Category Technology/Electronics

Electronic components join forces to take up 10 times Less Space on computer Chips


Electron microscope image of an array of new chip components that integrate the inductors, blue, and capacitors, yellow, needed to make the electronic signal filters in phones and other wireless devices.
Image courtesy Xiuling Li

Electronic filters are essential to the inner workings of our phones and other wireless devices. They eliminate or enhance specific input signals to achieve the desired output signals. They are essential, but take up space on the chips that researchers are on a constant quest to make smaller. A new study demonstrates the successful integration of the individual elements that make up electronic filters onto a single component, significantly reducing the amount of space taken up by the device.

Researchers at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign have di...

Read More

Materials Science Researchers develop First Electrically Injected Laser

Schematic illustration of electrically injected germanium-tin laser and its power output versus current and spectrum characteristics.

Materials science researchers, led by electrical engineering professor Shui-Qing “Fisher” Yu, have demonstrated the first electrically injected laser made with germanium tin. Used as a semiconducting material for circuits on electronic devices, the diode laser could improve micro-processing speed and efficiency at much lower costs.

In tests, the laser operated in pulsed conditions up to 100 kelvins, or 279 degrees below zero Fahrenheit.
“Our results are a major advance for group-IV-based lasers,” Yu said...

Read More

Spray-on Clear Coatings for Cheaper Smart Windows

Square sample of clear coating, held by tweezers, on a green leafy background
The ultra-thin clear coatings are made with a new spray-on method that is fast, cost-effective and scalable.

New transparent spray-on coatings are conductive, cost-effective and rival the performance of current industry standards. A simple method for making clear coatings that can block heat and conduct electricity could radically cut the cost of energy-saving smart windows and heat-repelling glass.

The spray-on coatings developed by researchers at RMIT University in Melbourne, Australia, are ultra-thin, cost-effective and rival the performance of current industry standards for transparent electrodes.

Combining the best properties of glass and metals in a single component, a transparent electrode is a highly conductive clear coating that allows visible light through.

The coati...

Read More

Implantable Transmitter provides Wireless option for Biomedical devices

A Purdue University team developed a fully implantable transmitter chip for wireless sensor nodes and biomedical devices. (Image provided)

Purdue University innovators are working on inventions to use micro-chip technology in implantable devices and other wearable products such as smart watches to improve biomedical devices, including those used to monitor people with glaucoma and heart disease.

The Purdue team developed a fully implantable radio-frequency transmitter chip for wireless sensor nodes and biomedical devices. The research is published in the journal IEEE Transactions on Circuits and Systems II. The transmitter chip consumes lowest amount of energy per digital bit published to date.

The transmitter works in a similar fashion to communication technology in mobile phone...

Read More