Flexible Sensors Begin Ramping


Sensors are at the heart of the [getkc id="76" comment="Internet of Things"]. Flexible sensors promise to extend the Internet of Everything to the battlefield, the gymnasium, the hospital, and many other places. Flexible [getkc id="187" kc_name="sensors"] represent the forefront of a sea of change in electronics, marking the transition from rigid semiconductors made with silicon and other ha... » read more

Back Doors Are Everywhere


By Ernest Worthman & Ed Sperling Back doors have been a part of chip design since the beginning. One of the first open references was in the 1983 movie "War Games," which features a young computer whiz who uses one to hack into a computer that controls the United States' nuclear arsenal. In reality, modern back doors predate Hollywood's discovery by about 20 years, starting in 1965 wi... » read more

Neuromorphic Chip Biz Heats Up


It’s no secret that today’s computers are struggling to keep up with the enormous demands of data processing and bandwidth, and the whole electronics industry is searching for new ways to enable that. The traditional approach is to continue to push the limits of today’s systems and chips. Another way is to go down the non-traditional route, including an old idea that is generating stea... » read more

Manufacturing Bits: Dec. 23


World’s smallest inkjet image ETH Zurich and Scrona have set the official world’s record for the smallest inkjet-printed color image. The feat, which has been recognized by the Guinness World Records, is based on Scrona’s so-called NanoDrip printing technology and quantum dots. ETH and Scrona printed an image of clown fishes and sea anemones. The printed image measures 0.0092mm² in a... » read more

Manufacturing Bits: Sept. 8


World’s pressure record The University of Bayreuth and the Deutsches Elektronen-Synchrotron (DESY) have set another world’s record for the highest static pressure ever achieved in a lab. Researchers were able to demonstrate metal osmium at pressures of up to 770 Gigapascals (GPa). Osmium is one of the world’s most incompressible metals. The 770 GPa figure is about 130 GPa higher than ... » read more

Manufacturing Bits: July 28


Molecular chips Researchers from various organizations have devised a transistor consisting of a single molecule and a few atoms. The work could one day lead to the integration of molecular-based devices with existing semiconductor technologies. This work was conducted by Paul-Drude-Institut für Festkörperelektronik (PDI), Freie Universität Berlin (FUB), NTT and the U.S. Naval Research L... » read more

DoD Scratches Its Head Over Foundry Security


When the GlobalFoundries deal with IBM to acquire its foundries closes, as it is slated to sometime during 2015, the U.S. Department of Defense has a small problem on its hands. Military programs no longer will have access to a trusted fab to manufacture semiconductors. How do you ensure that the foundry did not modify or alter your design, add backdoor access or implement a remote control mech... » read more

Get Ready For More Biometrics


Security involving scans of fingerprints, palms, faces, or some other variant has been common in movies for years, and many phones and computers now offer fingerprint scans instead of a password login. But as security risks rise with the rollout of the [getkc id="76" comment="Internet of Things"]/Internet of Everything, that technology will need to become much more pervasive and sophisticated. ... » read more

Manufacturing Bits: Sept. 30


Muscle-on-a-chip Harvard University has developed a human airway muscle-on-a-chip as a means to test new drugs for the treatment of asthma. There is an urgent need for a new breakthrough in this arena. The majority of drugs used to treat asthma have not changed in 50 years, according to researchers at Harvard. Asthma affects nearly 25 million people in the United States alone. Asthma, ac... » read more

Plotting IBM Micro’s Future


It’s been a wild ride for IBM’s Microelectronics Group. Neither IBM, nor the other parties involved, have made any public comments about the recent events concerning IBM Micro. Much of the drama has played out in the media. Based on those reports, here’s a rough outline of the events. Not long ago, IBM put its loss-ridden chip unit on the block to shore up the company’s bottom lin... » read more

← Older posts Newer posts →