Phys.org March 5, 2024 Microelectronic devices can directly communicate with biology, as electronic information can be transmitted via redox reactions within biological systems. Researchers at the University of Maryland engineered biology’s native redox networks to enable electronic interrogation and control of biological systems at several hierarchical levels: proteins, cells, and cell consortia. Electro-biofabrication facilitated on-device biological component assembly, electrode-actuated redox data transmission and redox-linked synthetic biology allowed programming of enzyme activity and closed-loop electrogenetic control of cellular function. Horseradish peroxidase was assembled onto interdigitated electrodes where electrode-generated hydrogen peroxide controlled its activity. E. coli’s stress response regulon, oxyRS, was rewired […]
Tag Archives: Microelectronics
Deciphering the deep dynamics of electric charge
Phys.org February 6, 2024 Unraveling local dynamic charge processes relies on the ability to map charge carrier motion across multiple length- and timescales and understanding how these processes interact with the inherent material heterogeneities. An international team of researchers (South Korea, USA – Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Case Western University, Australia) introduced high-speed sparse scanning Kelvin probe force microscopy, which combined sparse scanning and image reconstruction. They showed that with their approach sub-second imaging of nanoscale charge dynamic was possible. They demonstrated electrochemically mediated diffusion of mobile surface ions on a LaAlO3/SrTiO3 planar device. By monitoring the diffusion of oxygen […]
Flaky compound to prevent computer chips from getting fried
Phys.org July 4, 2023 To address overheating in microchip-based devices researchers in Russia 3D printed a model of a composite radiator with different boron nitride fillings. The measured absolute values of the thermal conductivity of such a composite in the temperature range of 3–300 K strongly depend on the concentration of boron nitride. Filling the photopolymer with boron nitride led to a change in the behavior of the volt–current curves, which might have been associated with the occurrence of percolation currents during the deposition of boron nitride. The ab initio calculations showed the behavior and spatial orientation of BN flakes […]
Researchers find a way to reduce the overheating of semiconductor devices
Science Daily June 1, 2023 Researchers in South Korea experimentally demonstrated boosted in-plane thermal conduction by surface plasmon polaritons (SPPs) propagating along a thin Ti film on a glass substrate. Due to the lossy nature of metal, SPPs could propagate over centimeter-scale distances even along a supported metal film, and the resulting ballistic heat conduction could be quantitatively validated. For a 100-nm-thick Ti film on a glass substrate, a significant enhancement of in-plane thermal conductivity compared to bulk value (∼25%) was experimentally shown. According to the researchers their work will provide a new avenue to employ SPPs for heat dissipation […]
Scientists turn single molecule clockwise or counterclockwise on demand
Phys.org December 21, 2022 Complexes containing rare-earth ions attract great attention for their technological applications ranging from spintronic devices to quantum information science. While charged rare-earth coordination complexes are ubiquitous in solution, they are challenging to form on materials surfaces that would allow investigations for potential solid-state applications. A team or researchers in the US (Argonne National Laboratory, Ohio University, University of Illinois) has demonstrated formation and atomically precise manipulation of rare-earth complexes on gold surface. Although they are composed of multiple units held together by electrostatic interactions, the entire complex rotates as a single unit when electrical energy is […]
Live wire: New research on nanoelectronics
Phys.org February 25, 2022 Researchers at Arizona State University have shown that a protein poised between a pair of electrodes could act as an efficient conductor of electrons. Proteins may have better conductance properties than similar nanowires composed of DNA. The expanded alphabet of 20 amino acids used to construct them offers an enhanced toolkit for nano architects when compared with just four nucleotides making up DNA. The researchers used protein segments in four nanometer increments, ranging from 4-20 nanometers in length. When the protein nanowires exceeded six nanometers in length, their conductance outperformed molecular nanowires. The data showed that […]
World’s smallest battery can power dust-sized computer
Nanowerk February 19, 2022 The size and adequate energy storage mismatch between microbatteries and microelectronics has emerged as a fundamental barrier against the take-off of tiny intelligent systems requiring power anytime anywhere. The on-chip self-assembly process known as micro-origami is capable of winding stacked thin films into Swiss-roll structures to reduce the footprint area, which exactly mimics the manufacture of the most successful full-sized batteries—cylinder batteries. In addition to discussing in detail the technical difficulties of reducing the size of on-chip microbatteries with various structures and potential solutions, researchers in Germany highlight the following two basic requirements for eventual integration […]
DARPA Joins Public-Private Partnership to Address Challenges Facing Microelectronics Advancement
DARPA December 22, 2021 DARPA today announced its participation in a new long-term university research collaboration with the Semiconductor Research Corporation (SRC) and a consortium of companies in the commercial semiconductor industry and the defense industrial base called the Joint University Microelectronics Program 2.0 (JUMP 2.0). The program aims to establish seven collaborative, multidisciplinary, multi-university research centers focused on supporting exploratory research with an eight- to twelve-year time horizon for transition to defense and commercial opportunities. To focus the research, each center will define an overarching challenge and a set of specific technical goals by which the center will be […]
Ultrathin semiconductors are electrically connected to superconductors for the first time
Phys.org July 6, 2021 For future applications in electronics and quantum technology, researchers are focusing on the development of new components that consist of monolayer semiconducting material. An international team of researchers (Switzerland, Japan) has demonstrated superconducting vertical interconnect access (VIA) contacts to a monolayer of molybdenum disulfide (MoS2) using MoRe as a contact material. The electron transport was mostly dominated by a single superconductor/normal conductor junction with a clear superconductor gap. They found MoS2 regions that are strongly coupled to the superconductor resulting in resonant Andreev tunneling and junction-dependent gap characteristics, suggesting a superconducting proximity effect. Magnetoresistance measurements showed […]
Special heat treatment improves novel magnetic material
Science Daily March 31, 2021 Previously an international team of researchers (Germany, China) discovered that manganese silicide hosts magnetic skyrmions. Whereas Mn-Si alloy, B20 phase, is particularly suitable for the formation of skyrmion, MnSi1.7 is a contaminant. Now the team has developed a simple and efficient method to overcome this problem and prepare single‐phase MnSi films on Si substrates. It is based on the millisecond reaction between metallic Mn and Si using flash‐lamp annealing (FLA). By controlling the FLA energy density, single‐phase MnSi or MnSi1.7 or their mixture can be grown at will. Compared with bulk MnSi, the prepared MnSi […]