Chip Industry Technical Paper Roundup: Mar. 19


New technical papers recently added to Semiconductor Engineering’s library. [table id=206 /] More ReadingTechnical Paper Library home » read more

LLMs For EDA, HW Design and Security


A new technical paper titled "Hardware Phi-1.5B: A Large Language Model Encodes Hardware Domain Specific Knowledge" was published by researchers at Kansas State University, University of Science and Technology of China, Michigan Technological University, Washington University in St. Louis and Silicon Assurance. Abstract "In the rapidly evolving semiconductor industry, where research, design... » read more

Power/Performance Bits: March 31


Tellurium transistors Researchers from Purdue University, Washington University in St Louis, University of Texas at Dallas, and Michigan Technological University propose the rare earth element tellurium as a potential material for ultra-small transistors. Encapsulated in a nanotube made of boron nitride, tellurium helps build a field-effect transistor with a diameter of two nanometers. �... » read more

Power/Performance Bits: Sept. 18


Etching photovoltaics Researchers at Michigan Technological University and Aalto University found a way to reduce production costs of black silicon solar cells by more than 10%. The first prototype modules have been manufactured on an industrial production line. Typically, the silicon used for solar cells is etched to reduce reflected light, although some light is still lost. Nano-texturing... » read more

Power/Performance Bits: Aug. 21


Physical neural network Engineers at UCLA built a physical artificial neural network capable of identifying objects as light passes through a series of 3D printed polymer layers. Called a "diffractive deep neural network," it uses the light bouncing from the object itself to identify that object, a process that consumes no energy and is faster than traditional computer-based methods of imag... » read more

Manufacturing Bits: April 24


Super electron guns The Department of Energy’s SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory is developing a new type of electron gun based on superconducting technology. The new superconducting electron gun recently produced its first beam of electrons, according to SLAC. The technology is being developed for future high-energy X-ray lasers and ultra-fast electron microscopes. Electron guns a... » read more

Power/Performance Bits: Feb. 9


Molybdenum disulfide memristors Researchers at Michigan Technological University constructed an ideal memristor based on molybdenum disulfide nanosheets. "Different from an electrical resistor that has a fixed resistance, a memristor possesses a voltage-dependent resistance," said Yun Hang Hu, professor of materials science and engineering at MTU, adding that a material's electric propert... » read more

Power/Performance Bits: Aug. 11


Tilting magnets for memory UC Berkeley researchers discovered a new way to switch the polarization of nanomagnets, which may offer a way for high-density storage to move from hard disks onto integrated circuits and potentially open the door to a memory system that can be packed onto a microprocessor. Creating and switching polarity in magnets without an external magnetic field has been a ... » read more