Innovative Foundry Technologies LLC (IFT) announced today that it has resolved patent litigation with Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) and United Microelectronics Corporation (UMC), which now triggers the beginning of the second wave of IFT’s foundry licensing program. The first wave of IFT’s multinational licensing program focused on TSMC and UMC in Germany, China and the United States. IFT launched this first wave in December 2018, when it initiated suit against Texas Instruments (TI), Volkswagen, and Ford in Dusseldorf, Germany, based on their use of UMC-manufactured OMAP processors, which IFT alleged infringe its patented technology. IFT later added UMC to the Dusseldorf action in August 2019.
Renesas Builds New RE Family for Energy Harvesting
Renesas Electronics Corporation (TSE:6723), a premier supplier of advanced semiconductor solutions, today introduced its RE Family, which encompasses the company’s current and future lineup of energy harvesting embedded controllers. The RE Family is based on Renesas’ proprietary SOTB™ (Silicon on Thin Buried Oxide) process technology, which dramatically reduces power consumption in both the active and standby states, eliminating the need for battery replacement or recharging.
A Stretchable Stopwatch Lights Up Human Skin
Imagine a runner who doesn’t need to carry a stopwatch or cell phone to check her time: She could just gaze at the glowing stopwatch display on the back of her hand. Such human-machine interfaces are no longer science fiction, but they still have a way to go before becoming mainstream. Now, researchers reporting in ACS Materials Letters have developed a stretchable light-emitting device that operates at low voltages and is safe for human skin.
NTU Singapore Researchers Create Quantum Chip 1,000 Times Smaller than Current Setups
Researchers at Nanyang Technological University, Singapore (NTU Singapore) have developed a quantum communication chip that is 1,000 times smaller than current quantum setups, but offers the same superior security quantum technology is known for. Roughly 3mm in size, the tiny chip developed by NTU scientists uses quantum communication algorithms to provide enhanced security compared to existing standards. It does this by integrating passwords within the information that is being delivered, forming a secure ‘quantum key’. After the information is received, it is destroyed along with the key, making it an extremely secure form of communication.
China GDP and PMI Contraction A Risk Factor For Global Economy
IC Insights recently released its October Update to The McClean Report 2019. Part of the update reviewed U.S. and China GDP and PMI trends in light of the current trade friction between the two nations.
GLOBALFOUNDRIES and TSMC Announce Resolution of Global Disputes Through Broad Global Patent Cross-License
GLOBALFOUNDRIES (GF) and TSMC today announced they are dismissing all litigation between them as well as those that involve any of their customers. The companies have agreed to a broad life-of-patents cross-license to each other’s worldwide existing semiconductor patents as well as those patents that will be filed during the next ten years as both companies continue to invest significantly in semiconductor research and development. This resolution guarantees GF and TSMC freedom to operate and ensures that their respective customers will continue to have access to each foundry’s complete array of technologies and services.
James C. Morgan, Chairman Emeritus of Applied Materials, Inc., Awarded the Global Semiconductor Alliance’s Premier Accolade
The Global Semiconductor Alliance (GSA) will honor James (“Jim”) C. Morgan, Chairman Emeritus of Applied Materials, Inc., with the esteemed Dr. Morris Chang Exemplary Leadership Award at its highly-anticipated Annual Awards Dinner to be held in Santa Clara, Calif., on Dec. 5, 2019. Morgan is an industry leader and visionary who led Applied Materials for nearly three decades — one of the longest tenures of a Fortune 500 CEO. He served as CEO from 1977 to 2003 and chairman of the board from 1987 to 2009, growing Applied from less than $20 million to more than $9 billion in revenue during that time.
Compact Depth Sensor Inspired By Spiders
For all our technological advances, nothing beats evolution when it comes to research and development. Take jumping spiders. These small arachnids have impressive depth perception despite their tiny brains, allowing them to accurately pounce on unsuspecting targets from several body lengths away.
Study Shows Ability to Detect Light From UV to the IR Optical Regimes Using Spin Currents
A University of Wyoming researcher and his team have shown that the spin Seebeck effect (SSE) can be used to detect light across a broad optical range – ultraviolet through visible to near-infrared. This work has future implications on novel spin current-based technologies. The SSE is one of three known ways to generate spin current, or a net movement of particle magnet moments. The SSE occurs when a thermal gradient is created across a material and, depending on how it is measured, results in an electrical potential. However, unlike its electrical analog, the SSE has been generated not just in ferromagnetic metals – such as cobalt, iron and nickel — and semiconductors, but also in magnetic insulators, making it widely applicable.
AKHAN Announces Major Patents Issued for Diamond Semiconductor Optics & Electronics Applications by US and Japan Patent Offices
AKHAN Semiconductor, a technology company specializing in the fabrication and application of lab-grown, electronics-grade diamond, announced today issuances by both the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) and Japan Patent Office (JPO) of patents covering AKHAN’s next-generation n-type diamond semiconductor system and diamond-based multilayer antireflective coating systems, key in military & aerospace sensor and detector applications, amongst others. The granted and issued patents, 6580644 in Japan and 10,422,928 & 10,410,860 in the US, are key additions to AKHAN’s breakthrough Miraj Diamond® intellectual property portfolio, and enable breakthrough performance in semiconductor devices as well as new capabilities in optical sensing, detecting, and transmission.
