System Bits: Nov. 25


Biological circuits In recent years, researchers have made progress in the design and creation of biological circuits which can take a number of different inputs and deliver a particular kind of output — like electronic circuits. However, while individual components of such biological circuits can have precise and predictable responses, those outcomes become less predictable as more such ele... » read more

Power/Performance Bits: Oct. 14


Safety first A technology designed for conventional lithium-ion batteries by Stanford University researchers warns the user before it overheats and bursts into flames. The goal was to create an early-warning system to saves lives and property, by detecting problems that occur during the normal operation of a battery, the researchers said. The technology does not apply to batteries damaged i... » read more

System Bits: Sept. 30


Airway muscle-on-a-chip mimics asthma A Harvard University research team has developed a human airway muscle-on-a-chip that could be used to test new drugs as it accurately mimics the way smooth muscle contracts in the human airway, under normal circumstances and when exposed to asthma triggers. The chip also gives a window into the cellular and even subcellular responses within the tissue ... » read more

System Bits: Sept. 2


Thinnest semiconductor A team of researchers from the University of Washington, the University of Hong Kong and the University of Warwick have demonstrated that two single-layer semiconductor materials can be connected in an atomically seamless fashion known as a heterojunction, which they expect could be the basis for next-generation flexible and transparent computing, better light-emitting d... » read more

Power/Performance Bits: August 5


Popeye would be proud According to physicists at Purdue University, spinach holds the promise of being able to convert sunlight into a clean, efficient alternative fuel. The Purdue team is part of an international group using spinach to study the proteins involved in photosynthesis, the process by which plants convert the sun’s energy into carbohydrates used to power cellular processes. ... » read more

Manufacturing Bits: June 10


Self-Assembling Nano Films Applying thin films with uniformity has always been an engineering challenge, but as feature sizes shrink the problem become even more pronounced. But a new approach developed by Lawrence Berkeley National Labs’ Materials Science Division could end up simplifying this process. The new approach used chloroform as an annealing solvent to create self-assembling arr... » read more

Power/Performance Bits: April 22


Plasmonics could improve solar performance, data storage According to researchers at Purdue University, plasmonic metamaterials that operate at high temperatures could significantly improve solar cell performance and make advanced computer data storage technology possible that uses heat to record information on a magnetic disk. These materials could make it possible to harness clouds of ele... » read more

System Bits: March 25


A robot that is a toy at heart Two University of Cambridge alumnus have developed a small robot to help children learn programming and robotics while they play.   [caption id="attachment_11073" align="alignnone" width="300"] (Source: Robotiky.com)[/caption] Under the guise of Robotiky, and within two months of their initial idea, they secured seed funding for a prototype robot, w... » read more

The List Of Unknowns Grows After Silicon


As discussed earlier in this series, most proposed alternative channel schemes depend on germanium channels for pMOS transistors, and InGaAs channels for nMOS transistors. Of the two materials, InGaAs poses by far the more difficult integration challenges. Germanium has been present in advanced silicon CMOS fabs for several technology generations, having been introduced used in strained silicon... » read more

Power/Performance Bits: Jan. 14


Disorderly conduct With a significant ability to store power per a given weight, lithium batteries have been a major focus of research to enable use in everything from portable electronics to electric cars and now researchers at MIT and Brookhaven National Laboratory have found the use of disordered materials – generally considered unsuitable for batteries – can be used in a new avenue for... » read more

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