Battery Analysis Pioneer: North America Has Five Years to Catch China

North American automakers and EV battery firms have five years to erase China’s dominance in technology and manufacturing or they may face the reality of buying...

Photoelectric Sensor Essentials

Photoelectric (PE) sensors represent a discrete sensor technology widely used throughout industry. They use the presence or absence of light to provide an on/off output to supervisory automation and monitoring systems, and are often the better choice for sensing manufacturing products.

Maximizing Flexibility in Distributed I/O and Valve Systems

The ability to mix modules and terminals together in the system means that machine builders can install I/O and valves in the physical locations and orientations that make most sense to the overall machine design.

Touchless Switches Provide a Hygienic User Interface Option

Touchless switches are an ideal solution for industries such as food, beverage, pharmaceuticals, medical, and chemicals where sanitary design is important. They are also useful for protecting the well-being of users in everyday commercial applications.

MEMS-Based Inertial Switch for Event Detection

With advancements in microfabrication techniques, MEMS devices have become more readily available for many commercial applications.

Optical Switching at Record Speeds Opens Door for Ultrafast, Light-Based Electronics and Computers

The future of electronics will be based instead on using laser light to control electrical signals, opening the door for the establishment of “optical transistors” and the development of ultrafast optical electronics.

High-Bandwidth Communications Device

This device could pave the way to higher-bandwidth wireless communications.

Smart Molecules Act as Computer Transistors

Researchers have discovered a single-molecule switch that can act like a transistor and store binary information such as the 1s and 0s used in classical computing. The molecule is around five square...

Using Magnets to Toggle Nanolasers Leads to Better Photonics

A new control mechanism may prove useful in devices that make use of optical signals.

3D-Printed Objects Sense How a User is Interacting with Them

Sensing is incorporated directly into an object’s material, with applications for assistive technology and “intelligent” furniture.

The Pursuit of an Uninterruptible Power Supply

To ensure the availability of a UPS system, proper consideration must be taken of each application and its requirements.

Coherent Optical Transistor

Applications include telecommunications, optical switching, and quantum computing.

Products of Tomorrow

Water-sensing smartphone screens, a NASA-developed RF switch, and an ultrasound patch.

2021 Motion Control Product Directory

Explore manufacturers and products in over 25 motion-design categories.

Q&A: Switching Technology Improves Power Grid Efficiency

Kristin Sampayan from the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory found a fast way to switch high voltages.

High-Power/Pulsed-Power Electrical Switch

The switch has uses in circuit protection systems in the electric power grid, high-power military applications, and power for materials processing.

Wafer-Thin Nanopaper Changes from Firm to Soft at the Touch of a Button

Bioinspired cellulose nanofibrils can be controlled by electricity.

New Materials Boost Efficiency and Stability of Optical Rectennas

The improved rectennas could operate low-power devices such as temperature sensors.

Nanoscale Thermal Switches

These switches are key to thermal management of nanoscale devices, refrigeration, data storage, thermal computing, and heat management of buildings.

Quantum Switch Turns Metals into Insulators

This approach could engineer quantum materials atom-by-atom for new electronic, magnetic, and sensing applications.

Room-Temperature Magnon Switch

This approach could lead to entirely new and more efficient logic switches for computer chips.

Single-Atom Transistors

Linking multiple copies of these devices may lay the foundation for quantum computing.

Guiding and Harnessing Transition Waves in Multi-Stable Mechanical Structures

The domino effect is used to design deployable systems that expand quickly with a small push and are stable and locked into place after deployment.

High-Reliability Radio Frequency MEMS Switch

Applications include homeland security, vehicle anti-collision systems, telecommunications systems, and industrial instrumentation.

Low-Inductance DC Power Bus

The bus is designed for high-frequency, high-temperature operation in electric drive systems and next-generation power electronics.

Transistors Both Process and Store Information

The functional transistors are integrated with ferroelectric RAM.

Low-Energy Device Rapidly Reroutes Light in Computer Chips

The switch is a major new step toward building a computer that uses light instead of electricity to process information.

Valve Position Sensor Protects Switch Boxes from Salt Environment

Salty air the Dutch city of Harlingen causes exposed metal parts to corrode.