OTHER ELECTRONICS AND NANOTECHNOLOGY
UPDATE
July 2010
McIlvaine Company
TABLE OF CONTENTS
SEMCO Kunshan Plant Begins Production
Canada Gains New Nanotechnology Research and Product Development Center
Sustainable Nanotechnology Initiative to Study New Environmental Risks
Nanotechnology Centre Opens in Melbourne
Warwick University Opens High Tech Cleanroom
Innovation in the U.S. Heartland
Nanotech Takes Hold in Midwest U.S.
Thailand Builds Capabilities in Nanotech Research
Dolby Opens First China R&E Center
ST, Tsinghua University Expand R&D
Cisco Announces $1 Billion Investment
Samsung Electro-Mechanics (SEMCO) has recently kicked off volume production at its PCB plant in Kunshan, eastern China, raising concerns that the Korea-based company may pose a threat to Taiwan-based PCB makers that also operate their production bases in China to meet local demand.
However, sources at Taiwan's PCB industry have commented that the impact of SEMCO's China production on Taiwan makers will be limited because the SEMCO Kunshan plant produces mainly low-end HDI boards, whereas most Taiwan makers focus on mid-tier to high-end HDI products. SEMCO's Kunshan plant currently has a production capacity of 30,000 square feet a month, the sources indicated.
Canada’s National Institute for Nanotechnology will soon be home to a new electron microscopy research and product development center.
The Hitachi Electron Microscopy Products Development Centre (HEMiC) at the National Institute for Nanotechnology (NINT) in Edmonton, Alberta, is a $14 million project supported the Canadian and Alberta governments, the University of Alberta and Hitachi High Technologies Inc.
Through this research and development collaboration and the involvement of Hitachi High Technologies’ product development and technical sales expertise, commercialization of NINT microscope innovations is expected to be accelerated. International project teams already are working collaboratively towards new innovations in electron microscopy.
One of the center’s first projects will evaluate and test the world’s sharpest electron emitter, developed by the Molecular Scale Devices group at NINT for use as an electron source in electron microscopes.
“Alberta’s strength in nanotechnologies, and the province’s coordinated strategy for nanotechnology made our decision to seek a partnership here easy,” said John Cole, president of Hitachi High-Technologies, Canada Inc.
The new center will house three new electron microscopes valued at $7 million, including the first-ever Hitachi environmental transmission electron microscope Model H-9500 in operation outside of Japan.
AECOM Environment and the University of California at Santa Barbara (UCSB) are collaborating on the new Sustainable Nanotechnology Initiative (SNI) at UCSB’s Bren School of Environmental Science and Management in an effort to understand the environmental risks associated with engineered nanomaterials.
AECOM’s Environmental Toxicology Lab and risk assessment group will collaborate with UCSB to study nanomaterial fate and transport, assist in exposure assessment and risk quantification and modeling, develop outreach programs and related training materials for use by industry involved in handling nanomaterials, and conduct “real world" testing of methods and instrumentation for the detection and characterization of nanomaterials.
While new nanotechnology-related products are brought to the market daily and are impacting global industry and society, the environmental and human health risks are largely unknown.
“New nanotechnology-related products are already impacting global industry and society, and the Bren School’s SNI is critical to helping industry and the public understand the health and environmental implications of nanomaterials,” said Robert Weber, AECOM Environment Group chief executive. “Our collaboration provides another platform to share expertise, and positions us to better assist our clients in addressing issues associated with some nanomaterials.”
AECOM Environment also is working on nanotechnology projects for other public and private sector clients, including aquatic toxicity studies for a major commercial producer of carbon nanotubes that will help determine how wastewater discharge from the production of these materials affects aquatic species.
Victoria looks set to become Australia's nanotechnology centre of expertise, with the Federal Government opening a $63 million Melbourne Centre for Nanofabrication, as the core research lab within the Australian National Fabrication Facility.
Even before the looming federal election is called, the Gillard Government is peppering the electorate with big ticket announcements, this time with the Parliamentary Secretary for Innovation and Industry Richard Marles cutting the ribbon on a research complex that includes the largest cleanroom in the southern hemisphere.
The center is a joint project with funding coming from both the State and Federal governments as well as Monash, Swinburne, Deakin and La Trobe universities, RMIT, CSIRO and MiniFab Australia.
The facility, which is open to researchers from academia as well as the private sector, is expected to perform important work in telecommunications, where Melbourne is the established research and operational leader for the sector in Australia. The pharmaceuticals and medical industries are also expected to be users.
"Nanotechnology is a genuinely exciting scientific field and the Melbourne Centre for Nanofabrication is a state-of-the-art facility," Mr. Marles said.
"The cleanroom will allow scientists to work with materials at the microscopic level to produce the next generation of technology," he said.
"This $63 million facility will position Australia at the cutting edge of R&D and in a prime position to become a world leader in commercial nanotechnology."
Melbourne's status as Australia's centre for telecommunications research and operational skills was given a boost with the announcement that NBN Co would base its operations center in the city – precisely to access its telecoms skills.
Scientists from Singapore A*STAR's Institute of Materials Research and Engineering (IMRE), University of Cambridge (UK) and Sungkyunkwan University (South Korea) have created metallic lines so thin and smooth that they can only be seen using powerful electron microscopes. This research will be published in the July issue of Advanced Functional Materials.
At line widths of just 7 nm, their line width roughness , which are the variations in thickness along the line itself, stands at 2.9 nm, a value which is below the 2010 target of 3.2 nm and closer to 2011's target line width roughness of 2.8 nm indicated in the International Technology Roadmap for Semiconductors . The ability to create such distinct lines and patterns on a sub-10 nm scale level is essential in the further miniaturization of electronic components. Rough, undefined patterns and lines results in poorly made, energy-inefficient devices. The process is very delicate and precise because of the scale at which the work is done. For comparison, the width of the average human hair is 100 µm, which is about 14,000 times the width of a single 7 nm-wide metal line.
"Our thin, unbroken and smooth lines are important in ensuring the efficiency of ever shrinking electronic devices and may lead to more powerful processors. Furthermore, our work shows that continuous metallic lines as small as 4 nm are possible to make", says Dr MSM Saifullah, a Research Scientist with IMRE. The method could be potentially used to make interconnects, the 'highways' that carry electrical pulses and data in extremely small integrated circuits (ICs). The smoother and uninterrupted 'highways' lead to faster data transfer rates and less energy wasted, in the form of heat.
The novelty of the method was in the material and the technique that was used. The current "lift-off" approach for making metal lines at this scale requires more steps, uses more materials and results in rough and quite often broken lines on a sub-10 nm scale. The researchers used an organometallic material which is made up of a metallic and an organic component. Using a combination of electron beam lithography and subsequent gas treatment, the researchers were able to easily chip away the organic portions in a uniform manner, leaving the desired metallic patterns, in this case, thin metal lines.
"The published results is a testament to the cutting-edge nanotechnology research that is done in Singapore, where we push, and sometimes lead, the rest of the world", says Prof Andy Hor, IMRE's new Executive Director, who took the helm of Singapore's materials research institute in June 2010.
"Our obvious expertise in the area of nanopatterning is also a reason why we are driving a concerted effort for the industry to adopt technologies such as this into their manufacturing processes", explains Prof Hor.
The cutting edge equipment used for semiconductor energy efficient applications will be accessible to users from both local industry and academia.
The University of Warwick will formally open its new “Science City Cleanroom for Energy Efficient Semiconductors” on Friday the 2nd of July.
The facility is part of a £10.6 million project funded by Advantage West Midlands (AWM) and the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) as part of the Birmingham Science City Energy Efficiency & Demand project.
The University of Warwick is leading the project in collaboration with the University of Birmingham as part of the Science City Research Alliance program. Some £9.5m has been invested in leading-edge equipment which will be accessible to any interested users from both local industry and academia.
The University of Warwick’s Phil Mawby will head the new facility. He will mark the event by presenting the first semiconductor wafer to be processed by the new facility to Chris Snowden, President of the Institution of Engineering and Technology, who will give the keynote address at the opening of the new lab.
Also present at the event will be representatives from high tech companies in the Midlands who hope to work with the University of Warwick to make use of the new facility including Converteam, the UK’s largest technology company in the renewable energy sector.
Mawby is one of the University of Warwick’s senior professors in the School of Engineering at Warwick who has an international reputation for research excellence in power electronics. He said, “The new Science City Cleanroom builds on the Warwick Institute for Sustainable Energy and Resources (WISER), which links together energy research at Warwick, including the fundamental sciences, economics, business and social studies and now creates new links with other local universities and high tech business.”
He added, “Power electronics is the technology used to manage electrical energy efficiently. Almost every piece of modern electrical equipment uses power electronics. It is a generic technology with a vast array of applications, from the very low power levels found in mobile phones to the very high levels used in power distribution grids. Technological advances in this area have a significant potential to reduce energy consumption, even at a time when the global demand is growing rapidly. Japan judges power electronics to be one of the three most important technologies that are necessary for building a low carbon future. This award will greatly assist our research in these areas.”
Investors fly over a vast expanse between Boston and California when seeking start-up partners. Now Midwest US states are trying to make themselves a stopover point by creating new models to fund and accelerate innovations from labs to commercialization.
Their efforts, including collaborative combinations of regional, state, and individual universities, come as yet another US study, this one by Battelle, found the US still is leading the world in biomedical R&D, but its leadership is “ours to lose” because of the nation’s neglect and failure over the last decade to recognize the reasons for its success and build upon its strengths.
The study was commissioned by the Council for American Medical Innovation. It goes on to outline regulatory and policy obstacles faced by America’s health care industry, saying, “American medical innovation now stands at a crossroads. Our leadership in medical innovation and the health benefits and economic growth that accrue because of it are at risk.”
A recent Brookings Institution policy brief urges the US government to leverage existing assets in the economically hard-hit Midwest, especially the Great Lakes region that includes Minnesota, Wisconsin, Iowa, Missouri, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Michigan, Kentucky, West Virginia, western Pennsylvania, and western New York. Brookings called the Great Lakes a, “research complex for energy innovation,” and urged the government to build on the area’s research and engineering strengths by launching a region-wide network of collaborative, high-intensity energy research and innovation centers.
Brookings said around six regional innovation centers could reasonably be organized in the Great Lakes states with total annual funding between $1 billion and $2 billion. But Midwesterners aren’t waiting for the federal government, and instead are moving ahead with their own brand of ingenuity.
Ignition Park
American innovation wasn’t always a bi-coastal affair, dominated by venture capitalists and Ivy League scientists in start-ups. Indeed, US automakers in the so-called “rust belt” were leading inventors dating back to the 1800s. Henry and Clement Studebaker, for example, in 1852 founded a modest wagon shop in South Bend, Indiana, that evolved into one of the largest independent car companies in the US in the 20th century. South Bend points to other innovators, including Albert Zahm, a University of Notre Dame engineering professor who designed the first modern airplane, 10 years before the Wright brothers’ first flight.
Now the former Studebaker car manufacturing complex is being cleared to act partly as an area to house successful ventures originating at another recent effort, Innovation Park at Notre Dame, which was launched in October 2009 as a regional high-tech R&D hub. It includes partnerships among the University of Notre Dame, the city of South Bend, Project Future (a regional economic development catalyst), as well as the state of Indiana. Innovation Park includes wet and dry labs, conference rooms, offices, and incubation facilities.
The University of Notre Dame also is home to the Midwest Institute for Nanoelectronics Discovery (MIND), one of four research centers throughout the US focused on developing the next-generation computer chip architecture. The partnership between the city of South Bend and Notre Dame, which includes the city’s $50 million commitment to support commercialization, reportedly played a role in the decision by Semiconductor Research Corp.’s Nanotechnology Research Initiative to locate an operation in South Bend.
Established in March, the MIND consortium includes Purdue University, the University of Illinois, Pennsylvania State University, the University of Michigan, Argonne National Laboratory, the National Institute of Standards and Technology, and the National High Magnetic Field Laboratory. Among the industry partners in MIND are GlobalFoundries, IBM Corp., Intel Corp., Micron Technology Inc., and Texas Instruments Inc.
MIND has two themes. One is energy-efficient devices focused on developing graphene transistors based on spin, tunneling, and thermal rectification; tunnel transistors with low-voltage and low-subthreshold swing; quantum-transport-modeling tools; and engineering energy dissipation in non-equilibrium devices. The second is energy-efficient systems that explore systems architectures to use the novel properties of devices developed within the Nanoelectronics Research Initiative (NRI), such as the core focus area of magnetic cellular automata. Circuit modeling and design for NRI device technology will be used to benchmark and guide the development of technology beyond CMOS.
Reinvesting patent royalties
For its part, the Missouri University of Science and Technology is trying to spark innovation by reinvesting patent earnings into research projects that hold promise to be moved toward commercialization. The university’s so-called Technology Acceleration Program (TAP) will provide seed money for commercially viable projects, according to Keith Strassner, director of tech transfer and economic development at the university. The TAP program is based on the fast track effort launched by the four-campus University of Missouri System that was funded by the state last fiscal year, but that was discontinued after state funding dried up.
So many great ideas end up languishing in the laboratory due to a lack of proof-of-concept funding, Strassner said, so TAP aims to bridge the gap and let researchers further refine promising ideas. He said he’s focusing on ideas the university is pursuing for patent protection, but for which there still is no license.
“We think it’s the right thing to do - to take the money from one invention and invest it in the next one,” Strassner said.
For the first year of the new program, the university earmarked $75,000 in royalty income and solicited proposals for funding three projects for up to $25,000 each. It received six proposals and funded three, one of which is for developing a prototype for an energy-efficient water heating system. Another is to help a researcher get data on a new specialty glass that could be used to regrow bone and soft tissue. And the third involves developing smart sensor technology to monitor bridges for defects.
The winners were chosen by: strength of intellectual property 20 per cent, disruptive nature of technology 20 per cent, strength/size of the target market 20 per cent, likelihood of a successful product/service resulting from grant 25 per cent, and credentials of the research team 15 per cent.
The innovation bug has filtered down to two-year, technical colleges as well. Ivy Tech Community College in South Bend, Indiana, will become the first college in that state to offer an associate degree in nanotechnology. Classes are to start in August 2011, and the school is expected to accept 24 students that year with strong math and science backgrounds. The community college is the state’s largest public post-secondary institution with more than 120,000 students enrolled annually.
Previously, the school was involved in nanotech by awarding Nanotech Undergraduate Research Fellowships for selected students to study at the University of Notre Dame. Ivy Tech student research includes working with DNA nanostructures and the adherence of bacteria to nanosurfaces.
Thailand's National Nanotechnology Center (NANOTEC), National Institute of Metrology (NIMT) and Ministry of Science and Technology have announced that they would form the country's first research collaboration to build Thailand's capabilities in providing quality infrastructure in areas related to nano-scale measurement, calibration, and nanometrology.
"It is without doubt that nanotechnology is the current frontier that is giving every sector a buzz. Nanotechnology has become a part of everyday life and as nanotechnogy-based products start to emerge in commercial settings, the area of nanometrology will play an important role in areas such as verification of legal standards, certification, routine process control and quality cross-checks between business partners" said Prof Sirirurg Songsivilai, Executive Director of NANOTEC.
The collaboration with NANOTEC is necessary for national metrology development and a win-win approach since it is an undeniable truth that advancement in nanotechnology cannot progress independently of progress in nanometrology. The measurement techniques developed for conventional materials in many cases cannot be simply applied to nanostructures. "It is necessary to develop reference materials and reference procedures for nanostructures and nanomaterials that are globally accepted" said Dr Pian Totarong, Director of National Institute of Metrology (Thailand).
The joint research collaboration activity will be facilitated by the signing of a Research Collaborative Memorandum of Understanding to be signed in July 2010 at the Ministry of Science and Technology in Bangkok. Leading the research team for NANOTEC, Thailand will be Dr Nuttapun Supaka, Leader of Testing and Services Laboratory. Dr Pian Totarong and Dr Jariya Buajarern will lead the NIMT team.
Dolby Laboratories, Inc. announced the opening of its first Research and Engineering (R&E) Center in the Greater China region. Dolby's R&E Center, based in Beijing, also signifies the first time Dolby has founded a research and engineering center from the ground up and developed an R&E team outside the US.
With the establishment of this center, Dolby is creating the opportunity to attract, cultivate, and develop talent in China in the Research and Engineering disciplines. The R&E Center will support this talent with extensive international resources and will enable Dolby to create leading technology for China and for the world.
"China is strategically important to Dolby. The establishment of Dolby China's R&E Center is an important milestone as part of our continued commitment to China and innovation," says Mahesh Sundaram, Vice President, Asia Pacific, Dolby Laboratories. "Dolby has been an integral part of entertainment in China since 1984. Over the past 25 years, Dolby has been committed to the development of local partners, customers, and the consumer electronics industry in China, as well as fostering innovation and value-added entertainment solutions locally and worldwide. Over time, Dolby has increased investment and expanded presence in China. We currently have six offices in the Greater China region, and our business covers six segments: cinema, broadcast, mobile, PC, games, and connected electronics. With the China R&E center, Dolby brings its resources to China, including research and engineering, sales and marketing, and technical services, enabling Dolby to better serve the needs of the local market as well as the world market."
"For decades, Dolby's brand, technology, products, and services have been valued by the entertainment industry and consumers around the world. Critical to this global reputation is Dolby's unparalleled commitment to innovation," says Michael Rockwell, Executive Vice President, Products and Technology, Dolby Laboratories. "Dolby has research and engineering groups in North America, Europe, Australia, and now Asia. This new R&E Center in Beijing is an integral part of Dolby's worldwide network. The Beijing Center will work closely with other Dolby teams around the world to invent new technology. Through this collaboration, Dolby will cultivate local talent and bring technology expertise and knowhow to China and to the world."
The Dolby China R&E Center focuses on sound technology. "Dolby has an open research environment that fosters creativity and enables active participation in a global arena, introducing new ideas from talent around the world," added Dr. Claus Bauer, Research Director, Dolby Greater China. "One of the reasons we chose Beijing as the home of the China R&E Center is its proximity to several prominent universities and colleges. We look forward to attracting top talent to Dolby and hope the Beijing Center will create and introduce cutting-edge solutions that bring quality entertainment to the world anytime, anywhere."
The opening of the Dolby R&E Center coincides with the 10th anniversary of the Dolby Beijing office. One month ago, Dolby expanded its operation in the South China region further strengthening its investment and commitment to China.
STMicroelectronics and Tsinghua University, Shenzhen Graduate School, have entered a long-term strategic research partnership agreement. This is the second phase of a collaboration that began in 2002 with the setup of a joint ASIC (Application Specific Integrated Circuit) research centre.
ST will provide the university with digital multimedia and advanced analogue chips, expert support and advanced design tools, and jointly cooperate on applications engineering projects assigned by ST. Under the terms of the strategic partnership, ST will also donate RMB 1 million (Rs.67.27 lakh) to the Graduate School each year for five years, with an overall assessment of research efforts conducted each year.
The Graduate School and the Electronic Engineering department of Tsinghua University will staff the long-term partnership with talent, including graduates and technical staff that have important know-how for the market in China, such as local standards and technical specifications in various application fields.
"This partnership provides a great opportunity for Tsinghua University to develop IP blocks and ICs that meet market demand, raising our design and innovation skills to a new level," said Prof. Kang Feiyu, Vice-president of Tsinghua University Graduate School, Shenzhen, "Leveraging our expertise, talents and management to extend the cooperation between us, the partnership is intended for applications that will be commercialized within five years, which is ideal for Chinese designers to sharpen their skills very quickly."
"ST has had a strong technical presence in China for many years. This presence has included manufacturing, IC design and applications teams. The collaboration with Tsinghua will enhance ST's capabilities to tailor our IC solutions to the local market needs," said Francois Guibert, executive VP and president, Greater China and South Asia region, ST. "This partnership with Tsinghua University will contribute to maintaining and further strengthening our relationship with industry leaders in the most dynamic and fastest growing market in the world."
The collaboration with Tsinghua is part of an R&D network established by ST with many world leading universities, research institutes, customers and suppliers in Europe, Asia and America. It aims to bring a dramatic increase in the availability of advanced IP blocks and chips designed in China.
Cisco Systems announced a $1 billion initiative to drive entrepreneurship and innovation in Russia at a meeting with Russian President Dmitry Medvedev as the Russian president visited Silicon Valley.
"Simply put, we're all in," Cisco CEO John Chambers told Medvedev.
Medvedev was joined by California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger at a demonstration of Cisco's video conferencing, business social networking and sports casting technology.
The new effort was characterized as a "wide-ranging series of collaborative initiatives" in Russia and the U.S.
An agreement was signed before the press by Chambers and Viktor Vekselberg, who is heading a project to develop a Russian Silicon Valley in Skolkovo, near Moscow.
The Cisco initiative in five phases will :
Commit an initial $100 million in venture money. The company said it will increase the number of Cisco networking academies in Russia to 300, teaching people how to work with Cisco equipment.
Establish an innovation and venture platform in Skolkovo, which will make Skolkovo an advanced Internet-connected city using Cisco technology.
Establish a second global headquarters of Cisco's Emerging Technology Group in Skolkovo.
Provide $175,000 in prize money to winning entrepreneurial teams in Russia.
The company said it will partner with existing businesses, venture capital and technology companies to develop projects such as a smart grid, financial services, broadband and social networking.
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