Manufacturing Bits: Jan. 6

By Mark LaPedus - 06 Jan, 2015 - Comments: 1

Vertical SiC chips for electric cars Silicon carbide (SiC) is a promising material for power electronics. The material has a high breakdown voltage, high operating temperatures and a superior thermal conductivity. At the recent 2014 IEEE International Electron Devices Meeting (IEDM) in San Francisco, Toyota, the National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST) and the... » read more

Manufacturing Bits: May 20

By Mark LaPedus - 20 May, 2014 - Comments: 0

Brain chips Pennsylvania State University has developed a technology that could enable futuristic biochips, namely those that mimic the human brain. In the lab, Penn State combined a thin film of vanadium dioxide (VO2) on a titanium dioxide substrate to create an oscillating switch. VO2 is an exotic material that exhibits semiconductor-to-metal transitions at 68 °C. In the R&D stage fo... » read more

Manufacturing Bits: Jan. 21

By Mark LaPedus - 21 Jan, 2014 - Comments: 1

Redefining The Kilogram In 2011, the General Conference on Weights and Measures approved a plan to redefine the kilogram and other measurement units. The new definition for the kilogram will be based on the fixed numerical values of Planck’s constant (h), according to the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), part of the U.S. Department of Commerce. NIST has taken steps t... » read more

Manufacturing Bits: Sept. 24

By Mark LaPedus - 24 Sep, 2013 - Comments: 0

LEGO AFM Students from the University College London (UCL), Tsinghua University and Peking University have built an atomic force microscope (AFM) or nanoscope using toy LEGOs. The AFM, dubbed LEGO2NANO, costs less than $500 to make. In contrast, traditional AFMs cost $100,000 or more. The system was made using LEGOs, Arduino controllers, 3D printed parts and consumer electronics. [captio... » read more

The Week In Review: Sept. 23

By Mark LaPedus - 23 Sep, 2013 - Comments: 0

By Mark LaPedus For some time, Apple’s iPhones have incorporated a separate RF switch and diversity switch from Peregrine Semiconductor (PSMI). The switches are based on a silicon-on-insulator (SOI) variant called silicon-on-sapphire (SOS). Murata takes Peregrine’s RF switches and integrates them into a module. Doug Freedman, an analyst with RBC Capital, said Apple is no longer using PSMI�... » read more

SPOTLIGHT ON FD-SOI, FINFETS AT IEEE SOI CONFERENCE ;1-4 OCT, NAPA

By Various Writers - 25 Sep, 2012 - Comments: 0

The 38th annual SOI Conference is coming right up. Sponsored by IEEE Electron Devices Society, this is the only dedicated SOI conference covering the full technology chain from materials to devices, circuits and system applications. Chaired this year by Gosia Jurczak (manager of the Memories Program at imec), this excellent conference is well worth attending. It’s where the giants of the ... » read more

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Knowledge Centers
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