Manufacturing Bits: July 28


Nanoscale IR imaging The Nanooptics Group at CIC nanoGUNE has made some major advances in the emerging field of nanoscale infrared microscopy. The group’s technology, called nano-FTIR spectroscopy, is an infrared characterization technique. Infrared (IR) isn’t new. Invisible to the human eye, infrared wavelengths range between 760nm to 1,000nm. For years, infrared inspection/metrology h... » read more

Power/Performance Bits: July 28


Programmable photonics Researchers from the University of Southampton developed a method for making programmable  integrated switching units on a silicon photonics chip. By using a generic optical circuit that can be fabricated in bulk then later programmed for specific applications, the team hopes to reduce production costs. "Silicon photonics is capable of integrating optical devices and... » read more

Manufacturing Bits: July 21


Intel’s next-gen MRAM At the recent 2020 Symposia on VLSI Technology and Circuits, Intel presented a paper on a CMOS-compatible spin-orbit torque MRAM (SOT-MRAM) device. Still in R&D, SOT-MRAM is a next-generation MRAM designed to replace SRAM. Generally, processors integrate a CPU, SRAM and a variety of other functions. SRAM stores instructions that are rapidly needed by the processo... » read more

Power/Performance Bits: July 21


AI hardware Researchers at Purdue University, University of California San Diego, Argonne National Laboratory, University of Louisville, Brookhaven National Laboratory, and University of Iowa developed hardware that can learn skills, offloading some of the energy needed by AI software. "Software is taking on most of the challenges in AI. If you could incorporate intelligence into the circui... » read more

Manufacturing Bits: July 14


Complementary FETs At the recent 2020 Symposia on VLSI Technology and Circuits, Imec presented a paper on a 3D complementary field-effect transistor (CFET) made on 300mm wafers. As a demonstration vehicle, Imec showed a CFET based on a 14nm process. Ideally, though, CFETs are next-generation transistors that are targeted for the 1nm node in the future. On the transistor front, chipmaker... » read more

Power/Performance Bits: July 14


5G switches Researchers from the University of Texas at Austin and University of Lille built a new radio frequency switch that could save power in 5G devices when not actively jumping between different networks and spectrum frequencies. “It has become clear that the existing switches consume significant amounts of power, and that power consumed is useless power,” said Deji Akinwande, a ... » read more

Manufacturing Bits: July 6


Luminosity record Japan’s High Energy Accelerator Research Organization (KEK) has regained the world’s record for the highest luminosity achieved in a particle accelerator, beating the previous mark by CERN. KEK achieved the record in the SuperKEKB, a giant storage ring that combines an electron-positron collider with an advanced detector. This system is designed to explore fundamental ... » read more

Power/Performance Bits: July 6


Configurable photonics Researchers from the University of Southampton developed a configurable/one-time programmable silicon photonic circuit that could reduce production costs by allowing a generic optical circuit to be fabricated in bulk and then later programmed for specific applications such as communications systems, LIDAR circuits or computing applications. Additionally, once programmed,... » read more

Manufacturing Bits: June 30


1μm pitch wafer bonding At the recent IEEE Electronic Components and Technology Conference (ECTC), Imec presented a paper on a fine-pitch hybrid wafer-to-wafer bonding technology for heterogeneous integration. Imec described a way to enable hybrid bond pitches down to 1μm using a novel Cu/SiCN (copper/silicon-carbon-nitrogen) surface topography. Today, the industry is developing or shi... » read more

Power/Performance Bits: June 30


Up-converting lasers Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania developed a filter chip that can convert the output from low-cost lasers to have the same frequency noise as big, expensive lasers, making them suitable for applications such as LiDAR. The noise in a laser's frequency is an important indicator of quality. Low-quality, noisy lasers have more random variations, making them use... » read more

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