Author's Latest Posts


EMEA Investments Driving Technology Specialization


Government programs across Europe and the UK are seeing a surge of investments in leading edge technology, materials, and packaging. Industry and academia are coalescing around specialty areas, drawing on established relationships to foster innovation and fill gaps in regional supply chains while also maintaining international bonds. Government initiatives also are picking up in Israel, Saudi A... » read more

Americas Chip Funding Energizes Industry


This is the second in a series of articles tracking government chip investments. See part one here. Part 3 and 4 of the series will cover Europe and Asia. Since the first announcement of a non-binding preliminary memorandum of terms with BAE Systems in December 2023, the U.S. Department of Commerce has rolled out comprehensive plans to support more than a dozen companies in order to shore up... » read more

Research Bits: Oct. 14


Si-photonics chip emits beam of light MIT researchers developed a miniature, chip-based “tractor beam” that could help scientists study DNA, classify cells, and investigate the mechanisms of disease. The device uses a beam of light emitted by a silicon-photonics chip to manipulate particles millimeters away from the chip surface, while the sample remains sterile under its glass cover. T... » read more

Blog Review: Oct. 9


Siemens’ Stephen Chavez looks at the key benefits and challenges to achieving a successful ECAD-MCAD collaboration. Cadence’s Nayan Gaywala shares the AXI4 locking mechanism when implementing an Xtensa LX-based multi-core system on a Xilinx FPGA platform, using a dual-core design mapped to a KC705 platform as an example. Synopsys’ Vincent van der Leest digs into SRAM PUFs and their ... » read more

Research Bits: Oct. 8


Soft, flexible polymer semiconductors Stanford University materials scientists used a specialized electron microscope – cryo-electron microscopy (Cryo 4D-STEM) – to explore the microstructure of soft semiconductors that could lead to new-generation electronics. Organic mixed ionic-electronic conductors (OMIECs) are soft, flexible polymer semiconductors with promising electrochemical qua... » read more

Government Chip Funding Spreads Globally


This is the first in a series of articles tracking government chip investments. See part two for Americas-focused funding and part three for the UK and EMEA. Countries around the world are ramping up investments into their semiconductor industries as part of new or existing approaches. The increased government activity stems from growing awareness of the strategic importance of the chip sect... » read more

Research Bits: Oct. 1


Rust-resistant coating for 2D semiconductors Researchers from Pennsylvania State University, National Yang Ming Chiao Tung University in Taiwan, Purdue University, Intel, and the Kurt J. Lesker Company developed a synthesis process to produce a rust-resistant coating with properties ideal for creating faster, more durable electronics. "One of the biggest issues that we see in 2D semiconduct... » read more

Security Technical Paper Roundup: Aug. 27


A number of hardware security-related technical papers were presented at the August 2024 USENIX Security Symposium. The organization provides open access research, and the presentation slides and papers are free to the public. Topics include side-channel attacks and defenses, embedded security, fuzzing, fault injection, logic locking, Rowhammer, and more. Here are some highlights with associate... » read more

Research Bits: July 8


2D TFETS for neuromorphic computing Researchers from the University of California Santa Barbara and Intel Labs used 2D transition metal dichalcogenide (TMD)-based tunnel-field-effect transistors (TFETs) in a neuromorphic computing platform, bringing the energy requirements to within two orders of magnitude (about 100 times) the amount used by the human brain. The 2D TFETs have lower off-sta... » read more

Research Bits: June 25


Quantum on silicon Researchers at the Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences (SEAS) developed a platform to probe and control qubits in silicon for quantum networks, after an earlier discovery that defects in silicon could be used to send and store quantum information over widely used telecommunications wavelengths. The device uses an electric diode to manipulate... » read more

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