Hot Trends In Semiconductor Thermal Management


Increasing thermal challenges, as the industry moves into 3D packaging and continues to scale digital logic, are pushing the limits of R&D. The basic physics of having too much heat trapped in too small a space is leading to tangible problems, like consumer products that are too hot to hold. Far worse, however, is the loss of power and reliability, as overheated DRAM has to continually r... » read more

Power/Performance Bits: Dec. 13


3D porous microsupercapacitors A research team from the King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST) developed an integrated microsupercapacitor targeted at self-powered system applications where the power source may be intermittent, such as sensors for wearables, security, and structural health monitoring. The key to the microsupercapacitors is vertically-scaled three-dimen... » read more

What I Learned About Heatsinks Using Thermal Simulation


By Yousaf Mohammed, Student Intern at Mentor Graphics When designing electronics, heat dissipated to the surroundings by micro devices is an important consideration because heat has a powerful and stringent effect on their operation and lifespan.  When an electronic device overheats, components start to wear out more quickly, degrade, cross the threshold into safe mode, and then stop functi... » read more