Electronic Components

A New Microelectronic Device Uses Less Power than Current Memory Technologies

A research team has created an innovative microelectronic device that can potentially function as a sustainable, high-performance “bit-switch.” This paves the way for future computing technologies to process data much faster while using significantly less energy. Read on to learn more.

Molecular Highway for Electrons in OLEDs

Now, a team from the Max Planck Institute for Polymer Research has developed a new material concept that could allow efficient blue OLEDs with a strongly simplified structure. Read on to learn more.

This OLED Device is Thinner Than a Human Hair

A new type of OLED (organic light emitting diode) could replace bulky night vision goggles with lightweight glasses, making them cheaper and more practical for prolonged use, according to...

Improving Upon the Design of Microelectronic Devices

A new study led by researchers at the University of Minnesota Twin Cities is providing new insights into how next-generation electronics, including memory components in computers, breakdown or degrade over time.

Analysis and Simulation of Low-Light INL in CMOS Image Sensors

Conventional sources of INL are well understood, but as pixel array resolution has increased and ADC pitch has consequently been reduced, additional array sources of nonlinearity have become prominent. Read on to learn more.

New Transistor Could Shrink Communications Devices on Smartphones

After announcing a ferroelectric semiconductor at the nanoscale thinness required for modern computing components, a University of Michigan team has demonstrated a reconfigurable transistor using that material. Read on to learn more.

How Much Do You Know About Semiconductors?

Semiconductors are the brains of modern electronics. They enable advances in medical devices and healthcare, communications, computing, defense and aerospace, transportation, and myriad others. How much do you know about semiconductors? Find out with this quiz.

New on the Market

See what's new on the market, including ASM's posiwire® sensors WST61, WST85, and WST21; Allegro MicroSystems' third product in its High Voltage Power-Thru™ portfolio; Sumida America's CDPQ/T150 Series of high-current power inductors; the advanced new series of USB Type C Plugs and Sockets from Keystone Electronics Corp.; Analog Devices, Inc.'s IMU; and binder's latest enhancements to its panel mount connectors in M12 size.

New Technique Pinpoints Nanoscale ‘Hot Spots’ in Electronics

When electronic devices like laptops or smartphones overheat, they are fundamentally suffering from a nanoscale heat transfer problem. Pinpointing the source of that problem...

Built For AI, This Chip Moves Beyond Transistors for Huge Computational Gains

The Defense Department’s largest research organization has partnered with a Princeton University-led effort to develop advanced microchips for artificial...

How Much Do You Know About Capacitors?

Capacitors are fundamental components that are used in a wide variety of applications, from the tiniest electronics to high-power applications. What are capacitors, what are the differences among them, and what is common to all of them? Check your knowledge with this quiz.

Improved GaN-Based Semiconductor Devices for Power Electronics

A study led by Nagoya University in Japan revealed that a simple thermal reaction of gallium nitride (GaN) with metallic magnesium (Mg) results in the formation of a distinctive...

Researchers Demonstrate Cutting-Edge Chip Technology for Ultra-Low Power AI Connected Devices

Researchers from NUS, together with industry partners Soitec and NXP Semiconductors, have demonstrated a new class of silicon systems that...

This Chip Safeguards User Data While Enabling Efficient Computing on a Smartphone

Health-monitoring apps can help people manage chronic diseases or stay on track with fitness goals, using nothing more than a smartphone. However, these apps...

Opening Up the Potential of Thin-Film Electronics for Flexible Chip Design

Silicon semiconductors have become the ‘oil’ of the computer age, as was demonstrated recently by the chip shortage crisis. However, one of the disadvantages of...

Modular Design Strategies Reinforce Electric Actuator Selection over Hydraulics

When electromechanical actuator designers began integrating electronics inside their housings, it gave a control and efficiency advantage that opened the door to applications that had long been the sole domain of hydraulics cylinders. Those same electronics, coupled with recent experience applying electric actuators in new applications, now enable a modular design strategy that makes customizing electric actuators easier, further enhancing their advantages over hydraulics.

AI-Powered Optical Inspection Can Find Nanoscale PCB Defects

Most PCB manufacturers use automatic optical inspection (AOI) to monitor defects in their printed circuit boards. This delivers strong results when there are defects in the soldering, connections, pads, and traces on printed boards.

Hyper-Distributed RFID Antenna (HYDRA) System

Innovators have developed a method and apparatus to multiplex Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) signals efficiently. The resulting Hyper-Distributed RFID Antenna (HYDRA) system enhances distribution of the RFID reader signal, providing improved coverage for large areas as well as for small, fixed regions requiring a high density of reader antennas.

A Novel Technique to Create Energy-Efficient Microelectronics

Microelectronics face a key challenge because of their small size. To avoid overheating, microelectronics need to consume only a fraction of the electricity of conventional electronics while still operating at peak performance. Researchers have achieved a breakthrough that could allow for a new kind of microelectronic material to do just that.

Essential Control and Visualization, Combined

Modern PLC+HMI platforms have overcome weaknesses of older devices and now provide a top-performing and space-optimized option for designers to implement control and visualization for a variety of diverse applications.

A New Affordable Sensor for Lead Contamination

Engineers at MIT, Nanyang Technological University, and several companies have developed a compact and inexpensive technology for detecting and measuring lead concentrations in water,...

Can Lithium Tantalate Lower the Cost of Manufacturing Photonic Integrated Circuits?

Researchers at the École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL) — or Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne — have leveraged the use of...

Advancements Make Laser-Based Imaging Simpler and Three-Dimensional

There are times when scientific progress comes in the form of discovering something completely new. Other times, progress boils down to doing something better, faster, or more easily. New research from the lab of Caltech’s Lihong Wang, the Bren Professor of Medical Engineering and Electrical Engineering, is the latter. Read on to learn more.

New Products

See the new products, including TDK-Micronas' further extended Micronas 3D HAL® position sensor family, AW-Lake’s TRICOR Coriolis Flow Meters, Kistler's new accelerometer series 8740A and 8788A, Melexis' MLX90830, and more.

Products of Tomorrow

See the products of tomorrow, including Lightmatter's chip specializing in AI operations and its interconnect that facilitates data transfer between chips; implantable biomedical devices; and a metallic nanotube.

World’s First N-Channel Diamond Field-Effect Transistor

A NIMS research team has developed the world’s first n-channel diamond MOSFET. It provides a key step toward CMOS integrated circuits for harsh-environment applications as well as...

New on the Market

See what's new on the market, including: new TEMPUS™ technology from Renishaw, SPIROL's Series CL6000 Compression Limiters, binder-USA's protective caps, a breakthrough lithium coin cell holder from Keystone Electronics, and more.

A Two-in-One Storage and Computing Device

A multi-institutional project led by a Penn State researcher is focused on developing an all-in-one semiconductor device that can both store data and perform computations. The project recently received $2 million in funding over three years as part of the new National Science Foundation Future of Semiconductors (FuSe) program.

Quantum Computing Architecture May Enable High-Fidelity Communication

MIT researchers have developed a quantum computing architecture that aims to enable extensible, high-fidelity communication between superconducting quantum processors.