Research Bits: August 1


Thinner, tougher heat flux sensors Researchers from the Department of Physics at the University of Tokyo have designed a heat flux sensor that can measure heat flux — the amount of heat that passes through a material — using a manufacturable, flexible thin film with circuits etched in a way that increases the anomalous Nernst effect (ANE). ANE turns heat into an electrical signal using ... » read more

Power/Performance Bits: Dec. 15


Graphite films for cooling electronics Researchers at King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST) developed a way to make a carbon material well suited to dissipating heat in electronic devices. Graphite films are frequently used for heat management. "However, the method used to make these graphite films, using polymer as a source material, is complex and very energy intensiv... » read more

Development Of An Extremely High Thermal Conductivity TIM For Large Electronics Packages In 4th Industrial Revolution Era


The capability and diversity of high-performance microprocessors is increasing with each process technology generation to meet increasing application demands. The cooling designs for these chips must deal with larger temperature gradients across the die than previous generations. Dissipation of the thermal energy from heat generating parts to a heat sink via conduction occurs through a thermal ... » read more

System Bits: Aug. 27


A ring of 18 carbon atoms Scientists at IBM Research – Zurich and Oxford University write about allotropes of carbon – the many versions of atomic carbon formations, such as diamonds and graphite. “Carbon, one of the most abundant elements in the universe, can exist in different forms - called allotropes - giving it completely different properties from color to shape to hardness. For... » read more

Creating 2D Compounds


A 2D material, by definition, has no surface dangling bonds. A bulk material with plate-like structure, such as graphite, is composed of thin layers with a weakly bonded cleavage plane between. What this means is a monolayer of graphite will seek to satisfy its exposed dangling bonds by absorbing other materials. A monolayer of graphene, in contrast, is energetically complete without a secon... » read more

Trump Wants Critical Metals


In recent times, President Trump has taken an active role in the electronics and related sectors, notably the U.S. administration’s move to block Broadcom’s unsolicited, $117 billion takeover bid for Qualcomm. The Trump administration has also raised eyebrows by blocking other deals as well. And with little or no fanfare, the administration is also taking a role in another area—critica... » read more

Trade War Looms Over Materials


It’s time to pay close attention to rare earths and raw materials--again. In fact, the supply chain teams and commodity buyers at aerospace, automotive and electronics companies may have some new and potentially big problems on their hands. For some time, the European Union (EU), the United States and other nations have been at odds with China over rare earths. China, which accounts for... » read more

System Bits: June 14


Microlaser phase locking arrays for terahertz security scanners Researchers at MIT and Sandia National Laboratories reminded that terahertz radiation, the band of electromagnetic radiation between microwaves and visible light, has promising applications in security and medical diagnostics, even if such devices will require the development of compact, low-power, high-quality terahertz lasers. ... » read more

Recharging The Battery


There are few technologies in today’s cutting-edge technological environment that have a difficult time finding new levels of performance. Battery technology is one of them. With the exception of a few experimental offerings, batteries and their performance metrics are relatively flat. There has been some progress, of course. But when compared to other technologies such as transistors, mem... » read more