Industry News
TE interconnect components available from element14
element14 has teamed up with TE Connectivity to offer a comprehensive range of interconnect components to engineers working in harsh, high-capacity, high-impact environments. [ + ]
Nanocrystal doping opens up 'smart glass' potential
The development of 'smart glass' is another step closer, with University of Adelaide researchers creating a method of embedding luminescent nanoparticles into glass. The 'hybrid glass' combines the properties of these light-emitting nanoparticles with the properties of glass, such as transparency and the ability to be processed into shapes including very fine optical fibres. [ + ]
Lasers and silicon together at last: semiconductor industry breakthrough
Scientists have finally managed to fabricate lasers directly on silicon. Until now, it's been impossible to match up the crystal lattice of silicon and typical laser materials, which has held back the integration of photonics with electronics on the silicon platform. [ + ]
ST powers portable e-car charger
Silicon-carbide power electronics from STMicroelectronics have enabled the creation of the ZapCharger Portable, claimed to be the world's smallest, smartest and safest electric-car charging station. [ + ]
Device-to-device communication outside LTE service areas
NEC Corporation has announced device-to-device communication technology that enables emergency response personnel to transmit high-quality images from the scene of a disaster or accident when outside of the service area of the public safety long-term evolution (PS-LTE) network. [ + ]
Master Electronics announced as Distributor of the Year — three times!
Master Electronics, a global distributor of electromechanical, interconnect and passive components, has been named Distributor of the Year by three separate companies. [ + ]
Satellite navigation fused with V2X technology
Semiconductor company STMicroelectronics and V2X chipset pioneer Autotalks have announced their fusion of GNSS technology and V2X ranging. [ + ]
Tanaka's fuel cell catalysts to be used by Honda
Platinum electrode catalysts for fuel cells, manufactured by Tanaka Kikinzoku Kogyo, are being used by Honda Motor in its Clarity Fuel Cell hydrogen-powered vehicle. [ + ]
Longer lasting lithium-air batteries
Dr Kyeongjae Cho has discovered new catalyst materials for lithium-air batteries that jumpstart efforts at expanding battery capacity. His team's research could open the door to phone and car batteries that last five times longer than current ones. [ + ]
World's fastest stretchy circuits created
Engineers have created stretchable integrated circuits, with a unique structure inspired by twisted-pair telephone cables, which are being touted as the fastest circuits of their kind in existence. [ + ]
Simulink certified for use in IEC 62304 processes
MathWorks has attained TÜV SÜD certification for its Simulink technology for use in IEC 62304-compliant development processes. The certification gives engineers designing medical devices greater confidence when using the company's model-based design tools. [ + ]
How efficient can solar cells be?
UNSW researchers have developed a solar cell configuration that pushes sunlight-to-electricity conversion efficiency to 34.5%, establishing a world record for unfocused sunlight and edging towards the theoretical limits for such a device. [ + ]
The road to fully autonomous driving
Mobileye and STMicroelectronics are co-developing the fifth generation of the former's SoC, the EyeQ5, to act as the central computer performing sensor fusion for fully autonomous driving (FAD) vehicles starting in 2020. [ + ]
Metal-oxide interfaces put a new spin on spintronics
A Japanese research team has demonstrated spin-to-charge current conversion by spin pumping from a ferromagnetic permalloy (Ni80Fe20) to a Cu/Bi2O3 interface. Cu/Bi2O3 is a metal/insulator interface which the researchers say will make it easier to control the spin-charge current conversion with an external electric field in the future. [ + ]
A graphene-based device for diabetes monitoring
Scientists have created a wearable GP-based patch that enables accurate diabetes monitoring and feedback therapy by using human sweat. [ + ]