Research Papers

Swansea University in Wales has installed gallium tri-oxide (Ga2O3) deposition equipment at its Centre for Integrated Semiconductor Materials (CISM). In the β crystal form, Ga2O3 is an ultra-wide bandgap semiconductor (~4.8eV), suiting it to high voltage semiconductors. The semiconductor can also be used in ultra-violet detectors. CISM has an MOCVD (metal-organic chemical vapour deposition) laboratory built around Aixtron equipment, to ...

Researchers at Ritsumeikan University have made an organic conductor that can be solution proceesed. “The study therefore paves the way for solution-processed conductive materials, which could potentially lead to next-generation organic semiconductors,” according to the University. “Furthermore, the researchers will focus on refining molecular designs to optimise charge transport properties and explore applications in electronic circuits, sensors and energy storage.” ...

Aqueous zinc-ion batteries are one potential solution to cost-effective grid-scale energy storage, as the raw materials are cheaper than needed for lithium-ion cells, and the extra weight of zinc is not much of a penalty in static applications. However, as zinc-ions electroplate onto and off of the anode, several destructive processes can occur, including the growth off needle-like ‘dendrites’ (think ...

Solar-powered electric cooking is becoming a viable alternative to charcoal and wood-based cooking in Rwanda, according to a project at Coventry University. “Around 25% of the world’s population lacks access to clean cooking facilities, while around 10% lack access to electricity, with both disproportionately affecting women and children,” according Coventry’s Jonathan Nixon. “As energy systems become more reliant on advanced ...

Researchers from CIC nanoGune in Spain have made a 2D spintronics device using graphene modified by the fields of nearby materials – a so called proximitised structure. In this case, it is a graphene spin valve enabled by nearby shapes of  Cr2Ge2Te6, a van der Waals magnet. Graphene can transport spin and, with this proximity modification, can generate and detect ...

Researchers at the Korea Institute of Machinery and Materials have developed a way to grow 2d transition metal dichalcogenides heterostructures across 100mm wafers using plasma-enhanced chemical vapour deposition (PECVD), claiming this to be a first. “Transition metal dichalcogenides [are] candidates for next-generation semiconductors, with atomic-level 2d structures offering silicon-like performance, low power operation, and fast switching speeds,” according to the ...

TDK has created a spin-memristor for analogue neural networks, and built a network that can separate three types of sound in real-time. It has been collaborating on memristors with French research lab CEA since 2020, and has now announced a collection of memristors packaged in an IC (described as ‘three elements by two sets’, photo). Semiconductor process behind this IC ...

Gallium nitride-based LEDs and power transistors can be made on the same IC, according to scientists from Cornell University and the Polish Academy of Sciences. The trick is to used both sides of the wafer, and exploit a quirk of GaN. “GaN is unique among wide-bandgap semiconductors because it has a large electronic polarisation along its crystal axis, which gives ...

Health-related chemicals can be detected on dry skin, according to the National University of Singapore (NUS), which developed a stretchable ‘ionic-electronic bilayer hydrogel’ sensor with the Singapore Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*Star). The chemicals are known as solid-state epidermal biomarkers. “These biomarkers, which include cholesterol and lactate, are found in the stratum corneum, the outermost layer of the ...

At DAC 2024, Efabless celebrated a milestone of 40 commercial companies designed chips using its chipIgnite and Google-sponsored OpenMPW programme. Of these, some are ready for production volumes, the majority are at the prototype/proof of concept stage, said CEO, Michael Wishart. The platform allows start-ups and smaller companies to prototype designs and innovate without having to buy a license, he ...