VAT's REAL L-MOTION VALVE

For SEMI and LED

VAT invites you to join us at Semicon - Booth #919.  See VAT's latest valve 450mm technology transfer valve and other valves for semi applications. 

Rebuilt Feedthroughs

Rigaku rebuilds ferrofluid feedthroughs for all leading manufacturers and offers a warranty on rebuilt units. Most parts are stocked in inventory for fast turnaround. Learn More.

 

Rigaku Vacuum Products

E-mail: vacuum-info@rigaku.com

Phone: 603-890-6001

Comdel's CV Series Delivers Stable Power for VHF Applications

Comdel's CV series offers stable power at frequencies from 30 to 80 MHz.  Ideal for use in VHF plasma systems, solar/photovoltaics, CW and pulsed laser systems.   Learn more.

 

Comdel 
11 Kondelin Road
Gloucester, MA 01930
Tel: 978-282-0620 or 800-468-3144
Fax: 978-282-4980

 www.comdel.com

info@comdel.com

High Brightness-LED Makers Drive Economic Improvement with Alternative Substrates, Automation, and Yield 

From Solid State Technology, May 8, 2012, by Paula Doe: "Light-emitting diode (LED) manufacturing utilization rates are picking up again, with utilization in Taiwan now back up to 70 to 90% of capacity. Companies expect to close in on 100% in a month or two, driven by TV backlight demand, reports Yole Développement senior analyst Eric Virey. Asian producers see demand for general lighting starting to pick up as well, expecting general lighting -- mostly replacement bulbs -- to account for 10 to 30% of company revenues by the end of the year. "It's already becoming a commodity product -- even before being popular," says Virey. "It's now so competitive with so many lightbulb suppliers, though only a few are of good quality, that it's pushing prices down quickly, so margins are shrinking fast."

 

 

Source: Read the full article...

Solid State Technology: http://www.electroiq.com/articles/sst/2012/05/hb-led-makers-drive-economic-improvement.html

Image: Wikipedia

From University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee News, April 13, 2012,
by Laura L. Hunt: "Scientists and engineers at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee (UWM) have discovered an entirely new carbon-based material that is synthesized from the 'wonder kid' of the carbon family, graphene. The discovery, which the researchers are calling 'graphene monoxide (GMO),' pushes carbon materials closer to ushering in next-generation electronics."

"GMO exhibits characteristics that will make it easier to scale up than graphene. And, like silicon in the current generation of electronics, GMO is semiconducting, necessary for controlling the electrical current in such a strong conductor as graphene. Now all three characteristics of electrical conductivity - conducting, insulating and semiconducting - are found in the carbon family, offering needed compatibility for use in future electronics."

 

Source: Read the full article...

University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee News: http://www5.uwm.edu/news/2012/04/13/uwm-discovery-advances-graphene-based-electronics/#.T-H4IHDzLFc

From IEEE Spectrum, June 2012, by Celia Gorman:  "As more firms report finding phony chips, the danger they pose becomes clearer.

Making semiconductors is a big business-and, so it seems, is counterfeiting them. Just how big is becoming clearer than ever, thanks in part to the candor of the U.S. military, and it will become even clearer as new laws in the United States come into effect later this year.

 

In 2011, over 1300 counterfeit incidents were reported from around the world to Electronic Resellers Association International (ERAI), a private company that tracks counterfeit electronics for the industry."

"The fear is that these counterfeits-including used and relabeled commercial gear or components falsely labeled as military grade-will fail more quickly than the parts they're standing in for. And because semiconductors are an integral part of everything from cellphones to nuclear reactor controls, the failure of a counterfeit chip in the wrong place could have deadly consequences."

Source: Read the full article...

From Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory News Center, May 24, 2012, by Lynn Yarris.:  "Through biomineralization, nature is able to produce such engineering marvels as mother of pearl, or nacre, the inner lining of abalone shells renowned for both its iridescent beauty and amazing toughness. Key to biomineralization is the phenomenon known as "oriented attachment," whereby adjacent nanoparticles connect with one another in a common crystallographic orientation. While the importance of oriented attachment to biomineral properties long has been recognized, the mechanism by which it occurs has remained a mystery. With a better understanding of oriented attachment it should be possible to synthesize new materials with remarkable structural properties. To that end, a team of researchers with the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE)'s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) have reported the first direct observation of what they have termed "jump-to-contact," the critical step in oriented attachment."

"Ever since a study in 2000 led by co-author Jillian Banfield revealed the existence of nanoparticle oriented attachment, it has become widely recognized that the phenomenon is an important mechanism of crystal growth in many natural and biomimetic materials, as well as in the synthesis of nanowires."   

 

From Nature Communications, May 22, 2012, by Akitoshi Hayashi, et al. Nature Communications 3 | Article Number 856 | doi: 10.1038/ncomms1843:  "Innovative rechargeable batteries that can effectively store renewable energy, such as solar and wind power, urgently need to be developed to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. All-solid-state batteries with inorganic solid electrolytes and electrodes are promising power sources for a wide range of applications because of their safety, long-cycle lives and versatile geometries. Rechargeable sodium batteries are more suitable than lithium-ion batteries, because they use abundant and ubiquitous sodium sources. Solid electrolytes are critical for realizing all-solid-state sodium batteries. Here we show that stabilization of a high-temperature phase by crystallization from the glassy state dramatically enhances the Na+ ion conductivity. An ambient temperature conductivity of over 10⁻⁴ S cm⁻¹ was obtained in a glass-ceramic electrolyte, in which a cubic Na³PS⁴ crystal with superionic conductivity was first realized. All-solid-state sodium batteries, with a powder-compressed Na³PS⁴ electrolyte, functioned as a rechargeable battery at room temperature."

Source: Read the full article... 

Nature Communications: http://www.nature.com/ncomms/journal/v3/n5/full/ncomms1843.html

From Sandia National Laboratories, June 18, 2012 : "Researchers creating electricity through photovoltaics want to convert as many of the sun's wavelengths as possible to achieve maximum efficiency. Otherwise, they're eating only a small part of a shot duck: wasting time and money by using only a tiny bit of the sun's incoming energies.

For this reason, they see indium gallium nitride as a valuable future material for photovoltaic systems. Changing the concentration of indium allows researchers to tune the material's response so it collects solar energy from a variety of wavelengths. The more variations designed into the system, the more of the solar spectrum can be absorbed, leading to increased solar cell efficiencies. Silicon, today's photovoltaic industry standard, is limited in the wavelength range it can 'see' and absorb."

 

 

 

Source: Read the full article... 

Sandia National Laboratories: https://share.sandia.gov/news/resources/news_releases/solar_nanowire/

Image: Sandia National Laboratories

From Chemical & Engineering News, May 28, 2012, by Lauren K. Wolf: "Concerns grow over nanoparticle characterization and purity. No standards have been established for the synthesis of nanomaterials," in contrast to the rigorous well-established requirements for synthesis of new organic molecules. "Today, researchers are using nanomaterials as catalysts as well as incorporating them into electronic devices and sensors. They're also developing the tiny materials to be injected into patients' bodies as   cancer-fighting medicines and imaging agents for disease. Scientists working in this area are becoming more concerned about nanoparticle characterization, and they're debating what levels of purity are needed for particular applications. Some are establishing new methods to characterize and purity nanomaterials and others are discussing whether journals should set minimum characterization requirements for authors seeing to publish syntheses."

Read further about the challenges affecting nanomaterial purity such as lab temperature and physical properties.  

 

Source: Read the full article... 

Chemical & Engineering News: http://cen.acs.org/articles/90/i22/Sweating-Small-Stuff.html