"NANOSCALE: Logic and memory shown on molecular scale"
Rice University researchers have demonstrated that molecule-sized electronic devices can be used for both logic and memory, despite being randomly wired, error-prone and inaccurately formed at the nanoscale, according to Rice University professor James Tour, who said his work demonstrates that today's chip makers can achieve increases of two to three orders of magnitude in chip density by leveraging the lithographic tools they already have to form random-access addresses into arrays of nanoscale molecular memories.
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Text: http://www.eetimes.com/story/OEG20031031S0022

"Les diodes tunnels hybrides pourraient d�passer la loi de Moore"
Depuis les ann�es 1950, les chercheurs en semi-conducteurs savent que les effets de confinement quantique des diodes tunnels am�liorent la vitesse du circuit et le traitement du courant tout en r�duisant le nombre de composants et la consommation �nerg�tique. Cependant des difficult�s li�es au traitement ont depuis longtemps rel�gu� les diodes tunnels aux mat�riaux exotiques et aux appareils discrets. Aujourd'hui, certains chercheurs affirment qu'un nouveau proc�d� de diode tunnel compatible CMOS permet d'allonger la dur�e de vie des usines de semi-conducteurs existantes en outrepassant le n�ud suivant dans le calendrier de production des semi-conducteurs (tel qu'il est d�fini par la loi de Moore). Des diodes tunnels int�grables sur du silicium pourraient �galement fournir suffisamment de densit� de courant pour permettre aux composants de radiofr�quence utilis�s pour les t�l�communications d'�tre appliqu�s directement sur du silicium (et non plus sur de co�teuses puces � l'ars�niure de gallium), autorisant ainsi des solutions monopuce pour t�l�phones portables.
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Text: http://www.eetimes.com/story/OEG20031030S0037

"NANOTECH: Nanosprings breakthrough shrinks size of sensors"
Quantum dots, nanowires and other nanoscale structures populate the frontier of semiconductor research, collectively aimed at downsizing chip components to the molecular scale. So far piezoelectric materials have been used to fabricate nanowires and nanobelts (ring-shaped nanowires) for experimental nanoscale lasers, field-effect transistors, gas sensors, cantilevers and resonators. But none of these have been "single crystal" and therefore only partially exploit the piezoelectric phenomenon, according to one research scientist, who now claims to have fabricated the world's first single-crystal nanosprings that not only outperform predecessors but also promise to enable single-molecule sensors.
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Text: http://www.eetimes.com/story/OEG20031030S0059

"Hybride Tunneldiode k�nnte Moore's Law austricksen"
Halbleiterforscher wissen schon seit den 50er Jahren, dass das so genannte Quantum-Confinement von Tunneldioden elektronische Schaltungen schneller macht und dabei hilft, die Zahl der Bauelemente und den Leistungsverbrauch reduzieren. Die aufw�ndige Herstellung beschr�nkte die Produktion von Tunneldioden auf diskrete Versionen und stempelte sie als exotisches Material ab. Jetzt sind Forscher zu dem Schluss gekommen, dass ein neuer CMOS-kompatibler Fertigungsprozess f�r Tunneldioden die Lebensdauer vorhandener Silizium-Herstellungsanlagen verl�ngern k�nnte, und zwar durch ein '�berspringen' des n�chsten Node in der Halbleiterentwicklung gem�� Moore's Law. Im Silizium integrierbare Tunneldioden k�nnten zudem eine ausreichende Stromdichte bieten, damit die HF-Komponenten der Telekommunikationsindustrie nicht mehr auf teure GaAs-Chips aufgebaut werden m�ssten, sondern sich auf Silizium integrieren lassen. Eine komplette Handyschaltung auf einem Chip k�nnte damit Wirklichkeit werden.
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Text: http://www.eetimes.com/story/OEG20031029S0016

"CHIPS: Hybrid tunnel diodes could leapfrog Moore's Law"
Semiconductor researchers have known since the 1950s that the quantum-confinement effects of tunnel diodes boost circuit speed and current handling while reducing component count and power consumption. But processing difficulties long confined tunnel diodes to exotic materials and discrete devices. Now some researchers say a new CMOS-compatible tunnel diode process could extend the lifetime of existing silicon fabs by leapfrogging the next node in the semiconductor road map (as defined by Moore's Law). Silicon-integratable tunnel diodes might also provide enough current density to allow telecom radiofrequency components to be moved off separate-and costly-gallium-arsenide chips and onto silicon, allowing one-chip cell phone solutions.
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Text: http://www.eetimes.com/story/OEG20031029S0015

"Une batterie microfluidique qui fonctionne � l'eau"
La conversion de pression hydrostatique directement en courant �lectrique, sans � pi�ces mobiles � comme dans une pile � combustible, a �t� utilis�e dans un nouveau type de batterie. Le prototype de batterie � microcanal �lectrocin�tique exploite la puissance �lectrique de l'ordre du sous-nanoamp�re issue de 500 000 canaux microfluidiques pour g�n�rer des microamp�res de puissance.
� Nous souhaitions seulement d�montrer le principe, non pas pour g�n�rer beaucoup de puissance, mais pour montrer qu'il est possible de convertir la pression hydrostatique directement en �lectricit� �, explique Larry Kostiuk, professeur en thermodynamique � l'Universit� d'Alberta. Il a collabor� pour ses travaux avec le professeur Daniel Kwok, un chercheur dans le domaine de la nanofabrication.
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Text: http://www.eetimes.com/story/OEG20031027S0001

"Le bit quantique est au centre d'une nouvelle alliance s�curitaire"
Un cryptage ind�chiffrable reposant sur la distribution d'une cl� quantique pourrait bien faire son apparition sur un r�seau pr�s de chez vous. La semaine derni�re, deux soci�t�s suisses se sont associ�es � une organisation professionnelle dans le but de cr�er l'infrastructure n�cessaire � la distribution mondiale de cl�s quantiques ind�chiffrables. Id Quantique SA, World Internet Secure Key (WiseKey) SA et l'Organisation internationale pour la s�curit� des transactions �lectroniques (OISTE) ont annonc� un partenariat lors de la conf�rence ITU Telecom World 2003 � Gen�ve. Id Quantique fournira le mat�riel, WiseKey le r�f�rentiel de cl�s quantiques et l'OISTE constituera l'autorit� internationale de certification et d'enregistrement. Toutes les trois entit�s ont leur si�ge � Gen�ve.
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Text: http://www.eetimes.com/story/OEG20031024S0001

"MEMS: Microfluidic battery runs on water"
Converting hydrostatic pressure directly into electrical current � without moving parts like a fuel cell � has enabled the demonstration of a new kind of battery. The electrokinetic microchannel battery prototype harnessed the combined sub-nanoamp electrical output from 500,000 microfluidic channels to generate microamps of current.
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Text: http://www.eetimes.com/story/OEG20031023S0044

"DNA: Silicon IC unravels DNA's spiral for easy reading"
Researchers at Purdue University have succeeded in unraveling strands of DNA into an easy-to-ready linear "tape," potentially a first step toward one day creating computers based on DNA, according to the team.
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Text: http://www.eetimes.com/story/OEG20031020S0091

"MUSIC: EEG brain cap detects musical creativity"
Music researchers report making strides toward a modern-day "brain cap" that can detect and recognize musical ideas in the minds of composers with up to 99 percent accuracy. Eduardo Reck Miranda, head of computer music research and leader of the neuroscience-of-music group at the University of Plymouth, England, recently reported up to 99 percent accuracy in recognizing specific electroencephalogram patterns for musical ideas using a 128-electrode EEG brain cap with signal-processing algorithms including three neural networks
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Text: http://www.eetimes.com/story/OEG20031020S0090

"QUANTUM: Key to new security alliance is quantum"
Uncrackable encryption based on quantum-key distribution could soon come to a network near you. Two Swiss companies last week joined hands with a trade organization in pledging to create the infrastructure necessary for worldwide distribution of unbreakable quantum keys. Id Quantique SA, World Internet Secure Key (WiseKey) SA and the International Organization for the Security of Electronic Transactions an-nounced a partnership at the ITU Telecom World 2003 conference in Geneva. Id Quantique will supply the hardware, WiseKey the secure-key repository and the nonprofit organization-which is known as OISTE, its French acronym-the certification and registration authorities worldwide. All three are headquartered in Geneva.
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Text: http://www.eetimes.com/story/OEG20031020S0054

"LABS: In Sharp Labs, quest is always tomorrow's tech"
Sharp Laboratories of America aims to turn your TV into a Web-surfing, news-gathering, sports-summarizing, on-demand movie viewing, e-mail center. As the beachhead for U.S. imports from Japan's $20 billion Sharp Corp., Sharp Labs also has designs on your cell phone, video recorder, document-imaging system and more. Sharp decided last year to ditch CRTs after estimating that LCD-based televisions, including the company's LCTV brand, could account for as much as 45 percent of the worldwide market by 2004. To cash in, Sharp Labs began developing technologies to differentiate its LCTVs as uniquely capable for U.S. viewing needs.
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Text: http://www.eetimes.com/story/OEG20031013S0048

"OPTICS: Analog CMOS chip mimics the retina of an octopus"
Neophyte scuba divers tend to expect underwater vistas akin to those in tropical-island brochures-bright, clear water, filled with colorful fish. The harsh reality is that most underwater scenes are poorly lit at best, with the norm being dark, monotone and murky. To compensate, the octopus' visual system has adapted to spotting prey in the worst waters. Indeed, who would be a better model for a low-visibility vision system than an animal that, when attacked itself, sprays its own low-visibility "ink"? Accordingly, researchers sponsored by a National Science Foundation effort are intent on imparting the vision abilities of an octopus to undersea autonomous robots. By mimicking the octopus' ability to see well underwater with an analog silicon octopus retina ("o-retina"), the University of Buffalo group believes it can revolutionize space and undersea exploration, and improve visibility in hazardous environments and hard-to-reach places such as underground pipes
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Text: http://www.eetimes.com/story/OEG20031006S0057

"Im Nanobereich k�nnte Silizium seinen Vorteil verlieren"
Diamanten halten ewig, oder? Nicht wenn es danach geht, was Forscher der Ohio State University (OSU) in der Kristallstruktur des Siliziums zu sehen glauben. Bisher haben Wissenschaftler angenommen, das kristalline Strukturen auf Atomebene entlang 'scharfer' Kanten aufeinander sto�en. Aber neue Forschungen an der OSU lassen darauf schlie�en, dass sich die kristallinen Strukturen auf der Oberfl�che von Silizium, Galliumarsenid, Glas und sogar von Diamanten durch die Kr�fte eines thermischen Gleichgewichts kontinuierlich ihre Phase �ndern und damit ihre Kanten 'abrunden'.
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Text: http://www.eetimes.com/story/OEG20031001S0006