In addition to the lower profile, ST’s new 1500W SMB Flat package has transient-power capability equivalent to that of conventional devices in SMC packages, in a footprint more than 50% smaller. The 400W and 600W SMA Flat and SMB Flat devices are fully footprint-compatible with alternatives in conventional SMA and SMB packages. Leakage current is five times lower compared with other TVS diodes on the market, minimizing impact on system operation and power consumption.
MEMS
IDT Offers Avalanche Technology’s MRAM Devices to Complement its Broad Range of Semiconductor Devices
Integrated Device Technology, Inc. (IDT), a wholly owned subsidiary of Renesas Electronics Corporation (TSE: 6723), today announced that it now offers Avalanche’s magnetic RAM (MRAM) devices to complement the extensive range of power, sensor, timing and microcontroller devices from Renesas. This allows IDT to serve as a single source for all the primary semiconductor devices manufacturers need for industrial control and automation systems, programmable logic controllers, medical diagnostic probes and equipment, multifunction printers, and IoT devices. Avalanche’s MRAM devices are ideal for high-speed, non-volatile memory applications such as program storage and data backup. IDT will offer Avalanche’s 4Mbit, 8Mbit and 16Mbit MRAM devices in two packages (SOIC and WSON) with two different temperature ratings (85°C and 105°C). Available speeds will be up to 108Mhz, with configurable interfaces for SPI, DPI, QPI with Single-Data-Rate and Double-Data-Rate modes.
Creating 2D Heterostructures for Future Electronics
Nanomaterials could provide the basis of many emerging technologies, including extremely tiny, flexible, and transparent electronics. While many nanomaterials exhibit promising electronic properties, scientists and engineers are still working to best integrate these materials together to eventually create semiconductors and circuits with them. Northwestern Engineering researchers have created two-dimensional (2D) heterostructures from two of these materials, graphene and borophene, taking an important step toward creating intergrated circuits from these nanomaterials.
Energy Taiwan Opens Tomorrow to Opportunities in Renewable Energy as Experts from Industry, Government and Academia Gather
Opening tomorrow, Energy Taiwan today hosts a pre-show press conference with photovoltaic (PV) and offshore wind power experts exploring the future of smart energy, industry trends, and strategies for seizing renewable energy business opportunities. The largest renewable energy event in Taiwan, Energy Taiwan connects the global green energy supply chain for three days of expert insights into the latest technologies and business opportunities in solar PV, offshore wind power, hydrogen energy, smart energy storage, and green finance and insurance.
Chinese and Korean Materials Suppliers Profiting from Japanese Politics
Chinese materials suppliers are moving to take market- share at South Korean chip fabrication (fab) lines. Due to residual animosity from 20th century wars, Japanese politicians decided to use the semiconductor materials supplier-chain as a pawn in a political chess game and un-white-listed South Korea from exports. Any good-will between the two nations was immediately erased, and South Korea announced a US$6B government investment to as a huge driving force to help develop local supplies. Now Chinese chemical suppliers have unprecedented openings to qualifications at Korean-owned fabs, including commercial memory fabs in China.
Watching Energy Transport Through Biomimetic Nanotubes
Scientists from the University of Groningen (the Netherlands) and the University of Würzburg (Germany) have investigated a simple biomimetic light-harvesting system using advanced spectroscopy combined with a microfluidic platform. The double-walled nanotubes work very efficiently at low light intensities, while they are able to get rid of excess energy at high intensities. These properties are useful in the design of novel materials for the harvesting and transport of photon energy. The results were published in the journal Nature Communications on 10 October.
Electrochemistry to Benefit Photonics: Nanotubes Can Control Laser Pulses
An international team of scientists led by researchers from the Laboratory of Nanomaterials at the Skoltech Center for Photonics and Quantum Materials (CPQM) has shown that the nonlinear optical response of carbon nanotubes can be controlled by electrochemical gating. This approach enabled designing a device for controlling the laser pulse duration. The results of the study were published in the prestigious international journal Nano Letters. Optical phenomena that we encounter in our everyday life, such as reflection, refraction or absorption of light, do not depend on the intensity of incident light. However, at very high radiation intensities, a new class of phenomena arises, that causes changes in the refraction index, self-focusing of light or emergence of radiation at new wavelengths.
MIPI Alliance Advances Activities for ADAS, ADS and Other Automotive Applications
The MIPI Alliance, an international organization that develops interface specifications for mobile and mobile-influenced industries, today announced key advancements and activities designed to enhance advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS), autonomous driving systems (ADS) and other automotive applications. Trends such as the proliferation of camera, display, radar, lidar and other sensors are creating growing demand for high-performance wired interfaces in vehicles. While drawing on its existing specifications for mobile devices, MIPI is developing and enhancing automotive specifications to meet the stringent requirements of automotive OEMs, Tier 1 suppliers, SoC designers and other industry providers in areas such as reliability, functional safety and low electromagnetic interference (EMI).
Patented Concept from Halle: Novel, High-Performance Diodes and Transistors
Physicists from Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg (MLU) have investigated if and how these materials might be developed. They have created, tested and filed a patent for a concept that utilises the latest findings from the field of spintronics. With their new concept, the researchers at MLU want to improve the properties of diodes and transistors. Common processors use thousands of diodes and transistors to process data.
Groundbreaking Method Detects Defective Computer Chips
Guaranteeing that computer chips, that can consist of billions of interconnected transistors, are manufactured without defects is a challenge. But how to determine if a chip is compromised? Now a technique co-developed by researchers at the Paul Scherer Institut in Switzerland and researchers at the USC Viterbi School of Engineering would allow companies and other organizations to non-destructively scan chips to ensure that they haven’t been altered and that they are manufactured to design specifications without error.
