Manufacturing Bits: May 29


Utilizing Heat For Energy One of the big problems in electronics in general, and semiconductors particular, is heat. And it's not just about leakage current anymore. Heat is a problem at every level, from circuit design to the materials being used inside the chips, as well as warpage between die caused by heat after they are packaged together. Heat can prematurely age chips as well as destroy ... » read more

Power/Performance Bits: Aug. 12


Putting waste heat to use According to MIT, it is estimated that more than half of U.S. energy — from vehicles and heavy equipment, for instance — is wasted as heat, which mostly escapes into the air. However, an MIT professor and his team have begun to change that with thermoelectric materials that convert temperature differences into electric voltage.About a decade ago, Gang Chen, the C... » read more

Power/Performance Bits: Nov. 12


Back To The Future In the hunt for sources of renewable energy, researchers at ETH Zurich have gone back to a 19th century discovery. Thermoelectric materials have the remarkable property that heating them creates a small electrical current. But enhancing this current to a level compatible with the needs of modern technologies has revealed an extraordinary challenge for scientists of the last ... » read more