System Bits: July 10


Light waves run on silicon-based chips Researchers at the University of Sydney’s Nano Institute and Singapore University of Technology and Design collaborated on manipulating light waves on silicon-based microchips to keep coherent data as it travels thousands of miles on fiber-optic cables. Such waves—whether a tsunami or a photonic packet of information—are known as solitons. The... » read more

System Bits: July 12


Simplifying sensor network interactions Given that the IoT consists of millions of sensing devices in buildings, vehicles and elsewhere that deliver reams of data online, and involves so many different kinds of data, sources and communication modes that its myriad information streams can be onerous to acquire and process, scientists at Georgia Tech Research Institute have developed a flexible,... » read more

System Bits: April 28


Transistor encasing for better device performance ECE Illinois researchers have discovered a more effective method for closing gaps in atomically small wires. Led by Professor Joseph W. Lyding and graduate student Jae Won Do, the team reported this new transistor technology comprised of carbon nanotube wires shows promise in replacing silicon because it can operate 10 times as fast and is ... » read more

System Bits: Feb. 17


Can you hear light? Silicon photonics has gained increasing attention as a key driver of lab-on-a-chip biosensors and of faster-than-electronics communication between computer chips. The technology builds on tiny structures known as silicon photonic wires. The wires work because light moves slower in the silicon core than in surrounding air and glass. Thus, the light is trapped inside the wire... » read more