Friday, November 14, 2003
Move over LCD Displays! Cool!
Palo Alto Research Center Creates The First Jet-printed Plastic Transistor Arrays. Printing Expected to Lead to Low-cost Display Backplanes.
Palo Alto, Calif., Oct. 28, 2003 - The Palo Alto Research Center (PARC) has developed the first plastic semiconductor transistor array entirely patterned using jet printing. Jet printing will lower the cost of active-matrix display backplanes by replacing vacuum deposition and photolithography in current manufacturing. The technology is also expected to open up new markets for wall-sized TV's, unbreakable cell phone displays, rollable displays, and electronic paper.
"PARC contributed greatly to the amorphous silicon transistor that is at the heart of all active-matrix liquid crystal displays. With this breakthrough, PARC is well positioned to revolutionize display technology yet again," explains Mark Bernstein, president and center director of PARC.
These arrays are printed using two techniques – an additive and a subtractive method – on either flexible or rigid substrates. Polymer inks are jetted directly onto substrates just where they are needed – the additive process. Other materials are deposited everywhere and a mask is jet-printed on top. The material is then dissolved away except where protected by the printed mask – the subtractive process. Both methods require precise layer-to-layer registration. The PARC printer is controlled by a patent-pending computer vision system to ensure proper alignment of the layers, even if the substrate warps or deforms during processing – a well-known complication with flexible substrates.
“The process is analogous to color registration. The printer correctly positions each layer of color with respect to the other layers, even if the paper or substrate has shrunk or warped. In this case, the layers to align are metal, dielectric and semiconductor, which create the transistor arrays,” says Dr. Raj Apte, research scientist at PARC.
The scientists at PARC perfected the technique of jet-printing polymer semiconductors to make high-performance transistor arrays. This advancement builds on the invention of polythiophene-based semiconducting polymer ink developed at the Xerox Research Centre of Canada (XRCC) by Dr. Beng Ong. It is one of several joint research projects conducted within the Xerox Innovation Group. As Dr. Bob Street, research fellow at PARC, describes, “These printed transistors have exceptional performance for polymers and meet all the requirements for addressing displays: high mobility, low leakage and good stability.”
Under a National Institute of Standards and Technology grant, scientists from PARC and XRCC are collaborating with teams at Motorola Labs and Dow Chemical to "develop novel organic electronic materials and processing technologies to enable the fabrication of large-area electronic devices, such as displays, using relatively inexpensive printing technologies in lieu of semiconductor lithography."
SOURCE: PARC Press Release)
Palo Alto Research Center Creates The First Jet-printed Plastic Transistor Arrays. Printing Expected to Lead to Low-cost Display Backplanes.
Palo Alto, Calif., Oct. 28, 2003 - The Palo Alto Research Center (PARC) has developed the first plastic semiconductor transistor array entirely patterned using jet printing. Jet printing will lower the cost of active-matrix display backplanes by replacing vacuum deposition and photolithography in current manufacturing. The technology is also expected to open up new markets for wall-sized TV's, unbreakable cell phone displays, rollable displays, and electronic paper.
"PARC contributed greatly to the amorphous silicon transistor that is at the heart of all active-matrix liquid crystal displays. With this breakthrough, PARC is well positioned to revolutionize display technology yet again," explains Mark Bernstein, president and center director of PARC.
These arrays are printed using two techniques – an additive and a subtractive method – on either flexible or rigid substrates. Polymer inks are jetted directly onto substrates just where they are needed – the additive process. Other materials are deposited everywhere and a mask is jet-printed on top. The material is then dissolved away except where protected by the printed mask – the subtractive process. Both methods require precise layer-to-layer registration. The PARC printer is controlled by a patent-pending computer vision system to ensure proper alignment of the layers, even if the substrate warps or deforms during processing – a well-known complication with flexible substrates.
“The process is analogous to color registration. The printer correctly positions each layer of color with respect to the other layers, even if the paper or substrate has shrunk or warped. In this case, the layers to align are metal, dielectric and semiconductor, which create the transistor arrays,” says Dr. Raj Apte, research scientist at PARC.
The scientists at PARC perfected the technique of jet-printing polymer semiconductors to make high-performance transistor arrays. This advancement builds on the invention of polythiophene-based semiconducting polymer ink developed at the Xerox Research Centre of Canada (XRCC) by Dr. Beng Ong. It is one of several joint research projects conducted within the Xerox Innovation Group. As Dr. Bob Street, research fellow at PARC, describes, “These printed transistors have exceptional performance for polymers and meet all the requirements for addressing displays: high mobility, low leakage and good stability.”
Under a National Institute of Standards and Technology grant, scientists from PARC and XRCC are collaborating with teams at Motorola Labs and Dow Chemical to "develop novel organic electronic materials and processing technologies to enable the fabrication of large-area electronic devices, such as displays, using relatively inexpensive printing technologies in lieu of semiconductor lithography."
SOURCE: PARC Press Release)
Hey, this is good! It is the end of check-outlines for the rest of us.
DoD Announces Radio Frequency Identification Policy. The Department of Defense announced today the establishment of a Radio Frequency Identification Policy (RFID). RFID technology greatly improves the management of inventory by providing hands-off processing. The equipment quickly accounts for and identifies massive inventories, enhancing the processing of materiel transactions to allow DoD to realign resources and streamline business processes.
Implementation of RFID minimizes time spent through the normal means of inventory processing. This technology allows the improvement of data quality, items management, asset visibility, and maintenance of materiel. Further, RFID will enable DoD to improve business functions and facilitate all aspects of the DoD supply chain.
The new policy will require suppliers to put passive RFID tags on the lowest possible piece part/case/pallet packaging by January 2005. Acknowledging the impact on DoD suppliers, the department plans to host an RFID Summit for Industry in February 2004. The RFID policy and implementation strategy will be finalized by June 2004.
RFID policy and the corresponding RFID tagging/labeling of DoD materiel are applicable to all items except bulk commodities such as sand, gravel or liquids.
SOURCE: US DoD News Release)
DoD Announces Radio Frequency Identification Policy. The Department of Defense announced today the establishment of a Radio Frequency Identification Policy (RFID). RFID technology greatly improves the management of inventory by providing hands-off processing. The equipment quickly accounts for and identifies massive inventories, enhancing the processing of materiel transactions to allow DoD to realign resources and streamline business processes.
Implementation of RFID minimizes time spent through the normal means of inventory processing. This technology allows the improvement of data quality, items management, asset visibility, and maintenance of materiel. Further, RFID will enable DoD to improve business functions and facilitate all aspects of the DoD supply chain.
The new policy will require suppliers to put passive RFID tags on the lowest possible piece part/case/pallet packaging by January 2005. Acknowledging the impact on DoD suppliers, the department plans to host an RFID Summit for Industry in February 2004. The RFID policy and implementation strategy will be finalized by June 2004.
RFID policy and the corresponding RFID tagging/labeling of DoD materiel are applicable to all items except bulk commodities such as sand, gravel or liquids.
SOURCE: US DoD News Release)
Tuesday, November 11, 2003
Nice!
TRANSISTOR SETS NEW RECORD. Researchers at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign have broken their
own record for the world's fastest transistor. The device, with a frequency of 509 GHz, is 57 GHz faster than their previous record holder. Applications
benefiting from the device could include high-speed communications products, consumer electronics, and electronic combat systems.
"The steady rise in the speed of bipolar transistors has relied largely on the vertical scaling of the epitaxial layer structure to reduce the carrier transit
time," said Milton Feng, the Holonyak Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering at Illinois. "However, this comes at the cost of increasing the
base-collector capacitance. To compensate for this unwanted effect, we have employed lateral scaling of both the emitter and the collector."
Unlike traditional transistors, which are built from silicon and germanium, these transistors are made from indium phosphide and indium gallium arsenide.
"This material system is inherently faster than silicon germanium, and can support a much higher current density," Feng said.
(SOURCE: NASA Tech Briefs)
TRANSISTOR SETS NEW RECORD. Researchers at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign have broken their
own record for the world's fastest transistor. The device, with a frequency of 509 GHz, is 57 GHz faster than their previous record holder. Applications
benefiting from the device could include high-speed communications products, consumer electronics, and electronic combat systems.
"The steady rise in the speed of bipolar transistors has relied largely on the vertical scaling of the epitaxial layer structure to reduce the carrier transit
time," said Milton Feng, the Holonyak Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering at Illinois. "However, this comes at the cost of increasing the
base-collector capacitance. To compensate for this unwanted effect, we have employed lateral scaling of both the emitter and the collector."
Unlike traditional transistors, which are built from silicon and germanium, these transistors are made from indium phosphide and indium gallium arsenide.
"This material system is inherently faster than silicon germanium, and can support a much higher current density," Feng said.
(SOURCE: NASA Tech Briefs)
Tuesday, November 04, 2003
Some good (great!) NEWS!...about time!
Tech slump may be near end
Tuesday, November 4, 2003 Posted: 10:49 AM EST (1549 GMT)
NEW YORK (AP) -- The high-tech industry's extended slump finally could be over, according to a report released Monday by an analyst firm that predicts next year will see the first significant increase in technology and telecom spending since 2000.
Worldwide spending on information technology should grow 5 percent to $916 billion next year, while purchases of telecom services are expected to rise 4 percent to $1 trillion, according to International Data Corp., a highly regarded analyst firm based in Framingham, Massachusetts.
After rising 12 percent in 2000, the last year of the dot-com boom, technology spending fell 1 percent in 2001 and 4 percent in 2002, IDC analyst Stephen Minton said. He predicts spending will end up relatively flat this year, with growth in the United States and emerging markets but declines in Europe, Japan and Canada.
Next year's growth is expected to come from improving business confidence and pent-up demand for technology products and services at companies that reined in spending during the last few years.
Minton said the findings were based on conservative assumptions about the economy, meaning even bigger boosts could be possible. Indeed, CIO magazine said Monday that its October survey of 243 corporate technology managers found that their budgets will grow an average of 6 percent in the next year.
Other technology watchers have been more circumspect lately.
A Merrill Lynch report last week said that few of the 100 corporate technology buyers the firm had interviewed in the United States and Europe expected to spend more than normal in the current quarter.
In October, Intel Corp.'s chief financial officer said the chip giant had seen "bits of evidence" but no overwhelming signs that tech spending was picking up. The next day, IBM Corp. chief Sam Palmisano said his company was counting on a rise in spending in 2004, but added that "it is too early to say that a rebound is at hand."
(SOURCE:CNN Tech News)
Tech slump may be near end
Tuesday, November 4, 2003 Posted: 10:49 AM EST (1549 GMT)
NEW YORK (AP) -- The high-tech industry's extended slump finally could be over, according to a report released Monday by an analyst firm that predicts next year will see the first significant increase in technology and telecom spending since 2000.
Worldwide spending on information technology should grow 5 percent to $916 billion next year, while purchases of telecom services are expected to rise 4 percent to $1 trillion, according to International Data Corp., a highly regarded analyst firm based in Framingham, Massachusetts.
After rising 12 percent in 2000, the last year of the dot-com boom, technology spending fell 1 percent in 2001 and 4 percent in 2002, IDC analyst Stephen Minton said. He predicts spending will end up relatively flat this year, with growth in the United States and emerging markets but declines in Europe, Japan and Canada.
Next year's growth is expected to come from improving business confidence and pent-up demand for technology products and services at companies that reined in spending during the last few years.
Minton said the findings were based on conservative assumptions about the economy, meaning even bigger boosts could be possible. Indeed, CIO magazine said Monday that its October survey of 243 corporate technology managers found that their budgets will grow an average of 6 percent in the next year.
Other technology watchers have been more circumspect lately.
A Merrill Lynch report last week said that few of the 100 corporate technology buyers the firm had interviewed in the United States and Europe expected to spend more than normal in the current quarter.
In October, Intel Corp.'s chief financial officer said the chip giant had seen "bits of evidence" but no overwhelming signs that tech spending was picking up. The next day, IBM Corp. chief Sam Palmisano said his company was counting on a rise in spending in 2004, but added that "it is too early to say that a rebound is at hand."
(SOURCE:CNN Tech News)
