As amorphous silicon electronics reach their physical limits, researchers at Northwestern University have figured out a way to make amorphous oxides cheaply and reliably. Amorphous oxides are faster than amorphous silicon and also easier to use in devices such as roll-up displays. The researchers found that adding a chemical such as urea to the thin-film metal-oxide solution … [Read more...]
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Melting-While-Cooling Silicon Could Improve Solar Cells Researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) have recently discovered that by dissolving certain metals into silicon, they can add that silicon compound to the relatively short list of exotic substances that exhibit retrograde melting. Their accomplishment could ultimately result in less expensive solar … [Read more...]
Melting-While-Cooling Silicon Could Improve Solar Cells
Researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) have recently discovered that by dissolving certain metals into silicon, they can add that silicon compound to the relatively short list of exotic substances that exhibit retrograde melting. Their accomplishment could ultimately result in less expensive solar cells and electronic devices. The team started by … [Read more...]
Compact Water-Circulation System Prevents Stacks of Electronic Chips
A research team from the A*STAR Institute of Microelectronics and Nanyang University in Singapore has designed and built a water circulation system to cool stacks of integrated electrical circuits. “The heat must be removed from microchips to maintain a temperature within acceptable limits: less than 100 °C,” explains team-member Navas Khan from the Institute of … [Read more...]
Power Map Calculations Using Image Sources and Superposition
Introduction In the past, thermal engineers were content to calculate a single junction temperature in the thermal characterization of an integrated circuit chip in a package. In recent years, as power levels have increased, more attention has been paid to the calculation of local temperature variations on a chip. This is necessary to adequately account for high-heat-flux … [Read more...]
