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

Making Chips At 3nm And Beyond


Select foundries are beginning to ramp up their new 5nm processes with 3nm in R&D. The big question is what comes after that. Work is well underway for the 2nm node and beyond, but there are numerous challenges as well as some uncertainty on the horizon. There already are signs that the foundries have pushed out their 3nm production schedules by a few months due to various technical issu... » read more

Manufacturing Bits: March 24


Autonomous microscopes FLEET, also known as the ARC Centre of Excellence in Future Low-Energy Electronics Technologies, has developed an autonomous scanning probe microscopy (SPM) technology. SPM is an instrument that makes use of an atomically sharp probe. The probe is placed in close proximity above the surface of a sample. With the probe, the SPM forms images of the surface of the sample... » read more

Manufacturing Bits: Feb. 18


Molecular layer etch The U.S. Department of Energy’s Argonne National Laboratory has made new advances in the field of molecular layer etching or etch (MLE). MLE is related to atomic layer etch (ALE). Used in the semiconductor industry, ALE selectively removes targeted materials at the atomic scale without damaging other parts of the structure. ALE is related to atomic layer deposition... » read more

Power/Performance Bits: Nov. 19


Quantum communications chip Researchers at Nanyang Technological University, Australian National University, A∗STAR, University of Science and Technology of China, Singapore University of Technology and Design, Sun Yat-sen University, Beijing University of Posts and Telecommunications, and National University of Singapore built an integrated silicon photonic chip capable of performing quantu... » read more

Manufacturing Bits: Oct. 9


World’s strongest silver A group has developed what researchers say is the world’s strongest silver. The silver demonstrated a hardness of 3.05 GPa, which is 42% stronger than the previous world record. The University of Vermont, Lawrence Livermore National Lab, the Ames Laboratory, Los Alamos National Laboratory and UCLA contributed to the work. Silver is an element with high electr... » read more

Manufacturing Bits: Aug. 13


Exascale supercomputers The Department of Energy’s National Nuclear Security Administration (DOE/NNSA) has signed a contract valued at $600 million with Cray to build NNSA’s first exascale supercomputer. The system, called El Capitan, is expected to be shipped in late 2022. El Capitan will be housed at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL), and will perform research to maintain ... » read more

Manufacturing Bits: July 10


Semicon West It’s Semicon West time again. Here’s the first wave of announcements at the event: Applied Materials has unveiled a pair of tools aimed at accelerating the industry adoption for new memories. First, Applied rolled out the Endura Clover MRAM PVD system. The system is an integrated platform for MRAM devices. Second, the company introduced the Endura Impulse PVD platform for P... » read more

Power/Performance Bits: June 4


Flexible high-temp dielectric Researchers at Rice University, Georgia Institute of Technology, and Cornell University developed a new high-temperature dielectric nanocomposite for flexible electronics, energy storage, and electric devices that combines one-dimensional polymer nanofibers and two-dimensional boron nitride nanosheets. The polymer nanofibers act as a structural reinforcement, w... » read more

System Bits: May 14


Faster U.S. supercomputers on the way The U.S. Department of Energy awarded a contract for more than $600 million to Cray for an exascale supercomputer to be installed at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory during 2021. Cray will provide its Shasta architecture and Slingshot interconnect for what is dubbed the Frontier supercomputer. Advanced Micro Devices will have a key role in building the... » read more

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