Manufacturing Bits: Jan. 3


Gallium oxide chips Looking to commercialize a promising ultra wide-bandgap technology in the market, Novel Crystal Technology (NCT) has developed a Schottky barrier diode based on a material called gallium oxide. NCT devised an ampere-class 1,200-V diode based on gallium oxide. A diode is a device that passes electricity in one direction and blocks it in the opposite direction. Still in R&... » read more

The Great Quantum Computing Race


Quantum computing is heating up, as a growing number of entities race to benchmark, stabilize, and ultimately commercialize this technology. As of July 2021, a group from China appears to have taken the lead in terms of raw performance, but Google, IBM, Intel and other quantum computer developers aren’t far behind. All of that could change overnight, though. At this point, it's too early t... » 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