News from EngineersLive

Modelling transformers for high-voltage power distributionDr Beriz Bakija discusses the benefits of modelling, designing and testing transformersRead Safety by design: training aims to cut global accident rates to zeroJohn Nixon discusses how a 'safety by design' model is aimed at creating zero accident rates worldwide, while wherever possible adapting working conditions to local habits and environment wherever possibleRead Actuators must withstand high humidity, salt, wind and rainWind power...

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Top 10 Materials Moments in History Announced

March 8th, 2007 from www.physorg.com/ More than 4,200 materials science and engineering professionals from 68 countries attended the TMS 2007 Annual Meeting & Exhibition in Orlando, Florida, Feb. 25-March 1, as the results of voting among the scientific community and the public at large revealed the Greatest Materials Moments in History. The Periodic Table of Elements devised by Dmitri Mendeleev in 1864 was voted the number one materials moment, the indispensable reference tool for...

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IMEC Makes Functional 22 nm SRAM Cells With EUV Lithography

IMEC has achieved its next milestone with EUV lithography, creating the first functional 22 nm CMOS SRAM cells with technology. Both the contact and Metal 1 layer were imaged with ASML's full-field EUV demo tool. Aaron Hand, Executive Editor, Electronic Media -- Semiconductor International, 4/22/2009 10:44:00 AMIMEC (Leuven, Belgium) has achieved...

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Freescale to Close Fabs in Japan and France

TOP STORY... April 23, 2009Freescale Semiconductor will close two 150 mm fabs, in Sendai, Japan, and Toulouse, France. The closure of the East Kilbride, Scotland, fab is expected to be complete soon, leaving Freescale with three 200 mm fabs. With fab utilization at 37%, Freescale will spend only ~$20M per quarter on capital expenditures over the next...

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2009 VLSI Technology Symposium Takes Up Heterogeneous IC Challenges

TOP STORY... April 22, 2009At the 2009 Symposium on VLSI Technology, set for June in Kyoto, Japan, researchers will present progress on germanium channel PFETs and III-V-based NFETs, which could be mixed with silicon-based transistors in heterogeneous solutions. The time for first introduction of heterogeneous ICs -- based on germanium or SiGe PFET...

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Imprint Rides Photonic Crystal Wave

TOP STORY... April 20, 2009Light-emitting diodes (LEDs) may gain efficiencies by using photonic crystals defined by imprint lithography. A range of LED makers are developing photonic-crystal LEDs as a way of improving light extraction and beam shaping. Challenges include that the wafers are not very clean or flat, and tend to have surface nodules several...

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Viruses could power devices

New study could lead to more efficient, environmentally friendly batteries By Solmaz Barazesh April 25th, 2009; Vol.175 #9 (p. 12)   A computer virus won't help your laptop work — but a biological virus could. Tweaking their genes just so could engineer viruses for making the rechargeable lithium ion batteries that power devices such as laptops, iPods and cell phones, researchers report online April 2 in Science. In previous research, the same team used viruses to construct the negative...

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Lightest Material Made Into Powerful Muscle

from Eric Bland, Discovery News   Nanotube Made Really Really Light | Discovery News Video   March 19, 2009 -- The lightest material on Earth now packs a powerful punch. Scientists from Texas and around the world have created a material that, by density, is lighter than air yet, when electrified, instantly and powerfully contracts....

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Energy Efficiency: Semiconductors' 21st Century Challenge

Worldwide energy use is growing much faster than traditional supplies can match, but the semiconductor industry can help improve the efficiency of energy generation, distribution and consumption. http://www.semiconductor.net/article/CA6649972.html...

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Semiconductor International on your mobile

You can now access Semiconductor International on your favorite mobile device. Keep up with all the latest news and technical features while on the go. http://mobile.semiconductor.net...

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Invitation to join Semiconductor International’s LinkedIn and Facebook Groups

From: Semiconductor International <semiconductor_international@email.semiconductor.net> To: madhawa_86@yahoo.comSent: Friday, April 17, 2009 0:17:06Subject: Invitation to join Semiconductor International's LinkedIn and Facebook GroupsWe asked our online users what their preferred social media sites were, and you've responded that LinkedIn and...

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Happy New Year!

Wish all sinhalese and tamils all over the world, a Prosporous New Ye...

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Energy Efficiency: Semiconductors' 21st Century Challenge

TOP STORY... April 13, 2009Worldwide energy use is growing much faster than the fossil-fuel supply can match. The U.S. Department of Energy projects that by 2030, worldwide energy use will increase by ~40% from today. Four authors from the Semiconductor Industry Association detail answers, which include renewable energy, a smart grid, and more-efficient...

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Post-RIE BEOL Cleaning Gains Attention

TOP STORY... April 8, 2009Cleaning leading-edge copper interconnect layers has become a major challenge, particularly as cobalt-based via capping layers are introduced. At the Sematech Surface Preparation and Cleaning Conference (SPCC), researchers from several companies presented new BEOL cleaning techniques that are tolerated by 32 nm copper interconnects...

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Organic PVs Promise Better Efficiency

TOP STORY... April 9, 2009Researchers at Canada's National Institute for Nanotechnology and the University of Alberta have engineered a novel approach to improve plastic solar cell (hybrid organic photovoltaics) performance. The research could improve the efficiency of plastic solar panels, which may become a low-cost alternative to silicon-based solar...

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Self-adhesive spacer tapes help bonding of slim mobile phones

Christina Barg-Becker looks at bonding technology being used in slim phonesR...

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Closer integration of reverse engineering and CAD techniques

Both reverse engineering and three-dimensional CAD are established techniques, but using the two together has not always been as easy as it could beR...

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ISMI Readies 450 mm Equipment Metrics

TOP STORY... April 7, 2009The ISMI 450 mm program is moving from wafer handling tests to developing guidelines for early 450 mm wafer process equipment. The consortium posted equipment performance metrics (EPMs) to its website for the major tool types needed for a demonstration line. "Test wafer equipment development and demonstrations are on track...

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News from Materials Research Society - 2009 March

Materials in FocusPicoscale stability in a room-temperature AFM A research team has shown how to detect and monitor the tiny amount of light reflected directly off the needle point of an atomic force microscope probe, and in so doing has demonstrated a 100-fold improvement in the stability of the instrument’s measurements under ambient conditions. The team was able to control the probe’s position in three dimensions to better than 40 picometers over 100 seconds. In imaging applications, they showed...

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SWCNTs May Offer Cooler Interconnects

TOP STORY... April 6, 2009University at Buffalo engineers recently proved with quantum mechanics that single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs) offer "cooling" properties far superior to those provided by metals in electronics. Nanotubes could replace many of the metals used in ICs now, argues Cemal Basaran, director of the university's Electronic Packaging...

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'Tuned' Graphene Points to Faster Chips

TOP STORY... April 2, 2009'Tuned' Graphene Points to Faster Chips  Researchers at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute have determined that the chemistry of the surface on which graphene is deposited plays a key role in shaping the material's conductive properties. Simulations show that when deposited on a surface treated with oxygen, graphene shows...

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Micro-manufacturing for specialist processes Miniaturisation is not new, but manufacturing mechanical, electromechanical and fluidic components on a micro scale is rapidly developing into a recognisable industry in itselfRead Securing industrial control systems against of cyber infection We are all aware of the need to protect desktop computers from viruses and other malware, but what about industrial systems?Read Mobilising machine parts to meet manufacturing challengesStefan Pulver explains the...

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