Archive : January 2015 год

A new type of 'nanowire' crystal that fuses semiconducting and metallic materials on the atomic scale could lay the foundation for future semiconducting electronics, say researchers in the Neils Bohr Institute at the University of Copenhagen. "Our new material was born as a hybrid between a semiconducting nanowire and its elec...

Belgian research center imec says it has attained a conversion efficiency of 22.02% for its large area n-type PERT (passivated emitter, rear totally diffused) crystalline silicon solar cell. This, it adds, is the highest efficiency achieved for this type of two side-contacted solar cell on a 6in wafer. Because they do not suffer from light...

Cadence has unveiled the 11th generation of Tensilica's Xtensa processor. The Xtensa LX6 and Xtensa 11 processors feature architectural improvements that are said to allow users to create custom processor instruction sets with up to 25% less processor logic power consumption and up to 75% better local memory area and power efficiency. ...

Power specialist CUI has appointed Ismosys as its manufacturing sales representative for Europe. Ismosys will represent CUI's power products and board level component portfolio. The move is said by CUI to be the latest step in its plans to expand its European support network. "We recognise the great opportunity for growth that the...

A research team led by North Carolina State University has developed a method of integrating multiferroic materials on a silicon chip. The move is said by the team to enable the development of new memory devices. Prototypes are said to have been created and are being tested. Multiferroic materials have both ferroelectric and ferromagnetic...

Infineon Technologies has completed its acquisition of International Rectifier, following the approval of all interested parties. "The acquisition is an important step for Infineon to foster our position as a global market leader in power semiconductors," said CEO Dr Reinhard Ploss. "We are sure that IR and its employees wil...

From hoverboards to a flexible solar 'cloth' to harvest the sun's rays, a growing number of technology projects are turning to – and getting – financial backing via crowdfunding, a financial technique that works by pulling together small amounts of investment from a large number of individual investors usually via an online...

IBM received a record 7534 patents in 2014; the 22nd consecutive year it has topped the annual list of US patent recipients. During this time, it has amassed more than 81,500 US patents. "IBM's continued investment in research and development is key to driving the transformation of our company, as we look to capture the emerging o...

Research published in Engineering UK 2015; The State of Engineering claims the UK economy could benefit to the tune of £27billion a year if demand for new engineering jobs is filled. To do this, the organisation continues, the number of engineering apprentices and graduates entering the industry will need to double. Paul Jackson, Eng...

An array of light detectors developed by MIT researchers, in partnership with scientists from IBM and NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, is said to be sensitive enough to register the arrival of individual photons and to have application in quantum computing. The sensors have been designed to be located on a silicon optical chip, but th...