The crystal structure at the surface of semiconductor materials can make them behave like metals and even like superconductors, a joint Swansea/Rostock research team has shown. The discovery potentially opens the door to advances like more energy-efficient electronic devices. Semiconductors are the active parts of transistors, integrated circuits, sensors, and LEDs. These materials, mostly based on silicon, are at the heart of today’s electronics industry.

In a report published in NANO, scientists from the Jiangxi University of Science and Technology, Guangdong University of Petrochemical technology, Gannan Medical University and Nanchang Hangkong University in China underline the importance of defect engineering to promote catalytic performance by providing a simple and efficient way for modifying and optimizing metal-free semiconductor photocatalyst graphitic carbon nitride (g-C3N4) to solve the dual problems of environmental pollution and lack of fossil resources.

ClassOne Technology, global supplier of advanced electroplating systems for ≤200mm wafer processing, announced the sale of its Solstice® S4 system to the Ferdinand-Braun-Institut (FBH) in Berlin. The FBH is a major III-V compound semiconductor research institute that develops leading-edge microwave and optoelectronic devices for communications, energy, health, mobility and other industries.

SEMI today announced the release of a central feature of its workforce development initiative, designed to grow the microelectronics industry’s talent pipeline, on the U.S. Department of Labor’s Competency Model Clearinghouse website. The Unified Competency Model (UCM) for Advanced Manufacturing identifies skill sets required across strategic industry sectors to strengthen connections among the microelectronics industry, workers, and education and training providers.