GloFo is to equip a 300mm fab in Chongqing, China as a jv with the local government. “China is the fastest growing semiconductor market, with more than half of the world’s semiconductor consumption and a growing ecosystem of fabless companies competing on a global scale,” said GloFo’s CEO Sanjay Jha, “we are pleased to partner …
Auto IC Sales Only 7.4% Of Semi Market
Communication and computer systems will be two of the three largest system applications for IC sales this year, says IC Insights. Communications applications are expected to capture nearly 43% of IC sales in Asia-Pacific and 39% of the revenue in the Americas region this year. Communications and computer applications are forecast to tie as the …
ARM launches cores for virtual and augmented reality
ARM has brought out Cortex and Mali processors to address upcoming smartphone features like augmented and virtual reality on 10nm processes. They will be in SoCs this year and in handsets in 2017. The Cortex processor – A73 – is the smallest 64-bit v8 core ARM has done – at under 0.65mm2 per core on …
Calif. Drinking Water Program deemed in compliance with Safe Drinking Water Act
EPA issued a notice of non-compliance to the Drinking Water Program in 2013.
UK universities replace magnetics lab with bench-top test
Super-fast laser sensing has allowed UK researchers to study semiconductors without a magnetics lab. The work will feed into University of Cambridge research on AlGaN/GaN HEMTs (high electron mobility transistors). 30T magnetic coil at the heart of the system, developed by Professor Hiroyuki Nojiri at Tohoku University (see below) The test in question is cyclotron …
Bees have an electrostatic sense
Said the University of Bristol in a statement: “Although it’s known that flowers communicate with pollinators by sending out electric signals, just how bees detects these fields has been a mystery – until now.” What? Flowers have electric fields? Apparently so. And bees detect them using hairs that deflect according to charge – said Bristol, …
The Transformative Effects Of The Transistor Radio
Sony’s TR-55 transistor radio had a major effect in encouraging the Japanese electronics industry to focus on consumer goods, but it also had a transformative effect on the career of one of Japan’s most distinguished semiconductor men. In 1955, the same year as the launch of the TR-55, Tsugio Makimoto was in his first year …
Surface absorbs 98% of photons
Australian researchers have increased photon absorption in a semiconductor to almost 99%, according to the University of Sydney. The absorber is a sub-wavelength thin-film semiconductor, and no complex nano-structures, meta-materials, exotic materials or difficult-to-create metal-non-metal combinations have been used. When light falls on a thin film etched with narrow grooves, light is directed sideways and …
Perovskite solar cells yield another secret
A source of loss in Perovskite solar cells could disappear following the decoding of a mechanism that heals defects in the crystal lattice. Organic-inorganic metal halide perovskite solar materials are rapidly catching silicon in efficiency, and are showing promise as a mass produceable large scale technology. However, a lot of issues remain to be solved, …
SEMI book-to-bill continues positive
The SEMI book-to-bill for April was 1:10, down from March’s 1:15. April orders were $1.59 billion – 15.6% higher than March’s $1.38 billion, and 1.3% higher than April’s $1.57 billion. April billings were $1.46 billion – 21.5% higher than March’s $1.20 billion, and is 4% lower than April’s $1.52 billion. “Bookings reached their highest levels …