Electronics
Scalable device for quantum information processing
July 24, 2012 5:11 am | News | CommentsResearchers in National Physical Laboratory's Quantum Detection Group have demonstrated, for the first time, a monolithic 3D ion microtrap array which could be scaled up to handle several tens of ion-based quantum bits. The research shows how it is possible to realize this device embedded in a semiconductor chip, and demonstrates the device's ability to confine individual ions at the nanoscale.
New lab working on security shoe sole to ID people
July 23, 2012 4:48 am | by Kevin Begos, Associated Press | News | CommentsCarnegie Mellon University's new Pedo-Biometrics Lab is working to perfect special shoe insoles that can help monitor access to high-security areas, like nuclear power plants or special military bases. The concept is based on research that shows each person has unique feet, and ways of walking. Sensors check on the pressure of feet and the gait, using a computer to compare patterns.
Scientists find new principle for spin transistor
July 20, 2012 9:04 am | News | CommentsIn conventional field effect transistors, the current through the device can be switched on and off by an electric field. A research team in Poland, however, has developed a new way to control electron current in a transistor-like structure by using the electrons’ spin. The new method can not only tune the electrical current in the device but also the spin-polarization of the electron current.
3DIcon to acquire Dimension Technologies
July 19, 2012 11:45 am | News | Comments3DIcon Corporation and Dimension Technologies Inc. announced that they have signed a non-binding Letter of Intent outlining the terms and conditions for 3DIcon to acquire Dimension Technologies.
Bioengineers find objects moving in a stream create constructive wakes
July 18, 2012 5:57 am | News | CommentsFrom driftwood traveling down a river to a blood cell flowing through your artery, objects moving in a stream of fluid are mostly thought to passively go with the flow but not disturb it in controllable ways. Researchers at the University of California, Los Angeles have recently found that objects within a confined stream create controllable disturbances that can be used to move mass or heat at high rates, potentially providing simple solutions to performing chemical reactions on particles or cooling microelectronic chips.
Researchers almost double light efficiency in LC projectors
July 16, 2012 5:51 am | News | CommentsResearchers from North Carolina State University and ImagineOptix Corporation have developed new technology to convert unpolarized light into polarized light, which makes projectors that use liquid crystal (LC) technology almost twice as energy efficient. The new technology has resulted in smaller, lower cost and more efficient projectors, meaning longer battery life and significantly lower levels of heat.
3D app gives public ability to experience robotic space travel
July 12, 2012 6:49 am | News | CommentsA NASA-created application that brings some of the agency's robotic spacecraft to life in 3D now is available for free on the iPhone and iPad. Called Spacecraft 3D, the app uses animation to show how spacecraft can maneuver and manipulate their outside components.
Glasses-free 3D television looks nearer
July 12, 2012 3:44 am | by Larry Hardesty, MIT News Office | News | CommentsDespite impressive recent advances, holographic television, which would present images that vary with varying perspectives, probably remains some distance in the future. But in a new paper, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Media Lab's Camera Culture group offers a new approach to multiple-perspective, glasses-free 3D that could prove much more practical in the short term.
White LEDs placed directly on paper
July 10, 2012 6:47 am | News | CommentsA researcher in Sweden has recently shown, as part of his doctoral thesis, how to grow white light-emitting diodes (LEDs) directly on a piece of paper. The LEDs, made from zinc oxide and a conducting polymer, are created through an entirely chemical method that involves the use of ultrasound.
IBM, TEL NEXX collaborate to advance 3D semiconductor packaging
July 9, 2012 7:05 am | News | CommentsTEL NEXX Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Tokyo Electron U.S. Holdings, has announced a new multi-year joint development program in 3D semiconductor packaging with IBM. The program focuses on meeting IBM's rigorous technology requirements through its partners in the Semiconductor Research and Development Alliance.
Nanodevice builds electricity from tiny pieces
July 9, 2012 6:38 am | News | CommentsA team of scientists in the U.K. have developed an electron pump—a nano-device—which picks these electrons up one at a time and moves them across a barrier, creating a very well-defined electrical current. This technique, which manipulates electrons individually, could replace the traditional definition of electrical current, the ampere, which relies on measurements of mechanical forces on current-carrying wires.
Clothing the body electric
June 29, 2012 3:37 am | News | CommentsOver the years, the telephone has gone mobile, from the house to the car to the pocket. The University of South Carolina's Xiaodong Li envisions even further integration of the cell phone—and just about every electronic gadget, for that matter—into our lives. He sees a future where electronics are part of our wardrobe.
Plasma startup creates high-energy light to make smaller microchips
June 28, 2012 11:08 am | News | CommentsA University of Washington laboratory has been working for more than a decade on fusion energy, harnessing the energy-generating mechanism of the sun. But in one of the twists of scientific discovery, on the way the researchers found a potential solution to a looming problem in the electronics industry.
Dancing robot does more than just “shimi” to the beat
June 26, 2012 12:15 pm | by Jason Maderer and Liz Klipp | News | CommentsShimi, a musical companion developed by Georgia Tech’s Center for Music Technology, recommends songs, dances to the beat and keeps the music pumping based on listener feedback. Powered by an Android phone, the robot is also app-based, meaning it can perform other functions, such as face recognition, based on the type of software programmed for it.
Sony, Panasonic tying up in advanced TV displays
June 26, 2012 11:21 am | by Yuri Kageyama AP Business Writer | News | CommentsLong-time Japanese rivals Sony Corp. and Panasonic Corp. are working together to develop next-generation TV panels based on organic light-emitting diode technology. The move is a reversal of decades of rivalry as they try to catch up with South Korea's Samsung Electronics.
Printing technology may cut cost of micro- and nanomanufacturing
June 26, 2012 7:24 am | by Marie Androv | News | CommentsA drawing program and a 3D printer: These might be the only tools necessary for production of microstructures and nanostructures for devices and sensors of the future. With a new printed 3D silicon manufacturing technology, researchers at Sweden hope to greatly reduce the cost and complexity of creating these building blocks.
“Dirt cheap” magnetic field sensor made from “plastic paint”
June 13, 2012 5:08 am | News | CommentsUniversity of Utah physicists developed an inexpensive, highly accurate magnetic field sensor for scientific and possibly consumer uses based on a “spintronic” organic thin-film semiconductor that basically is “plastic paint.” Its inventors say the new type of magnetometer also resists heat and degradation, works at room temperature and never needs to be calibrated.
DARPA technology to cool chips from within
June 10, 2012 12:42 pm | News | CommentsContinued miniaturization and increased component density in today’s electronics have pushed heat generation and power dissipation to unprecedented levels. Current technology is keeping pace, but greatly adding to the size and weight of electronics. As a solution DARPA pursuing a new thermal management strategy that place microfluidic cooling inside the chip substrate.
Researchers prevent uncontrolled “back-action” in transistors
June 10, 2012 12:26 pm | News | CommentsCutting-edge computer processors consist of 1.4 billion transistors. Such tiny structures, however, have a major drawback: The read-out process can influence their states in an uncontrolled way. A new model is able to detect and to avoid these “back-action effects” particularly at the quantum level.
Rice, UCLA slash energy needs for next-generation memory
June 7, 2012 7:56 am | News | CommentsResearchers from Rice University and the University of California, Los Angeles unveiled a new data-encoding scheme that slashes more than 30% of the energy needed to write data onto new memory cards that use phase-change memory—a competitor to flash memory that has big backing from industry heavyweights.
How infectious diseases are transmitted on aircraft
June 7, 2012 6:37 am | News | CommentsA new study is expected to provide the first detailed information on how infectious diseases may be transmitted aboard commercial airliners. Sponsored by aircraft manufacturer Boeing, the research will document patterns of passenger movement inside aircraft cabins and inventory the microbes present in cabin air and on surfaces such as tray tables and lavatory fixtures.
iSonea launches mobile asthma technology
June 4, 2012 11:46 am | News | CommentsMedical technology company iSonea Ltd has launched its first asthma management smartphone app, AsthmaSense, which is now available to iPhone, iPad, and Android users worldwide.
Researchers produce largest flexible color organic light-emitting display
June 4, 2012 4:10 am | News | CommentsThe Flexible Display Center (FDC) at Arizona State University announced that it has successfully manufactured the world's largest flexible color organic light-emitting display prototype using advanced mixed oxide thin-film transistors. Measuring 7.4 diagonal inches, the device was developed at the FDC in conjunction with Army Research Laboratories scientists.
BLE RF test solution speeds development of devices
May 31, 2012 9:59 am | News | CommentsAgilent Technologies Inc. announced its Bluetooth low-energy (BLE) test solution on the N4010A wireless connectivity test set was verified by Texas Instruments Inc. (TI) for use with TI's integrated circuits in Bluetooth Smart and Smart-Ready devices.
Unique approach to materials allows temperature-stable circuits
May 31, 2012 4:16 am | News | CommentsSandia National Laboratories has developed a unique materials approach to multilayered, ceramic-based, 3D microelectronics circuits, such as those used in cell phones. The approach compensates for how changes due to temperature fluctuations affect something called the temperature coefficient of resonant frequency, a critical property of materials used in radio and microwave frequency applications.
