The Kynix Blog

In an advance that helps pave the way for next-generation electronics and computing technologies—and possibly paper-thin gadgets —scientists with the U.S. Department of Energy's Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) developed a way to chemically assemble transistors and circuits that are only a few atoms thick. What's more, their method yields functional structures at a scale large enough to begin thinking about real-world applications and commercial scalability. The scientists controlled the synthesis of a transistor in which narrow channels were etched onto conducting graphene, and a semiconducting material called a transition-metal dichalcogenide, or TMDC, was seeded in the blank channels. Both of these materials are single-layered crystals and atomically thin, so the two-part assembly yielded electronic structures that are essentially two-dimensional. In addition, the synthesis is able to cover an area a few centimeters long and a few millimeters wide. "This is a big step toward a scalable and repeatable way to build atomically thin electronics or pack more computing power in a smaller area," says Xiang Zhang, a senior scientist in Berkeley Lab's Materials Sciences Division who led the study. Zhang also holds the Ernest S. Kuh Endowed Chair at the University of California (UC) Berkeley and is a member of the Kavli Energy NanoSciences Institute at Berkeley. Other scientists who contributed to the research include Mervin Zhao, Yu Ye, Yang Xia, Hanyu Zhu, Siqi Wang, and Yuan Wang from UC Berkeley as well as Yimo Han and David Muller from Cornell University. Their work is part of a new wave of research aimed at keeping pace with Moore's Law, which holds that the number of transistors in an integrated circuit doubles approximately every two years. In order to keep this pace, scientists predict that integrated electronics will soon require transistors that measure less than ten nanometers in length. Transistors are electronic switches, so they need to be able to turn on and off, which is a characteristic of semiconductors. However, at the nanometer scale, silicon transistors likely won't be a good option. That's because silicon is a bulk material, and as electronics made from silicon become smaller and smaller, their performance as switches dramatically decreases, which is a major roadblock for future electronics. Researchers have looked to two-dimensional crystals that are only one molecule thick as alternative materials to keep up with Moore's Law. These crystals aren't subject to the constraints of silicon. In this vein, the Berkeley Lab scientists developed a way to seed a single-layered semiconductor, in this case the TMDC molybdenum disulfide (MoS2), into channels lithographically etched within a sheet of conducting graphene. The two atomic sheets meet to form nanometer-scale junctions that enable graphene to efficiently inject current into the MoS2. These junctions make atomically thin transistors. "This approach allows for the chemical assembly of electronic circuits, using two-dimensional materials, which show improved performance compared to using traditional metals to inject current into TMDCs," says Mervin Zhao, a lead author and Ph.D. student in Zhang's group at Berkeley Lab and UC Berkeley. Optical and electron microscopy images, and spectroscopic mapping, confirmed various aspects related to the successful formation and functionality of the two-dimensional transistors. In addition, the scientists demonstrated the applicability of the structure by assembling it into the logic circuitry of an inverter. This further underscores the technology's ability to lay the foundation for a chemically assembled atomic computer, the scientists say. "Both of these two-dimensional crystals have been synthesized in the wafer scale in a way that is compatible with current semiconductor manufacturing. By integrating our technique with other growth systems, it's possible that future computing can be done completely with atomically thin crystals," says Zhao. Reference: 2N3811 EMX2T2R DMA204020R  

Whether you are working on the latest device for your company or you are trying to find a replacement part for an old electronic device, finding a company to help you search for the parts you need is only half the battle. One of the difficult things to know is if your order contains exactly what you are expecting to get.  This is why knowing what kind of quality inspection process your parts supplier uses is becoming more important.These days the electronic components distributors and wholesalers are facing a difficult task especially with more and more fake, counterfeit and sub standard components making their way onto the market, this problem seem to be growing every year.The distributors and wholesalers that you use to supply your part requirements should have a tough inspection process in place to ensure you will be receiving the best quality product possible.A good quality inspection process would include several different factors including certified quality control inspectors, daily audits by lead inspectors to ensure a consistent, superior level of product inspection, a rigorous visual inspection and component tests to determine that products conform to manufacturers specifications and a quarantine and rejection process to ensure sub-standard products do not find their way into the market or into your projects.Counterfeiters today are becoming more sophisticated and making their products more difficult to recognize. A good sign that your supplier is helping the fight against counterfeit and sub-standard products is if they are a member of Independent Distributors of Electronics Association (IDEA) and use the IDEA-STD-1010-A standard. This standard was developed in 2006 by its members and is used to help educate and continue to educate its members by keeping their quality inspection processes up to date to help fight against the increase of poor or counterfeit parts. One company who is a member of IDEA and who has been in the Electronic parts and component distribution business since 1972 is Electrospec based in Dover, New Jersey.Electrospec’s quality inspection process uses the IDEA-STD-1010-A standard as a basis for their extensive quality control. They are a member of ERAI (Electronic Resellers Association, Inc.) and approved ISO 9001:2000 Certification by SGS Systems & Services Certification with their ISO quality system incorporating the relevant standards of ANSI/ESDS20.20-1999 that are applicable to an electronic components distributor.Electrospec also does all the component sourcing for PartsSearcher.com which has an extensive online parts catalogue and an online request for quote online submission form.The bottom line is don’t be afraid to ask your supplier about their quality inspection process, if it’s good enough they will not only be happy to talk to you about it they will want to boast about how good it is. 

SummaryA metamaterial developed by researchers at King's College London uses quantum effects to turn electrons flowing through a circuit into "hot electrons" and light in a highly controlled manner.According to the team,this has potential application in optoelectronics and sensing. BodyThe nanomaterial takes advantage of electron tunnelling to produce streams of particles which can have important applications, when properly controlled.   Accodring to the researcher Dr Pan Wang,this one tiny device offers several amazing applications: plasmon excitation, light generation and chemical reaction activation. And all this is achieved by a small, easy to produce material which only requires a small voltage to function. A voltage applied across the device causes electrons to flow from one material (eutectic gallium indium) to another (gold nanorods). These are separated by an air gap, which would usually stop the electron flow, but because the air gap is less than 1nm, the electrons can ‘tunnel’ through.Most of the tunnelling electrons arrive at the gold nanorod tips in the form of ‘hot electrons’, but a small proportion excite plasmons in the metamaterial to emit light whose wavelength is directly related to the applied voltage. According to the team, this conversion is usually inefficient, but the use of array gold nanorods provides 100billion tunnel junctions, improving electron-to-plasmon conversion and making the emitted light visible. While there are applications in sensing, the researchers point to a benefit in small scale electronics. Since light is generated by applying a voltage along a 10nm thick nanorod, it can be used to transmit information optically between or within chips. The metamaterial allows optical signals to be produced within a much smaller device, holding the potential of faster electronics. "We expected to generate some weak light which we thought should be enough for various nanophotonic applications when we began these studies," added King’s College Professor Anatoly Zayats ,"but But as sometimes happens in the research, the applications are much richer.” 

UK power firm Amantys Power Electronics has developed its next generation IGBT gate drive technology which is being demonstrated this week at the PCIM exhibition in Nuremberg. Called NG Gate Drive, it has been designed to be compatible with IGBT modules known as LinPak, XHP, nHPD2 and SemiTrans20 that are available from several power semiconductor manufacturers.This is achieved because IGBT module variation, such as the position of gate drive connections, is accommodated through use of a module interface card which means the NG Gate Drive can target modules from 1700V to 3300V, and up to 6500V in the future.It will drive up to six IGBT modules in parallel.The company has incorporated its own two-way communication protocol between the gate drive and a central controller, allowing configuration of the gate drive in the target power stack.Configurable parameters, include the gate resistors (Rgon, Rgoff and Rgsoftoff), gate-emitter capacitor (Cge), operating mode (two level or three level) and timeouts such as the fault lock out time and dead time.Module also features multi-level desaturation detection for improved protection of the IGBT module. It records faults that the gate drive has seen during operation.Potential applications could include traction, wind energy and medium voltage motor drives. Ref:KY32-STK672-540KY32-BA5834FM-E2KY32-BD7957FS

An alliance led by IBM Research today announced that it has produced the semiconductor industry's first 7nm (nanometer) node test chips with functioning transistors. The breakthrough, accomplished in partnership with GLOBALFOUNDRIES and Samsung at SUNY Polytechnic Institute's Colleges of Nanoscale Science and Engineering (SUNY Poly CNSE), could result in the ability to place more than 20 billion tiny switches—transistors—on the fingernail-sized chips that power everything from smartphones to spacecraft.To achieve the higher performance, lower power and scaling benefits promised by 7nm technology, researchers had to bypass conventional semiconductor manufacturing approaches. Among the novel processes and techniques pioneered by the IBM Research alliance were a number of industry-first innovations, most notably Silicon Germanium (SiGe) channel transistors and Extreme Ultraviolet (EUV) lithography integration at multiple levels.Industry experts consider 7nm technology crucial to meeting the anticipated demands of future cloud computing and Big Data systems, cognitive computing, mobile products and other emerging technologies. Part of IBM's $3 billion, five-year investment in chip R&D (announced in 2014), this accomplishment was made possible through a unique public-private partnership with New York State and joint development alliance with GLOBALFOUNDRIES, Samsung, and equipment suppliers. The team is based at SUNY Poly's NanoTech Complex in Albany."For business and society to get the most out of tomorrow's computers and devices, scaling to 7nm and beyond is essential," said Arvind Krishna, senior vice president and director of IBM Research. "That's why IBM has remained committed to an aggressive basic research agenda that continually pushes the limits of semiconductor technology. Working with our partners, this milestone builds on decades of research that has set the pace for the microelectronics industry, and positions us to advance our leadership for years to come."Microprocessors utilizing 22nm and 14nm technology power today's servers, cloud data centers and mobile devices, and 10nm technology is well on the way to becoming a mature technology. The IBM Research-led alliance achieved close to 50 percent area scaling improvements over today's most advanced technology, introduced SiGe channel material for transistor performance enhancement at 7nm node geometries, process innovations to stack them below 30nm pitch and full integration of EUV lithography at multiple levels. These techniques and scaling could result in at least a 50 percent power/performance improvement for next generation mainframe and POWER systems that will power the Big Data, cloud and mobile era."Governor Andrew Cuomo's trailblazing public-private partnership model is catalyzing historic innovation and advancement. Today's announcement is just one example of our collaboration with IBM, which furthers New York State's global leadership in developing next generation technologies," said Dr. Michael Liehr, SUNY Poly Executive Vice President of Innovation and Technology and Vice President of Research. "Enabling the first 7nm node transistors is a significant milestone for the entire semiconductor industry as we continue to push beyond the limitations of our current capabilities."The 7nm node milestone continues IBM's legacy of historic contributions to silicon and semiconductor innovation. They include the invention or first implementation of the single cell DRAM, the Dennard Scaling Laws, chemically amplified photoresists, copper interconnect wiring, Silicon on Insulator, strained engineering, multi core microprocessors, immersion lithography, high speed SiGe, High-k gate dielectrics, embedded DRAM, 3D chip stacking and Air gap insulators.  

Do you want a photo book incorportating the sound of the sea and  birdsong,a novel with spoken dialog? Most Children may say yes.But how to invent such a product out? Yeah,this is all made possible by loudspeaker paper and electronic concealed in the cover. Such a T-book can currently be heard at the Frankfurt Book Fair ( here the T stands for the German word Ton,means sound ). Most fairs even book fairs are already loud enough. However,the future noise level looks like to keep increasing if the development on the display at the CPI booth of the Frankfurt(hall 4.0, booth F73) is successful. Not only in the halls of trade fairs, but also in living rooms, public transport and – God forbid – supermarkets, drugstores, and the like could all be equally affected.  Tchnicians at TU Chemnitz have now introduced the latest generation of their “T-books”after years of research and experimentation. The “T” here has nothing to do with Telecom, but stands for Ton (sound). In other words, the pages of the book are simultaneously loudspeakers and can therefore emit sounds of any kind. Sensors detect which pages are open, and the necessary audio electronics and SD card are concealed in the book’s cover. Naturally, given their frequency response the sound quality has no chance even compared to a kitchen radio. The bass is much too “thin”, but high and medium frequencies are quite well reproduced. And surprisingly loud. The Reason about Mass-producible paper loudspeakers Actually the technology behind it is relatively simple.Perfectly ordinary paper is printed with two layers of a conductive organi polymer that act as electrondes.Next,the active element is between them,a piezoelectric layer that causes the paper to vibrate, thus exciting the air and producing the sound. The remaining difficulty is primarily that of developing a cost-effective mass production for it. There is a true news that two years ago, the Chemnitz researchers implemented the World Press Photo Foundation's Yearbook as a T-book under the cooperation with the Munich Advertising Agency Serviceplan. Unfortunately,this audio-tome,which was mainly down to the battery is too heavy while it weighted more than 3kg.Unsurprisingly, this small-series product ultimately proved too unwieldy and too expensive.  That is why the original method of producing individual sheets is to be superseded by a roll process, which will optimize both performance and appearance of paper loudspeakers.  In future, the electronic components will also be printed. This will considerably increase the efficiency of the entire manufacturing process and open up mass markets such as photobooks. In future, for example, instruction leaflets could read themselves aloud, and books could become accessible to blind people. The opposite effect is also possible – loudspeaker paper could be used to construct a force sensor or a microphone. What is called the “direct piezoelectric effect” responds to an elastically deformed solid by producing a voltage. This means that there are any number of useful applications, not necessarily things like chatty packaging, singing wallpaper and similar strident marketing hype.