NEWS EDITOR’S CHOICE
SUPERSONIC ELECTRONS COULD PRODUCE FUTURE SOLAR FUEL
Researchers from institutions including Lund University have taken a step closer to producing solar fuel using artificial photosynthesis. In a new study, they have successfully tracked the electrons’ rapid transit through a light-converting molecule. The ultimate aim of the present study is to find a way to make
fuel from water using sunlight. This is what photosynthesis does all the time – plants convert water and carbon dioxide to energy rich molecules using sunlight. Researchers around the world are therefore attempting to borrow ideas from photosynthesis in order to find a way to produce solar fuel artificially. “Our study shows how it is possible to construct a molecule in
which the conversion of light to chemical energy happens so fast that no energy is lost as heat. This means that all the energy in the light is stored in a molecule as chemical energy”, said Villy Sundström, Professor of Chemical Physics at Lund University. Thus far, solar energy is harnessed in solar cells and solar
thermal collectors. Solar cells convert solar energy to electricity and solar thermal collectors convert solar energy to heat. However, producing solar fuel, for example in the form of hydrogen gas or methanol, requires entirely different technology. The idea is that solar light can be used to extract electrons from water and use them to convert light energy to energy rich molecules, which are the constituent of the solar fuel. In the present study, Professor Sundström and his colleagues have developed and studied a special molecule that can serve as a model for the type of chemical reactions that can be employed in a solar fuel cell. The molecule comprises two metal centres, one that collects the light and another that imitates the catalyst where the solar fuel is produced. The researchers have managed to track the path of the electrons through the molecule in great detail. They measured the time it took for an electron to cross the bridge between the two metal atoms in the molecule. It takes half a picosecond, or half a trillionth of a second. “In everyday terms, this means that the electron flies through
the molecule at a speed of around four kilometres a second, which is over ten times the speed of sound”, said Villy Sundström. The researchers were surprised by the high speed. Another surprising discovery was that the speed appears to be highly dependent on the type of bridge between the atoms. In this study, the speed was 100 times higher than with another type of bridge tested. “This is the first time anyone has managed to track such a
complex and rapid reaction and to distinguish all the stages of the reaction”, said Villy Sundström about the study. Lund University
www.lunduniversity.lu.se 16NM FINFET
Synopsys, Inc. has announced that TSMC has concluded 16 nanometer FinFET Plus (16FF+) v1.0 certification and reached the first milestone of 10nanometer (nm) certification based on the most current DRM and SPICE model on a comprehensive list of Synopsys’ custom and digital design tools. This certification enables mutual
customers to deploy tools in Synopsys’ Galaxy Design Platform for 16nm production designs and 10nm early engagements. The certified platform delivers technologies including routing rules, physical verification runsets, signoff accurate extraction technology files, statistical timing analysis that correlates with SPICE, and interoperable process design kits (iPDKs) for FinFET processes. TSMC and Synopsys have collaborated to enhance new tool features based on both 16nm and 10nm technology requirements in Synopsys’ IC Compiler II place and route solution with TSMC validation. This includes full flow colour enablement, support for connected poly on gate oxide and diffusion edge (CPODE) technology, layer optimisation, low Vdd
timing
closure and support for signal electro migration. The two companies are also working together to complete IC Compiler II certification for 16nm by the end of April and 10nm in June 2015. “The combination of tool certification
and our longstanding collaboration with Synopsys is enabling customers’ 16FF+ production ramp up and early engagements at 10 nanometer,” said Suk Lee, TSMC Senior Director, Design Infrastructure Marketing Division.
Synopsys, Inc.
www.synopsys.com
BREAKTHROUGH IN CMOS-BASED TRANSCEIVERS
imec and Panasonic have developed a transceiver chip for phase-modulated continuous-wave radar at 79GHz. This achievement demonstrates the potential of downscaled CMOS for cheap millimeter-wave (mm-wave) radar systems that can be used for accurate presence and motion detection. Mm-wave radar technology is used in advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS) to improve safety in blurry conditions such as dust, fog and darkness, where image-based driver assistance systems lack robustness. It also offers longer range, higher precision and invisible mounting capabilities compared to ultrasound sensors. Imec’s 79GHz radar solution is based
UBM-FREE WLCSP PACKAGING TECHNOLOGY PLATFORM
Altera Corporation and TSMC have jointly produced an innovative, UBM-free (under-bump metallisation-free) WLCSP (wafer- level chip scale package) technology that provides enhanced quality, reliability and integration for Altera’s MAX 10 FPGA products. This approach results in an
extremely thin package height of less than 0.5mm (including solder ball) that is ideal for applications where space is at a premium, such as sensor applications, small form-factor
8 SPRING 2015 | MICROMATTERS
industrial equipment, and portable electronics. Other benefits include a better than 200 percent improvement in board-level reliability compared to standard WLCSP, while enabling a large die size envelope and high package I/O count, targeting applications such as wireless LAN (WLAN) and power management ICs (PMIC). Copper routing capability and inductor performance are also enhanced as a result of this breakthrough.
“Altera’s work with TSMC has produced a very advanced and integrated packaging solution for MAX 10 devices,” said Bill Mazotti, Vice President of worldwide operations and engineering at Altera. “Leveraging this innovative
technology to improve integration, quality and reliability makes MAX 10 FPGA products more versatile.”
TSMC
www.tsmc.com
on advanced (28nm) CMOS technology, and it is an attractive alternative to the current SiGe-based technology as it offers a path to a low-power, compact and integrated solution. Moreover, at the expected high manufacturing volumes, CMOS technology is intrinsically low-cost. Imec’s and Panasonic’s transceiver chip contains a control loop to suppress the spillover from the transmitter into the receiver without affecting the RF performance. With a power consumption of 260mW, the output power of the transmitter is 11dBm, while the RX gain is 35dB with a noise figure below 7dB and a TX-to-RX spillover suppression of 15dB. Thanks to the wide modulation bandwidth, the achievable depth resolution is 7.5cm. “We are pleased with these excellent
performance results on 28nm CMOS technology, and excited about the new opportunities they present for mm-wave radar systems, not only for automotive radar, but also for other applications such as smart homes, unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), robotics and others,” stated Wim Van Thillo, Program Director Perceptive Systems for the Internet of Things, at imec.
imec
www.imec.be
/ MICROMATTERS
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