Imec, a world-leading research and innovation hub in nanoelectronics and digital technologies, presents the first functional GaAs-based heterojunction bipolar transistor (HBT) devices on 300mm Si, and CMOS-compatible GaN-based devices on 200mm Si for mm-wave applications.
Semiconductors
Growing Strained Crystals Could Improve Performance of Perovskite Electronics
A new method could enable researchers to fabricate more efficient and longer lasting perovskite solar cells, LEDs and photodetectors. By growing thin perovskite films on substrates with different compositions, engineers at the University of California San Diego have invented a way of fabricating perovskite single crystals with precisely deformed, or strained, structures. Engineering a small amount of strain in perovskites is of great interest because it provides a way to make significant changes in the material’s properties, such as how it conducts electricity, absorbs and transmits light, or how stable it is.
Exact Metrology Offers $30 Challenge to Prove that the GOM CT Scanner is the Most Accurate Industrial CT Scanner on the Market
Exact Metrology, a provider of 3D and CT scanning equipment and metrology services, now offers the GOM CT scanner — the most accurate industrial CT scanner currently on the market for sale or on a contract basis. The GOM CT scanner offers the highest accuracy and highest resolution of any 225kV system available today. Additional features include a 3k detector (3008 x2512 pixels), voxel size between 2 µm – 80 µm, photogrammetric calibration, and 5-axis kinematics, measuring area of Ø 240 mm, H. 400 mm, temperature balancing and I/O port.
Sublimation, Not Melting: Graphene Surprises Researchers Again
Physicists from the Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology and the Institute for High Pressure Physics of the Russian Academy of Sciences have used computer modeling to refine the melting curve of graphite that has been studied for over 100 years, with inconsistent findings. They also found that graphene “melting” is in fact sublimation. The results of the study came out in the journal Carbon.
AI Chip Company Syntiant Joins Qualcomm Extension Program
Syntiant, an AI chip company providing custom always-on voice solutions at the edge, today announced that it is now a member of the Qualcomm® Extension Program, offering OEMs and ODMs accelerated integration of its ultra-low-power neural network technology with Qualcomm® Bluetooth audio platforms and SOCs. With support from the Qualcomm Extension Program, Syntiant plans to deliver a touch-free, cloud- free, machine learning voice solution for always-on speech applications in battery-powered devices, such as Bluetooth-enabled earbuds and hearable devices.
Dirac And NXP Announce Collaboration To Equip The NXP i.MX 8M Family Of Chipsets With A Premium Digital Audio Platform
Swedish sound pioneer Dirac and NXP® Semiconductors today announced a collaboration to combine one of the world’s most powerful audio chipsets with a market-leading digital audio platform. By equipping the NXP i.MX 8M family of chipsets with Dirac’s digital audio platform, OEMs can enable their devices with maximized, immersive, and adaptive sound across their complete range of products. This announcement is being made at CES 2020 at Dirac Booth #18123.
Laser Pulse Creates Frequency Doubling in Amorphous Dielectric Material
Researchers have demonstrated a new all-optical technique for creating robust second-order nonlinear effects in materials that don’t normally support them.
pSemi Announces the Retirement of Former CEO and Esteemed Executive Jim Cable
pSemi® Corporation, a Murata company focused on semiconductor integration, announces the retirement of former CEO and esteemed executive Jim Cable. After more than 20 years with the company, Cable retires from his position as chairman and CTO of pSemi and as global semiconductor R&D director for parent company Murata Manufacturing. Cable joined pSemi (formerly Peregrine Semiconductor) in Oct. 1996 and held positions as COO and vice president of technology and engineering before becoming CEO in 2002. From 2002 to 2017, he served as CEO, leading the team through explosive growth, funding rounds, an IPO and the 2014 acquisition by Murata.
New Method Gives Robust Transistors
A new method to fit together layers of semiconductors as thin as a few nanometres has resulted in not only a scientific discovery but also a new type of transistor for high-power electronic devices. The result, published in Applied Physics Letters, has aroused huge interest. The achievement is the result of a close collaboration between scientists at Linköping University and SweGaN, a spin-off company from materials science research at LiU. The company manufactures tailored electronic components from gallium nitride.
Researchers Create Nanoscale Sensors to Better See How High Pressure Affects Materials
Researchers have developed new nanoscale technology to image and measure more of the stresses and strains on materials under high pressures. As the researchers reported in the journal Science, that matters because, “Pressure alters the physical, chemical and electronic properties of matter.” Understanding those changes could lead to new materials or new phases of matter for use in all kinds of technologies and applications, said Valery Levitas, a paper co-author and Anson Marston Distinguished Professor in Engineering at Iowa State University, the Vance Coffman Faculty Chair and professor in aerospace engineering.
