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.
David Zinsner Appointed to Credo Board of Directors
Credo, a global innovation leader in Serializer-Deserializer (SerDes) technology which delivers high performance, low power connectivity solutions for 100G, 400G, and 800G port enabled networks, today announced the appointment of David Zinsner to Credo’s Board of Directors. He is currently Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer at Micron Technology, Inc. (Nasdaq: MU). Zinsner joined Micron in February 2018 with more than 20 years of financial and operations experience in the semiconductor and technology industry, after serving as President and Chief Operating Officer at Affirmed Networks. Previously, he was Senior Vice President of Finance and Chief Financial Officer at Analog Devices.
Global MEMS and Sensors Fab Capacity to Grow 25 Percent Through 2023, SEMI Reports
Total worldwide installed capacity for MEMS and sensors fabs is forecast to grow 25 percent to 4.7 million wafers* per month from 2018 to 2023, driven by explosive demand across communications, transportation, medical, mobile, industrial and other Internet of Things (IoT) applications, according to the new MEMS & Sensors Fab Report to 2023 published by SEMI.
Synopsys Accelerates Cloud Computing SoC Designs with New Die-to-Die PHY IP in Advanced 7nm FinFET Process
Synopsys, Inc. (Nasdaq: SNPS) today announced its DesignWare® Die-to-Die PHY IP for ultra- and extra-short reach connectivity in multi-chip modules (MCM) for hyperscale data center, AI, and networking designs. The DesignWare Die-to-Die PHY IP supports NRZ and PAM-4 signaling from 2.5G to 112G data rates, delivering maximum throughput per die edge for large MCM designs. To improve SoC yield, the Die-to-Die PHY allows for partitioning of large dies into smaller dies while offering trade-offs for power, bandwidth per beachfront, latency, and reach.
Fragmented Magnetism
Probing the properties of a Mott insulator, a team of researchers from Boston College, MIT, and U.C. Santa Barbara has revealed an elusive atomic-scale magnetic signal in the unique material as it transitions from insulator to a metal, the team reported recently in the journal Nature Physics. Working with a compound in the class of materials known as Mott insulators, the team used spin-polarizing scanning tunneling microscopy (SP-STM) to detail at the atomic level the underlying physics of one example of these insulators, which can be manipulated into a metallic state through the addition of an electronic charge, a process called doping, said Boston College Assistant Professor of Physics Ilija Zeljkovic, a lead author of the report.
Achieving Quantum Supremacy
Researchers in UC Santa Barbara/Google scientist John Martinis’ group have made good on their claim to quantum supremacy. Using 53 entangled quantum bits (“qubits”), their Sycamore computer has taken on — and solved — a problem considered intractable for classical computers. The milestone comes after roughly two decades of quantum computing research conducted by Martinis and his group, from the development of a single superconducting qubit to systems including architectures of 72 and, with Sycamore, 54 qubits (one didn’t perform) that take advantage of the both awe-inspiring and bizarre properties of quantum mechanics.
Combination of Nanometrics and Rudolph Technologies to Create Onto Innovation
Nanometrics Incorporated (NASDAQ: NANO) and Rudolph Technologies, Inc. (NYSE: RTEC), today announced that their combined company will be named Onto Innovation Inc., following the close of their previously announced merger of equals. The name Onto Innovation reflects the combined company’s anticipated focus on the future and exciting challenges ahead, highlighting the increasing importance of innovation in enabling that future for the company and its broader served markets. Onto Innovation will bring a breadth of perspective across the entire semiconductor value chain to innovate and enable its customers to solve their most difficult yield, device performance, quality, and reliability issues.
NSITEXE Achieves First-Pass Silicon Success for High-Performance Data Flow Processor-based SoC Test Chip Using DesignWare IP
Synopsys, Inc. (Nasdaq: SNPS) today announced that NSITEXE, a Denso Group Company, achieved first-pass silicon success for its high-performance Data Flow Processor (DFP)-based SoC test chip using Synopsys’ DesignWare® Interface and Foundation IP portfolios. With Synopsys’ silicon-proven DesignWare IP, NSITEXE met the advanced functionality, processing, performance, and testability requirements of its DFP-based SoC. NSITEXE’s DFP-based SoC combines both a CPU and a GPU to process large and complex datasets for parallel data management with power-efficient parallelism and quality.
