Category: Electronics & Semiconductors

Your clothes may become smarter than you You’re probably used to the sight of smartwatches on people’s wrists. But what about smart clothes? Researchers at the University of Georgia are exploring how the clothes people wear can potentially track and protect their health. Smart textiles are fabrics that can monitor the body’s vitals and movement…

Texas at heart of Amazon’s AI push in United States Tech titan Amazon is working to step out of Nvidia’s shadow with custom “Trainium” chips designed specially for machine learning as billions of dollars are poured into artificial intelligence (AI). Go to techxplore

New chip-fabrication method creates ‘twin’ fingerprints for direct authentication Just like each person has unique fingerprints, every CMOS chip has a distinctive “fingerprint” caused by tiny, random manufacturing variations. Engineers can leverage this unforgeable ID for authentication, to safeguard a device from attackers trying to steal private data. Go to techxplore

AI learns to perform analog layout design Researchers at Pohang University of Science and Technology (POSTECH) have developed an artificial intelligence approach that addresses a key bottleneck in analog semiconductor layout design, a process that has traditionally depended heavily on engineers’ experience. The work was recently published in the journal IEEE Transactions on Circuits and…

Extending optical fiber’s ultralow loss performance to photonic chips Caltech scientists have developed a way to guide light on silicon wafers with low signal loss approaching that of optical fiber at visible wavelengths. This accomplishment paves the way for a new generation of ultra-coherent and efficient photonic integrated circuits (PICs), which will have a profound…

Study solves key micro-LED challenges, enabling ‘reality-like’ visuals for AR/VR devices From TVs and smartwatches to rapidly emerging VR and AR devices, micro-LEDs are a next-generation display technology in which each LED—smaller than the thickness of a human hair—emits light on its own. Among the three primary colors required for full-color displays—red, green, and blue—the…

Tiny silicon structures compute with heat, achieving 99% accurate matrix multiplication MIT researchers have designed silicon structures that can perform calculations in an electronic device using excess heat instead of electricity. These tiny structures could someday enable more energy-efficient computation. In this computing method, input data are encoded as a set of temperatures using the…

Self-powered electronics: Organic semiconductors achieve both light emission and energy harvesting Organic semiconductors are thin, flexible, and extremely versatile materials that have revolutionized the world of consumer electronics. They are the core technology behind organic light-emitting diode (OLED) displays, which deliver the vivid colors and contrast seen in modern smartphones and televisions. Additionally, there are…

Engineers invent wireless transceiver that rivals fiber-optic speed A new transceiver invented by electrical engineers at the University of California, Irvine boosts radio frequencies into 140-gigahertz territory, unlocking data speeds that rival those of physical fiber-optic cables and laying the groundwork for a transition to 6G and FutureG data transmission protocols. Go to techxplore

Soft, 3D transistors could host living cells for bioelectronics New research from the WISE group (Wearable, Intelligent, Soft Electronics) at The University of Hong Kong (HKU-WISE) has addressed a long-standing bioelectronic challenge: the development of soft, 3D transistors. Go to techxplore

AI toys look for bright side after troubled start Toy makers at the Consumer Electronics Show were adamant about being careful to ensure that their fun creations infused with generative artificial intelligence don’t turn naughty. Go to techxplore

Ultra-small, high-performance electronics grown directly on 2D semiconductors In recent years, electronics engineers have been trying to identify semiconducting materials that could substitute for silicon and enable the further advancement of electronic devices. Two-dimensional (2D) semiconductors, such as molybdenum disulfide (MoS₂), have proved to be among the most promising solutions, as their thinness and resistance…

What makes a good proton conductor? New metric reveals key traits for advanced energy materials A number of advanced energy technologies—including fuel cells, electrolyzers, and an emerging class of low-power electronics—use protons as the key charge carrier. Whether or not these devices will be widely adopted hinges, in part, on how efficiently they can move…

Iron-on electronic patches enable easy integration of circuits into fabrics Iron-on patches can repair clothing or add personal flair to backpacks and hats. And now they could power wearable tech, too. Researchers reporting in ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces have combined liquid metal and a heat-activated adhesive to create an electrically conductive patch that bonds…

Intelligent photodetectors ‘sniff and seek’ like retriever dogs to recognize materials directly from light spectra Researchers at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), in collaboration with UC Berkeley, have developed a new type of intelligent image sensor that can perform machine-learning inference during the act of photodetection itself. Go to techxplore

Innovative materials boost stretchable digital displays’ performance Organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs) power the high-end screens of our digital world, from TVs and phones to laptops and game consoles. Go to techxplore

How small can optical computers get? Scaling laws reveal new strategies By studying the theoretical limits of how light can be used to perform computation, Cornell researchers have uncovered new insights and strategies for designing energy-efficient optical computing systems. Go to techxplore

Shrinking materials hold big potential for smart devices, researchers say Wearable electronics could be more wearable, according to a research team at Penn State. The researchers have developed a scalable, versatile approach to designing and fabricating wireless, internet-enabled electronic systems that can better adapt to 3D surfaces, like the human body or common household items,…

‘Energy sandwich’ could power next-generation solar and lighting Researchers have achieved a new level of control over the atomic structure of a family of materials known as halide perovskites, creating a finely tuned “energy sandwich” that could transform how solar cells, LEDs and lasers are made. Go to techxplore

A crisis at chipmaker Nexperia sent automakers scrambling. Here’s what to know A battle for control of a little-known chipmaker has threatened global auto production by choking off the semiconductor supply chain, though there are signs the crisis is inching toward a resolution. Go to techxplore

Optical system uses diffractive processors to achieve large-scale nonlinear computation Researchers at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) have developed an optical computing framework that performs large-scale nonlinear computations using linear materials. Go to techxplore

Ultra-thin 3D display delivers wide-angle, highly-detailed images Researchers have developed an ultra-thin 3D display with a wide viewing angle, clear image quality and vivid display depth. By overcoming tradeoffs that typically limit glasses-free 3D displays, the advance could open new possibilities for highly detailed interactive experiences in health care, education and entertainment. Go to techxplore

Artificial proteins offer new path for fast, sustainable and biocompatible energy storage devices Researchers have managed to modify a class of proteins to give them the ability to transport and store electricity. These proteins can be used to create sustainable, efficient and biocompatible conducting materials. These materials are highly stable and easy to process, which…

Artificial neurons replicate biological function for improved computer chips Researchers at the USC Viterbi School of Engineering and School of Advanced Computing have developed artificial neurons that replicate the complex electrochemical behavior of biological brain cells. Go to techxplore

A roadmap for next-generation 2D semiconductor ‘gate stack’ technology Seoul National University’s College of Engineering announced that a research team led by Professor Chul-Ho Lee from the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering has outlined a comprehensive roadmap for “gate stack” engineering, a core technology for two-dimensional (2D) transistors, which are attracting attention as next-generation…

Super-thin semiconductor overcomes trade-off between speed and thermal stability A team led by academician Huang Ru and Professor Wu Yanqing from the School of Integrated Circuits at Peking University has developed a super-thin, high-performance semiconductor with enhanced heat conductivity, enabled by a silicon carbide (SiC) substrate. The research, published in Nature Electronics under the title…

Scientists create world’s first chip that combines 2D materials with conventional silicon circuitry For the first time, scientists have created a fully functional memory chip only a few atoms thick and integrated it into conventional chips. This advance could pave the way for more powerful and energy-efficient electronic devices. Go to techxplore

Spinel-type sulfide semiconductors achieve room-temperature light emission across violet to orange spectrum A spinel-type sulfide semiconductor that can emit light from violet to orange at room temperature has been developed by researchers at Science Tokyo, overcoming the efficiency limitations of current LED and solar cell materials. The material, (Zn,Mg)Sc2S4, can be chemically tuned to switch…

Polymers with ultralow dielectric loss show potential for 6G telecommunications With the rollout of fifth-generation (5G) telecommunications networks and 6G looming on the horizon, the demand for advanced materials that can handle high-frequency signals is rising rapidly. These systems use electromagnetic waves ranging from tens to hundreds of gigahertz (GHz), where signals are highly sensitive…

Atomic neighborhoods in semiconductors provide new avenue for designing microelectronics Inside the microchips powering the device you’re reading this on, the atoms have a hidden order all their own. A team led by Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) and George Washington University has confirmed that atoms in semiconductors will arrange themselves in distinctive localized…

‘Drop-printing’ shows potential for constructing bioelectronic interfaces that conform to complex surfaces With the rapid development of wearable electronics, neurorehabilitation, and brain-machine interfaces in recent years, there has been an urgent need for methods to conformally wrap thin-film electronic devices onto biological tissues to enable precise acquisition and regulation of physiological signals. Go to techxplore

Magnetic tunnel junctions mimic synapse behavior for energy-efficient neuromorphic computing The rapid development of artificial intelligence (AI) poses challenges to today’s computer technology. Conventional silicon processors are reaching their limits: they consume large amounts of energy, the storage and processing units are not interconnected and data transmission slows down complex applications. Go to techxplore

Soft ‘NeuroWorm’ electrode allows wireless repositioning and stable neural monitoring In brain-computer interfaces (BCIs) and other neural implant systems, electrodes serve as the critical interface and are core sensors linking electronic devices with biological nervous systems. Most currently implanted electrodes are static: Once positioned, they remain fixed, sampling neural activity from only a limited region.…

Researchers construct world’s fastest, low-cost, ultraefficient silicon carbide power module Global energy demands are surging, pushed by energy-intensive data centers powering artificial intelligence and increased manufacturing. How will the world meet these rising energy needs? Go to techxplore

Solid-state device harvests body heat to power battery-free wearables and IoT sensors A research team affiliated with UNIST has unveiled a technological advancement that allows body heat to generate electricity sufficient to power electronic devices. This innovation paves the way for the commercialization of battery-free wearable gadgets and Internet of Things (IoT) sensors that operate…

Light-based chip can boost power efficiency of AI tasks up to 100-fold A team at the University of Florida has developed a new kind of computer chip that uses light with electricity to perform one of the most power-intensive parts of artificial intelligence—image recognition and similar pattern-finding tasks. Using light dramatically cuts the power needed…

Trump, Intel announce deal giving US a 10% stake in chipmaker Chipmaker Intel has agreed to give the US government a 10% stake in its business, the company and President Donald Trump announced Friday. Go to techxplore

Tin-based perovskite and organic additives boost memory for devices Researchers have long been searching for alternatives to lead-based perovskites for use in electronic devices due to concerns about toxicity and performance limitations. Tin-based perovskites offer a promising solution, but they also present their own challenges, particularly the instability caused by tin oxidation and the difficulty…

Growing ultrathin semiconductors directly on electronics could eliminate a fragile manufacturing step A team of materials scientists at Rice University has developed a new way to grow ultrathin semiconductors directly onto electronic components. Go to techxplore

Self-powered photodetector achieves 20-fold sensitivity boost using novel device structure Silicon semiconductors used in existing photodetectors have low light responsivity, and the two-dimensional semiconductor MoS₂ (molybdenum disulfide) is so thin that doping processes to control its electrical properties are difficult, limiting the realization of high-performance photodetectors. Go to techxplore

Targeted doping strategy use copper ions to boost thermoelectric performance QUT researchers have identified a new method for incorporating copper ions into a germanium telluride thermoelectric material that significantly improves its ability to convert waste heat into electricity. Go to techxplore

Ultrasound-based wireless charging technology for implantable medical devices A research team led by Professor Jinho Chang from the Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science at DGIST has developed an “ultrasound-based wireless charging technology” capable of rapidly and efficiently charging the batteries of implantable medical devices. This technology has achieved world-class energy efficiency, fully charging…

Light-sensitive materials mimic synapses in the brain An interdisciplinary research team has engineered a new class of organic photoelectrochemical transistors (OPECTs). These tiny devices can convert light into electrical signals and mimic the behavior of synapses in the brain. The research results have now been published in the research journal Advanced Science. Go to techxplore

Researchers demonstrate modular approach for building scalable quantum computers What do children’s building blocks and quantum computing have in common? The answer is modularity. Go to techxplore

First electronic–photonic quantum chip created in commercial foundry In a milestone for scalable quantum technologies, scientists from Boston University, UC Berkeley, and Northwestern University have reported the world’s first electronic–photonic–quantum system on a chip, according to a study published in Nature Electronics. Go to techxplore

Why thick battery electrodes fail: Chemistry, not structure, holds the key Thicker battery electrodes pack in more active materials, promising higher energy density. However, when it comes to lithium-ion battery performance, electrode materials’ thermodynamic properties matter more than their structural design. Go to techxplore

Low-power, nonvolatile RF switch promises energy-efficient 6G and autonomous vehicle communications A research team affiliated with UNIST has unveiled a new semiconductor device optimized for the next-generation 6G era and autonomous driving, offering low power consumption and nonvolatile operation. This innovative device can also be integrated into variable filter circuits capable of tuning the central…

Shape memory polymers with nanotips help solve micro-LED chip transfer problem A research team at Pohang University of Science and Technology (POSTECH), has developed a novel dry adhesive technology that allows everything from microscale electronic components to common household materials to be easily attached and detached. Go to techxplore

High-performance memory devices can dissolve in water to address e-waste problem The use of electronics in various forms is on the rise, from wearable devices like smartwatches to implantable devices like body-implanted sensors, skin-worn smart patches, and disposable monitoring devices. These devices, which are inevitably discarded after use, contribute to the growing problem of electronic…

Kirigami-inspired design enables uniform 200% stretch in multi-pixel display arrays A research team at POSTECH (Pohang University of Science and Technology) has successfully developed the world’s first technology that enables uniform and even stretching across multiple pixels in a stretchable display. This breakthrough overcomes a critical challenge in the field and has been selected as…

Novel crystal strategy yields brighter, longer-lasting all-inorganic perovskite LEDs Perovskite has broad application prospects in solar cells, light-emitting diodes (LEDs), and detectors due to its high luminescent efficiency and low cost. However, electrons and holes in traditional perovskite materials often struggle to effectively recombine and emit light. As a result, the strongly space-confined method is…

Laser-induced graphene enables greener, flexible hybrid circuit manufacturing Boise State University researchers have unveiled a cutting-edge approach to manufacturing flexible hybrid circuits—reducing costs, waste, and environmental impact. Their work leverages the properties of laser-induced graphene and was recently featured on the cover of Advanced Materials Technologies. Go to techxplore

High-quality OLED displays enable screens to emit distinct sounds from individual pixels A research team has developed the world’s first Pixel-Based Local Sound OLED technology. This breakthrough enables each pixel of an OLED display to simultaneously emit different sounds, essentially allowing the display to function as a multichannel speaker array. The team successfully demonstrated the…

Improving the performance of Cu₂SrSnS₄ solar cells with inorganic hole transport layers Thin film solar cells such as CdTe and CIGSe have gained significant attention due to their low production cost and excellent power conversion efficiencies (PCE). Nevertheless, toxicity and scarcity of constituent elements restrict their widespread usage. Go to techxplore

Warm metalworking turns brittle semiconductors into flexible, high-performance electronic films Inorganic semiconductors form the backbone of modern electronics due to their excellent physical properties, including high carrier mobility, thermal stability, and well-defined energy band structures, which enable precise control over electrical conductivity. Unfortunately, their intrinsic brittleness has traditionally required the use of costly, complex processing…

Dielectric materials database promises faster path to smarter electronic devices In a collaboration between Murata Manufacturing Co., Ltd., and the National Institute for Materials Science (NIMS), researchers have built a comprehensive new database of dielectric material properties curated from thousands of scientific papers. The study, published in Science and Technology of Advanced Materials: Methods, also…

Catalytic technology removes toxic chemicals from microchip manufacturing wastewater Semiconductor manufacturing is a fastidiously clean business. Components are washed multiple times to remove impurities, drawing on vast amounts of purified water and other chemicals. Go to techxplore

Deafblind people to understand live conversations thanks to e-textiles technology Thousands of people who are born deafblind will understand live conversations for the first time thanks to new research into smart textiles being developed by Nottingham Trent University (NTU). Go to techxplore

Xi says China must ‘overcome’ AI chip challenges President Xi Jinping said China must “overcome” the challenges of developing core AI technologies including high-end chips, state media reported Saturday, as Beijing seeks to become a world leader in the rapidly developing industry. Go to techxplore

High-voltage CMOS backplane developed for very bright OLED microdisplays A common method to increase the brightness of OLEDs while maintaining a long lifespan is the use of multiple stacked OLEDs. Scientists at the Fraunhofer Institute for Photonic Microsystems IPMS have now developed an innovative high-voltage CMOS backplane that enables exceptionally bright microdisplays. These will be…

Analysts warn US could be handing chip market to China As the Trump administration attempts to choke off exports of strategically important computer chips to China, experts say the effort might well backfire, fueling innovation at Chinese firms that could help them seize the world semiconductor market. Go to techxplore

New approach reliably integrates 2D semiconductors with dielectrics Two-dimensional (2D) semiconductor materials could enable the development of smaller yet highly performing electronic components, thus contributing to the advancement of a variety of devices. While significant strides have been made in the synthesis of 2D semiconductors with advanced electronic properties, their clean transfer onto substrates and…

Organic solar cells face efficiency challenge due to slow current flow, researchers show Researchers from the Chair of Optics and Photonics of Condensed Matter led by Prof. Dr. Carsten Deibel at the Chemnitz University of Technology and other partner institutions are currently working on solar cells made from novel organic semiconductors that can be produced…

DNA scaffolds enable self-assembling 3D electronic devices Researchers at Columbia Engineering have for the first time used DNA to help create 3D electronically operational devices with nanometer-size features. Go to techxplore

Smart textiles and surfaces: How lightweight elastomer films are bringing tech to life A research team led by Professors Stefan Seelecke and Paul Motzki from Saarland University is using a highly versatile film not much thicker than household cling film to impart new capabilities to objects while saving energy in the process. When used in…

Using perovskite to make LED pixels as small as a virus A team of physicists, engineers, opticians and photonics specialists at Zhejiang University, in China, working with a pair of colleagues from the University of Cambridge, in the U.K., has found a way to make pixels smaller by using perovskite. In their paper published in…

Washable touchless technology could transform electronic textiles A team of researchers from Nottingham Trent University, Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf e.V. (Germany) and Free University of Bozen-Bolzano (Italy) has created washable and durable magnetic field-sensing electronic textiles—thought to be the first of their kind—which they say paves the way to transform use in clothing. Go to techxplore

Powering the future—ultrathin films enhance electrical conductivity in flexible electronics What if your electronic devices could adapt on the fly to temperature, pressure, or impact? Thanks to a new breakthrough in downsizing quantum materials, that idea is becoming a reality. Go to techxplore

Robots to the rescue: Automated disassembly for e-waste recycling A new UN report finds that more and more electronic waste, or e-waste, is being produced worldwide—recycling efforts are not keeping pace, though. Valuable raw materials are not being recovered and recycled. Go to techxplore

New n-doped transparent conductor shows promise for all-polymer electrochromic displays Recent technological advances have enabled the development of increasingly sophisticated and energy-efficient displays for electronic devices. To further improve existing displays and create even more efficient ones, some engineers have been trying to synthesize and identify new materials with promising opto-electronic properties. Go to techxplore

Novel OLED stacks enable exceptionally bright microdisplays Users of augmented reality (AR) glasses require especially bright displays in daylight to clearly recognize content. High brightness and low power consumption are therefore crucial development goals, as optical systems—such as AR glasses—exhibit high brightness losses and wearable devices are limited by battery storage. Go to techxplore

AI unveils strange chip designs, while discovering new functionalities Specialized microchips that manage signals at the cutting edge of wireless technology are astounding works of miniaturization and engineering. They’re also difficult and expensive to design. Go to techxplore

US confirms billions in chips funds to Samsung, Texas Instruments President Joe Biden’s administration said Friday that it has cemented deals for billions in funding to South Korean semiconductor giant Samsung Electronics and Texas Instruments to boost their chipmaking facilities in the United States. Go to techxplore

Theorists propose new approach to electroluminescent cooling that works like inverted solar photovoltaic cells In a study appearing in PRX Energy, researchers propose a way to improve the performance of electroluminescent cooling by using multilayer semiconductors. The approach, called a multijunction configuration, is already used in some special photovoltaic solar cells. Go to techxplore

Wearable energy harvester achieves 280 times efficiency boost A team led by Prof. Jang Kyung-In from the Department of Robotics and Mechatronics Engineering (DGIST) has developed a three-dimensional stretchable piezoelectric energy harvester that can harvest electrical energy using body movements. The device is to be used as a wearable energy harvester as it can be…

By tweaking materials, scientists create transistors that remember A team of Johns Hopkins materials scientists made a surprising discovery that could change the way memory works in electronics. By tweaking the materials used in organic material-based logic switches called transistors, they created a new kind of memristor—devices that can remember past charging states when a…

Google announces quantum computing chip breakthrough Google on Monday showed off a new quantum computing chip that it said was a major breakthrough that could bring practical quantum computing closer to reality. Go to techxplore

Engineers develop device that merges sensing and computing functions for reconfigurable computing platform In recent years, engineers have been trying to create hardware systems that better support the high computational demands of machine learning algorithms. These include systems that can perform multiple functions, acting as sensors, memories and computer processors all at once. Go to…

Super-adhesive patches can adapt to different motions for enhanced skin interaction A research team affiliated with UNIST has unveiled an ultra-strong adhesive patch platform that adheres effectively to rough skin surfaces and shows remarkable motion adaptiveness during dynamic body movements, all while offering irritation-free removal on demand. The key to this technology lies in the…