In the world of materials science, many have heard of crystals, highly ordered structures in which atoms are arranged in a tight and periodic manner (in which the atomic arrangement is repeated). But, not many people know about quasicrystals, which are unique structures with strange atomic arrangement. Like crystals, quasicrystals are also tightly arranged, but what’s different about them is the fact that they possess an unprecedented pentagonal symmetry, such that the atomic arrangement is highly ordered but not periodic. This distinctive feature gives them unique properties, like high stability, resistance to heat, and low friction. Since their discovery only about 30 years ago, scientists globally have been trying to understand the properties of quasicrystals, in an effort to make more advancements in materials research. But, this is not easy, as quasicrystals are not prevalent in nature. Luckily, they have been able to make use of structures similar to quasicrystals, called “Tsai-type approximants.” Understanding these structures in detail could give insights into the many properties of quasicrystals. One such property is antiferromagnetism, in which magnetic moments are aligned in a quasiperiodic order, strikingly distinguished from conventional antiferromagnets. This property has never been observed in quasicrystals so far, but the possibility was exciting for materials scientists, as it could be a gateway to a plethora of new applications.

Seoul Semiconductor Co., Ltd. (KOSDAQ 046890), a global innovator of LED products and technology, announced that it will auction its radio frequency (RF) semiconductor patent portfolio and its high power LED package patent portfolio. In the first auction, Seoul Semiconductor is seeking the top bidder for 98 patent assets related to power amplifiers and gallium nitride (GaN) RF semiconductors, including 55 U.S. patents. Three of the patents are licensed to the U.S. Air Force or the U.S. Army, confirming the value of the portfolio.

SiFive, Inc., the leading provider of commercial RISC-V processor IP and silicon solutions, today announced that Stuart Ching has joined the company as Chief Revenue Officer. He will lead sales for the company, which has experienced hypergrowth this year, recently disclosing 130 design wins, over 500 employees worldwide and several new technologies. SiFive most recently unveiled the world’s first RISC-V based out-of-order superscalar processor IP, SiFive U8-Series Core IP; and the SiFive Shield security platform architecture, including SiFive WorldGuard, for whole SoC security.

The near-infrared light is a light source with the shortest wavelength, indicated outside of the red color in the light spectrum. The near-infrared light has been widely used in optical communications, medical lasers, LiDAR of self-driving vehicles, and security and surveillance instruments, ranging from private to defense industry. To utilize this near-infrared light, the technology that converts light into an electrical energy through a photodetector is crucial. The research team from POSTECH successfully developed a photodiode with increased absorption of the near-infrared light by using the hourglass principle.