"ALGORITHMS: computer learns from humans"

Even the most sophisticated man-machine interface today requires that the user learn how to use the computer. Now researchers at the Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne claim their QB1 computer can bridge the gap between man and machine without the need for and manual--or even a keyboard or mouse. QB1 seeks out users in its immediate surroundings and presents applications to them that can be navigated with intuitive hand gestures.

BOTTOM LINE: Learning how to use a computer can be a daunting task, but the Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne appears to be simplifying the procedure by building attentiveness into their software. So far the technique is at the toy-stage, but approaches like this could someday realize the dream of computers without manuals, although it may take five years or more to realize commercial applications using the technology.

"NANOTECH: carbon transistors sprayed on ink-jet style"

Carbon nanotube thin-film transistors running at 5 Gigahertz were recently demonstrated at the University of Massachusetts in cooperation with Brewer Science, Inc. Using an ink-jet-like printer from Optomec called the "Aerosol Jet", the carbon transistors were printed at room temperature on a polyimide substrate, promising ultra-low costs compared to traditional high-temperature processes using silicon substrates.

BOTTOM LINE: Spray on transistors are revolutionary, because they can be fabricated much more cheaply than silicon transistors that require high-temperature processing and expensive monocyrstalline silicon substrates. Unfortunately, most spray-on transistors are dismally slow. Optomec's Aerosol Jet printer, on the other hand, can use fast carbon-based materials to combine high speed with low cost. They can't compete with CMOS yet, but the future of printable electronics is bright. Look for wide scale applications in three to five years.

"CHIPS: 3D chips unfold instead of stack"

3D chips promise to pack more punch compared to today's flat planar chips, usually by stacking dies and connecting them with through silicon vias. Massachusetts Institute of Technology professor George Barbastathis, on the other hand, recommends unfolding chip structures into the third dimension and has demonstrated that capacitors are amenable to the technique. He predicts that tiny motors and other devices will soon be fabricated using his nanoscale "origami" approach.

BOTTOM LINE: 3D chips solve many problems plaguing traditional planar semiconductors, such as packing logic above memory cells without the need for long costly interconnections. MEMS chips also harness the third dimension by sculpting out 3D structures with etching techniques. MIT's origami-like alternative is not really an alternative to 3D stacked dies, but the technique is so novel that I suggest keeping an eye on its development, which could take a decade or more to mature.

"NANOTECH: EPA to regulate nanotube production"

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) will begin enforcing new rules next week regulating companies using carbon nanotubes. Manufacturers will be required to file pre-manufacturing notices which will be used to evaluate the health and safety measures necessary to protect workers and consumers from possible health hazards associated with nanotubes. The Toxic Substances Control Act specifically cited the requirement for pre-manufacturing notices regarding carbon nanotubes in October 2008, but EPA won't starting enforcing the new rule until March 1, according to the Bureau of National Affairs, which publishes information and product analyses for industry and government.

BOTTOM LINE: The fears of nanotechnology going awry have plagued the field from the get go, so its about time that the EPA stepped in regulate their manufacture. Hopefully the EPA can calm the public with reasonable regulations, but critics maintain that it will overly burden a fledgling industry with red tape. Hopefully the EPA's involvement will enable the field to blossom as well as protect both humans and our natural resources from run-away nanobots.

"OPTICS: Flexible touchscreen debuts"

Arizona State University's Flexible Display Center (FDC) and its military and industry partners are claiming the first flexible touchscreen integrated with an active-matrix display. The light-weight device is initially headed for the battlefield. Based on active-matrix electrophoretic display technology from E-Ink Corp. (Cambridge, Mass.) the new flexible touchscreen uses materials supplied by DuPont Teijin Films, which manufacturers the plastic used as a substitute for glass in conventional touchscreens. Glass touchscreens can only be used when securely enclosed in a hard-shell housing. For future commercial applications like e-newspapers, however, a more durable flexible touchscreen is needed that would allow users to navigate using on-screen icons, then roll up the e-paper for carrying and storage.

BOTTOM LINE: The newspaper of the future will be a rolled up sheet of DuPont plastic that readers can unroll to read, flipping "pages" by touching an on-screen button on the corner of the page. This dream is being realized at Arizona State University's Flexible Display Center, with the help of military funding to get it off the ground. Combining the fortes of DuPont and E-Ink, the FDC is creating the newspaper of the future, which will first be deployed to solders who will use the it as electronic notepads, and eventually to you and I within three to five years.

"CHIPS: world's first reversible diode"

Rutgers University researchers have demonstrated what they claim is the world's first reversible diode. Using a ferroelectric material, the new material formulation was also found to be photovoltaic in a part of the spectrum not covered by conventional solar cells, opening the door to a potential new green energy source. The new material is a member of the perovskite class of crystals and is distinguished by using three negative ions of oxygen that bind to two positive ions of very different atomic sizes. Made from bismuth, iron and oxygen, the reversible diode can alter the direction in which it allows current to pass by switching its ferroelectric polarization.

BOTTOM LINE: A availability of a reversible diode is sure to spur electrical engineers to find useful applications. The ferroelectric material will have to be integrated into someone's CMOS process to be used on conventional chips, which takes time. Discrete devices seem inevitable too. The utility of the material also being photovoltaic in the blue color gamut could help the efficiency of multi-junction solar cells, but this all depends on optimizing and fully characterizing the material, which could take years.

"NANOTECH: 250 DVDs fit on one-inch disk"

A self-assembling process promises to fits 10 terabits per square inch by harnessing nano-scale self-assembly of block co-polymer templates. The breakthrough overcomes previous obstacles with a two step process that first patterns sawtooth ridges on a sapphire wafer which is annealed, before patterning the three nanometer diameter memory domains.

BOTTOM LINE: Block copolymers are being investigated by many research labs as a method of patterning semiconductor chips at densities that go far beyond the capabilities of the photolithographic techniques used today. This type of maskless operation could be key to fabricating future memory chips, because the patterns self-assemble into regular patterns. However, this is only one piece of the puzzle--since it is unclear how to fabricate the circuitry to read, write and access such small memory domains--problems that could take a decade or more to solve.

"CHIPS: world's smallest transistor fabricated"

Transistors with feature sizes of just two-nanometers--compared the the 45- and 32-nanometer transistors which are state-of-the-art today--have been fabricated with a new technique called Sketch-an-FET (after the popular Etch-a-Sketch game). The researchers used the tip of an atomic force microscope like an Etch-a-Sketch stylus to fabricate the transistors at the University of Pittsburgh (by professor Jeremy Levy--pictured).

BOTTOM LINE: Professor's Levy's demonstration is impressive and his technique is unique, in my experience. However, transferring this one-by-one technique into a usable tool at semiconductor makers will require a different approach. An atomic force microscope is a useful tool, but cannot be used in a production environment. If this technique can be commercialized, it will be at least a decade before its kinks are worked out.