Blog Review: Jan. 20


How far can you go on solar power? 493 million miles, at least if you're the Juno spacecraft. Plus, winemaking gets a boost from submarine technology, in this week's top tech picks from Ansys' Bill Vandermark. Mentor's Steve Pateras digs into how automotive ICs bring a whole new set of requirements that are driving the evolution of memory BIST. If you're interested in neural networks and ... » read more

Power/Performance Bits: Nov. 17


Speeding up optical networks A tunable filter for high-capacity optical networks that can be integrated onto a photonic chip has been designed by researchers at the Université Laval in Québec, Canada. The device's performance is comparable to the best bench-top systems, according to the reasearchers, but at a fraction of the size and cost. The filter's tuning span, which is a measure of... » read more

Power/Performance Bits: Sept. 22


Photonic memories A team of researchers from Oxford University, the University of Münster, the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, and the University of Exeter produced the first all-photonic nonvolatile memory chip. The new device uses the phase-change material Ge2Sb2Te5 (GST), used in rewritable CDs and DVDs, to store data. This material can be made to assume an amorphous state, like glass... » read more

System Bits: July 28


Massless particles for faster electronics Princeton University researchers along with an international team have finally proved a massless particle that had been theorized for 85 years. They say this particle could give rise to faster and more efficient electronics because of its unusual ability to behave as matter and antimatter inside a crystal. [caption id="attachment_21431" align="align... » read more

Challenges At Advanced Nodes


Semiconductor Engineering sat down to discuss finFETs, 22nm FD-SOI and how the how the market will segment over the next few years with Marie Semeria, CEO of [getentity id="22192" e_name="Leti"]; Patrick Soheili, vice president of product management and corporate development at [getentity id="22242" e_name="eSilicon"]; Paul Boudre, CEO of Soitec; and Subramani Kengeri, vice president of global ... » read more

5 Technologies To Watch


The industry is developing a dizzying array of new technologies. In fact, there are more new and innovative technologies than ever before. And the list is countless. At least from my vantage point, I have come up with my own list of the top five technologies to watch in 2015 and beyond. They are listed in alphabetical order. (See below). Obviously, there are more than just five technologi... » read more

System Bits: June 9


Optical constraints Stanford University researchers have discovered strong constraints to optical data transmission but hope it can guide future research in this area. As a reminder, optics, a form of data transmission that utilizes beams of light, has the promise to outperform the beams of electrons that drive computers or smartphones. And as engineers have long looked for a way to miniatu... » read more

Manufacturing Bits: June 9


Making rare earths Rare earths are chemical elements found in the Earth’s crust. They are used in cars, consumer electronics, computers, communications, clean energy and defense systems. The big market for rare earths is magnets. In semiconductor production, rare earths are used in high-k dielectrics, CMP slurries and other applications. China has a monopoly in rare earths, accounting for... » read more

Manufacturing Bits: Nov. 25


Direct-write diamond patterning Purdue University has devised a new technique that uses a pulsing laser to create synthetic nanodiamond films and patterns on a graphite substrate. The ability to pattern diamond surfaces could one day be used to make chips, biosensors and fuel cells. In the lab, researchers devised a multi-layered film, which includes a layer of graphite topped with a glass ... » read more

System Bits: Nov. 18


Phase transitions between liquid, gas Researchers from the University of Tokyo and Tokyo Institute of Technology reminded that materials change their form between three states -- solid, liquid, and gas -- depending on factors such as temperature and pressure. However, a phase transition does not necessarily occur between liquid and gas, and they can continuously transform from the one to the o... » read more

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