Our use of battery-operated devices and appliances has been increasing steadily, bringing with it the need for safe, efficient, and high-performing power sources. To this end, a type of electrical energy storage device called the supercapacitor has recently begun to be considered as a feasible, and sometimes even better, alternative to conventional widely used energy-storage devices such as Li-ion batteries. Supercapacitors can charge and discharge much more rapidly than conventional batteries and also continue to do so for much longer. This makes them suitable for a range of applications such as regenerative braking in vehicles, wearable electronic devices, and so on.
Semiconductors
Global Semiconductor Sales Increase 2.9 Percent Month-to-Month in October; Annual Sales Projected to Decrease 12.8 Percent in 2019
The Semiconductor Industry Association (SIA) today announced worldwide sales of semiconductors reached $36.6 billion for the month of October 2019, an increase of 2.9 percent from the previous month’s total of $35.6 billion, but down 13.1 percent compared to the October 2018 total of $42.1 billion.
SÜSS MicroTec and BRIDG Join Forces to Establish a Production-Level Applications Center in North America
SÜSS MicroTec, leading supplier of equipment and process solutions for the semiconductor industry, announced today a far-reaching collaboration agreement with BRIDG, a not-for-profit, public-private partnership focused on production process technologies, advanced system integration, and 200mm microelectronics fabrication advancing next-generation nanoscale technology. This partnership puts an unprecedented array of SUSS MicroTec equipment and fabrication technologies at the doorstep of its North American customer base, readily accessible for demonstrations and evaluations.
Bending an Organic Semiconductor Can Boost Electrical Flow
Slightly bending semiconductors made of organic materials can roughly double the speed of electricity flowing through them and could benefit next-generation electronics such as sensors and solar cells, according to Rutgers-led research.
Third Quarter 2019 Worldwide Semiconductor Equipment Billings Jump 12 Percent
Worldwide semiconductor equipment manufacturers posted third-quarter 2019 billings of US$14.9 billion, a quarter-over-quarter increase of 12 percent but down 6 percent from the third quarter of 2018, SEMI, the global industry association representing the electronics manufacturing and design supply chain, reported today.
vSync Circuits Adds Verific’s Static Elaborator to Product Mix
Verific Design Automation today announced long-time customer vSync Circuits added Verific’s static elaboration to its product mix and introduced vLinter, early rule-based design analysis and verification software. vLinter, static analysis-based verification used in early design stages, hunts design bugs due to bad coding practices, including unsynthesizable code, unintentional latches, undriven signals, race conditions, out-of-range indexing, incomplete case statements and simulation and synthesis mismatches. It supports both ASIC and FPGA design flows and allows easy and fast setup by directly loading project files from leading synthesis software.
Lam Research Offers New Capabilities in its Edge Yield Product Portfolio
Lam Research Corp. (Nasdaq: LRCX) is offering new capabilities in its semiconductor manufacturing systems portfolio to further improve device yield at the edge of the wafer, which is essential to delivering greater productivity for customers. During the semiconductor production process, device manufacturers want to build integrated circuits on the entire surface of the wafer. On the edge of the wafer, where chemical, physical and thermal discontinuities are harder to control, the risk of yield loss increases. Controlling etch non-uniformity and preventing defects at the wafer’s edge is key to semiconductor device manufacturing cost reduction.
ACM Research Announces Global Commercial Availability of Environmentally Friendly, Cost-Effective Advanced Wafer Cleaning System
ACM Research, Inc. (NASDAQ: ACMR), a leading supplier of wafer cleaning technologies for advanced semiconductor devices, today announced commercial production-line readiness of the world’s first tool that combines bench and single wafer cleaning in an integrated system. The Ultra C Tahoe cleaning system for photoresist stripping and post-etch, post-implant and post-CMP cleans offers improved process performance, cost savings on chemicals and significantly reduced sulfuric acid waste generation.
Armored With Plastic ‘Hair’ and Silica Shell, New Perovskite Nanocrystals Show Enhanced Durability
Perovskite nanocrystals hold promise for improving a wide variety of optoelectronic devices – from lasers to light emitting diodes (LEDs) – but problems with their durability still limit the material’s broad commercial use. Researchers at the Georgia Institute of Technology have demonstrated a novel approach aimed at addressing the material’s durability problem: encasing the perovskite inside a double-layer protection system made from plastic and silica.
Global Semiconductor Chemical Vapor Deposition (CVD) Equipment Market: 8% CAGR Projection Over the Next Five Years
The semiconductor CVD equipment market size is expected to post a CAGR of close to 8% during the period 2019-2023, according to the latest market research report by Technavio. The demand for semiconductor CVD equipment is increasing owing to the growing demand for semiconductor lasers. This deposition equipment is used to grow a semiconductor layer on epitaxial wafers that are used in the manufacturing of lasers. MOCVD systems are the most common type of equipment used in the process. The demand is primarily driven by the use of this equipment in the production of VCSELs, which are used for applications in 3D sensing and optical data transmission.
