The Green IC research group in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at the National University of Singapore’s (NUS) Faculty of Engineering invented a novel class of Digital-to-Analog (DAC) and Analog-to-Digital Converters (ADC) that can be entirely designed with a fully-automated digital design methodology, thanks to its fully-digital architecture. Compared to traditional analog architectures and methodologies, the design turnaround time for these novel sensor interfaces is reduced from months to hours. The drastic reduction in the design effort is highly beneficial in cost-sensitive silicon systems, such as sensors for the Internet of Things (IoT). The novel data converter architecture also has very low complexity, reducing the silicon area and hence the manufacturing cost by at least 30 times, compared to conventional designs.
MEMS
Kirigami Inspires New Method for Wearable Sensors
As wearable sensors become more prevalent, the need for a material resistant to damage from the stress and strains of the human body’s natural movement becomes ever more crucial. To that end, researchers at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign have developed a method of adopting kirigami architectures to help materials become more strain tolerant and more adaptable to movement.
Big Data Technique Reveals Previously Unknown Capabilities of Common Materials
When scientists and engineers discover new ways to optimize existing materials, it paves the way for innovations that make everything from our phones and computers to our medical equipment smaller, faster, and more efficient. According to research published today by Nature Journal NPG Asia Materials, a group of researchers — led by Edwin Fohtung, an associate professor of materials science and engineering at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute — have found a new way to optimize nickel by unlocking properties that could enable numerous applications, from biosensors to quantum computing.
New Transient-Voltage-Suppression Diodes from STMicroelectronics Deliver Higher Protection in Smaller Packages
In addition to the lower profile, ST’s new 1500W SMB Flat package has transient-power capability equivalent to that of conventional devices in SMC packages, in a footprint more than 50% smaller. The 400W and 600W SMA Flat and SMB Flat devices are fully footprint-compatible with alternatives in conventional SMA and SMB packages. Leakage current is five times lower compared with other TVS diodes on the market, minimizing impact on system operation and power consumption.
IDT Offers Avalanche Technology’s MRAM Devices to Complement its Broad Range of Semiconductor Devices
Integrated Device Technology, Inc. (IDT), a wholly owned subsidiary of Renesas Electronics Corporation (TSE: 6723), today announced that it now offers Avalanche’s magnetic RAM (MRAM) devices to complement the extensive range of power, sensor, timing and microcontroller devices from Renesas. This allows IDT to serve as a single source for all the primary semiconductor devices manufacturers need for industrial control and automation systems, programmable logic controllers, medical diagnostic probes and equipment, multifunction printers, and IoT devices. Avalanche’s MRAM devices are ideal for high-speed, non-volatile memory applications such as program storage and data backup. IDT will offer Avalanche’s 4Mbit, 8Mbit and 16Mbit MRAM devices in two packages (SOIC and WSON) with two different temperature ratings (85°C and 105°C). Available speeds will be up to 108Mhz, with configurable interfaces for SPI, DPI, QPI with Single-Data-Rate and Double-Data-Rate modes.
Creating 2D Heterostructures for Future Electronics
Nanomaterials could provide the basis of many emerging technologies, including extremely tiny, flexible, and transparent electronics. While many nanomaterials exhibit promising electronic properties, scientists and engineers are still working to best integrate these materials together to eventually create semiconductors and circuits with them. Northwestern Engineering researchers have created two-dimensional (2D) heterostructures from two of these materials, graphene and borophene, taking an important step toward creating intergrated circuits from these nanomaterials.
Energy Taiwan Opens Tomorrow to Opportunities in Renewable Energy as Experts from Industry, Government and Academia Gather
Opening tomorrow, Energy Taiwan today hosts a pre-show press conference with photovoltaic (PV) and offshore wind power experts exploring the future of smart energy, industry trends, and strategies for seizing renewable energy business opportunities. The largest renewable energy event in Taiwan, Energy Taiwan connects the global green energy supply chain for three days of expert insights into the latest technologies and business opportunities in solar PV, offshore wind power, hydrogen energy, smart energy storage, and green finance and insurance.
Chinese and Korean Materials Suppliers Profiting from Japanese Politics
Chinese materials suppliers are moving to take market- share at South Korean chip fabrication (fab) lines. Due to residual animosity from 20th century wars, Japanese politicians decided to use the semiconductor materials supplier-chain as a pawn in a political chess game and un-white-listed South Korea from exports. Any good-will between the two nations was immediately erased, and South Korea announced a US$6B government investment to as a huge driving force to help develop local supplies. Now Chinese chemical suppliers have unprecedented openings to qualifications at Korean-owned fabs, including commercial memory fabs in China.
Watching Energy Transport Through Biomimetic Nanotubes
Scientists from the University of Groningen (the Netherlands) and the University of Würzburg (Germany) have investigated a simple biomimetic light-harvesting system using advanced spectroscopy combined with a microfluidic platform. The double-walled nanotubes work very efficiently at low light intensities, while they are able to get rid of excess energy at high intensities. These properties are useful in the design of novel materials for the harvesting and transport of photon energy. The results were published in the journal Nature Communications on 10 October.
Electrochemistry to Benefit Photonics: Nanotubes Can Control Laser Pulses
An international team of scientists led by researchers from the Laboratory of Nanomaterials at the Skoltech Center for Photonics and Quantum Materials (CPQM) has shown that the nonlinear optical response of carbon nanotubes can be controlled by electrochemical gating. This approach enabled designing a device for controlling the laser pulse duration. The results of the study were published in the prestigious international journal Nano Letters. Optical phenomena that we encounter in our everyday life, such as reflection, refraction or absorption of light, do not depend on the intensity of incident light. However, at very high radiation intensities, a new class of phenomena arises, that causes changes in the refraction index, self-focusing of light or emergence of radiation at new wavelengths.
