and available power resources for circuit design. To accomplish this we are exploring noise models in modern processes and communication channel models of circuit systems.

Reverse engineering of Circuits

Our group has been working with researchers at ORNL to develop tools to aid in detecting malicious hardware in chips and incorporating security into biosensors.

Microfabrication and development of devices

Our group has been working on vertically aligned carbon nanofiber and carbon nanospike based biosensors. We have successfully demonstrated these sensors for electrochemical sensing and cell based impedance sensing.

Education

Nicole McFarlane received her Ph.D. from the University of Maryland, College Park in 2010 and received her bachelor's and master's degree from Howard University in 2001 and 2003 respectively. She is currently an Assistant Professor in the Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. While at the University of Tennessee she has done significant outreach and mentoring to underrepresented groups at the, high school, undergraduate, and graduate levels. She currently serves on the Biomedical and Life Science Circuits and Systems and the Sensory Systems Technical Committees and served on the Organizing Committee for ISCAS 2017. She became a senior member of the IEEE in Sep 2017. Her research interests include developing smaller, cheaper and more effective sensing systems and devices, and mathematical modelling of these systems.

Teaching

Electronic Devices: ECE 335: F10, F12, F13, F14, F15, F16, F17 

Electronic Circuits: ECE 336: S17

Biomed. Instr. & Biosensor Tech.: ECE 692: S13

Advanced Analog Electronics II: ECE 532: S11 S12 S14, S15

Publications

Journal Publications

  1. M. Habib and N. McFarlane, ``Breakdown and Optical Response of CMOS Perimeter Gated Single Photon Avalanche Diodes,'' IET Electronics Letters, vol. e-print ahead of publication, Jul 2017, (accepted).
  2. M. H. U. Habib and N. McFarlane, ``A Tunable Dynamic Range Digital Single Photon Avalanche Diode,'' IEEE Electron Device Letters, vol. 38, no. 1, pp. 60-63, Jan. 2017.
  3. Aysha S. Shanta, Khandakar A. Al Mamun, Syed K. Islam, N. McFarlane, D. Hensley, N. V. Lavrik, `` Carbon Nanotubes, Nanofibers and Nanospikes for Electrochemical Sensing: A Review,'' International Journal of High Speed Electronics and Systems, vol. 26, no. 3, pp. 1740008 - 1740020, 2017.
  4. T. C. Randall, S. K. Islam, I. Mahbub, N. McFarlane, and Y. Yu, A Low-Power, ``Reconfigurable, Pipelined ADC for Implantable Bioimpedance Measurement System with Vertically Aligned Carbon Nanofibers (VACNF) Electrodes,'' Analog Integrated Circuits and Signal Processing, pp. 1-44, 2016.
  5. Y. Yu, K. A. Al Mamun, S. K. Islam, and N. McFarlane, ``Vertically Aligned Carbon Nanofibers as Cell Impedance Sensor,'' IEEE Transactions on Nanotechnology, vol. 15, no. 6, pp. 856-861, Nov. 2016.
  6. J. Gu, M. H. U. Habib, and N. McFarlane, ``Perimeter-Gated Single-Photon Avalanche Diodes: An Information Theoretic Assessment,'' IEEE Photonics Technology Letters, vol. 28, no. 6, pp. 701-704, March, 15 2016.
  7. K. Mamun and N. McFarlane, ``Integrated Real Time Bowel Sound Detector for Artificial Pancreas Systems,'' Sensing and BioSensing Research, vol. 7, pp. 84-89, Mar 2016.
  8. K. A. Al Mamun, S, Islam, D, Hensley, and N. McFarlane, ``A Glucose Biosensor Using CMOS Potentiostat and Vertically Aligned Carbon Nanofibers,'' IEEE Transactions of Biomedical Circuits and Systems, vol. 10, no. 4, pp. 807-816, Aug. 2016.
  9. M. Dandin, M. H. U. Habib, N. McFarlane, and P. Abshire, ``Characterization of Single Photon Avalanche Diodes in a 0.5 μm Standard CMOS Process – Part 2: Equivalent Circuit Model and Geiger Mode Readout,'' IEEE Sensors Journal, vol. 16, no. 9, pp. 3075-3083, May, 2016.
  10. M. H. U. Habib, F. Quaiyum, K. Mamun, S. K. Islam, and N. McFarlane, ``Simulation and Modeling of Single Photon Avalanche Diodes,'' International Journal on High Speed Electronics and Systems, vol 24, no. 3n04, pp. 1520006 - 1520015, Dec 2015.
  11. K. A. Mamun, F. S. Tulip, K. C. MacArthur, N. McFarlane, and S. K. Islam, ``Vertically Aligned Carbon Nanofiber Based Biosensor Platform For Glucose Sensor,'' International Journal on High Speed Electronics and Systems, vol 23, no. 1n02, pp. 1450006 - 1450022, 2014.
  12. N. Nelson, S. Prakash, D. Sander, M. Dandin, A. Sarje, H. Ji, and P. A. Abshire, ``Handheld Fluorometers for Lab-on-a-Chip Applications,'' IEEE Transactions of Biomedical Circuits and Systems, vol.3, no. 2, pp. 97-107, Apr 2009.
  13. A. Khan, N. Nelson, J. A. Griffin, D. J. Smith, T. Steiner, and S. N. Mohammad, ``Nitrogen Activated Bowing Parameter of GaAs1-xNx (x$<$1\%) Obtained From Photoreflectance Spectra,'' Solid-State Electronics, vol. 48, no. 2, pp. 291-286, Feb 2004.
  14. A. Y. Polyakov, N. B. Smirnov, A. V. Govorkov, A. E. Botchkarev, N. Nelson, M. M. E. Fahmi, J. A. Griffin, A.f Khan, S. N. Mohammad, and D. K. Johnstone, ``Studies of Deep Centers in Dilute GaAsN and InGaAsN Films Grown by Molecular Beam Epitaxy,'' Solid-State Electronics, vol. 46, no. 12, pp. 2155-2160, Dec 2002.
  15. A. Y. Polyakov, N. B. Smirnov, A. V. Govorkov, A. E. Botchkarev, N. Nelson, M. M. E. Fahmi, J. A. Griffin, A. Khan, S. N. Mohammad, and D. K. Johnstone, ``Interface Properties and Deep Levels in InGaAsN/GaAs and GaAsN/GaAs Heterojunctions,'' Solid-State Electronics, Dec 2002.
  16. A. Y. Polyakov, N. B. Smirnov, A. V. Govorkov, A. E. Botchkarev, N. Nelson, M. M. E. Fahmi, J. A. Griffin, A. Khan, S. N. Mohammad,and D. K. Johnstone, ``Optical Properties and Defects in GaAsN and InGaAsN Films and Quantum Well Structures,'' Solid-State Electronics, Dec 2002.

Conference Publications

  1. M. S. A. Shawkat, and N. McFarlane, ``A Differential ISFET pH Sensor," IEEE Sensors Glasgow, Scotland, Nov 2017. (accepted).
  2. M. H. U. Habib, M. S. A. Shawkat, and N. McFarlane, `A Tunable Single Photon Avalanche Diode Pixel with Improved Time Resolution," IEEE Sensors Glasgow, Scotland, Nov 2017. (accepted).
  3. A. Hedayatipour, A. S. Shanta, N. McFarlane, ``A Sub-μW CMOS Temperature to Frequency Sensor for Implantable Devices,'' IEEE Midwest Symposium on Circuits and Systems, Boston, MA, 4 pages, Aug 2017.
  4. A. S. Shanta, K. Mamun, D. Hensley, N. Lavrik, S. Islam, and N. McFarlane, ``Carbon Nanospikes for Biosensing Applications,'' IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology Conference, Jeju-do, South Korea, 4 pages, Jul 2017.
  5. M. S. A. Shawkat and N. McFarlane, ``A Single-Chip ISFET based pH Sensor," IEEE Sensors, Orlando, FL, pp. 1-3, Oct 2016.
  6. M. H. U. Habib, M. S. A. Shawkat, and N. McFarlane, ``Improved Signal to Noise Ratio Across the Spectral Range for CMOS Silicon Photomultipliers," IEEE Sensors, Orlando, FL, pp. 1-3, Oct 2016.
  7. K. A. Mamun, S. Islam, and N. McFarlane, ``Integration of Carbon Nanostructures on CMOS for Lab-on-a-Chip Sensing," IEEE International Symposium on Circuits and Systems CASFEST conference - Lab-on-CMOS (LoCMOS), Montreal, Canada, pp. 2879-2882, May 26, 2016.
  8. S. K. Islam, A. S. Shanta, K A. Al Mamun, N. McFarlane, D Hensley, and I Kravchenko, ``Vertically Aligned Carbon Nanofiber and its Applications as a Sensor," Connecticut Microelectronics and Optoelectronics Consortium, Storrs, CT, 2 pages, Apr 2016.
  9. K. A. Al Mamun, S. K. Islam, and N. McFarlane, ``Design and Implementation of an Integrated Lab-on-a-Chip Biosensor Platform for Diabetic Care Systems," Late News, Connecticut Microelectronics and Optoelectronics Consortium, Storrs, CT, 2 pages, Apr 2016.
  10. Y. Yu, K. A. Al Mamun, S. K. Islam and N. McFarlane, ``Cell Impedance Sensing System Based on Vertically Aligned Carbon Nanofibers," IEEE Nanotechnology Materials and Devices Conference, Anchorage, AK,, pp. 1-2, Sep 2015.
  11. M.H.U. Habib and N. McFarlane, ``A Perimeter Gated Single Photon Avalanche Diode Based Silicon Photomultiplier as Optical Detector," IEEE Midwest Symposium on Circuits and Systems, Fort Collins, CO, pp. 1-4, Aug 2015.
  12. J. Gu and N. McFarlane, ``A Low Power Multi-Frequency Current Mode Lock-in Amplifier for Impedance Sensing,” IEEE International Instrumentation and Measurement Technology Conference, Pisa, Italy, pp 494-499, May, 2015.
  13. K. A. Al Mamun, M. H. U. Habib, N. McFarlane, and N. Paul, ``A Low Power Integrated Bowel Sound Measurement System," IEEE International Instrumentation and Measurement Technology Conference, Pisa, Italy, pp. 779 – 783, May, 2015.
  14. K. A. Al Mamun and N. McFarlane, ``A CMOS Potentiostatic Glucose Monitoring System for VACNF Amperometric Biosensors," IEEE International Symposium on Circuits and Systems, Lisbon, Portugal, pp. 1933 – 1936, May, 2015.
  15. M. H. U. Habib, F. Quaiyum, S. K. Islam, and N. McFarlane, ``Optimization of Perimeter Gated SPADs in a Standard CMOS Process," IEEE Sensors, Valencia, Spain, pp. 1668-1671, Nov 2014.
  16. M. H. U. Habib, K. A. Mamun, and N. McFarlane, ``A SPICE Model for Perimeter-Gated Single Photon Avalanche Diode," IEEE Midwest Symposium on Circuits and Systems, College Station, TX, pp. 290-293, Aug 2014.
  17. M.H.U. Habib, F. Quaiyum, K. A. Al Mamun, N. McFarlane, and S. K. Islam, ``A Model of Single Photon Avalanche Diode," Connecticut Microelectronics and Optoelectronics Consortium, Storrs, CT, 2 pages, Apr 2014.
  18. K. A. Mamun, F.S. Tulip, K. MacArthur, D. Hensley, I. I. Kravchenko, N. McFarlane, and S.K. Islam, ``A Robust VACNF Platform for Electrochemical Biosensor," IEEE Sensors, Baltimore, MD, pp. 1783-1786, Nov 2013.
  19. K.A. Mamun, D. Bishai, N. McFarlane, ``A 10.6μm x 10.6μm CMOS SPAD with Integrated Readout," IEEE Sensors, Baltimore, MD, pp. 1684-1687, Nov 2013.
  20. N. Paul, N. Henry, and N. McFarlane, ``Using Bowel Sounds to Create a Forensically-aware Insulin Pump System," USENIX conference on Safety, Security, Privacy and Interoperability of Health Information Technologies, Washington DC, 8 pages, Aug 2013.
  21. K. A. Al Mamun and N. McFarlane, ``A Low-Power Low-Noise Transimpedance Amplifier for an Integrated Biosensing Platform," IEEE International Midwest Symposium on Circuits and Systems, Columbus, OH, pp.730-733, Aug 2013.
  22. K. A. Al Mamun, K. C. MacArthur, F. S. Tulip, D. Hensley, N. McFarlane, and S. K. Islam, ``Vertically Aligned Carbon Nanofiber Forest Biosensing Platform for Wide Range Glucose Detection," Connecticut Microelectronics and Optoelectronics Consortium, Storrs, CT, 2 pages, Apr 2013.
  23. N. McFarlane and J. Gu, ``Low Power Current Mode Ramp ADC for Multi-Frequency Cell Impedance Measurement,” IEEE Midwest Symposium on Circuits and Systems, Boise, ID, pp. 1016-1019, Aug 2012.
  24. K. C. MacArthur, K. A. Al Mamun, F. S. Tulip, N. McFarlane, and S. K. Islam, ``Fabrication and Characterization of Vertically Aligned Carbon Nanofibers as a Biosensor Platform for hypoglycemia," Lester Eastman Conference on High Performance Devices, Providence, RI, pp 46-47, Aug 2012.
  25. N. McFarlane, ``An Analysis of the Information Efficiency of Single Photon Avalanche Diodes," IEEE Midwest Symposium on Circuits and Systems, Boise, ID, pp. 730-733, Aug 2012.
  26. N. McFarlane and P. Abshire, ``Comparative Analysis of Information Rates of Simple Amplifier Topologies," IEEE Symposium on Circuits and Systems,, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, pp. 785 - 788, May 2011.
  27. T. Hamilton, N. Nelson, D. Sander, and P. Abshire, ``A Cell Impedance Sensor Based on a Silicon Cochlea," IEEE Biomedical Circuits and Systems, Beijing, China, pp. 117-120, Nov 2009.
  28. M. Dandin, J. Gallagher, M. Piyasena, N. Nelson, I. D. Jung, M. Urdaneta, E Smela, and P. Abshire, ``Post-CMOS Packaging Methods for Integrated Biosensors," IEEE Sensors, Christchurch, New Zealand, pp. 795-798, Oct 2009.
  29. N. Nelson and P. Abshire, ``Information Transmission Using a Generalized Chopper Amplifier: Comparison of Modulation Schemes," IEEE Conference on Information System and Sciences, Baltimore, MD, pp. 468-472, Mar 2009.
  30. D. Sander, N. Nelson, and P. Abshire, ``Noise Model, Analysis and Characterization of a Differential Active Pixel Sensor," IEEE International Symposium on Circuits and Systems, Seattle, WA, pp. 1780-1783, May 2008.
  31. D. Sander, N. Nelson, and P. Abshire, ``Integration time Optimization for Integrating Photosensors," IEEE International Symposium on Circuits and Systems, Seattle, WA, pp. 2354-2357, May 2008.
  32. N. Nelson, D. Sander, M. Dandin, A. Sarje, S. Prakash, H. Ji, and P. A. Abshire, ``A Handheld Fluorometer for Measuring Cellular Metabolism," IEEE International Symposium on Circuits and Systems, Seattle, WA, pp. 1080-1083, May 2008.
  33. N. Nelson, S. Prakash, D. Sander, M. Dandin, A. Sarje, H. Ji, and P. A. Abshire, ``A Handheld Fluorometer for UV Excitable Fluorescence Assays," IEEE Biomedical Circuits and Systems Conference, Montreal, Quebec, pp. 111-114, Nov 2007.
  34. M. P. Dandin, N. Nelson, H. Ji, and P. Abshire, ``Single Photon Avalanche Detectors in Standard CMOS," IEEE Sensors, Atlanta, GA, pp. 585-588, Oct 2007.
  35. N. Nelson, and P. Abshire, ``Chopper Modulation Improves OTA Information Transmission," IEEE International Symposium on Circuits and Systems, New Orleans, LA, pp. 2275-2278, May 2007.
  36. D. Sander, M. Dandin, H. Ji, N. Nelson, and P. Abshire, ``Low-noise CMOS Fluorescence Sensor," IEEE International Symposium on Circuits and Systems, New Orleans, LA, pp. 2007-2010, May 2007.
  37. N. Nelson and P. Abshire, ``An Information Theoretic Approach to Optimal Amplifier Operation," IEEE Midwest Symposium on Circuits and Systems, Cincinnati, OH, vol. 1, pp. 13-16, Aug 2005.
  38. N. Nelson, S. Krishnamoorthy, and P. Abshire, ``Current Mode Imager with Nonuniformity Correction and Edge Detection," IEEE Midwest Symposium on Circuits and Systems, Cincinnati, OH, vol. 1, pp. 392-395, Aug 2005.
  39. S. Prakash, N. Nelson, A. Haas, V. Jeng, P. Abshire, M. Urdaneta, and E. Smela, ``BioLabs-On A-Chip: Monitoring Cells Using CMOS Biosensors," IEEE/NLM Life Science Systems and Applications Workshop,, Bethesda, Md, pp. 1-2, Jul 2006.
  40. M. Urdaneta, M. Christophersen, E. Smela, S. Prakash, N. Nelson, and P. Abshire, ``Cell Clinics Technology Platform for Cell-Based Sensing," IEEE/NLM Life Science Systems and Applications Workshop, Bethesda, MD, pp. 1-2, Jul 2006.
  41. Y. Liu, E. Smela, N. Nelson, and P. Abshire, ``Cell-lab on a chip: a CMOS-based Microsystem for Culturing and Monitoring Cells," IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society, San Francisco, CA, vol. 1, pp. 2534-2537, Sep 2004.
  42. N. Reeves, Y. Liu, N. Nelson, S. Malhotra, M. Loganathan, J.M. Lauestein, C. Chaiyupatumpa, E. Smela, and P. Abshire, ``Integrated MEMS Structures and CMOS Circuits for Bioelectronic Interface with Single Cells," IEEE International Symposium on Circuits and Systems, Vancouver, BC, vol. 3, pp. III-673-676, May 2004.