Science and Enterprise

Tag: semiconductors

  • Highly Sensitive Microscale Laser Accelerometer Developed

    Physicists at California Institute of Technology in Pasadena and University of Rochester in New York built a microscale accelerometer, a motion sensing device that measures acceleration forces. The team led by Cal Tech applied physics professor Oskar Painter published its findings online this week in the journal Nature Photonics (paid subscription required). The forces measured…

  • Optical Semiconductor Etching/Monitoring Process Devised

    Engineers at University of Illinois in Urbana created an etching and sculpting process for semiconductors using light that also monitors the etching process in real time. The team led by Illinois electrical and computer engineering professors Gabriel Popescu and Lynford Goddard published its findings today in the journal Light Science and Applications. Chip makers need…

  • BASF, Max Planck Institute Open Joint Carbon Materials Lab

    The chemical company BASF and Max Planck Institute for Polymer Research opened a joint Carbon Materials Innovation Center at BASF’s Ludwigshafen, Germany site. The three-year collaboration is expected to cost some €10 million ($US 12.9 million). A 12-member task force from both organizations will research the scientific principles and potential applications of innovative carbonized materials,…

  • Synthetic Nanomaterial Developed for Semiconductors

    Chemists and physicists at University at Buffalo in New York created a synthetic nanoscale material with properties making it a potential replacement for silicon in electronic components. The team led by chemist Sarbajit Banerjee and physicist Sambandamurthy Ganapathy published its findings in a recent issue of the journal Advanced Functional Materials (paid subscription required). The…

  • Computer Chips Recast for High Frequency Detector Circuits

    Engineers at Tel Aviv University in Israel reconfigured common computer chips into high frequency circuits, making them useful for building low-cost security imaging devices. Eran Socher, a lecturer in Tel Aviv’s engineering department, is leading the university’s research team that published its findings in a recent issue of the journal IEEE Microwave and Wireless Components…

  • Project to Study Light-Enabled Quantum Dot Circuits

    Researchers at Tampere University of Technology in Finland are developing a new process for designing and fabricating logic circuits that consume no current and can be read and written with light. The four-year, €1.6 million ($US 2.1 million) study is funded by the Academy of Finland, the country’s main science agency. The project draws on…

  • Nanotech Process Devised for Graphene Semiconductors

    Researchers at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology in Trondheim developed a process to make semiconductors by growing nanoscale wires on a graphene substrate. Helge Weman (pictured left), a professor of electronics, led the research team that published its findings last month in the journal Nano Letters; paid subscription required. Weman also co-founded a…

  • LED Bulbs Edge CFLs for Environmental Friendliness

    A report from Pacific Northwest National Laboratory in Richland, Washington says today’s bulbs made with light-emitting diodes (LEDs) are a bit more friendly to the environment than compact fluorescent lamps (CFLs), but both types of bulbs far outpace traditional incandescent lights. As LED technology advances in the next five years, the environmental advantage for LED bulbs…

  • EU Grant Funds Research on Programmable Chemical Systems

    The European Union’s Seventh Framework Programme is funding a project to build autonomous self-assembling electronic microreagents that can exchange chemical and electronic information. Biochemistry professor John McCaskill at Ruhr University Bochum in Germany (pictured left) with colleagues at Bochum and teams from Europe, Israel, and New Zealand, will take part in the three-year, €3.4 million…

  • Video Camera Captures Athletic Images and Performance Data

    A new type of video camera developed by the Fraunhofer Institute for Integrated Circuits in Erlangen, Germany captures images of athletes as well as real-time data on their performance. Fraunhofer plans to demonstrate the INCA intelligent camera at the International Broadcasting Convention in Amsterdam, 7-11 September. The small INCA camera (pictured left), measuring 2x2x8 centimeters,…