Latest Integrated circuit Stories

University of Maryland researchers have made a breakthrough in the use of visible light for making tiny integrated circuits. Though their advance is probably at least a decade from commercial use, they say it could one day make it possible for companies like Intel to continue their decades long tread of making ever smaller, faster, and cheaper computer chips.For some 50 years, the integrated circuits, or chips, that are at the heart of computers, smart phones, and other high-tech devices have...

Smaller and more energy-efficient electronic chips could be made using molybdenite, a material developed in SwitzerlandSmaller and more energy-efficient electronic chips could be made using molybdenite. In an article appearing online January 30 in the journal Nature Nanotechnology, EPFL's Laboratory of Nanoscale Electronics and Structures (LANES) publishes a study showing that this material has distinct advantages over traditional silicon or graphene for use in electronics applications.A...

SAN JOSE, Calif., Jan. 25, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Solido Design Automation, the leader in variation-aware custom IC design, and STARC, the Japanese semiconductor technology research consortium, today announced that STARC has qualified and selected Solido Variation Designer for its STARCAD-AMS Analog/Mixed-Signal Reference Flow. STARC is comprised of 9 electronics companies, five of whom participate in analog and mixed-signal (AMS) design. STARC's AMS reference flow will support advanced...

Microfluidics Lab at Harvard provides new core facility for undergraduate teachingWith little more than a conventional photocopier and transparency film, anyone can build a functional microfluidic chip.A local Cambridge high school physics teacher invented the process; now, thanks to a new undergraduate teaching lab at Harvard's School of Engineering and Applied Sciences (SEAS), students will be able explore microfluidics and its applications.The Microfluidics Lab, developed by Dr. Anas...

MILPITAS, Calif., Jan. 20, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Today, KLA-Tencor Corporation (Nasdaq: KLAC), the world's leading supplier of process control and yield management solutions for the semiconductor and related industries, introduced KLARITY® LED--an automated analysis and defect data management system for light-emitting diode (LED) yield enhancement--and the new, scalable ICOS® WI-2220--a wafer inspection tool designed specifically for LED defect inspection that assists LED device makers...

EAGAN, Minn., Jan. 12, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Innovation levels, as measured by patent volume, shifted across 12 major technology areas from 2009 to 2010, according to the second annual analysis of world patent activity published by the IP Solutions business of Thomson Reuters. The 2010 Innovation Report: Twelve Key Technology Areas and Their States of Innovation tracks patent activity in key technology areas using the Thomson Reuters Derwent World Patents Index® (DWPI(SM)) database, the...

LAS VEGAS and BASKING RIDGE, N.J., Jan. 5, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- From the 2011 International Consumer Electronics Show (CES), Gemalto today announced the successful deployment of its newly integrated over-the-air (OTA) platform and Universal Integrated Circuit Card (UICC) for the Verizon Wireless 4G LTE Mobile Broadband network. Gemalto, the world leader in digital security, delivered the OTA and UICC for Verizon Wireless' 38-market LTE network launch, which has already begun delivering 4G...

SAN JOSE, Calif., Jan. 3, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Monolithic Power Systems (MPS) (Nasdaq: MPWR) a leading fabless manufacturer of high-performance analog and mixed-signal semiconductors, today announced that Rick Neely has resigned from his position as Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer to pursue another opportunity at a private company. Meera Rao will assume the position and responsibilities as MPS's Chief Financial Officer effective immediately. Ms. Rao joined MPS in January...

The rapid advances in information technology that drive many sectors of the U.S. economy could stall unless the nation aggressively pursues fundamental research and development of parallel computing -- hardware and software that enable multiple computing activities to process simultaneously, says a new report by the National Research Council. Better options for managing power consumption in computers will also be essential for continued improvements in IT performance.For many decades,...

Physicists at Ohio State University have discovered that tiny defects inside a computer chip can be used to tune the properties of key atoms in the chip.The technique, which they describe in the journal Science, involves rearranging the holes left by missing atoms to tune the properties of dopants "“ the chemical impurities that give the semiconductors in computer chips their special properties.Though the technique is currently limited to the laboratory, it could prove valuable to industry...