Category Archives: Applications

BY PETE SINGER, Editor-in-Chief

What if the automotive industry had achieved the incredible pace of innovation as the semiconductor industry during the last 52 years? A Rolls Royce would cost only $40, go around the world eight times on a gallon of gas, and have a top speed of 2.4 million miles per hour.

That point was made by Subi Kengeri speaking at The ConFab in May. Kengeri is vice president, CMOS Business Unit, at GlobalFoundries. He also noted that if one of today’s high performance graphics chips were produced using 1960 vs state-of-the-art “it would be the size of a football field.”

Clearly, no other industry can match the pace of innovation of the semiconductor industry. “The transistor count per square inch in 1965 was roughly 100. In 52 years, if you follow Moore’s Law of 2 years per innovation cycle, that gives 26 innovation cycles. That’s 100 millionX improvement (2X26),” Kengeri noted.

Of course, there has been plenty of innovation in the automotive industry. Interestingly, most of the exciting new innovations such as backup cameras, collision avoidance, navigation/ infotainment, self-parking, and anti-lock brakes are only possible because of semiconductor technology.

Kengeri said that Moore’s Law scaling will continue – “there’s no question about it,” he said – but there’s a growing need for new innovation to address the increasingly diverse array of semicon- ductor applications. These are driven by growth in mobile computing, development in IoT computing, the emergence of intelligent computing and augmented/virtual reality.

“Leading edge innovation will continue and all the leading manufacturers continue to invest, whether it is litho scaling in terms of EUV, or device archicture,” Kengeri said. “What is really important is how do we continue to innovate, how do we continue to get the value at competitive costs? Trying to get the scaling at any cost is not what is needed in the majority of the markets. It’s still okay at the very high end, for CPUs and servers, but in all markets, managing cost is really critical.”

“On top of all of that, we have to continue to deliver on time. Because of the complexity, things aren’t getting slower. We’re doing everything we can do continue to keep the same pace as we used to,” he added.

Kengeri said continued advances mean changing the way we think about innovation. It will require continued technical Innovation (materials and processes, device architecture and design-technology co-optimization), but – perhaps more importantly – business model innovation. This includes new thinking about long-term R&D focus/ investment, shared investments/learning/reuse, and consolidation and collaboration.

ULVAC Technologies, Inc. (www.ulvac.com), a supplier of production systems, instrumentation and vacuum pumps for technology industries, has opened an office in Santa Clara, California. The Silicon Valley office location gives ULVAC West Coast customers easier access to the company’s sales and service operations. It also locates company operations closer to the Japanese headquarters and various Asian markets. The new location will include a vacuum pump and leak detector repair center to serve the regional customer base.

A new product line for ULVAC Technologies, Inc. is vacuum cooling systems for use in large-scale farms to extend the product shelf life of fresh agricultural products, flowers and meats. These systems are also used in the processed foods industry as well, to extend the life of products such as airplane meals. Local demonstration capability of the new Vacuum Cooling System is planned for the Santa Clara location. “Much of the vacuum cooling market is located in California, and the new Santa Clara office puts us in close proximity to major customers,” said Wayne Anderson, President/CEO of ULVAC Technologies, Inc.

In summary, “The Santa Clara office will serve as a business development hub within a technology-rich region, enabling us to expand our market share in semiconductor, MEMS and other high-technology industries”, he added.

MEMS & Sensors Industry Group (MSIG), the industry association advancing MEMS and sensors across global markets, today announced its line-up of speakers for its TechXPOT program, What’s Next for MEMS & Sensors: Big Growth of Disruptive Applications for Smart Sensing Changes the Business, on July 11 during SEMICON West 2017. Speakers from industry and academia will explore the disruptive influence of MEMS and sensors on applications that span human-machine interfaces, disposable wireless electronics, and wireless sensor nodes for smart cities. They will also discuss advancements in piezoelectric materials for emerging applications as well as MEMS foundry process technologies that speed time to market.

“From smart autos and smart manufacturing to smart cities and smart health monitoring, emerging markets for MEMS and sensors are creating greater demand for integrated intelligence,” said Karen Lightman, vice president, MEMS & Sensors Industry Group, SEMI. “MSIG speakers at SEMICON West will help MEMS and sensors suppliers to more ably respond to this demand, as they learn how to add value through technological innovation and integration.”

Topics and presenters at the MEMS program at the SEMICON West TechXPOT on July 11 include:

  • What’s Next for the MEMS Industry? ─ Jean-Christophe Eloy, CEO and founder, Yole Développement
  • New MEMS Opportunities from Piezoelectric Technology ─ David Horsley, professor, Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering, University of California Davis
  • Smart IT Systems and Development Protocols Enable Faster Time-to-Market in MEMS ─ Tomas Bauer, senior VP, sales/business development, Silex Microsystems
  • Waggle and the Future of Edge Computing and Smart Cities ─ Pete Beckman, co-director, Northwestern-Argonne Institute for Science and Engineering
  • Roll-up Implementation of Gesture Sensing and Voice Isolation Sensing Wall for Future Human-Machine Interface ─ James Sturm, professor, Electrical Engineering, Princeton University
  • Three Bit NFC Sensor Labels Based on a Flexible, Hybrid Printed CMOS TFT Process ─ Arvind Kamath, VP of Engineering, Thin Film Electronics

Register now for MSIG’s session at SEMICON West or contact MSIG at [email protected] for more information.

Standards and Task Force Meetings at SEMICON West

MSIG also invites members to attend the MEMS/NEMS Committee Meeting, including a Task Force on microfluidics, from 3:30-5:30 pm on July 13 at the San Francisco Marriott Marquis. Visit: www.semiconwest.org/standards

TechInsights analysts share their view on where technology is going, how it’s changing, and what new developments are emerging.

BY STACEY WEGNER, JEONGDONG CHOE and RAY FONTAINE, TechInsights, Ottawa, ON

In 2016, wearables were extremely interesting mainly because there was so much uncertainty around whether or not the market will be viable. The year saw some truly low-cost smart and fitness devices, and some market surprises like Fitbit buying Pebble. The Apple Watch 2 was an improvement over the Watch 1. However, the Huawei watch is remarkably designed with a nice round face, and functional, making the decision on which smart- watch to buy difficult.

While wearables will remain intriguing, even more interesting to watch is the wearables market. Hearables can be as simple as ear buds and basic hearing aids or as complex as devices that correct and amplify sound, sync with wireless devices for virtually any application, and even measure biometric outputs. That’s just the beginning. New sensors being packed into small devices are bringing us devices with nearly 30 sensors per device.

Our recent AirPod teardown (FIGURES 1 and 2) sheds even more light on what’s happening in this area. The W1 chip found in the Beats Studio wireless headphone has the package mark 343S00131. Meanwhile, the W1 chip torn down from the Apple AirPods has the package mark 343S00130. They have a slight difference in the last digit in the package marks. TechInsights has confirmed that both 343S00131 and 343S00130 have the same die. This die measures 4.42 mm x 3.23 mm = 14.3 mm2 . TechInsights has been tracking Internet of Things (IoT) SoCs for over a year and our observations indicate that this new W1 SoC is very competitively placed when comparing its die size and connectivity specification of Bluetooth 4.2 or greater.

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Another extremely interesting technology to watch is the rise of intelligent personal or family assistants. This market started with the introduction of the popular Alexa and Echo. Sony may release their assistant this year with more sure to follow. As far as timing, we will have to wait and see. One issue that needs to be addressed is data collection and usage vs. persona privacy in a manner similar to Vizio’s issues with the FTC. In addition, more changes are coming for artificial intelligence or assistants on mobile devices with Samsung announcing Bixby ahead of its G8 launch.
Of course there are a slew of IoT technologies to watch like the acceptance of Zigbee, Z-Wave, LoRa, and Bluetooth 5.0, all of which seem to be vying aggressively for consumer IoT/connected home market. Rumors are gaining strength around how the Samsung S8 will have Bluetooth 5, which could mean a new WiFi modem, from whom we are not certain. Samsung and Wisol have been aligned for a while, but it would be a big statement to see a Samsung/Wisol WiFi/ Bluetooth modem design supporting a new technology like Bluetooth 5.0 in a flagship phone. Based on our knowledge of the Bluetooth Special Interest Group, we don’t believe that Bluetooth 5.0 has to be declared for a product. If fact, it would almost seem as if the SiG is asking OEMs to not make a declaration of the Bluetooth 5 in the device.

Image sensors

2016 was an exciting year for smartphone cameras, which should be considered as one of the biggest hardware differentiators between mobile handset platforms. Dual camera systems have reached the mainstream and are forecasted to drive growth for CMOS image sensor IDMs and foundries. Samsung introduced full chip Dual Pixels implemented in chips from its team and from Sony. Each Dual Pixel photosite is available as an autofocus (AF) point, and this complements traditional contrast AF methods and the emerging laser + time-of-flight (ToF) systems.

In 2017, ToF is expected to be a key differentiator in mobile platforms, both for AF and for new 3D/ranging functionality. Sony has introduced first generation direct bond interconnect (DBI) as a through silicon via (TSV) replacement and we expect tighter pitch DBI and eventually full chip active DBI going forward. On the image signal processor (ISP) side we are seeing a big push to lower nodes (28 nm ISPs are the state-of-the-art for high end stacked CIS chips). The flexibility offered by chip stacking should lead to new and disruptive partnerships between CMOS image sensor specialists and mixed signal advanced CMOS specialists. Finally, we expect new entrants to the digital imaging and sensing landscape. Machine vision, robotics, ranging, surveillance/security, and automotive vision and sensing applications are all positioned for growth due to enabling functionality and continued performance gains. It’s certainly an exciting time for all involved in designing and fabricating imaging and sensing pixel arrays and camera systems!

Memory devices

Last year virtually every vendor, device manufacturers, R&D engineer and market analyst we talked to was focused on DRAM and NAND technology roadmaps. We still talk to clients today who are focused on the future of these technologies. Today, 32L and 48L 3D NAND products are common and all the NAND players are eager to develop the next generation 3D NAND products such as 64L and 128L or even more (FIGURE 3). TechInsights has been analyzing and comparing these devices regularly. We found that 3D NAND is a kind of revolution for memory devices, and because of it, big data or data center, SSD/SD and related technologies like controller, interface and board/package, are moving forward. In addition, they may be able to keep pace for more than the next five years until any new emerging memory devices are commercialized.

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The memory products/technologies we are anticipating this year are 3D NAND technology with 64L, 72L and 128L and 1x and 1y nm DRAM technology. As always, 3D NAND technology is competitive with emerging memory including X-point memory regarding on the performance, reliability, retention, process integration and cost since X-point memory and crossbar devices such as ReRAM, CBRAM, MRAM and PCRAM are likely not cost effective (bit cost).

While Samsung has already revealed 1x nm DRAM, in 2017, we believe there will be another big area of competition in DRAM technology (FIGURE 4). DRAM cell has 1T1C architecture with a cylindrical capacitor, however, nowadays, the cell capacitance cannot meet the capacitance spec (20fF/ cell). Commercial DRAM products such as Samsung’s 18nm DRAM have just about 12fF/cell. With smaller cell nodes, it is absolutely harder to get the sufficient cell capacitance. Nevertheless, Samsung and SK-hynix are confident in developing n+1 (1y nm) and n+2 (1z nm). We anticipate that in 2017, every DRAM maker will be developing 1x and 1y nm commercial DRAM products. How these rollout and perform remains to be seen.

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Finally, we are anticipating a commercial product using X-point memory from Micron and Intel.

Conclusion

These represent some of the major technologies we have our eye on this year, although we fully anticipate seeing new technologies we can only imagine today emerge. After all, change is truly the only constant in our world. As our analysts continue to examine and reveal the innovations other can’t inside advanced technology, we will continue to share our findings on the technologies noted above, how they are used, and how they will be changed by the next discovery or invention.

The problem is a fundamental incompatibility in communication styles.

That conclusion might crop up during divorce proceedings, or describe a diplomatic row. But scientists designing polymers that can bridge the biological and electronic divide must also deal with incompatible messaging styles. Electronics rely on racing streams of electrons, but the same is not true for our brains.

“Most of our technology relies on electronic currents, but biology transduces signals with ions, which are charged atoms or molecules,” said David Ginger, professor of chemistry at the University of Washington and chief scientist at the UW’s Clean Energy Institute. “If you want to interface electronics and biology, you need a material that effectively communicates across those two realms.”

Lead author Rajiv Giridharagopal, left, and co-author Lucas Flagg, right, standing next to an atomic force microscope. Credit: Dane deQuilettes

Lead author Rajiv Giridharagopal, left, and co-author Lucas Flagg, right, standing next to an atomic force microscope. Credit: Dane deQuilettes

Ginger is lead author of a paper published online June 19 in Nature Materials in which UW researchers directly measured a thin film made of a single type of conjugated polymer — a conducting plastic — as it interacted with ions and electrons. They show how variations in the polymer layout yielded rigid and non-rigid regions of the film, and that these regions could accommodate electrons or ions – but not both equally. The softer, non-rigid areas were poor electron conductors but could subtly swell to take in ions, while the opposite was true for rigid regions.

Organic semiconducting polymers are complex matrices made from repeating units of a carbon-rich molecule. An organic polymer that can accommodate both types of conduction — ion and electrons — is the key to creating new biosensors, flexible bioelectronic implants and better batteries. But differences in size and behavior between tiny electrons and bulky ions have made this no easy task. Their results demonstrate how critical the polymer synthesis and layout process is to the film’s electronic and ionic conductance properties. Their findings may even point the way forward in creating polymer devices that can balance the demands of electronic transport and ion transport.

“We now understand the design principles to make polymers that can transport both ions and electrons more effectively,” said Ginger. “We even demonstrate by microscopy how to see the locations in these soft polymer films where the ions are transporting effectively and where they aren’t.”

Ginger’s team measured the physical and electrochemical properties of a film made out of poly(3-hexylthiophene), or P3HT, which is a relatively common organic semiconductor material. Lead author Rajiv Giridharagopal, a research scientist in the UW Department of Chemistry, probed the P3HT film’s electrochemical properties in part by borrowing a technique originally developed to measure electrodes in lithium-ion batteries.

The approach, electrochemical strain microscopy, uses a needle-like probe suspended by a mechanical arm to measure changes in the physical size of an object with atomic-level precision. Giridharagopal discovered that, when a P3HT film was placed in an ion solution, certain regions of the film could subtly swell to let ions flow into the film.

“This was an almost imperceptible swelling — just 1 percent of the film’s total thickness,” said Giridharagopal. “And using other methods, we discovered that the regions of the film that could swell to accommodate ion entry also had a less rigid structure and polymer arrangement.”

More rigid and crystalline regions of the film could not swell to let in ions. But the rigid areas were ideal patches for conducting electrons.

Ginger and his team wanted to confirm that structural variations in the polymer were the cause of these variations in electrochemical properties of the film. Co-author Christine Luscombe, a UW associate professor of materials science and engineering and member of the Clean Energy Institute, and her team made new P3HT films that had different levels of rigidity based on variations in polymer arrangement.

By subjecting these new films to the same array of tests, Giridharagopal showed a clear correlation between polymer arrangement and electrochemical properties. The less rigid and more amorphous polymer layouts yielded films that could swell to let in ions, but were poor conductors of electrons. More crystalline polymer arrangements yielded more rigid films that could easily conduct electrons. These measurements demonstrate for the first time that small structural differences in how organic polymers are processed and assembled can have major consequences for how the film accommodates ions or electrons. It may also mean that this tradeoff between the needs of ion and electrons is unavoidable. But these results give Ginger hope that another solution is possible.

“The implication of these findings is that you could conceivably embed a crystalline material — which could transport electrons — within a material that is more amorphous and could transport ions,” said Ginger. “Imagine that you could harness the best of both worlds, so that you could have a material that is able to effectively transport electrons and swell with ion uptake — and then couple the two with one another.”

With the increasing sophistication of future vehicles, new and more advanced semiconductor technologies will be used and vehicles will become technology centers.

BY DR. JEAN-CHARLES CIGAL and GREG SHUTTLEWORTH, Linde Electronics, Taipei, Taiwan

Large efforts are being deployed in the car industry to transform the driving experience. Electrical vehicles are in vogue and governments are encouraging this market with tax incentives. Cars are becoming smarter, capable of self-diagnostics, and in the near future will be able to connect with each other. Most importantly, the implementation of safety features has greatly reduced the number of accidents and fatal- ities on the roads in the last few decades. Thanks to extensive computing power, vehicles are now nearing autonomous driving capability. This is only possible with a dramatic increase in the amount of electronic devices in new vehicles.

Recent announcements regarding acquisitions of automotive electronics specialists by semiconductor giants and strategic plans from foundries highlight the appetite from a larger spectrum of semiconductor manufacturers for this particular market. Automotive electronics has become a major player in an industrial transformation.

Automotive electronics is, however, very different from the consumer electronics market. The foremost focus is on product quality, and the highest standards are used to ensure the reliability of electronics components in vehicles. This has also an impact on the quality and supply chain of materials such as gases and chemicals used in the manufacturing of these electronics devices.

Automotive electronics market: size and trends

When you include integrated circuits, optoelectronics, sensors, and discrete devices, the automotive electronics market reached around USD 34 billion in 2016 (FIGURE 1). While this represents less than 10% of the total semiconductor market, it is predicted to be one of the fastest growing markets over the next 5 years.

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There are several explanations for such growth potential:

• The vehicle market itself is predicted to steadily grow on an average 3% in the coming 10 years and will be especially driven by China and India, although other developed countries will still experience an increase in sales.
• The semiconductor content in each car is steadily increasing and it is expected that the share of electronic systems in the vehicle cost could reach 50% of the total car cost by 2030 (FIGURE 2).

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While it is clearly challenging to describe what the driving experience will be in 10 to 15 years, some clear trends can be identified:

• Safety: The implementation of integrated vision systems, in connection with dozens of sensors and radars, will allow thorough diagnoses of surrounding areas of the vehicles. Cars will progressively be able to offer, and even take decisions, to prevent accidents.
• Fuel efficiency: The share of vehicles equipped with (hybrid) electrical engines is expected to steadily grow. For such engines, the electronics content is estimated to double in value compared to that of standard combustion engines.
• Comfort and infotainment: Vehicle drivers are constantly demanding a more enhanced driving experience. The digitalization of dashboards, the sound and video capabilities, and the customization of the driving and passenger environment should heighten the pleasure of time spent in the vehicle.

In order to coordinate all these functions, communication systems (within the vehicle, between vehicles, and between vehicles and infrastructures) are critical and large computing systems will be necessary to treat large amount of data.

Quality really makes automotive electronics different

Automotive electronics cannot be defined by specific technologies or applications. They are currently characterized by a very large portfolio of products based on mature technologies, spanning from discrete, optoelectronics, MEMS and sensors, to integrated circuits and memories.

Until now, the automotive electronics market has been the preserve of specialized semiconductor manufacturers with long experience in this field. The reason for this is the specific know-how required for quality management.

A component failure that appears harmless in a consumer product could have major safety consequences for a vehicle in motion. Furthermore, operating conditions of automotive electronics components (temperature, humidity, vibration, acceleration, etc.), their lifetime, and their spare part availability are differentiators to what is common for consumer and industrial devices (FIGURE 3).

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Currently, some of the most technologically advanced vehicles integrate around 450 semiconductor devices. As they become significantly more sophisticated, the semiconductor content will drastically increase, with many components based on the most advanced semiconductor technology available. Introducing artificial intelligence will require advanced processors capable of computing massive amount of data stored in high-performance and high capacity memory devices. This implies that not only the most advanced semicon- ductor devices will be used, but that these will need to achieve the highest degree of reliability to allow a flawless operation of predictive algorithms.

It is expected that smart vehicles capable of fully autonomous driving will employ up to 7,000 chips. In this case, even a failure rate of 1ppm, already very low by any standard today, would lead to 7 out of 1,000 cars with a safety risk. This is simply unacceptable.

The automotive electronics industry has therefore introduced quality excellence programs aimed at a zero defect target. Achieving such a goal requires a lot of effort and all constituents of the supply chain must do their part.

The automotive electronics industry is one of the most conservative in terms of change management. Longestablished standards and documentation procedures ensure traceability of design and manufacturing deviations. Qualification of novel or modified products is generally costly and lengthy. This is where material suppliers can offer competence and expertise to provide material with the highest quality standards.

What does this mean for a material supplier?

As a direct contact to its customer, the material supplier is responsible for the complete supply chain from the source of the raw material to the delivery at the customer’s gate. The material supplier is also accountable for long-term supply in accordance with the customer’s objectives.
There are essentially two fields where the material supplier can support its customer: quality and supply chain (FIGURE 4).

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Given the constraints of the automotive electronics market, material qualification must follow extensive procedures. While a high degree of material purity is a prerequisite, manufacturing processes are actually much more sensitive to deviations of material quality, as they potentially lead to process recalibration. Before qualification starts, it is critical that candidate materials are comprehensively documented. This includes the manufacturing process, the transport, the storage, and, where appropriate, the purifi- cation and transfill operations. Systematic auditing must be regularly performed according to customers’ standards. As a consequence, longer qualification times are expected. Any subsequent change in the material specification, origin, and packaging must be duly documented and is likely to be subject to a requalification process.

Material quality is obviously a critical element that must be demonstrated at all times. This commands the usage of high-quality products with a proven record. Sources already qualified for similar applica- tions are preferred to mitigate risks. These sources must show long-term business continuity planning, with process improvement programs in place. Purity levels must be carefully monitored and documented in databases. State-of-the-art analysis methods must be used. When necessary, containment measures should be deployed systematically. Given the long operating lifetime of automotive electronic compo- nents, failure can be related to a quality event that occurred a long time before.

Because of the necessary long-term availability of the electronics components and the material qualification constraints, manufacturers and suppliers will generally favor a supply contract over several years. Therefore, the source availability and the supply chain must be guaranteed accordingly.

Material suppliers are implementing improved quality management systems for their products in order to fulfill the expectations of their customers, in terms of quality monitoring and trace- ability. Certificate of analysis (COA) or consistency checks are not sufficient anymore; more data is required. In case deviation is detected, the inves- tigation and response time must be drastically reduced and allow intervention before delivery to the customer. Finally, the whole supply chain must be monitored.

Several tools must be implemented in order to maintain a reliable supply chain of high-quality products (FIGURE 5): statistical process and quality controls (SPC/SQC), as well as measurement systems analysis (MSA), allow systematic and reliable measurement and information recording for traceability. Imple- menting these tools particularly at the early stages of the supply chain allows an “in-time” response and correction before the defective material reaches the customer’s premises. Furthermore, some impurities that were ignored before may become critical, even below the current detection limits. Therefore, new measurement techniques must be continuously inves- tigated in order to enhance the detection capabilities.

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Finally, a robust supply chain must be ensured. It is imperative for a material supplier to be prepared to handle critical business functions such as customer orders, overseeing production and deliveries, and other various parts of the supply chain in any situation. Business continuity planning (BCP) was introduced several years ago in order to identify and mitigate any risk of supply chain disruption.

Analyzing the risks to business operations is fundamental to maintaining business continuity. Materials suppliers must work with manufacturers to develop a business continuity plan that facilitates the ability to continue to perform critical functions and/or provide services in the event of an unexpected interruption. The goal is to identify potential risks and weakness in current sourcing strategies and supply chain footprint and then mitigate those risks.

Because of the efforts necessary to qualify materials, second sources must be available and prepared to be shipped in case of crisis. Ideally, different sources should be qualified simultaneously to avoid any further delay in case of unplanned sourcing changes. Material suppliers with global footprint and worldwide sourcing capabilities offer additional security. Multiple shipping routes must be considered and planned in order to avoid disruption in the case, for instance, of a natural disaster or geopolitical issue affecting an entire region.

Material suppliers need to be aware and monitor regulations specific to the automotive electronics industry such as ISO/TS16949 (quality management strategy for automotive industries). This standard goes above and beyond the more familiar ISO 9001 standard, but by understanding the expectations of suppliers to the automotive industry, suppliers can ensure alignment of their quality systems and the documentation requirements for new product development or investigations into non-conformance.

Future of automotive electronics

With the increasing sophistication of future vehicles, new and more advanced semiconductor technologies will be used and vehicles will become technology centers. These technologies will allow communication and guidance computing. Most of these components (logic or memory) will be built by manufacturers relatively new to the automotive electronics world— either integrated device manufacturers (IDM) or foundries.

In order to comply with the current quality standards of the automotive industry, these manufacturers will need to adhere to more stringent standards imposed by the automobile industry. They will find support from materials suppliers like Linde that are capable of deliv- ering high-quality materials associated with a solid global supply chain who have acquired global experience in automotive electronics.

For more information about this topic or Linde Electronics, visit www.linde.com/electronics or contact Francesca Brava at [email protected].

IC Insights recently released its Update to its 2017 IC Market Drivers Report.  The Update includes IC Insights’ latest outlooks on the smartphone, automotive, PC/tablet and Internet of Things markets.

The Update shows a final 2016 ranking of the top smartphone leaders in terms of unit shipments.  As shown in Figure 1, 7 of the top 10, and 10 of the top 14 companies were headquartered in China with two South Korean (Samsung and LG) and one U.S. (Apple) and one Taiwanese company (Asus) making up the remainder of the companies listed.  It is interesting to note that OPPO and Vivo, the two fastest growing smartphone suppliers on the list last year with each company growing almost 90%, are owned by the same China-based parent company—BBK Electronics.

Samsung and Apple dominated the smartphone market from 2014 through 2016.  In total, these two companies shipped 555 million smartphones and held a combined 39% share of the total smartphone market in 2015.  Although these two companies still shipped over one-half billion smartphones (526 million) in 2016, their combined smartphone unit marketshare dropped four percentage points to 35%.

Samsung’s total smartphone unit sales were down by 4% in 2016 to 311 million units, a weak showing in a total smartphone market that grew by 4%.  With orders sagging for Apple’s pre-iPhone 7 smartphones (the iPhone 7 was first released on September 7, 2016), Apple’s total smartphone shipments dropped by 7% in 2016, much worse than the total 4% growth rate exhibited for the worldwide smartphone market. Although Samsung and Apple still hold a strong share of the high-end smartphone segment (>$200), it appears that both companies are losing smartphone marketshare to the up-and-coming Chinese producers like Huawei, OPPO, and Vivo.

Overall, there was very little “middle ground” with regard to smartphone shipment growth rates among the top 14 suppliers in 2016.  As shown, seven of the top 14 companies registered declines in 2016 shipments while five companies logged 25% or better increases.  In fact, four Chinese smartphone suppliers’ shipments surged by greater than 30% (Vivo, OPPO, Gionee, and Huawei) in 2016.  LeEco, which only began shipping its smartphone handsets in 2015, became Coolpad’s largest shareholder in October 2016. As a result, IC Insights combined the two companies’ smartphone sales for 2015 and 2016.

Figure 1

Figure 1

In 2014, Japan-based Sony was ranked 10th in smartphone shipments with sales of 40.0 million handsets. However, in 2016, Sony’s shipments of smartphones had dropped precipitously to only 15.1 million (with sales expected to increase only slightly in 2017 to about 16 million).  In contrast to the weakening fortunes of Sony, 2015-2016 smartphone sales from most of the top China-based suppliers surged.  In fact, Huawei, the third largest smartphone producer in 2016, has set its sights on surpassing Apple within the next five years.

Combined, the 10 top-14 smartphone suppliers that are based in China shipped 587 million smartphones in 2016, a 15% increase from the 511 million smartphones these 10 companies shipped in 2015.  As a result, the top 10 Chinese smartphone suppliers together held a 39% share of the worldwide smartphone market in 2016, up three points from the 36% share these companies held in 2015 and seven points better than the 32% combined share these companies held in 2014.

Queen’s University Belfast researchers have discovered a new way to create extremely thin electrically conducting sheets, which could revolutionise the tiny electronic devices that control everything from smart phones to banking and medical technology.

Through nanotechnology, physicists Dr Raymond McQuaid, Dr Amit Kumar and Professor Marty Gregg from Queen’s University’s School of Mathematics and Physics, have created unique 2D sheets, called domain walls, which exist within crystalline materials.

The sheets are almost as thin as the wonder-material graphene, at just a few atomic layers. However, they can do something that graphene can’t – they can appear, disappear or move around within the crystal, without permanently altering the crystal itself.

This means that in future, even smaller electronic devices could be created, as electronic circuits could constantly reconfigure themselves to perform a number of tasks, rather than just having a sole function.

Professor Marty Gregg explains: “Almost all aspects of modern life such as communication, healthcare, finance and entertainment rely on microelectronic devices. The demand for more powerful, smaller technology keeps growing, meaning that the tiniest devices are now composed of just a few atoms – a tiny fraction of the width of human hair.”

“As things currently stand, it will become impossible to make these devices any smaller – we will simply run out of space. This is a huge problem for the computing industry and new, radical, disruptive technologies are needed. One solution is to make electronic circuits more ‘flexible’ so that they can exist at one moment for one purpose, but can be completely reconfigured the next moment for another purpose.”

The team’s findings, which have been published in Nature Communications, pave the way for a completely new way of data processing.

Professor Gregg says: “Our research suggests the possibility to “etch-a-sketch” nanoscale electrical connections, where patterns of electrically conducting wires can be drawn and then wiped away again as often as required.

“In this way, complete electronic circuits could be created and then dynamically reconfigured when needed to carry out a different role, overturning the paradigm that electronic circuits need be fixed components of hardware, typically designed with a dedicated purpose in mind.”

There are two key hurdles to overcome when creating these 2D sheets, long straight walls need to be created. These need to effectively conduct electricity and mimic the behavior of real metallic wires. It is also essential to be able to choose exactly where and when the domain walls appear and to reposition or delete them.

Through the research, the Queen’s researchers have discovered some solutions to the hurdles. Their research proves that long conducting sheets can be created by squeezing the crystal at precisely the location they are required, using a targeted acupuncture-like approach with a sharp needle. The sheets can then be moved around within the crystal using applied electric fields to position them.

Dr Raymond McQuaid, a recently appointed lecturer in the School of Mathematics and Physics at Queen’s University, added: “Our team has demonstrated for the first time that copper-chlorine boracite crystals can have straight conducting walls that are hundreds of microns in length and yet only nanometres thick. The key is that, when a needle is pressed into the crystal surface, a jigsaw puzzle-like pattern of structural variants, called “domains”, develops around the contact point. The different pieces of the pattern fit together in a unique way with the result that the conducting walls are found along certain boundaries where they meet.

“We have also shown that these walls can then be moved using applied electric fields, therefore suggesting compatibility with more conventional voltage operated devices. Taken together, these two results are a promising sign for the potential use of conducting walls in reconfigurable nano-electronics.”

Imagine wearing a device that continuously analyzes your sweat or blood for different types of biomarkers, such as proteins that show you may have breast cancer or lung cancer.

Rutgers engineers have invented biosensor technology – known as a lab on a chip – that could be used in hand-held or wearable devices to monitor your health and exposure to dangerous bacteria, viruses and pollutants.

An artists' rendition of microparticles flowing through a channel and passing through electric fields, where they are detected electronically and barcode-scanned. Credit: Ella Marushchenko and Alexander Tokarev/Ella Maru Studios

An artists’ rendition of microparticles flowing through a channel and passing through electric fields, where they are detected electronically and barcode-scanned. Credit: Ella Marushchenko and Alexander Tokarev/Ella Maru Studios

“This is really important in the context of personalized medicine or personalized health monitoring,” said Mehdi Javanmard, an assistant professor in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at Rutgers University-New Brunswick. “Our technology enables true labs on chips. We’re talking about platforms the size of a USB flash drive or something that can be integrated onto an Apple Watch, for example, or a Fitbit.”

A study describing the invention was recently highlighted on the cover of Lab on a Chip, a journal published by the Royal Society of Chemistry.

The technology, which involves electronically barcoding microparticles, giving them a bar code that identifies them, could be used to test for health and disease indicators, bacteria and viruses, along with air and other contaminants, said Javanmard, senior author of the study.

In recent decades, research on biomarkers – indicators of health and disease such as proteins or DNA molecules – has revealed the complex nature of the molecular mechanisms behind human disease. That has heightened the importance of testing bodily fluids for numerous biomarkers simultaneously, the study says.

“One biomarker is often insufficient to pinpoint a specific disease because of the heterogeneous nature of various types of diseases, such as heart disease, cancer and inflammatory disease,” said Javanmard, who works in the School of Engineering. “To get an accurate diagnosis and accurate management of various health conditions, you need to be able to analyze multiple biomarkers at the same time.”

Well-known biomarkers include the prostate-specific antigen (PSA), a protein generated by prostate gland cells. Men with prostate cancer often have elevated PSA levels, according to the National Cancer Institute. The human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG) hormone, another common biomarker, is measured in home pregnancy test kits.

Bulky optical instruments are the state-of-the-art technology for detecting and measuring biomarkers, but they’re too big to wear or add to a portable device, Javanmard said.

Electronic detection of microparticles allows for ultra-compact instruments needed for wearable devices. The Rutgers researchers’ technique for barcoding particles is, for the first time, fully electronic. That allows biosensors to be shrunken to the size of a wearable band or a micro-chip, the study says.

The technology is greater than 95 percent accurate in identifying biomarkers and fine-tuning is underway to make it 100 percent accurate, he said. Javanmard’s team is also working on portable detection of microrganisms, including disease-causing bacteria and viruses.

“Imagine a small tool that could analyze a swab sample of what’s on the doorknob of a bathroom or front door and detect influenza or a wide array of other virus particles,” he said. “Imagine ordering a salad at a restaurant and testing it for E. coli or Salmonella bacteria.”

That kind of tool could be commercially available within about two years, and health monitoring and diagnostic tools could be available within about five years, Javanmard said.

The State University of New York ranked 38th in the “Top 100 Worldwide Universities Granted U.S. Utility Patents for 2016,” according to the National Academy of Inventors (NAI) and Intellectual Property Owners Association (IPO), which publishes the ranking annually based on U.S. Patent and Trademark Office data.

SUNY campuses were awarded 57 U.S. utility patents for advances in biotechnology, cancer research, manufacturing, renewable energy, and much more.

“Across SUNY, our faculty and students partner to make groundbreaking discoveries in a broad spectrum of areas,” said SUNY Chancellor Nancy L. Zimpher. “Through more than 1,300 U.S. patents earned to date, SUNY research has led to hundreds of new technologies and advances that address society’s greatest challenges and have a positive impact on quality of life in New York and beyond. Congratulations to all those at SUNY whose important work has elevated us to this prominent world ranking.”

“This recognition marks a terrific accomplishment for our growing number of SUNY research faculty, who work tirelessly to mentor students while engaging them in research opportunities that advance the frontiers of knowledge and address state and global challenges,” said SUNY Provost and Executive Vice Chancellor, and NAI Fellow, Alexander N. Cartwright. “Our faculty, a number of whom are NAI members, are a tremendous source of pride for SUNY.”

“From energy, to medicine, to consumer technologies and more, innovation is at an all-time high throughout New York State, and SUNY is at the center of it,” said SUNY Vice Chancellor for Research and Economic Development Grace Wang. “With a multitude of influential research institutions, supported by the largest, most comprehensive university-connected research foundation in the country, SUNY is driving positive change across the globe.”

Research at SUNY produces more than 100 new technologies every year. SUNY inventors have contributed to some of the most transformative technologies in history, including the heart-lung machine, bar code scanner, MRI, and several FDA-approved therapeutics. Some recent SUNY innovations include:

University at Albany is helping law enforcement fight crime by using scattered light to perform microscopic analysis of biological and chemical samples, an approach that allows investigators to immediately confirm the source of biological stains found at crime scenes.

Binghamton University may one day cut air conditioning costs dramatically by creating light-filtering dyes that, when applied to glass, block heat while letting light pass through.

University at Buffalo is testing a reengineered hormonal treatment for diabetes and obesity. Telemedicine will be used to link children and their families to treatment they would otherwise only have access to in a local office or school.

SUNY Downstate Medical Center is working toward a lower-power, more stable alternative to implantable cardioverter defibrillators to re-start the heart. The technology re-purposes a nerve stimulator to use the body’s own nervous system to control the heart.

SUNY-ESF researchers have developed a “Trojan Horse” to attack cancer cells using special polymers that trick cancer cells into directly ingesting chemotherapeutic drugs so they are destroyed from the inside out, thus reducing damage to normal cells.

Upstate Medical University is advancing concussion assessment through a new set of cognitive tests that will help doctors and clinicians properly diagnose and manage concussions.

SUNY College at Optometry researchers have suggested that targeting a cell’s communication channels or gap junction could slow the progress of glaucoma.

SUNY Polytechnic Institute researchers invented a nanoscale scaffold that mimics the human eye which can help test possible glaucoma drugs and other therapeutics.

Stony Brook University redesigned a catheter that incorporates LED lights to reduce the likelihood of infection after the device is inserted into a patient’s body.