These are some news items gathered by the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM). Looks like some new types of transistors are in the works….Dan
DARPA Wants to Cultivate the Ultimate Transistor of the Future
Network World
Michael Cooney
March 17, 2017
The U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) this month will present the Dynamic Range-enhanced Electronics and Materials (DREaM) program, which aims to develop a new generation of radiofrequency (RF) and millimeter-wave transistors to address the power and range requirements for wireless devices in a range of applications. DARPA program manager Dan Green says DREaM transistors will transmit and receive the large and complex RF signals of the future, and they will do so in smaller packages while consuming minimal power. DREaM researchers will try to solve the performance tradeoffs between four key characteristics of RF transistors, including signal power, power efficiency, the range of frequencies in which the transistors work, and the measure of the fidelity at which a receiver can amplify signals. In addition, DREaM will focus on developing new materials that can handle more electrical charge and voltage without degrading.
How Graphene Could Cool Smartphone, Computer, and Other Electronics Chips
Rutgers Today
Todd B. Bates
March 27, 2017
Researchers at Rutgers University have discovered a way to use graphene to cool tiny chips. The researchers demonstrated a powerful and efficient cooling mechanism using graphene combined with a boron nitride crystal substrate. “We’ve achieved a power factor that is about two times higher than in previous thermoelectric coolers,” says Rutgers professor Eva Y. Andrei. She notes if a piece of metal has one hot end and one cold end, the metal’s atoms and electrons move quickly at the hot end and slowly at the cold end. The researchers applied voltage to the metal, sending a current from the hot end to the cold end. They say this process spurred the electrons to carry away the heat much more efficiently than via passive cooling techniques, such as little fans in computers.
Singing Posters and Talking Shirts: UW Engineers Turn Everyday Objects Into FM Radio Stations
UW Today
Jennifer Langston
March 1, 2017
Researchers at the University of Washington (UW) are enabling everyday objects to communicate directly with smartphones and car radios and transmit information to them. “The challenge is that radio technologies like Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and conventional FM radios would last less than half a day with a coin cell battery when transmitting,” says UW’s Vikram Iyer. “So we developed a new way of communication where we send information by reflecting ambient FM radio signals that are already in the air, which consumes close to zero power.” The UW team’s “backscattering” system sends messages by reflecting and encoding audio and data within outdoor FM radio transmissions without disrupting the original signals. A demonstration of a “singing poster” is one example of the backscattering system the team implemented. They also are exploring “smart fabric” applications such as sensor-outfitted apparel to monitor vital signs that are sent to a user’s phone.