Polymer microneedles for blood extraction
Imec has made hollow, out-of-plane microneedles with a height of 1540 µm and an aspect ratio exceeding 100. The needles are made from a polymer (SU-8) and the process is repeatable. Read more »
Graphene gives gold ‘snowflakes’
In an effort to make graphene more useful in electronics applications, Kansas State University engineers made a discovery - gold ‘snowflakes’ on graphene. Read more »
GigE transceivers set to grow
According to a report from CIR, US market analysts, the market for 40/100 GigE transceivers will reach $640 million in revenue by 2014, with about two-thirds coming from 40 GigE products. Read more »
Wave power milestone in Orkney
Britain’s first nearshore wave energy converter has moved another step closer to generating clean, green energy. Read more »
When was the battery invented?
One of the most remarkable and novel discoveries in the last 400 years has been electricity. One may ask, “Has electricity been around that long?” The answer is yes, and perhaps much longer, but the practical use of electricity has only been at our disposal since the mid- to late-1800s and, at first, in a limited way. Read more »
GPS - gathering data on the move
For the designer tasked with the development of a telematics platform or any other GPS-based application, there are many detailed options to evaluate. Also for management, there are important longer-term strategic and financial implications to carefully consider. Read more »
3D microchips and super cooling coming
A technology for stacking several layers of microprocesssors, which is being developed at EPFL in collaboration with ETHZ and IBM Research, could boost the performance of computer chips by a factor 10. Read more »
Helping silicon see the light
The ultra-small revolution is claimed to have begun with the invention of a laser that allows light to be used on a computer chip. Read more »
'Hidden' PV cells from optical fibre
Converting sunlight to electricity might no longer mean large panels of photovoltaic cells atop flat surfaces like roofs. Read more »
Lasers come to the aid of cancer patients
Telecoms, healthcare and display technology will be the major beneficiaries of a new generation of semiconductor lasers developed in a massive European research effort. Better cancer treatment, wider bandwidth and smaller, better displays could be on their way. Read more »
Persistent spin state could revolutionise spintronics
By controlling the collective spin state of highly mobile electrons in semiconductors, researchers in the Materials Sciences Division at the US Department of Energy’s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory claim to have taken a major step forwards in the technology of spintronics. Read more »
Virtual system integration and simulation
Embedded and electronic system design teams face the challenge of reducing development time and costs while improving quality, performance and functionality. However, increased system complexity is raising the cost of verification, in some cases to as much as 70% of the overall project cost. Read more »
Semiconductor making made more energy efficient
Scientists at the Department of Energy’s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, in cooperation with the International SEMATECH Manufacturing Initiative, have released, for beta testing, a computer-based tool to help the world’s semiconductor manufacturing facilities evaluate and improve their energy efficiency. Read more »
CompactPCI Plus standard can enhance data transfer
One unfortunate side-effect of technological advancements is that they often force end users to accept an 'all-or-nothing' choice between a major investment in enhanced speed and capability, or live with less-than-optimum performance to protect the investment in an installed technology base. Read more »
Reliable power electronics for windmill generators
In the megawatt range, high-power electronics applications need powerful semiconductors. However, even the largest semiconductors available today are still not strong enough for some applications. It is therefore necessary to connect them in parallel. The parallel connection of semiconductor devices in a traditional power electronics circuit is very common. Read more »
Packaging and 3D come under scrutiny
The continuation of Moore’s law by conventional CMOS scaling is becoming more and more challenging, requiring huge capital investments. 3D packaging with 3D TSV interconnects provides another path towards the 'More than Moore', with relatively smaller capital investments. Read more »
Accurate power supplies using integrated voltage regulators
The introduction of integrated voltage regulators was a boon for electronic engineers. Before that, regulated power supplies were rather complex, particularly if such a power supply had to be short-circuit proof. Read more »
The workings of RF transformers - Part 2
RF transformers are widely used in electronic circuits for impedance matching to achieve maximum power transfer and to suppress undesired signal reflection. Part 2 of this article continues the story that began in the July issue. Read more »
Understanding VCO concepts
A voltage controlled oscillator circuit can be modelled as the combination of an amplifier with gain and a frequency dependent feedback loop as illustrated in Figure 1. Read more »
The workings of RF transformers - Part 1
RF transformers are widely used in electronic circuits for impedance matching to achieve maximum power transfer and to suppress undesired signal reflection, voltage or current step-up or step-down, DC isolation between circuits while providing efficient AC transmission and interfacing between balanced and unbalanced circuits such as amplifiers. Read more »