Phys.org November 18, 2019 By using specially treated silicon surfaces to tailor the crystals’ size and shape, an international team of researchers (USA – Johns Hopkins University, University of Pennsylvania, Naval Research Laboratory, South Korea) has found a potentially faster and less expensive way to produce next-generation semiconductor crystals for microchips. They doused silicon substrates with phosphine gas and grew crystals on it. They discovered that the reaction of phosphine with the silicon support caused the crystals to grow as horizontal “ribbons” as opposed to the planar and triangularly shaped sheets. The research could enable new scientific discoveries and accelerate […]
Category Archives: Micro-devices
Making tiny antennas for wearable electronics
Science Daily November 20, 2019 Researchers in South Korea made the antenna by spray-coating several layers of NbSe2 nanosheets onto a plastic substrate. In tests an 885 nm-thick antenna, a 10 × 10 mm patch of the ultrathin material performed well, with a radiation efficiency of 70.6% propagating radio frequency waves in all directions. By changing the length of the antenna, the frequency could be tuned from 2.01 to 2.80 GHz, which includes the frequency required by Bluetooth and Wi-Fi technologies. The antenna could be bent and stretched without large changes in its performance. In addition to wearable electronics, the […]
How to mass produce cell-sized robots
MIT News October 23, 2018 Researchers at MIT developed a method for controlling the natural fracturing process of atomically-thin, brittle materials, directing the fracture lines so that they produce miniscule pockets of a predictable size and shape. Embedded inside these pockets are electronic circuits and materials that can collect, record, and output data. The system uses graphene, which forms the outer structure of the tiny syncells. Tiny dots of a polymer material, containing the electronics for the devices, are deposited by an inkjet printer. Syncells has potential for use in industrial or biomedical monitoring… read more. Video TECHNICAL ARTICLE
Researchers create world’s smallest ‘computer’
Tech Explore June 23, 2018 Researchers at the University of Michigan have created a device that measures just 0.3 mm to a side. It is designed as a precision temperature sensor that converts temperatures into time intervals, defined with electronic pulses. Microdevices, from IBM and now Michigan, lose all prior programming and data as soon as they lose power. In addition to the RAM and photovoltaics, the new computing devices have processors and wireless transmitters and receivers. Because they are too small to have conventional radio antennae, they receive and transmit data with visible light. A base station provides light […]