Cubic Boron Arsenide’s Unique Semiconducting Properties (MIT)


New research claims cubic boron arsenide could be a “game-changing” semiconductor with a “very high mobility for both electrons and holes,” according to this MIT article. “Heat is now a major bottleneck for many electronics,” says Shin, the paper’s lead author. “Silicon carbide is replacing silicon for power electronics in major EV industries including Tesla, since it has thr... » read more

Power/Performance Bits: Sept. 14


Thermal management material Engineers at the University of California Los Angeles integrated a new thermal management material, boron arsenide, with a HEMT chip to demonstrate the material's potential. The team developed boron arsenide as a thermal management material in 2018 and found it to be very effective at drawing and dissipating heat. In the latest experiments, they used wide band... » read more

Power/Performance Bits: July 31


Training optical neural networks Researchers from Stanford University used an optical chip to train an artificial neural network, a step that could lead to faster, more efficient AI tasks. Although optical neural networks have been recently demonstrated, the training step was performed using a model on a traditional digital computer and the final settings were then imported into the optical... » read more

Power/Performance Bits: July 16


Bacterial solar Researchers at the University of British Columbia developed a solar cell that uses bacteria to convert light to energy. The cell worked as efficiently in dim light as in bright light, making solar a potential option in areas of the world that frequently have overcast skies. Called biogenic cells, they work by utilizing the natural dye that bacteria use for photosynthesis. Pr... » read more