Manufacturing Bits: Aug. 12


Origami Robots It may sound like something out of the movie Transformers, but MIT and Harvard have created origami robots that be reconfigured using timed sequencing. The robots were built from laser-cut parts using five layers of materials. A layer of etched copper is embedded between two structural layers of paper, with outer layers made of a polymer that folds when heated, according to... » read more

Manufacturing Bits: July 29


Measuring hydrogen fuel for cars The use of fuel cells to power cars and buses is still in its infancy. Fuel cell vehicles are electric-based systems powered by hydrogen. A fuel cell uses a certain type of proton exchange membrane (PEM). The PEM fuel cells are stacked together to form a fuel cell stack. All told, fuel cell systems are about 60% efficient, or roughly two to three times more ... » read more

Manufacturing Bits: July 8


Intel foundry deal At the Semicon West trade show in San Francisco, Intel announced that it has entered into a foundry agreement with Panasonic’s LSI Business Division. Intel's custom foundry business will manufacture future Panasonic system-on-chips (SoCs) using Intel's 14nm low-power manufacturing process. Intel’s low-power process will be a derivative of its general-purpose 14nm proc... » read more

What Comes Next?


The latest manufacturing, materials and production developments for emerging and adjacent markets will be featured at SEMICON West 2014 (www.semiconwest.org), to be held on July 8-10 at the Moscone Center in San Francisco, Calif. The co-location of emerging and adjacent market focused exhibitors and technical presentations within the framework of SEMICON West maximizes the synergies between sem... » read more

Manufacturing Bits: June 24


A cup of sub-wavelength images The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and the University of Michigan have developed a technology that could enable sub-wavelength images at radio frequencies. Researchers used a mere glass cup, and laser light at optical wavelengths, to measure and image RF fields. In the future, this technology could measure the behavior of metamaterials. ... » read more

Manufacturing Bits: May 13


Telling a FIB The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has built the first low-energy focused ion beam (FIB) microscope that uses a lithium ion source. Still in the R&D stage, the FIB microscope from NIST could be used to examine adjacent materials that are chemically different and identify the elements that make them up. The FIB microscope uses an ion source based on p... » read more

Gaps In Metrology Could Impact Yield


For some time, chipmakers have been developing new and complex chip architectures, such as 3D NAND, finFETs and stacked die. But manufacturing these types of chips is no simple task. It requires a robust fab flow to enable new IC designs with good yields. In fact, yield is becoming a more critical part of the flow. Yield is a broad term that means different things to different parts of the ... » read more

Manufacturing Bits: March 25


Proving the Big Bang theory A team of cosmologists using the BICEP2 telescope at the South Pole have discovered the first direct evidence of the Big Bang theory. The team includes Harvard University, the University of Minnesota, the California Institute of Technology/Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Stanford University/SLAC and others. Using the BICEP2, researchers found direct evidence of a cosm... » read more

Manufacturing Bits: Feb. 4


Secrets of mass variation The General Conference on Weights and Measures will soon approve a plan to redefine the kilogram and other measurement units. The new definition for the kilogram will be based on the fixed numerical values of Planck’s constant (h). Supposedly, the new definition will solve the current problem. The kilogram is the only SI unit that is still described as an artif... » read more

Manufacturing Bits: Jan. 21


Redefining The Kilogram In 2011, the General Conference on Weights and Measures approved a plan to redefine the kilogram and other measurement units. The new definition for the kilogram will be based on the fixed numerical values of Planck’s constant (h), according to the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), part of the U.S. Department of Commerce. NIST has taken steps t... » read more

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