Manufacturing Bits: June 23


Diamond shock waves For years, the industry has been exploring the use of diamonds for electronics applications. Diamonds could be used to reduce heat in electronic systems. In addition, diamond FETs are also intriguing. Diamond has a wide bandgap (5.45 eV), a high breakdown field (10MV/cm), and high thermal conductivity (22W/cmK). But it could take years before diamond FETs reach the mains... » 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: May 12


Photonic thermometers The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has developed a new class of photonic thermometers. These chip-based thermometers measure temperature using light. They are resistant to electromagnetic interference and are self-calibrating. In the future, photonic thermometers could be buried into walls or sent into space. They could be used for chemical, pres... » read more

Searching For Rare Earths Again


Rare earths are back in the spotlight again. 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. Last year, the World Tr... » read more

Manufacturing Bits: April 22


Detecting counterfeit goods Rare earths are chemical elements found in the Earth’s crust. They are critical for use in the production of cars, consumer electronics, computers, communications, clean energy, health care, national defense systems and others. Researchers are looking for new ways to integrate rare earths into potential chips and other applications. For example, the Massachuset... » read more

Searching For Rare Earths


The semiconductor industry is pre-occupied with several and expensive technologies at once. One the device side, the industry is looking at new chip architectures, such as 3D NAND, finFETs and stacked die. On the manufacturing front, there is 450mm technology, next-generation lithography (NGL) and new materials. And that’s just the tip of the iceberg. Another technology that deserve... » read more

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