A team of researchers from the U.S. and France report the development of a mirco-supercapacitor with remarkable properties. These micro-supercapacitors have the potential to power nomad electronics, wireless sensor networks, biomedical implants, active radiofrequency identification (RFID) tags and embedded microsensors, among other devices.

A pioneering study by researchers of The Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU) has shown that sandwiching a simple layer of silver nanoparticles can significantly improve the performance of organic transistors which are commonly used in consumer electronics.

Researchers at McGill University's Department of Chemistry have now discovered how to control the piezoelectric effect in nanoscale semiconductors called "quantum dots," enabling the development of incredibly tiny new products.

A new optical antenna could improve the efficiency of devices that handle just a few photons at a time, such as quantum computers and quantum cryptography circuits.

The Institute of Microelectronics (IME), a research institute of the Agency for Science, Technology and Research, has announced a collaborative partnership with Stanford University to develop silicon nanowire-based circuits that are inspired by the brain.

Exploiting one of the quantum world's strangest effects could lead to a new generation of switches that can handle quantum information. The quantum zeno effect offers a surprising and counter-intuitive way of controlling quantum systems that are changing from one state to another.

Nanoscale simulations and theoretical research performed at the Department of Energy's ORNL are bringing scientists closer to realizing graphene's potential in electronic applications. A research team led by Bobby Sumpter, Vincent Meunier and Eduardo Cruz-Silva has discovered how loops develop in graphene, an electrically conductive high-strength low-weight material that resembles an atomic-scale honeycomb.

Imagine building cheaper electronics on a variety of substrates--materials like plastic, paper or fabric. Researchers at Taiwan's National Chiao Tung University have made a discovery that opens this door, allowing them to build electronic components like diodes on many different substrates.

Scientists from Empa and the Max Planck Institute for Polymer Research report how they have managed, for the first time, to grow graphene ribbons that are just a few nanometres wide using a simple surface-based chemical method.

Heat treatment improves the superconductivity of a ceramic copper oxide by creating a fractal network of connected channels of ordered oxygen defects. The green and red spheres represent the paired electrons responsible for superconductivity.

As 2010 approaches, I-Connect007's European Editor, Pete Starkey, decided to take a look back at the year's top technical articles--compiling a list of the most popular articles across the site.

"Cool" is no longer about how fast a car goes or how great it looks, but, rather, what it can do to keep you connected while you're getting there. Some will still choose the "vroom," but more and more will opt to spend money on the electronics over the engine.

Buckyballs, nanotubes and diamonds all show amazing potential for the electronics of the future. Now, nanotubes and diamonds we understand. But why should we take buckyballs seriously? Find out in this edition of Maxed Out!

Why do so many OEMs have their boards built in Asia? It's because, by and large, North American fabricators simply shun new technology. Shops in the U.S. and Canada must retool now if we ever want to lure back the high-tech business we drove away years ago.

Under Happy Holden's editorial direction, this definitive engineering textbook for electronics design, fabrication and assembly engineers will be distributed as a free download.

Moderated by SMART Group Technical Director Bob Willis, TechnologyWorld08 included presentations from Joe Fjelstad of Verdant Electronics; Thomas Ahrens of Fraunhofer Institute; Craig Hillman of DfR Solutions; David Pedder of TWI; and Markys Cain of NPL.

While thin film technologies receive worldwide attention with their potential to lower the cost of solar energy, some researchers are thinking outside the box and looking into different approaches--resulting in cost reductions for photovoltaic technologies.

Replacing the vertical solder ball connections between chips and boards with copper pillars creates stronger connections and the ability to create more connections.

"It is only through effective prioritization of limited R&D programs that the electronics industry will be able to maintain the technology leadership that it has enjoyed for the past 50 years," said Alan Rae, iNEMI's director of research and vice president for NanoDynamics, Inc

Sanmina-SCI and Shocking Technologies have announced the production of what is claimed to be the world's first PCB with embedded ESD protection covering 100 percent of the components on the board.

As 2010 approaches, I-Connect007's European Editor, Pete Starkey, decided to take a look back at the year's top technical articles--compiling a list of the most popular articles across the site.

"Cool" is no longer about how fast a car goes or how great it looks, but, rather, what it can do to keep you connected while you're getting there. Some will still choose the "vroom," but more and more will opt to spend money on the electronics over the engine.

We can't use nanotubes in PCB applications--yet. But the carbon tubes' natural benefits, such as creating only 1% of the heat generated by current flow in copper, are enough to keep teams of researchers working to implement them at board-level.

The humble computer keyboard on your desk owes its success to a line of ancestry that includes the typewriter, the printing telegraph and the teleprinter. And, as is the case with most cool inventions, a Bell Labs engineer played a role.

If you've ever bought a new computer, chances are you had to decipher a bunch of techie talk about color, color depth, resolution and other confusing terms. But, fear not! In this week's column, you'll learn more about display color depths than you thought your brain could handle.

Displaying information on a screen is an incredibly efficient way for a computer to communicate with us. So where did computer screens come from? Well, as is often the case, engineers employed an existing technology developed for an entirely different purpose: Television.

Remote sensor nodes--used for energy harvesting and environmental monitoring--were the talk of the Sensor Expo in Chicago, Illinois. Will these motes fuel the next killer app for the electronics industry?

In a series of columns a few months back, we followed the development of Max's "Man vs. Woman Display-O-Meter," an idea he borrowed from that humorous e-mail. Max has an update on his contraption, which will feature a PICAXE microcontroller.

Among all of the alternative and futuristic technologies being researched today, the protein switch may have the most intriguing name of all. You're probably wondering: Does this involve liquifying hamsters to extract their protein? Not quite, but it makes you want to find out, doesn't it?

Buckyballs, nanotubes and diamonds all show amazing potential for the electronics of the future. Now, nanotubes and diamonds we understand. But why should we take buckyballs seriously? Find out in this edition of Maxed Out!

As 2010 approaches, I-Connect007's European Editor, Pete Starkey, decided to take a look back at the year's top technical articles--compiling a list of the most popular articles across the site.

"Cool" is no longer about how fast a car goes or how great it looks, but, rather, what it can do to keep you connected while you're getting there. Some will still choose the "vroom," but more and more will opt to spend money on the electronics over the engine.

We can't use nanotubes in PCB applications--yet. But the carbon tubes' natural benefits, such as creating only 1% of the heat generated by current flow in copper, are enough to keep teams of researchers working to implement them at board-level.

The humble computer keyboard on your desk owes its success to a line of ancestry that includes the typewriter, the printing telegraph and the teleprinter. And, as is the case with most cool inventions, a Bell Labs engineer played a role.

If you've ever bought a new computer, chances are you had to decipher a bunch of techie talk about color, color depth, resolution and other confusing terms. But, fear not! In this week's column, you'll learn more about display color depths than you thought your brain could handle.

Displaying information on a screen is an incredibly efficient way for a computer to communicate with us. So where did computer screens come from? Well, as is often the case, engineers employed an existing technology developed for an entirely different purpose: Television.

Remote sensor nodes--used for energy harvesting and environmental monitoring--were the talk of the Sensor Expo in Chicago, Illinois. Will these motes fuel the next killer app for the electronics industry?

In a series of columns a few months back, we followed the development of Max's "Man vs. Woman Display-O-Meter," an idea he borrowed from that humorous e-mail. Max has an update on his contraption, which will feature a PICAXE microcontroller.

Among all of the alternative and futuristic technologies being researched today, the protein switch may have the most intriguing name of all. You're probably wondering: Does this involve liquifying hamsters to extract their protein? Not quite, but it makes you want to find out, doesn't it?

Buckyballs, nanotubes and diamonds all show amazing potential for the electronics of the future. Now, nanotubes and diamonds we understand. But why should we take buckyballs seriously? Find out in this edition of Maxed Out!