Semiconductors

Intel Corporation today announced that James (Jim) J. Goetz was elected to Intel’s board of directors. His election marks the sixth new independent director added to Intel’s board since the beginning of 2016. “Jim has a keen understanding of how technology is evolving and a strong track record helping technology companies capitalize on disruptive innovation,” said Intel Chairman Andy Bryant. “Jim has helped create and grow a number of technology companies and product lines to market-leading positions, both as an entrepreneur and as an investor. Jim’s technical insight, substantial operating experience, growth mindset, and deep private and public company board experience, all will further strengthen Intel’s board.”

Revenue from RF GaN-enabled devices grew by nearly 22 percent in 2018. The Strategy Analytics Advanced Semiconductor Applications (ASA) report “RF GaN Market Forecast: 2018 – 2023 (Data Tables)” forecasts that this growth will accelerate and RF GaN revenue will surpass $1.7 billion in 2023. The drivers for this explosive growth will be continuing 4G and emerging 5G base station deployments, along with a variety of defense applications.

AKHAN Semiconductor, a technology company specializing in the fabrication and application of lab-grown, electronic-grade diamonds, announced today that it has been issued a patent by the Taiwan Intellectual Property Office (TIPO). The patent covers AKHAN’s next-generation N-type diamond semiconductor system and diamond-based multilayer antireflective coating systems, key components in military & aerospace sensor and detector applications, amongst other use cases. It is the Company’s third Taiwan-issued patent, and the fifth foreign counterpart that’s been issued. The technology enables breakthrough performance in semiconductor devices as well as new capabilities in optical sensing, detecting, and transmission.

A Monash University study revealing new spin textures in pyrite could unlock these materials’ potential in future spintronics devices. The study of pyrite-type materials provides new insights and opportunities for selective spin control in topological spintronics devices. The new Monash Engineering study demonstrates for the first time that pyrite-type crystals can host unconventional energy- and direction-dependent spin textures on the surface, with both in-plane and out-of-plane spin components, in sharp contrast to spin textures in conventional topological materials.

To seamlessly integrate electronics with the natural world, materials are needed that are both stretchable and degradable — for example, flexible medical devices that conform to the surfaces of internal organs, but that dissolve and disappear when no longer needed. However, introducing these properties to electronics has been challenging. Now, researchers reporting in ACS Central Science have developed stretchable, degradable semiconductors that could someday find applications in health and environmental monitoring.