Manufacturing Bits: March 27


Nanostructure printers Using electron-beam lithography and reactive-ion etching techniques, Singapore’s Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR) has developed a new high-resolution color nanostructure printing system. The printer enables nanostructures made from silicon. It prints tiny structures with a wide range of colors. In the future, researchers hope that nanostructure ... » read more

System Bits: March 27


New quantum electronic material has atomic structure resembling a Japanese basketweaving pattern According to MIT, Harvard University, and Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory researchers, a motif of Japanese basketweaving known as the kagome pattern has preoccupied physicists for decades. They reminded that kagome baskets are typically made from strips of bamboo woven into a highly symmetric... » read more

Power/Performance Bits: March 27


Equalizing batteries Engineers at the University of Toledo propose a bilevel equalizer technology to improve the life span of batteries by combining the high performance of an active equalizer with the low cost of a passive equalizer. "Whenever we are talking about batteries, we are talking about cells connected in a series. Over time, the battery is not balanced and limited by the weakest ... » read more

Manufacturing Bits: March 20


Giant thermometer The Department of Energy's Oak Ridge National Laboratory has devised a new way to take the temperature of a material at the nanoscale—the organization has developed a giant thermometer. The technology, dubbed electron energy gain spectroscopy, enables researchers to take the temperature of a material from an area at about a billionth of a meter wide. Developed by Nion, t... » read more

System Bits: March 20


Design has consequences Carnegie Mellon University design students are exploring ways to enhance interactions with new technologies and the power of artificial intelligence. Assistant Professor Dan Lockton teaches the course, "Environments Studio IV: Designing Environments for Social Systems" in CMU's School of Design and leads the school's new Imaginaries Lab. “We want the designers of ... » read more

Power/Performance Bits: Mar. 20


Proton battery prototype A team at RMIT University built a prototype rechargeable proton battery combining hydrogen fuel cells and battery-based electrical power that has the potential, with further development, to store more energy than currently-available lithium ion batteries. The working prototype proton battery uses an activated carbon electrode for solid-state storage of hydrogen with... » read more

Manufacturing Bits: March 13


Gallium oxide substrates Kyma Technologies has rolled out a substrate line based on crystalline beta-phase gallium oxide (β-Ga2O3) materials. [caption id="attachment_24132458" align="alignleft" width="300"] Single crystal gallium oxide (ß-Ga2O3) substrates (Source: Kyma)[/caption] Crystalline beta gallium oxide is a promising wide bandgap semiconductor material. It has a large bandgap... » read more

System Bits: March 13


Wiring quantum computers According to MIT researchers, when we talk about “information technology,” we generally mean the technology part, like computers, networks, and software. But they reminded that the information itself, and its behavior in quantum systems, is a central focus for MIT’s interdisciplinary Quantum Engineering Group (QEG) as it seeks to develop quantum computing and oth... » read more

Power/Performance Bits: Mar. 13


Wireless charging Engineers at the University of Washington developed a method to safely charge a smartphone wirelessly using a laser, potentially as quickly as a standard USB cable. Safety features of the system include a reflector-based mechanism to shut off the laser and heatsinks. The charging beam is generated by a laser emitter that the team configured to produce a focused beam in the... » read more

Manufacturing Bits: March 6


Security ICs with multi-beam Leti, a research institute of CEA Tech, and Mapper Lithography have developed a new application for its multi-beam, direct-write lithography technology—security. In 2016, Mapper Lithography introduced the FLX-1200, a direct-write, multi-beam e-beam system. Using a 5-kV acceleration voltage, a beam generator creates an electron beam about 3cm in diameter. Then,... » read more

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