Power/Performance Bits: May 3


Nanowire batteries University of California, Irvine researchers invented a nanowire-based battery material that can be recharged hundreds of thousands of times. Nanowires have long been sought as a battery material. However, these filaments are extremely fragile and don't hold up well to repeated discharging and recharging, or cycling. In a typical lithium-ion battery, they expand and gro... » read more

System Bits: April 26


Reconfigured Tesla coil electrifies materials In a development that could set a clear path toward scalable assembly of nanotubes from the bottom up, Rice University researchers have discovered that the strong force field emitted by a Tesla coil causes carbon nanotubes to self-assemble into long wires, a phenomenon they call Teslaphoresis. Rice chemist Paul Cherukuri led the team that develo... » read more

Power/Performance Bits: Jan. 12


Incandescent bulbs might not be dead yet Can incandescent bulbs be as efficient – or even more so – than LEDs? More than 95 percent of the energy that goes into incandescents is wasted, most of it as heat, so researchers at MIT and Purdue University struck out to see if that could be changed. A conventional heated metal filament, with all its attendant losses, served as the basis. But... » read more

Power/Performance Bits: Oct. 27


Searching for energy-efficient architectures A workshop jointly funded by the Semiconductor Research Corporation (SRC) and National Science Foundation (NSF) sought out the key factors limiting progress in computing – particularly related to energy consumption – and novel research that could overcome these barriers. The report focuses on the most promising research directions in the ex... » read more

Manufacturing Bits: August 11


World neutrino record The U.S. Department of Energy’s Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory has achieved a world record for high-energy neutrino experiments. In one neutrino experiment, researchers sustained a 521-kilowatt beam generated by the organization’s so-called Main Injector particle accelerator. The previous record was a 400-plus-kilowatt beam, which was accomplished at CERN. ... » read more

Manufacturing Bits: April 14


Monster waves of light The FOM Institute AMOLF has observed what researchers call monster waves of light. In this phenomenon, monster waves of light appear from nowhere and then disappear again. Researchers have shown that it is possible to influence the probability of this phenomenon. As a result, the technology could lead to faster telecommunication systems or more sensitive sensors, acco... » read more

Power/Performance Bits: April 7


Hybrid supercapacitors Researchers at UCLA combined the best qualities of batteries and supercapacitors in a new 3-D hybrid supercapacitor. Based on laser-scribed graphene and manganese dioxide, the new component stores large amounts of energy, recharges quickly and can last for more than 10,000 recharge cycles. The team also created a microsupercapacitor small enough to fit in wearable o... » read more

Manufacturing Bits: March 31


Shish kebab nano necklaces Using a directed self-assembly (DSA) process, Georgia Institute of Technology has developed a method to make nanometer-scale, chip-based necklaces. The technique could enable organic-inorganic structures, which resemble a tiny shish kebab or a centipede. The structures are made with various materials, such as semiconductors, magnetics, ferroelectrics and others. ... » read more

Power/Performance Bits: March 31


Reusable gallium arsenide wafers A manufacturing process developed by Stanford researchers could dramatically reduce the cost of gallium arsenide electronics, potentially opening up new applications for the material. In the search for silicon's replacement, gallium arsenide (GaAs) has much to offer on performance. It's faster than silicon, less noise, and features a wide direct band gap�... » read more

Manufacturing Bits: Dec. 2


Storage ring EUV source Needless to say, extreme ultraviolet (EUV) lithography is delayed. Chipmakers hope to insert EUV at the 7nm node, but that’s not a given. As before, the big problem is the EUV light source. So far, the source can’t generate enough power to enable the required throughput for EUV in mass production. Researchers at the SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory have one p... » read more

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