Category Archives: Applications

Scientists have created the world’s thinnest lens, one two-thousandth the thickness of a human hair, opening the door to flexible computer displays and a revolution in miniature cameras.

Lead researcher Dr Yuerui (Larry) Lu from The Australian National University (ANU) said the discovery hinged on the remarkable potential of the molybdenum disulphide crystal.

Larry Lu (left), and Jiong Yang with the lens shown on screen. Credit: Stuart Hay, ANU

Larry Lu (left), and Jiong Yang with the lens shown on screen. Credit: Stuart Hay, ANU

“This type of material is the perfect candidate for future flexible displays,” said Dr Lu, leader of Nano-Electro-Mechanical System (NEMS) Laboratory in the ANU Research School of Engineering.

“We will also be able to use arrays of micro lenses to mimic the compound eyes of insects.”

The 6.3-nanometre lens outshines previous ultra-thin flat lenses, made from 50-nanometre thick gold nano-bar arrays, known as a metamaterial.

“Molybdenum disulphide is an amazing crystal,” said Dr Lu. “It survives at high temperatures, is a lubricant, a good semiconductor and can emit photons too.

“The capability of manipulating the flow of light in atomic scale opens an exciting avenue towards unprecedented miniaturisation of optical components and the integration of advanced optical functionalities.”

Molybdenum disulphide is in a class of materials known as chalcogenide glasses that have flexible electronic characteristics that have made them popular for high-technology components.

Dr Lu’s team created their lens from a crystal 6.3-nanometres thick – 9 atomic layers – which they had peeled off a larger piece of molybdenum disulphide with sticky tape.

They then created a 10-micron radius lens, using a focussed ion beam to shave off the layers atom by atom, until they had the dome shape of the lens.

The team discovered that single layers of molybdenum disulphide, 0.7 nanometres thick, had remarkable optical properties, appearing to a light beam to be 50 times thicker, at 38 nanometres. This property, known as optical path length, determines the phase of the light and governs interference and diffraction of light as it propagates.

“At the beginning we couldn’t imagine why molybdenum disulphide had such surprising properties,” said Dr Lu.

Collaborator Assistant Professor Zongfu Yu at the University of Wisconsin, Madison, developed a simulation and showed that light was bouncing back and forth many times inside the high refractive index crystal layers before passing through.

Molybdenum disulphide crystal’s refractive index, the property that quantifies the strength of a material’s effect on light, has a high value of 5.5. For comparison, diamond, whose high refractive index causes its sparkle, is only 2.4, and water’s refractive index is 1.3.

This study is published in the Nature serial journal Light: Science and Applications.

IoT Planet, a new European event dedicated to the Internet of Things (IoT), will co-locate this year with SEMICON Europa (25-27 October) in Grenoble, France.  IoT Planet provides a platform of networking and business to all IoT actors from software development, data management, IT infrastructures, system integration and “Connected Objects” applications.

For over 40 years, SEMI has organized SEMICON Europa, which has served as the premier annual European event for the electronics industry. In 2016, SEMICON Europa will connect the entire electronics supply chain: from materials and equipment, to manufacturing and technology, to advanced packaging and smart system integration – with a strong emphasis on application-driven markets, including Imaging, Power Electronics, Automotive, MedTech, and Flexible Hybrid Electronics.

IoT Planet, in its second year, will cover the full IoT domain with a unique format in mixing exhibition, Start-Up programs, crash tests, hackathon, forums, and debates, and many other events co-designed with the Partners. IoT Planet will connect professional visitors and high tech public across the domains of IoT applications, business, services, societal and private impact and talent management.

Together, the co-located events will offer visitors many learning and networking options along an extended supply chain. The events are expected to attract over 7,000 professional visitors and more than 600 exhibiting companies.

“Tomorrow’s applications will allow people to live smarter – healthier, safer, and more comfortable. The emerging opportunities are endless in smart electronic systems, but technology and system challenges must be overcome by connecting forces and by building on the strengths of different players in the value chain,” says Laith Altimime, president of SEMI Europe. “The co-location of these two events perfectly supports the SEMI 2020 strategy and will accelerate SEMI’s move towards covering the full electronics supply chain.”

“That initiative of co-location will contribute to our fast growth and strong differentiation, while providing a unique European opportunity to explore the full value chain from Silicon to Connected Object, in Grenoble, the European capital of Nanotechnologies and Connected Things,” says Alain Astier, president of IoT Planet UNIVERSAL.

For more information, please visit www.semiconeuropa.org and www.iot-planet.org.

CyberOptics, a developer and manufacturer of high precision sensing solutions, today announced an OEM supplier agreement with Nordson YESTECH to supply its proprietary 3D Multi-Reflection Suppression (MRS) sensors. Nordson will incorporate CyberOptics’ advanced 3D MRS technology that inhibits measurement distortions, into their new 3D FX-940 Ultra Automated Optical Inspection (AOI) systems launching at IPC APEX Expo on March 15-17th in Las Vegas.

“After extensive consideration, we determined the MRS sensor to be the best choice for our demanding product requirements,” said Joe Stockunas, Group Vice President, Nordson Electronics Systems. “This strategic partnership offers the best solution to our customers by combining the strengths of YESTECH’s FX-940 platform and industry-recognized inspection software with this advanced 3D sensor technology.”

“We are pleased to announce the extension of our OEM sensor business to include Nordson YESTECH, a leader in AOI solutions with a broad customer base and vast global reach. Having our award-winning MRS technology incorporated into Nordson’s AOI systems is yet another proof point that our differentiated 3D sensor technology platform is considered industry leading for 3D inspection,” said Dr. Subodh Kulkari, President and CEO, CyberOptics Corporation.

CyberOptics’ sensors are used in general purpose metrology and 3D scanning, surface mount technology (SMT)and semiconductor markets to significantly improve yields and productivity. By leveraging its leading edge technologies, the company has strategically established itself as a global leader in high precision 3D sensors, allowing CyberOptics to further increase its penetration of key vertical markets. Headquartered in Minneapolis, Minnesota, CyberOptics conducts worldwide operations through its facilities in North America, Asia and Europe.

Nordson YESTECH is a worldwide leader in the design, development and manufacture of advanced automated optical (AOI) inspection solutions for the PCBA and advanced semiconductor packaging industries.

Think small


March 9, 2016

A single human hair, barely visible to the naked eye, is about 100 microns in diameter.

That’s huge compared to the device components students build in the Microfabrication Laboratory course at the Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences (SEAS).Under the instruction of Evelyn Hu, Tarr-Coyne Professor of Applied Physics and of Electrical Engineering, and Peter Stark, Visiting Associate Professor in Engineering Sciences, students are learning the “tricks of the trade” that could enable them to eventually form structures 1,000 times smaller than a strand of hair.

Using a specially designed “teaching clean room” that opened in the SEAS Active Learning Labs last spring, students fabricate electronic and photonic devices, such as light-emitting diodes, by developing components that are so small they must be crafted and analyzed with the help of a microscope.

Nabiha Saklayen, a graduate student pursuing a Ph.D. in physics, completes a photolithography workshop in the SEAS teaching clean room. (Photo by Adam Zewe/SEAS Communications.)

Nabiha Saklayen, a graduate student pursuing a Ph.D. in physics, completes a photolithography workshop in the SEAS teaching clean room. (Photo by Adam Zewe/SEAS Communications.)

Microfabrication involves crafting electronic devices in an unusual way: by printing them onto a material, like silicon. The concept of printed integrated circuits led to a Nobel Prize in physics for electrical engineer Jack Kilby in 2000, and also gave rise to the sophistication and complexity of today’s microprocessors, which can contain more than a billion transistors.

“In order to get a billion transistors into an area that is only an inch or so on a side, obviously you can’t just put the pieces together with your hands,” Hu said. “That set of really intricate techniques is what this course is all about.”

As in printing, shrinking the “font size” allows a tremendously greater amount of information to be represented on the same size page. The economic consequences are enormous, although balanced by the challenges of creating ever-smaller components, Hu explained.

The SEAS teaching clean room provides a first introduction to these techniques, and experience working at larger dimensions with building-block processes and devices. During one afternoon session, students completed a workshop on photolithography, which is a method for transferring a pattern to a substrate. Working at the micron level, they utilized chemicals and UV light to create a metal structure in a grid pattern. They will use this structure in a subsequent lab to measure the flow of electrons.

The course also enables students to work in Harvard’s Center for Nanoscale Systems (CNS), a shared-used core facility that holds a world-class nanofabrication laboratory. Students benefit from the expertise of CNS staff and the guidance of teaching fellows Sarah Schlotter and Laura Adams.

“The students concentrate not only on the fabrication of small devices, which is the main goal of the course, but also how to extract fundamental physical properties from the devices that they fabricate,” said Adams. “Since the course attracts a wide range of concentrators, we like to engage the students at all levels and disciplines to have a really collaborative experimental class.”

For electrical engineering concentrator Samwell Emmanuel, S.B. ’17, it was fascinating to see the tiny pattern take shape.

“We’re used to working with things that we can manipulate with our hands,” he said. “How do you work with something that you can’t even see with the naked eye? That’s what makes this course so interesting to me.”

Nabiha Saklayen, a graduate student pursuing a Ph.D. in physics, enjoyed the opportunity to learn about the fundamental techniques involved in fabricating the kinds of devices she uses regularly for research.

“We usually buy the devices that we need, so these are techniques that we often don’t think about,” she said. “It is incredible how much goes into actually preparing all these different compounds.”

While Hu doesn’t expect students to leave the course with perfect microfabrication skills, she hopes they develop a deeper appreciation for the inevitable challenges of working at the micron-scale.

“That frustration, and the ability to gain insight and intuition from their failures, is a critical thing for the students in this course. I want them to use the imperfections in their devices as a source of feedback to better understand the process,” she said. “My goal is to open their eyes to a world whose features they can’t see. I hope they learn that these techniques are powerful and that they could give them the capability to solve a problem in a different way.”

Use your computer without the need to start it up: a new type of magnetic memory makes it possible. This “MRAM” is faster, more efficient and robust than other kinds of data storage. However, switching bits still requires too much electrical power to make large-scale application practicable. Researchers at Eindhoven University of Technology (TU/e) have discovered a smart way of solving this problem by using a “bending current.” They publish their findings in the journal Nature Communications.

This image shows the experimental chip the researchers used for their measurements. Credit: Arno van den Brink / Eindhoven University of Technology

This image shows the experimental chip the researchers used for their measurements. Credit: Arno van den Brink / Eindhoven University of Technology

MRAM (Magnetic Random Access Memory) stores data by making smart use of the “spin” of electrons, a kind of internal compass of the particles. Since magnetism is used instead of an electrical charge, the memory is permanent, even when there is a power failure, and so the computer no longer has to be started up. These magnetic memories also use much less power, which means that mobile phones, for example, can run longer on a battery.

Flipover

In a MRAM bits are projected by the direction of the spin of the electrons in a piece of magnetic material: for example, upwards for a “1” and downwards for a “0”. The storage of data occurs by flipping the spin of the electrons over to the correct side. Normal practice is to send an electrical current which contains electrons with the required spin direction through the bit. The large quantity of electrical current needed to do this hindered a definitive breakthrough for MRAM, which appeared on the market for the first time in 2006.

Bending current

In Nature Communications a group of TU/e physicists, led by professor Henk Swagten, today publishes a revolutionary method to flip the magnetic bits faster and more energy-efficiently. A current pulse is sent under the bit, which bends the electrons at the correct spin upwards, so through the bit. “It’s a bit like a soccer ball that is kicked with a curve when the right effect is applied,” says Arno van den Brink, TU/e PhD student and the first author of the article.

Frozen

The new memory is really fast but it needs something extra to make the flipping reliable. Earlier attempts to do this required a magnetic field but that made the method expensive and inefficient. The researchers have solved this problem by applying a special anti-ferromagnetic material on top of the bits. This enables the requisite magnetic field to be frozen, as it were, energy-efficient and low cost. “This could be the decisive nudge in the right direction for superfast MRAM in the near future,” according to Van den Brink.

Gartner, Inc. has highlighted the top 10 Internet of Things (IoT) technologies that should be on every organization’s radar through the next two years.

“The IoT demands an extensive range of new technologies and skills that many organizations have yet to master,” said Nick Jones, vice president and distinguished analyst at Gartner. “A recurring theme in the IoT space is the immaturity of technologies and services and of the vendors providing them. Architecting for this immaturity and managing the risk it creates will be a key challenge for organizations exploiting the IoT. In many technology areas, lack of skills will also pose significant challenges.”

The technologies and principles of IoT will have a very broad impact on organizations, affecting business strategy, risk management and a wide range of technical areas such as architecture and network design. The top 10 IoT technologies for 2017 and 2018 are:

IoT Security

The IoT introduces a wide range of new security risks and challenges to the IoT devices themselves, their platforms and operating systems, their communications, and even the systems to which they’re connected. Security technologies will be required to protect IoT devices and platforms from both information attacks and physical tampering, to encrypt their communications, and to address new challenges such as impersonating “things” or denial-of-sleep attacks that drain batteries. IoT security will be complicated by the fact that many “things” use simple processors and operating systems that may not support sophisticated security approaches.

“Experienced IoT security specialists are scarce, and security solutions are currently fragmented and involve multiple vendors,” said Mr. Jones. “New threats will emerge through 2021 as hackers find new ways to attack IoT devices and protocols, so long-lived “things” may need updatable hardware and software to adapt during their life span.”

IoT Analytics

IoT business models will exploit the information collected by “things” in many ways — for example, to understand customer behavior, to deliver services, to improve products, and to identify and intercept business moments. However, IoT demands new analytic approaches. New analytic tools and algorithms are needed now, but as data volumes increase through 2021, the needs of the IoT may diverge further from traditional analytics.

IoT Device (Thing) Management

Long-lived nontrivial “things” will require management and monitoring. This includes device monitoring, firmware and software updates, diagnostics, crash analysis and reporting, physical management, and security management. The IoT also brings new problems of scale to the management task. Tools must be capable of managing and monitoring thousands and perhaps even millions of devices.

Low-Power, Short-Range IoT Networks

Selecting a wireless network for an IoT device involves balancing many conflicting requirements, such as range, battery life, bandwidth, density, endpoint cost and operational cost. Low-power, short-range networks will dominate wireless IoT connectivity through 2025, far outnumbering connections using wide-area IoT networks. However, commercial and technical trade-offs mean that many solutions will coexist, with no single dominant winner and clusters emerging around certain technologies, applications and vendor ecosystems.

Low-Power, Wide-Area Networks

Traditional cellular networks don’t deliver a good combination of technical features and operational cost for those IoT applications that need wide-area coverage combined with relatively low bandwidth, good battery life, low hardware and operating cost, and high connection density. The long-term goal of a wide-area IoT network is to deliver data rates from hundreds of bits per second (bps) to tens of kilobits per second (kbps) with nationwide coverage, a battery life of up to 10 years, an endpoint hardware cost of around $5, and support for hundreds of thousands of devices connected to a base station or its equivalent. The first low-power wide-area networks (LPWANs) were based on proprietary technologies, but in the long term emerging standards such as Narrowband IoT (NB-IoT) will likely dominate this space.

IoT Processors

The processors and architectures used by IoT devices define many of their capabilities, such as whether they are capable of strong security and encryption, power consumption, whether they are sophisticated enough to support an operating system, updatable firmware, and embedded device management agents. As with all hardware design, there are complex trade-offs between features, hardware cost, software cost, software upgradability and so on. As a result, understanding the implications of processor choices will demand deep technical skills.

IoT Operating Systems

Traditional operating systems (OSs) such as Windows and iOS were not designed for IoT applications. They consume too much power, need fast processors, and in some cases, lack features such as guaranteed real-time response. They also have too large a memory footprint for small devices and may not support the chips that IoT developers use. Consequently, a wide range of IoT-specific operating systems has been developed to suit many different hardware footprints and feature needs.

Event Stream Processing

Some IoT applications will generate extremely high data rates that must be analyzed in real time. Systems creating tens of thousands of events per second are common, and millions of events per second can occur in some telecom and telemetry situations. To address such requirements, distributed stream computing platforms (DSCPs) have emerged. They typically use parallel architectures to process very high-rate data streams to perform tasks such as real-time analytics and pattern identification.

IoT Platforms

IoT platforms bundle many of the infrastructure components of an IoT system into a single product. The services provided by such platforms fall into three main categories: (1) low-level device control and operations such as communications, device monitoring and management, security, and firmware updates; (2) IoT data acquisition, transformation and management; and (3) IoT application development, including event-driven logic, application programming, visualization, analytics and adapters to connect to enterprise systems.

IoT Standards and Ecosystems

Although ecosystems and standards aren’t precisely technologies, most eventually materialize as application programming interfaces (APIs). Standards and their associated APIs will be essential because IoT devices will need to interoperate and communicate, and many IoT business models will rely on sharing data between multiple devices and organizations.

Many IoT ecosystems will emerge, and commercial and technical battles between these ecosystems will dominate areas such as the smart home, the smart city and healthcare. Organizations creating products may have to develop variants to support multiple standards or ecosystems and be prepared to update products during their life span as the standards evolve and new standards and related APIs emerge.

More detailed analysis is available for Gartner clients in the report “Top 10 IoT Technologies for 2017 and 2018.” This report is part of the Gartner Special Report “The Internet of Things“, which looks at the necessary steps to building and rolling out an IoT strategy.

ON Semiconductor Corporation has teamed up with RFMicron, Inc. to unveil multifaceted Internet of Things, or IoT, sensor platform supporting battery-free operation.

The IoT Platform Development Kit, SENSORRFGEVK, brings together a series of performance-optimized computing and connectivity modules to facilitate quick and effective deployment of battery-free wireless sensing technology and IoT hardware in locations where power and space constraints are of particular concern. This streamlined and flexible solution takes the approach of moving much of the system’s intelligence away from where the sensors are situated, and placing it on the cloud. Each IoT Platform Development Kit incorporates ON Semiconductor’s battery-free wireless sensor tags, which use RFMicron’s Magnus S2 Sensor IC, and can perform temperature, moisture, pressure, or proximity sensing functions.

The platform also features a UHF RFID reader module with 32 decibels-milliwatt (dBm) power rating and an 860 megahertz (MHz) to 960 MHz frequency range. Localized data processing is performed by the ARM Cortex-A8 based AM335x system-on-chip (SoC). The platform has the capacity to transfer captured data either wirelessly (via WLAN, Zigbee, Z-Wave, UHF Gen 2, etc.) or using wireline infrastructure (via KNX, CAN, SPI, Ethernet. etc.). This development kit complements ON Semiconductor’s existing wireless sensor evaluation kit, SPS1M-EVK, which provides a set of tools test our sensor capabilities.

“This IoT Platform Development Kit opens up greater opportunities for IoT-based data-acquisition/monitoring enabling the implementation of wireless sensors quickly and effectively into many applications. Using it, the data from multiple sensors can rapidly be accessed, analyzed and used on multiple backend networks,” states Gary Straker, vice president and General Manager of Protection and Signal Division at ON Semiconductor. “As a result of this platform, wireless sensing technology can now be deployed into application scenarios where a mains supply is simply not available or where replacing batteries would be too difficult and costly to undertake. This ground-breaking product will markedly broaden the scope of IoT deployment and this development kit offers a tool that makes evaluating the technology simple for multiple application use cases. Through this wireless sensing technology we will be able to connect what was previously un-connectable.”

The platform also possesses an intuitive touch-enabled user interface, plus LEDs, headers and switches designed to enhance its configurability and expand its operational potential. The sophisticated accompanying software allows the platform to fit seamless into any supported network, serving as a dedicated node. Built-in application firmware will assist engineers in implementing more effective IoT-based data-acquisition/monitoring systems irrespective of their experience level. The combination of all the functions above in a single self-contained board creates an integration tool IoT platforms can use to easily evaluate wireless sensing technology in their ecosystems.

EPFL researchers have developed conductive tracks that can be bent and stretched up to 4 times their original length; they could be used in artificial skin, connected clothing and on­-body sensors.

Conductive tracks are usually hard printed on a board. But those recently developed at EPFL are altogether different: they are almost as flexible as rubber and can be stretched up to four times their original length and in all directions. And they can be stretched a million times without cracking or interrupting their conductivity. The invention is described in an article published today in the journal Advanced Materials.

Both solid and flexible, this new metallic and partially liquid film offers a wide range of possible applications. It could be used to make circuits that can be twisted and stretched – ideal for artificial skin on prosthetics or robotic machines. It could also be integrated into fabric and used in connected clothing. And because it follows the shape and movements of the human body, it could be used for sensors designed to monitor particular biological functions.

“We can come up with all sorts of uses, in forms that are complex, moving or that change over time,” said Hadrien Michaud, a PhD student at the Laboratory for Soft Bioelectronic Interfaces (LSBI) and one of the study authors.

Extensive research has gone into developing an elastic electronic circuit. It is a real challenge, as the components traditionally used to make circuits are rigid. Applying liquid metal to a thin film in polymer supports with elastic properties naturally seems like a promising approach.

Thin and reliable

Owing to the high surface tension of some of these liquid metals, experiments conducted so far have only produced relatively thick structures. “Using the deposition and structuring methods that we developed, it’s possible to make tracks that are very narrow – several hundredths of a nanometer thick – and very reliable,” said Stéphanie Lacour, who runs the lab.

Apart from their unique fabrication technique, the researchers’ secret lies in the choice of ingredients, an alloy of gold and gallium. “Not only does gallium possess good electrical properties, but it also has a low melting point, around 30o,” said Arthur Hirsch, a PhD student at LSBI and co-author of the study. “So it melts in your hand, and, thanks to the process known as supercooling, it remains liquid at room temperature, even lower.” The layer of gold ensures the gallium remains homogeneous, preventing it from separating into droplets when it comes into contact with the polymer, which would ruin its conductivity.

Scientists at Nanyang Technological University, Singapore (NTU Singapore) have developed a chip that allows new radar cameras to be made a hundred times smaller than current ones.

With this NTU technology, radar cameras that usually weigh between 50 kg and 200 kg and are commonly used in large satellites can be made to become as small as palm-sized.

Despite being small, they can produce images that are of the same high quality if not better compared to conventional radar cameras. They are also 20 times cheaper to produce and consume at least 75 per cent less power.

Developed over the past three years at NTU, the promising technology has already secured S$2.5 million in research funding from Singapore government agencies.

The radar chip has attracted the attention of several multinational corporations, and is now being researched for use in Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) and satellite applications.

Assistant Professor Zheng Yuanjin from NTU’s School of Electrical and Electronic Engineering who led the research, said that the size and effectiveness of the chip will open up new applications not possible previously.

“We have significantly shrunk the conventional radar camera into a system that is extremely compact and affordable, yet provides better accuracy. This will enable high resolution imaging radar technology to be used in objects and applications never before possible, like small drones, driverless cars and small satellite systems,” said Asst Prof Zheng.

NTU's tiny microchip for radar imaging embedded on a PCB board (small square chip on the upper right). Credit: NTU Singapore

NTU’s tiny microchip for radar imaging embedded on a PCB board (small square chip on the upper right). Credit: NTU Singapore

Advantages over current technology

Current radar camera systems are usually between half and two metres in length and weigh up to 200 kg. They cost more than US$1 million on the market and can consume over 1000 watts in electricity per hour, the energy equivalent of a household air-conditioning unit running for an hour.

Known as Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR), these large radar cameras are often carried by large satellites and aircrafts that produce detailed images of the Earth’s surface. Objects longer than a metre, such as cars and boats, can be easily seen by the radar camera mounted on an aircraft flying at a height of 11 kilometres.

Unlike optical cameras which cannot work well at night due to insufficient light or in cloudy conditions, a radar camera uses microwaves (X-band or Ku-band) for its imaging, so it can operate well in all weather conditions and can even penetrate through foliage.

These detailed images from radar cameras can be used for environmental monitoring of disasters like forest fires, volcano eruptions and earthquakes as well as to monitor cities for traffic congestions and urban density.

But the huge size, prohibitive cost and energy consumption are deterrents for use in smaller unmanned aerial vehicles and autonomous vehicles. In comparison, NTU’s new radar chip (2mm x 3mm) when packaged into a module measures only 3cm x 4cm x 5cm, weighing less than 100 grams.

Production costs can go as low as US$10,000 per unit, while power consumption ranges from 1 to 200 watts depending on its application, similar to power-efficient LED TVs or a ceiling fan.

It can also capture objects as small as half a metre which is twice as detailed as the conventional radar camera used in large aircrafts or satellites.

Potential applications of the new radar chip

Asst Prof Zheng said that when mounted on UAVs, it can take high quality images on demand to monitor traffic conditions or even the coastlines for trespassers.

“Driverless cars will also be able to better scan the environment around them to avoid collisions and navigate more accurately in all weather conditions compared to current laser and optical technologies,” he added.

“Finally, with the space industry moving towards small satellite systems, such as the six satellites launched by NTU, smaller satellites can now also have the same advanced imaging capabilities previously seen only in the large satellites.”

Large satellites can weigh up to 1,000 kg, but microsatellites weigh only 100 to 200 kg.

Recognized internationally with strong market interest

NTU’s new radar chip was presented and published at the prestigious International Solid-State Circuits Conference (ISSCC) 2016. Commonly referred to as the “Olympics of Integrated Circuits Design,” ISSCC is the world’s top forum for presenting advances in solid-state circuits and systems and is attended by major industry players.

The chip was developed by Asst Prof Zheng’s team of five at NTU’s VIRTUS IC Design Centre of Excellence. The group was the first from Singapore to publish in ISSCC and is also the most published local group, with seven papers to date.

NTU’s new technology has attracted the attention of many multinational corporations, such as US aerospace company Space X; Netherlands semiconductor company NXP; Japanese electronics giant Panasonic, and French satellite maker Thales.

The next phase will be research in space applications to be carried out at the Smart Small Satellite Systems – Thales in NTU (S4TIN), a joint laboratory between NTU and Europe’s largest satellite manufacturer Thales Alenia Space.

Game changer for Singapore

Associate Professor Low Kay Soon, Director of NTU’s Satellite Research Centre, said the new radar chip will be a game changer in the space industry, which will bolster Singapore’s growing reputation as a satellite building nation.

“Monitoring the environment with a clear image using a traditional optical camera is always very challenging due to clouds and changing light conditions,” said Assoc Prof Low.

“This is especially the case for the tropics where the sky is always cloudy. With a miniature radar-on-chip system, it cuts down the required weight and size of the payload that a satellite needs to carry.

“More significantly, the lower power consumption makes it very suitable for microsatellites such as the X-SAT or VELOX-CI which NTU has launched. For small satellites, there is a limited area to mount the solar panels, which limits its power generation. Consequently the conventional SAR systems cannot be used due to its high power requirements.”

Asst Prof Zheng says it will take another three to six years before NTU’s new radar chip is ready for commercial use. He is now working with NTU’s innovation and enterprise company, NTUitive to find industry partners to license the technology or to spin off a company.

Director of VIRTUS, NTU Professor Joseph Chang added: “Singapore is one the very few select countries in the world with advanced technical capabilities to design complex microchips for space applications.”

“NTU professors associated with VIRTUS have received research funding of over S$5 million from Singapore and various countries like the United States, to design microchips for space applications. Recently, two patents have been filed for the novel design of these microchips.”

VIRTUS filed ten patents in the last year alone, for various innovative microchips with applications ranging from image processing to computing.

According to Markets and Markets global forecasts and analysis, the global market for radar systems is estimated to grow to US$24 billion by 2020.

Vesper, a designer of advanced acoustic-sensing technology, today announced a partnership with AAC Technologies Holdings Inc., a miniature technologies solution provider, for the commercialization of the world’s first piezoelectric MEMS (microelectromechanical systems) microphones for consumer electronic devices.

Vesper’s first piezoelectric MEMS microphone will be integrated into AAC Technologies’ product portfolio of innovative solutions for fast-moving consumer electronics markets, such as smartphones, tablets, wearables and Internet-of-Things (IoT) devices.

“Since the first MEMS microphones were introduced more than ten years ago, the market has exploded into a high-growth global industry exceeding US$1B annually,” said Jack Duan, COO, AAC Technologies. “We believe there is an opportunity to introduce high-performance microphones that are immune from common environmental contaminants such as water, shock and dust. These attributes make Vesper’s technology an excellent choice for device companies that want to deliver a rich, immersive acoustic experience.”

Vesper’s microphones also feature very high signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) and very low noise, delivering outstanding acoustic performance for a wide range of applications.

“Our relationship with AAC Technologies will allow us to deliver reliable, stable and acoustically satisfying MEMS microphones for the vast and still-growing very high-performance MEMS microphone market,” said Matt Crowley, CEO, Vesper. “With a track record of innovation in acoustic solutions, a mature worldwide distribution channel, and a customer base that includes many of the world’s top-tier mobile-device manufacturers, AAC Technologies is an ideal partner for Vesper.”