https://techxplore.com/semiconductors-news/ en-us The latest news on electronics and semiconductor technology developments Over the past decades, electronics engineers have been trying to develop increasingly smaller and highly performing field effect transistors (FETs) with multiple functions. FETs are crucial components of most electronics on the market today, which can control the electrical current flowing through devices. https://techxplore.com/news/2023-12-reconfigurable-molybdenum-ditelluride-devices-multiple.html Electronics & Semiconductors Tue, 05 Dec 2023 06:50:01 EST news620916637 By strategically straining materials that are as thin as a single layer of atoms, University of Rochester scientists have developed a new form of computing memory that is at once fast, dense, and low-power. The researchers outline their new hybrid resistive switches in a study published in Nature Electronics. https://techxplore.com/news/2023-11-hybrid-phase-change-memristors-possibilities.html Hardware Thu, 30 Nov 2023 12:11:43 EST news620568701 Conventional silicon architecture has taken computer vision a long way, but Purdue University researchers are developing an alternative path—taking a cue from nature—that they say is the foundation of an artificial retina. Like our own visual system, the device is geared to sense change, making it more efficient in principle than the computationally demanding digital camera systems used in applications like self-driving cars and autonomous robots. https://techxplore.com/news/2023-11-human-eye-boost-vision-efficiency.html Electronics & Semiconductors Wed, 29 Nov 2023 12:27:51 EST news620483268 To reach the world's goal of carbon neutrality by 2050, there must be a fundamental change in electronic materials to create a more reliable and resilient electricity grid. A diamond might be a girl's best friend, but it might also be the solution needed to sustain the electrification of society needed to reach carbon neutrality in the next 30 years. https://techxplore.com/news/2023-11-generation-semiconductors-diamond-device-highest.html Electronics & Semiconductors Mon, 27 Nov 2023 17:13:04 EST news620327582 The University of Ottawa, together with national and international partners, has achieved a world first by manufacturing the first back-contact micrometric photovoltaic cells. The cells, with a size twice the thickness of a strand of hair, have significant advantages over conventional solar technologies, reducing electrode-induced shadowing by 95% and potentially lowering energy production costs by up to three times. https://techxplore.com/news/2023-11-back-contact-micrometric-photovoltaic-cells.html Electronics & Semiconductors Wed, 22 Nov 2023 12:37:37 EST news619879055 Machine learning (ML) is generally defined as data-driven technology mimicking intelligent human abilities, which bit by bit upgrades its accuracy from experience. It starts with gathering massive amounts of data, such as numbers, texts, images and so on. After training with the data, ML algorithms build a logical model to identify patterns through the least possible human intervention. With the help of sample training data, programmers test the model's validity before introducing a new dataset. The more training data, the better the prediction. https://techxplore.com/news/2023-11-machines-metal-oxide-semiconductor-capacitors.html Electronics & Semiconductors Wed, 22 Nov 2023 09:57:00 EST news619869413 Transistors are crucial electronic components that regulate, amplify and control the flow of current inside most existing devices. In recent years, electronics engineers have been trying to identify materials and design strategies that could help to further improve the performance of transistors, while also reducing their size. https://techxplore.com/news/2023-11-circuits-based-2d-semiconductor-ghz.html Engineering Tue, 14 Nov 2023 06:50:01 EST news619091876 As information and communication technologies (ICT) process data, they convert electricity into heat. Already today, the global ICT ecosystem's CO2 footprint rivals that of aviation. It turns out, however, that a big part of the energy consumed by computer processors doesn't go into performing calculations. Instead, the bulk of the energy used to process data is spent shuttling bytes between the memory to the processor. https://techxplore.com/news/2023-11-2d-semiconductor-transistors-redefining-energy.html Electronics & Semiconductors Mon, 13 Nov 2023 11:00:02 EST news619090313 In recent years, electronics engineers have been trying to identify materials that could help to shrink the size of transistors without compromising their performance and energy efficiency. Low-dimensional semiconductors, solid-state superconducting materials with fewer than three spatial dimensions, could help to achieve this. https://techxplore.com/news/2023-11-carbon-nanotubebased-mosfets-doped-scalable.html Engineering Fri, 10 Nov 2023 06:50:01 EST news618747768 A research team led by The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST) has developed a microprinter that can print piezoelectric films 100 times faster for the production of microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) for sensors, wearable or implantable medical devices, offering the possibility to lower the mass production costs. https://techxplore.com/news/2023-11-low-cost-multifunctional-microprinter-ultrafast-piezoelectric.html Engineering Thu, 09 Nov 2023 10:23:12 EST news618747789 Computer simulations can greatly contribute to the study of new promising materials for technological applications. These include so-called phase-change materials (PCMs), substances that release or absorb thermal energy while melting and solidifying, which are promising for the development of memory components. https://techxplore.com/news/2023-11-machine-learningbased-tool-phase-change-memory.html Electronics & Semiconductors Thu, 09 Nov 2023 10:00:23 EST news618746413 For more than 50 years, the semiconductor industry has been hard at work developing advanced technologies that have led to the amazing increases in computing power and energy efficiency that have improved our lives. A primary way the industry has achieved these remarkable performance gains has been by finding ways to decrease the size of the semiconductor devices in microchips. However, with semiconductor feature sizes now approaching only a few nanometers—just a few hundred atoms—it has become increasingly challenging to sustain continued device miniaturization. https://techxplore.com/news/2023-11-photoresist-materials-pave-smaller-high.html Electronics & Semiconductors Wed, 08 Nov 2023 12:40:24 EST news618669620 Magnetic random-access memories (MRAMs) are data storage devices that store digital data within nanomagnets, representing it in binary code (i.e., as "0" or "1"). The magnetization of nanomagnets inside these memory devices can be directed upward or downward. https://techxplore.com/news/2023-11-field-free-commercial-pma-ferromagnet-room.html Engineering Wed, 08 Nov 2023 11:30:02 EST news618661728 The widespread use of electronic devices to interact with others and access the internet has increased the need for highly performing communication technologies that can transmit data faster and more efficiently. Increasing the data transmission rate of devices without adversely impacting their energy efficiency, however, is a challenging task. https://techxplore.com/news/2023-11-energy-efficient-transmitter-based-cmos.html Electronics & Semiconductors Tue, 07 Nov 2023 12:10:01 EST news618575365 In biological systems, complex neuronal networks with highly polarized synaptic gating interfaces are responsible for processing and transmitting intricate biosignals. https://techxplore.com/news/2023-11-scientists-method-electronic-to-multi-ionic-transmission.html Electronics & Semiconductors Tue, 07 Nov 2023 09:29:13 EST news618571751 Merit analysis is a vital element of the scientific process, ensuring that research is based on rigorous evidence and sound methodology. It enables scientific advancement, boosts credibility, quality and reliability for future research. It allows a research community to build a common language, common practices and common logic. https://techxplore.com/news/2023-11-team-usual-electronics.html Electronics & Semiconductors Mon, 06 Nov 2023 10:19:04 EST news618488342 The molecular structure of organic semiconductors is key to the outdoor stability of organic solar cells. Molecular-level insight into one family of organic solar cell materials, known as Y-series nonfullerene acceptors (Y-NFAs), could help enhance their outdoor stability. https://techxplore.com/news/2023-11-stability-sustainable-outdoor-solar-cells.html Electronics & Semiconductors Mon, 06 Nov 2023 10:10:06 EST news618487801 In a recent study published in Advanced Energy Materials, a team of ANSTO scientists, led by Prof. Vanessa Peterson, used neutron scattering techniques to understand the formation of harmful lithium structures in rechargeable lithium ion batteries (LIBs). https://techxplore.com/news/2023-11-catastrophic-failure-lithium-ion-batteries.html Electronics & Semiconductors Fri, 03 Nov 2023 11:45:03 EDT news618230701 A team of researchers from UCLA has unveiled a first-of-its-kind stable and fully solid-state thermal transistor that uses an electric field to control a semiconductor device's heat movement. https://techxplore.com/news/2023-11-solid-state-thermal-transistor.html Electronics & Semiconductors Thu, 02 Nov 2023 14:00:01 EDT news618139017 An important avenue for information processing, especially at the edge of limited resources, is to develop neuromorphic devices with functions similar to biological neural networks. https://techxplore.com/news/2023-11-low-power-vertical-neurotransistors-emulate-dendritic.html Electronics & Semiconductors Wed, 01 Nov 2023 11:15:54 EDT news618056152 Organic semiconductor materials are promising key technologies for the development of state-of-the-art optoelectronic components and are used in photovoltaics as well as in sensor technology and microelectronics. In order to produce thin organic semiconductor films automatically and with well-defined properties, researchers—led by Leibniz IPHT in Jena, Germany—have developed a new technological approach for depositing thin films with high molecular precision. https://techxplore.com/news/2023-10-method-tailor-made-semiconductor-thin.html Engineering Thu, 19 Oct 2023 10:18:03 EDT news616929481 As the wind and rain pound the blades of a wind turbine, UBC Okanagan researchers carefully monitor screens hundreds of kilometers away, analyzing whether the blades' coatings can withstand the onslaught. While this was only a test in a lab, the researchers are working to improve the way structures such as turbines, helicopter propellers and even bridges are monitored for wear and tear from the weather. https://techxplore.com/news/2023-10-catastrophes-next-generation-sensors.html Engineering Wed, 18 Oct 2023 16:42:03 EDT news616866121 Scientists have discovered a way to design materials that improve energy efficiency, in a breakthrough that could help the fight against climate change, make manufacturing greener, and could even take the hassle out of charging your smart watch. https://techxplore.com/news/2023-10-material-devices-electricity-efficiently.html Electronics & Semiconductors Tue, 17 Oct 2023 09:02:35 EDT news616752148 Materials scientists at Kiel University and the Fraunhofer Institute for Silicon Technology in Itzehoe (ISIT) have cleared another hurdle in the development and structuring of new materials for next-generation semiconductor devices, such as novel memory cells. https://techxplore.com/news/2023-10-tiny-memory-cell-extreme-temperatures.html Electronics & Semiconductors Mon, 16 Oct 2023 10:24:57 EDT news616670694 Your phone may have more than 15 billion tiny transistors packed into its microprocessor chips. The transistors are made of silicon, metals like gold and copper, and insulators that together take an electric current and convert it to 1s and 0s to communicate information and store it. The transistor materials are inorganic, basically derived from rock and metal. https://techxplore.com/news/2023-10-hybrid-transistors-silk-protein-stage.html Electronics & Semiconductors Fri, 13 Oct 2023 10:17:04 EDT news616411021 Forget the cloud. Northwestern University engineers have developed a new nanoelectronic device that can perform accurate machine-learning classification tasks in the most energy-efficient manner yet. Using 100-fold less energy than current technologies, the device can crunch large amounts of data and perform artificial intelligence (AI) tasks in real time without beaming data to the cloud for analysis. https://techxplore.com/news/2023-10-nanoelectronic-device-real-time-ai-classification.html Electronics & Semiconductors Thu, 12 Oct 2023 11:00:01 EDT news616320081 It is now apparent that the mass-produced artifacts of technology in our increasingly densely populated world—whether electronic devices, cars, batteries, phones, household appliances, or industrial robots—are increasingly at odds with the sustainable bounded ecosystems achieved by living organisms based on cells over millions of years. https://techxplore.com/news/2023-10-morphogenesis-self-assembling-microelectronic-modules-yield.html Electronics & Semiconductors Wed, 11 Oct 2023 10:41:03 EDT news616239661 Transistors are crucial components of most electronics on the market today, including computers, smartphones, wearables and numerous other devices. These components, generally based on semiconducting materials, are designed to switch, detect and amplify current inside devices, controlling the flow of electricity inside them during their operation. https://techxplore.com/news/2023-10-reconfigurable-field-effect-transistor-memory-device.html Electronics & Semiconductors Wed, 11 Oct 2023 06:30:02 EDT news616148672 Engineers at the University of California San Diego have developed electronic "stickers" that measure the force exerted by one object upon another. The force stickers are wireless, run without batteries and fit in tight spaces. That makes them versatile for a wide range of applications, from arming robots with a sense of touch to elevating the immersive experience of VR and AR, making biomedical devices smarter, monitoring the safety of industrial equipment, and improving the accuracy and efficiency of inventory management in warehouses. https://techxplore.com/news/2023-10-wireless-battery-free-electronic-stickers-gauge.html Engineering Tue, 10 Oct 2023 14:48:03 EDT news616168081 Semiconductors are the heart of almost every electronic device. Without semiconductors, our computers would not be able to process and retain data; and LED (light-emitting diode) lightbulbs would lose their ability to shine. https://techxplore.com/news/2023-09-sustainable-semiconductors-multielement-ink.html Hardware Thu, 28 Sep 2023 11:41:04 EDT news615120061