"NANOTECH: microfluidic pump chases self-cooled chips"
Future chips may be self-ventilating, thanks to added microfluidic-like layers that pump heat-laden air off-chip using a classic "corona wind" effect. Purdue University has patented the technique at the nanoscale, and two team members have co-founded a company to commercialize aspects of the cooling system. The Purdue team recently demonstrated a chip that created ions between closely spaced carbon-nanotube electrodes and funneled the resulting air currents down microfluidic channels, allowing the resultant heat to squirt out the sides of the chip.
Audio Interviews / Text: http://eetimes.com/article/showArticle.jhtml?articleId=18402861
Friday, March 26, 2004
"TERAHERTZ: research gains momentum
Already the first crude images from terahertz image chips have proven that Superman-style "X-ray vision" may soon be commonplace. Last year the European Space Agency's StarTiger R&D team showed a 16-pixel device that they claim produced the world's first terahertz picture of a human hand. The detector used a silicon photonic-bandgap material. Likewise, microelectromechanical systems are also being crafted to bridge the terahertz gap. At least one group has built a stack of silicon bars with a micromachined funnel that focuses terahertz signals of 1- to 10-micron wavelengths. Both traditional- and quantum-transistor experimenters have also reported progress. Intel Corp., for one, promises a "terahertz" transistor later in this decade using silicon-on-insulator technology, a fully depleted substrate and a high-k gate dielectric.
Audio Interviews / Text: http://eetimes.com/article/showArticle.jhtml?articleId=18402812
Already the first crude images from terahertz image chips have proven that Superman-style "X-ray vision" may soon be commonplace. Last year the European Space Agency's StarTiger R&D team showed a 16-pixel device that they claim produced the world's first terahertz picture of a human hand. The detector used a silicon photonic-bandgap material. Likewise, microelectromechanical systems are also being crafted to bridge the terahertz gap. At least one group has built a stack of silicon bars with a micromachined funnel that focuses terahertz signals of 1- to 10-micron wavelengths. Both traditional- and quantum-transistor experimenters have also reported progress. Intel Corp., for one, promises a "terahertz" transistor later in this decade using silicon-on-insulator technology, a fully depleted substrate and a high-k gate dielectric.
Audio Interviews / Text: http://eetimes.com/article/showArticle.jhtml?articleId=18402812
"TERAHERTZ: Dj vu technology"
Vladimir Kozlov, president and co-founder of Microtech Instruments Inc., is building cutting-edge products out of technology that's almost 60 years old. "Our sources of terahertz [waves] are based on vacuum diodes, also known as backward-wave oscillators, which is fairly old technology, having been developed in Russia after World War II," said Kozlov, who helped found Eugene, Ore.-based Microtech in 1992. "We engineered Russian BWOs into a complete terahertz spectrometer for the experimenter, and we've continually upgraded it for about 12 years now." Kozlov claims today's solid-state researchers have a long way to go to catch up with Microtech's turnkey terahertz spectrometers, which offer high-power, high-resolution, spectroscopic imaging with broadband radiation from 30 GHz to 1.5 THz. Using BWOs as sources, the tabletop systems also include terahertz detectors with a 2-inch-square opto-acoustic sensor called a "golay cell." Both the BWOs and golay cells are manufactured exclusively in Russia.
Audio Interviews / Text: http://eetimes.com/article/showArticle.jhtml?articleId=18402808
Vladimir Kozlov, president and co-founder of Microtech Instruments Inc., is building cutting-edge products out of technology that's almost 60 years old. "Our sources of terahertz [waves] are based on vacuum diodes, also known as backward-wave oscillators, which is fairly old technology, having been developed in Russia after World War II," said Kozlov, who helped found Eugene, Ore.-based Microtech in 1992. "We engineered Russian BWOs into a complete terahertz spectrometer for the experimenter, and we've continually upgraded it for about 12 years now." Kozlov claims today's solid-state researchers have a long way to go to catch up with Microtech's turnkey terahertz spectrometers, which offer high-power, high-resolution, spectroscopic imaging with broadband radiation from 30 GHz to 1.5 THz. Using BWOs as sources, the tabletop systems also include terahertz detectors with a 2-inch-square opto-acoustic sensor called a "golay cell." Both the BWOs and golay cells are manufactured exclusively in Russia.
Audio Interviews / Text: http://eetimes.com/article/showArticle.jhtml?articleId=18402808
"TERAHERTZ: microwaves meet infrared at the final frontier"
With all the advances in solid-state communications � from long-wavelength, very low-frequency radio waves that talk to submerged submarines, to short-wavelength, very high-frequency light waves that communicate with lasers � you would think the whole electromagnetic spectrum was covered. You'd be wrong. There exists a gap, centered at 1 trillion cycles per second, that the solid-state era has only begun to bridge. The terahertz gap is the last frontier in the EM spectrum. Terahertz frequencies are where microwaves meet infrared light waves. Microwaves are "millimeter wavelengths" whereas infrared is "nanometer wavelength," leaving the terahertz gap nestled in between at "micron wavelengths."
Audio Interviews / Text: http://eetimes.com/article/showArticle.jhtml?articleId=18402806
With all the advances in solid-state communications � from long-wavelength, very low-frequency radio waves that talk to submerged submarines, to short-wavelength, very high-frequency light waves that communicate with lasers � you would think the whole electromagnetic spectrum was covered. You'd be wrong. There exists a gap, centered at 1 trillion cycles per second, that the solid-state era has only begun to bridge. The terahertz gap is the last frontier in the EM spectrum. Terahertz frequencies are where microwaves meet infrared light waves. Microwaves are "millimeter wavelengths" whereas infrared is "nanometer wavelength," leaving the terahertz gap nestled in between at "micron wavelengths."
Audio Interviews / Text: http://eetimes.com/article/showArticle.jhtml?articleId=18402806
Monday, March 22, 2004
"AI: Sharp unit to license IP from U.S. labs"
Artificial-intelligence technology that could change the way busy sports fans get their fix will be among the licensable intellectual property unveiled here Tuesday (March 23) by the newly formed Sharp Technology Ventures. The venture's charter is to commercialize technologies developed at Sharp Laboratories of America Inc. that have languished here in the labs � "technologies that, for one reason or another, Sharp Corp. in Japan is not going to develop," said Jon Clemens, the leader of Sharp Technology Ventures. Clemens retired last year as director of Sharp Labs after getting permission from the $20 billion parent company in Osaka to form the tech venture company.
Audio Interviews / Text: http://eet.com/article/showArticle.jhtml?articleId=18401011
Artificial-intelligence technology that could change the way busy sports fans get their fix will be among the licensable intellectual property unveiled here Tuesday (March 23) by the newly formed Sharp Technology Ventures. The venture's charter is to commercialize technologies developed at Sharp Laboratories of America Inc. that have languished here in the labs � "technologies that, for one reason or another, Sharp Corp. in Japan is not going to develop," said Jon Clemens, the leader of Sharp Technology Ventures. Clemens retired last year as director of Sharp Labs after getting permission from the $20 billion parent company in Osaka to form the tech venture company.
Audio Interviews / Text: http://eet.com/article/showArticle.jhtml?articleId=18401011
Friday, March 19, 2004
"ANTI-TERROR: sensor net prototype being tested in Tennessee"
SensorNet, a first-alert anti-terrorist network, is being tested in Tennessee before it's delivered to Homeland Security for use nationwide. It is one more step toward outfitting U.S. weather stations to detect the release of toxins and predict where the winds will take them. The Tennessee prototype will be a good test of the national deployment plan, said John Strand, project manager for the SensorNet program. A cooperative effort by Oak Ridge and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), the program now has working sites in New York, Washington and Fort Bragg, North Carolina, and Nashville, Knoxville and Oak Ridge, Tenn. SensorNet will span the state with sensors that can alert emergency responders and the public when they are in danger of being exposed to water- or airborne toxins from chemical, biological or radiological releases.
Audio Interview / Text: http://eetimes.com/article/showArticle.jhtml?articleId=18400970
SensorNet, a first-alert anti-terrorist network, is being tested in Tennessee before it's delivered to Homeland Security for use nationwide. It is one more step toward outfitting U.S. weather stations to detect the release of toxins and predict where the winds will take them. The Tennessee prototype will be a good test of the national deployment plan, said John Strand, project manager for the SensorNet program. A cooperative effort by Oak Ridge and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), the program now has working sites in New York, Washington and Fort Bragg, North Carolina, and Nashville, Knoxville and Oak Ridge, Tenn. SensorNet will span the state with sensors that can alert emergency responders and the public when they are in danger of being exposed to water- or airborne toxins from chemical, biological or radiological releases.
Audio Interview / Text: http://eetimes.com/article/showArticle.jhtml?articleId=18400970
Monday, March 15, 2004
"TERAHERTZ: SiGe process tapped for 'X-ray vision'"
Russian and U.S. academics are collaborating to develop terahertz silicon germanium chips for "X-ray vision" systems that could peer through suitcases and clothing to identify weapons, through clouds to guide aircraft and through skin to pinpoint cancer. The researchers foresee the chips' use in terahertz scanning spectrometers, just now coming over the technological horizon. "We are very excited about collaborating with our Russian colleagues. We will combine their work on the theoretical side with our work using SiGe to improve three different types of terahertz emitter chips we have designed," said James Kolodzey, professor of electrical and computer engineering at the University of Delaware (Newark). Kolodzey's counterpart in Russia is Miron Kagan, director of the Russian Academy's Institute of Radioengineering and Electronics (Moscow). That institute in turn collaborates with the Ioffe Physico-Technical Institute (St. Petersburg).
Audio Interviews / Text: http://eetimes.com/article/showArticle.jhtml?articleId=18400273
Russian and U.S. academics are collaborating to develop terahertz silicon germanium chips for "X-ray vision" systems that could peer through suitcases and clothing to identify weapons, through clouds to guide aircraft and through skin to pinpoint cancer. The researchers foresee the chips' use in terahertz scanning spectrometers, just now coming over the technological horizon. "We are very excited about collaborating with our Russian colleagues. We will combine their work on the theoretical side with our work using SiGe to improve three different types of terahertz emitter chips we have designed," said James Kolodzey, professor of electrical and computer engineering at the University of Delaware (Newark). Kolodzey's counterpart in Russia is Miron Kagan, director of the Russian Academy's Institute of Radioengineering and Electronics (Moscow). That institute in turn collaborates with the Ioffe Physico-Technical Institute (St. Petersburg).
Audio Interviews / Text: http://eetimes.com/article/showArticle.jhtml?articleId=18400273
Thursday, March 11, 2004
"NANOTECH: Oregon prof: Wires beat tubes in nano world"
With so many stories heralding the merits of carbon nanotubes as the channels of next-generation nanoscale transistors, you'd think the case was closed. Not so, say researchers here who claim nanowires can create better nanoscale transistors � ones that can be placed more accurately, can use application-specific doping and can be more easily integrated with traditional silicon processing. "Our most recent results show how to grow nanowires in precisely the places you want them on silicon wafers. Nanowires offer many advantages over nanotubes, such as the ability to dope them in different well-understood ways for different applications," said EE professor Rajendra Solanki at Oregon Health and Science University.
Audio Interviews / Text: http://www.eetimes.com/story/OEG20040311S0024
With so many stories heralding the merits of carbon nanotubes as the channels of next-generation nanoscale transistors, you'd think the case was closed. Not so, say researchers here who claim nanowires can create better nanoscale transistors � ones that can be placed more accurately, can use application-specific doping and can be more easily integrated with traditional silicon processing. "Our most recent results show how to grow nanowires in precisely the places you want them on silicon wafers. Nanowires offer many advantages over nanotubes, such as the ability to dope them in different well-understood ways for different applications," said EE professor Rajendra Solanki at Oregon Health and Science University.
Audio Interviews / Text: http://www.eetimes.com/story/OEG20040311S0024
"NANOTECH: Nanowires vie with carbon nanotubes for next-gen transistors"
With so many stories heralding the merits of carbon nanotubes as the channels of next-generation nanoscale transistors, you'd think the case was closed. Not so, say researchers here who claim nanowires can create better nanoscale transistors � ones that can be placed more accurately, can use application-specific doping and can be more easily integrated with traditional silicon processing. "Our most recent results show how to grow nanowires in precisely the places you want them on silicon wafers. Nanowires offer many advantages over nanotubes, such as the ability to dope them in different well-understood ways for different applications," said EE professor Rajendra Solanki at Oregon Health and Science University (cse.ogi.edu/edu).
Audio Interviews / Text: http://www.eetimes.com/story/OEG20040303S0033
With so many stories heralding the merits of carbon nanotubes as the channels of next-generation nanoscale transistors, you'd think the case was closed. Not so, say researchers here who claim nanowires can create better nanoscale transistors � ones that can be placed more accurately, can use application-specific doping and can be more easily integrated with traditional silicon processing. "Our most recent results show how to grow nanowires in precisely the places you want them on silicon wafers. Nanowires offer many advantages over nanotubes, such as the ability to dope them in different well-understood ways for different applications," said EE professor Rajendra Solanki at Oregon Health and Science University (cse.ogi.edu/edu).
Audio Interviews / Text: http://www.eetimes.com/story/OEG20040303S0033
Monday, March 08, 2004
"SONAR: renders ocean floor transparent"
A breakthrough in sonar technology may soon make it possible to more accurately detect and map underwater artifacts, such as mines, even when they are buried. "Our results are from simulations, but they show that some relatively simple changes to standard sonar equipment will result in a much simpler and effective means of detecting underwater mines," said David Pierson, a Johns Hopkins University scientist who invented the technique for his dissertation under professor David Aspnes at North Carolina State University.
Audio Interviews / Text: http://www.eetimes.com/story/OEG20040305S0039
A breakthrough in sonar technology may soon make it possible to more accurately detect and map underwater artifacts, such as mines, even when they are buried. "Our results are from simulations, but they show that some relatively simple changes to standard sonar equipment will result in a much simpler and effective means of detecting underwater mines," said David Pierson, a Johns Hopkins University scientist who invented the technique for his dissertation under professor David Aspnes at North Carolina State University.
Audio Interviews / Text: http://www.eetimes.com/story/OEG20040305S0039
Friday, March 05, 2004
"T-Hz: Metamaterial plumbs terahertz region"
Metamaterial experts have bridged the terahertz-gap by demonstrating a magnetic sensor based on split-ring resonators. SRRs function as artificial atoms in a metamaterial, but are actually constructed from concentric planar copper rings. By shrinking a microwave (millimeter wavelengths) SRR from 5 millimeters to 50 microns, researchers said they demonstrated a magnetic response that bridges the terahertz gap (micron wavelengths), thereby opening the door to solid-state sensors that can see through some solid objects.
Audio Interview / Text: http://www.eetimes.com/story/OEG20040305S0023
Metamaterial experts have bridged the terahertz-gap by demonstrating a magnetic sensor based on split-ring resonators. SRRs function as artificial atoms in a metamaterial, but are actually constructed from concentric planar copper rings. By shrinking a microwave (millimeter wavelengths) SRR from 5 millimeters to 50 microns, researchers said they demonstrated a magnetic response that bridges the terahertz gap (micron wavelengths), thereby opening the door to solid-state sensors that can see through some solid objects.
Audio Interview / Text: http://www.eetimes.com/story/OEG20040305S0023
Thursday, March 04, 2004
"SONAR: advance could improve underwater detection"
An advance in sonar technology may soon enable standard sonar equipment to more accurately detect and map underwater artifacts such as mines, even when they are buried. The technique works by rendering the ocean floor transparent, thereby making the artifact stand out in stark relief even if it is buried. The key is time-reversing the echo from a first sonar ping and broadcasting it in lieu of a second sonar ping. The subsequent echo from the second broadcast has its background cancelled out, according to Pierson, effectively rendering the ocean floor transparent. After several such cycles, even the faintest echos from buried mines, once masked by obstacles, stand out on a grid of the ocean floor.
Audio Interviews / Text: http://www.eetimes.com/story/OEG20040304S0021
An advance in sonar technology may soon enable standard sonar equipment to more accurately detect and map underwater artifacts such as mines, even when they are buried. The technique works by rendering the ocean floor transparent, thereby making the artifact stand out in stark relief even if it is buried. The key is time-reversing the echo from a first sonar ping and broadcasting it in lieu of a second sonar ping. The subsequent echo from the second broadcast has its background cancelled out, according to Pierson, effectively rendering the ocean floor transparent. After several such cycles, even the faintest echos from buried mines, once masked by obstacles, stand out on a grid of the ocean floor.
Audio Interviews / Text: http://www.eetimes.com/story/OEG20040304S0021
"Neue Anwendung f�r Tintenstrahler: Organreplikation"
Menschliche Organe mittels eines Tintenstrahldruckers nachbauen -- was wie eine schr�ge Horror-Schlagzeile aus der Boulevardpresse klingt, scheint ein reales Fundament zu haben. Forscher der Universit�t von Missouri arbeiten an einem Verfahren, mit dem das eines Tages m�glich sein k�nnte. Bei dem Verfahren, dessen Funktionsprinzip die Forscher k�rzlich vorf�hrten, spr�ht ein umfunktionierter Tintenstrahler modifizierte Spenderzellen in mehreren Lagen auf ein spezielles gallertartiges Substrat. Um die f�r die Erzeugung von Zellen erforderliche so genannte Biokompatibilit�t sicherzustellen, muss der jeweilige Organempf�nger eigene K�rperzellen zur Verf�gung stellen.
Audio Interviews / Text: http://www.eetimes.com/story/OEG20040304S0007
Menschliche Organe mittels eines Tintenstrahldruckers nachbauen -- was wie eine schr�ge Horror-Schlagzeile aus der Boulevardpresse klingt, scheint ein reales Fundament zu haben. Forscher der Universit�t von Missouri arbeiten an einem Verfahren, mit dem das eines Tages m�glich sein k�nnte. Bei dem Verfahren, dessen Funktionsprinzip die Forscher k�rzlich vorf�hrten, spr�ht ein umfunktionierter Tintenstrahler modifizierte Spenderzellen in mehreren Lagen auf ein spezielles gallertartiges Substrat. Um die f�r die Erzeugung von Zellen erforderliche so genannte Biokompatibilit�t sicherzustellen, muss der jeweilige Organempf�nger eigene K�rperzellen zur Verf�gung stellen.
Audio Interviews / Text: http://www.eetimes.com/story/OEG20040304S0007
Wednesday, March 03, 2004
"La r�plication d'organes, une nouvelle application de l'impression par jet d'encre"
Les chercheurs ont r�cemment mis en �vidence un proc�d� qui, � terme, pourrait permettre l'�laboration d'organes humains issus de l'impression par jet d'encre de cellules provenant du sujet de la greffe d'organe et ce, dans un souci de biocompatibilit�. Les cellules du donneur seraient imprim�es en couches successives, en alternance avec des gels structurels. Les exp�riences les plus r�centes, men�es au sein de l'Universit� du Missouri (Columbia) ont utilis� des � indices � biologiques visant � favoriser l'auto-assemblage de tissus fonctionnels. � Nous pouvons d�sormais r�aliser des tubes biologiques creux et des � modules � organiques en trois dimensions, lesquels peuvent �tre utilis�s comme greffons ou � des fins de recherche scientifique �, explique Gabor Forgacs, physicien et biologiste � l'Universit� du Missouri. � Un organe pleinement fonctionnel est encore trop complexe, mais le corps humain est constitu� d'un grand nombre de tubes creux, comme ceux que nous avons mis au point �, ajoute-t-il.
Audio Interviews / Text: http://www.eetimes.com/story/OEG20040303S0006
Les chercheurs ont r�cemment mis en �vidence un proc�d� qui, � terme, pourrait permettre l'�laboration d'organes humains issus de l'impression par jet d'encre de cellules provenant du sujet de la greffe d'organe et ce, dans un souci de biocompatibilit�. Les cellules du donneur seraient imprim�es en couches successives, en alternance avec des gels structurels. Les exp�riences les plus r�centes, men�es au sein de l'Universit� du Missouri (Columbia) ont utilis� des � indices � biologiques visant � favoriser l'auto-assemblage de tissus fonctionnels. � Nous pouvons d�sormais r�aliser des tubes biologiques creux et des � modules � organiques en trois dimensions, lesquels peuvent �tre utilis�s comme greffons ou � des fins de recherche scientifique �, explique Gabor Forgacs, physicien et biologiste � l'Universit� du Missouri. � Un organe pleinement fonctionnel est encore trop complexe, mais le corps humain est constitu� d'un grand nombre de tubes creux, comme ceux que nous avons mis au point �, ajoute-t-il.
Audio Interviews / Text: http://www.eetimes.com/story/OEG20040303S0006
Monday, March 01, 2004
"MEDICAL: Novel ink-jet app: organ replication"
Researchers recently demonstrated a process that one day may enable ink-jet printed human organs to be formed using cells donated by the person receiving the organ, to ensure biocompatibility. The donor's cells would be printed in layers, alternating with structural gels. The recent experiments, conducted at the University of Missouri (Columbia), involved the use of biological "cues" to enable successful self-assembly of designer tissue. "We can now make three-dimensional hollow biological tubes and organ 'modules,' which could be used as grafts or for doing research," said Gabor Forgacs, a biological physicist at the university. "A fully functional organ is still too complex-but the human body is composed of many hollow tubes like ours."
Audio Interviews / Text: http://www.eetimes.com/story/OEG20040225S0026
Researchers recently demonstrated a process that one day may enable ink-jet printed human organs to be formed using cells donated by the person receiving the organ, to ensure biocompatibility. The donor's cells would be printed in layers, alternating with structural gels. The recent experiments, conducted at the University of Missouri (Columbia), involved the use of biological "cues" to enable successful self-assembly of designer tissue. "We can now make three-dimensional hollow biological tubes and organ 'modules,' which could be used as grafts or for doing research," said Gabor Forgacs, a biological physicist at the university. "A fully functional organ is still too complex-but the human body is composed of many hollow tubes like ours."
Audio Interviews / Text: http://www.eetimes.com/story/OEG20040225S0026
"Spin Valves er�ffnen neue M�glichkeiten f�r NV-Speicher"
Ein Forschungsprogramm zur Herstellung einer organischen Spin-Valve-Transistorelektronik k�nnte dazu beitragen, dass sich zuk�nftige NV-Halbleiter (non-volatile) mit optischen Emittern, Umsetzern und Sensoren integrieren lassen. Durch die Nutzung des Elektronen-Spins bieten so genannte organische Spin-Valves nicht nur eine ausfallsichere Speicherung, sondern erlaubt es auch, Emitter und Sensoren auf Prozessorchips zu platzieren. Mit dieser Technik ist es nicht mehr erforderlich, separate anorganische Si- oder GaAs-Chips als Signalumsetzer zu verwenden.
Audio Interviews / Text: http://www.eetimes.com/story/OEG20040301S0005
Ein Forschungsprogramm zur Herstellung einer organischen Spin-Valve-Transistorelektronik k�nnte dazu beitragen, dass sich zuk�nftige NV-Halbleiter (non-volatile) mit optischen Emittern, Umsetzern und Sensoren integrieren lassen. Durch die Nutzung des Elektronen-Spins bieten so genannte organische Spin-Valves nicht nur eine ausfallsichere Speicherung, sondern erlaubt es auch, Emitter und Sensoren auf Prozessorchips zu platzieren. Mit dieser Technik ist es nicht mehr erforderlich, separate anorganische Si- oder GaAs-Chips als Signalumsetzer zu verwenden.
Audio Interviews / Text: http://www.eetimes.com/story/OEG20040301S0005
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