Новини світу мікро- та наноелектроніки

Tokyo-based Mitsubishi Electric Corp says that on 1 October it will begin shipping samples of its new 200Gbps PIN-photodiode (PD) chip for use in next-generation optical transceivers to support 800Gbps and 1.6Tbps fiber communication...

Riber S.A. of Bezons, France — which makes molecular beam epitaxy (MBE) systems as well as evaporation sources — says that it has sold an MBE 412 cluster platform for delivered in 2025) to a leading US-based manufacturer of infrared imaging sensor materials for ground- and space-based astronomy...

The prices of Lithium, the primary workhorse of energy storage solutions today, have dropped by over 60% in the past 18 months. Among many other reasons, this is attributed to a drop in EV demand globally as governments across US and EU started moderating EV related subsidies. There was also an aggressive ramp-up of capacity in China during the Covid period buoyed by the strong EV uptick which has now resulted in a supply glut. To give you a sense of the impact of this glut, we now see that LFP (Lithium Iron Phosphate) batteries are already commercially available at sub-$100 per kWh prices. This was forecast to happen only beyond 2026. At these prices, it is possible for EVs to have capital cost parity with conventional fossil fuel based vehicles which is supposed to be a massive inflection point. 

In the world of stationary energy storage, where Lead Acid batteries have ruled the roost for decades, Lithium based batteries become highly attractive substitutes with a significantly longer life and superior performance. Common sense dictates that this is about the worst time to invest in a new chemistry and that we should rather make the most of the ongoing supply glut to drive the agenda of accelerating decarbonization in India. We would however miss the forest for the trees in doing only that and nothing more.

It is a well known fact that the majority of the world’s active materials, the most critical components within a Lithium cell, are processed in China. Chinese players are also deeply backward integrated with interests in Lithium, Nickel and Cobalt mines across the world. So, financially speaking, we are merely converting our petro-dollars to lithium-dollars and directing them towards China instead of the countries that supply oil and gas. There are active investments in cell manufacturing in India propelled by the recent ACC-PLI incentives with over 50 GWh of capacity planned over the next few years. However, as long as the active material processing and the backward linkages rest with China or other countries the result will be broadly similar. This may also eliminate the possibility of using trade barriers even if local cell manufacturing capacity is fully established. India will need to do a similar backward integration and set up massive capacities for active materials processing which may largely end up becoming a catch-up game with low odds of success.

Secondly, Lithium, just like any other metal is a commodity which will go through its own commodity cycles. It is a risky gamble to leave a critical agenda like energy transition to the vagaries of commodity prices. We have had over five decades and continuing government intervention to insulate the economy from a similar commodity cycle impact of oil and gas and it has been anything but a smooth ride.

Lastly, the electrification of the economy will only be as green as the power sector that generates the electricity. While there is a lot of focus today on EVs, the other, potentially bigger, problem to solve is the greening of the generation through renewables which requires a large amount of energy storage capacity to mitigate the intermittency. For instance, NITI Aayog has estimated annual demand of around 300 GWh of storage capacity by 2030 of which about 60% would come from grid level storage alone. There is no other category, on a standalone basis, that even comes close to this requirement. This is pertinent because it should be a critical decision parameter as we think of the specific chemistries where we choose to invest the country’s limited resources.

So, in summary, we would do well to proactively invest in a chemistry or set of chemistries that are reasonably insulated from commodity cycles, could offer very attractive unit economics at scale, are well suited for grid scale storage and do not require aggressive critical mineral investments. There are many promising candidates on the horizon and Sodium-ion is one such candidate.

Sodium-ion has almost as long a history of development as Lithium-ion but did not take off earlier as Lithium-ion batteries were more compact allowing them to be used in consumer electronics resulting in their widespread adoption. Sodium-ion has however come a long way from the lab over the past few years. BYD, one of the world’s largest cell and EV manufacturers, broke ground on a 30 GWh Sodium-ion plant in January 2024 validating its role in the future of energy transition. A few weeks ago, in June 2024, the world’s largest Sodium-ion grid scale storage of 100 MW / 200 MWh was commissioned in Qianjiang, located in the Hubei province in China. 

The reason for the sudden interest in Sodium-ion and why it also makes a lot of sense for India is that it meets many of the criteria we identified earlier. For starters, Sodium is abundant and cheaply available in India which eliminates the need for backward integration.  It also enables domestic supply chains and reduces the overall cost of cells. As an added advantage, Sodium cells use low cost Aluminum collectors (instead of the more expensive Copper collectors required in Lithium) and the anode requires hard carbon (instead of the more expensive Graphite required in Lithium and also controlled largely by China). A key drawback of the Sodium-ion chemistry is that it has a lower energy density compared to Lithium. However for many applications like grid scale storage and 3W mobility, this is not a deterrent. Lastly, the process of Sodium-ion cell manufacturing is almost identical to Lithium-ion making it possible to use commercially available machinery and equipment to scale up manufacturing.

The need for India to invest in establishing local manufacturing capacities is inevitable. However, leaving that decision completely to the market forces through a chemistry-agnostic PLI scheme has the peril of driving a great short term optimization and missing the opportunity to build a truly self-reliant and thriving energy storage industry. The Chinese government took the imperative of driving investments specifically in LFP resulting in the dominance of that chemistry today. India would do well to build a point of view on the specific chemistry it would like to bet on and take control of the narrative.

Author: Venkat Rajaraman, Founder and CEO at Cygni Energy

The post Is it time to think beyond Lithium? appeared first on ELE Times.

Back in late April, EDN published my teardown of an entry-level webcam, Avaya’s Huddle HC010, at the time selling for $14.99 (but having been priced a few years earlier, in the midst of pandemic-induced home office equipment shortages, for nearly 10x that amount). In the intro to that piece, I briefly mentioned other, higher-end webcams, one of which was BenQ’s ideaCam S1 Plus and Pro series.

Here’s a stock photo of the $169.99 “Plus” variant, whose internals we’ll be examining today:

For $30 more, the “Pro” version comes with a separate wireless remote control (and USB receiver) for the company’s computer-based EnSpire (which BenQ also refers to in some places as Enspire) software suite:

Some upfront qualifiers:

• Unlike some of its comparably-priced peers sold by other companies, the ideaCam S1 series does not support interpolated-pixel digital zoom capabilities, including the ability to “follow” the user’s face as he or she moves around in the frame and thereby present a consistently-centered image to viewers (which Apple, for example, calls “Center Stage”).
• Instead, Benq includes a magnetically attached 15x multiplier “zoom” supplemental lens which the company claims is also “macro”-capable. Not yet sold (at least in the U.S.), as far as I know, but inferred in the user manual is an ideaCam S1 standard version, which dispenses with both the “Plus” supplemental lens and the “Pro” remote control.
• The ideaCam S1 series’ market uniqueness derives from a flexible magnet-enhanced mount, which enables you to attach (and even lock down) the webcam in a “normal” on-display orientation, completely detach it to show something in the vicinity of the computer to your audience, and in-between rotate the webcam near-90° down at the desktop in front of you. In the latter case, the aforementioned EnSpire software driver auto-rotates and keystone-corrects the captured image as well as tweaking autofocus so that what’s seen by others looks as close as possible to what’s actually in front of you.

• Benq calls the ideaCam S1 a “4K” camera, which is close but not quite right. “4K”, at least from a display standpoint, references a 3840×2160 (8,294,400 total) pixel image. The ideaCam S1 captures still images with 3264×2448 (7,990,272 total) pixels. And its video resolution options, in both cases limited to 30 (not 60) fps frame rates, are 3264×1836 (5.992,704 total) pixels in 16:9 ratio mode and 3264×2448 pixels (the same as with still images) in 4:3 ratio mode.
• The webcams are based on an 8 Mpixel Sony CMOS image sensor. It admittedly took me a few tries to realize what the “COMS” reference on Benq’s web page meant Low light performance is surprisingly subpar, per multiple reviewers’ comments, even when the integrated ring light is in use. Here’s Benq’s feedback when I inquired about this quirk: “ideaCam is a webcam designed primarily for capturing objects, so it works best in well-lit environments.”
• I get why Benq made the ideaCam S1 series natively USB-A-interfaced, given the sizeable installed base of computers that offer at least one USB-A port. That said, I’m admittedly surprised that Benq didn’t also include an inexpensive USB-A to USB-C adapter in the box for use with the increasingly common laptop PCs and the like that are USB-C-only.

Upfront thoughts now concluded, let’s get to the tearing down, beginning with the obligatory outer-box shots (after I removed the shiny, reflection-inducing shrink-wrap, that is):

Flip open the box:

And underneath the top flap you’ll first find a plethora of paper (you can alternatively find the quick-start guide in digital form here, along with the digital-only full user manual):

Underneath it (and a thin sheet of protective black foam):

are, clockwise beginning from left, the main webcam assembly, the privacy cover, the “macro zoom” supplemental lens, and the mounting bracket, all cushioned by more foam:

In front of the foam is the bulk of the webcam’s permanently connected USB cable, enclosed within a white cardboard sleeve:

Here are the various constituent pieces out of the box:

Two views of the mounting bracket, which also integrates a ¼” screw hole for a not-included optional tripod or other stand:

Now for the webcam itself. Front view first; the ring light shines through the frosted white circumference when on. Also note the hole for the single microphone input in the lower right corner of the “lens” (curiously, this design doesn’t seem to leverage a traditional multi-microphone array for ambient noise cancellation purposes, instead per product documentation relying on “AI processing”) and the barely visible activity LED “hole” below the lens:

Here’s what it looks like with the supplemental lens installed (note to potential customers; there’s a near-invisible clear piece of protective plastic at the rear of the supplemental lens that, unless first removed, will result in poor image results when the supplemental lens is in use):

And here’s the privacy cover installed:

The magnet that holds both it and the supplemental lens in place is located within the common primary lens assembly to which they both adhere:

The two-switch assembly at the top toggles the ring light on and off and, in conjunction with the EnSpire software suite, freezes the captured image:

At bottom is the magnet-augmented rectangular hole into which you insert the mounting bracket (also note the permanently attached USB cable coming out of the webcam):

And last but not least (or maybe least after all…it’s pretty bland) is the BenQ-branded backside:

Time to dive inside. Next to the USB cable entry point is a tiny Philips screw whose removal would seemingly be a logical starting point:

That’s what I’m talking about:

Next, let’s get the multi-wire harness for the USB cable outta there:

Two more screws to go (the first one had already been removed in conjunction with disconnecting what I assume is the USB cable’s ground strap):

And…nothing’s budging yet. Let’s try those three additional screws visible deeper inside:

Getting them out was a bit dodgy because every time I unscrewed one, it immediately went airborne and adhered itself to the magnet at the bottom bracket hole…but I managed…

Hmmm…still no meaningful disassembly progress, however. Time to turn the webcam around and turn our attention to the front assembly:

That’s more like it!

Even with the screws removed, it had still been tenuously held in place by the four-pin connector that mated the PCB to the two-switch topside assembly:

Front and back standalone views of the chassis now absent the front assembly:

And now what you really care about; the first unobstructed view of the system PCB’s backside:

As you may have already inferred, there’s a gyro IC (likely MEMS-based) in the webcam that determines (and communicates to system software) whether it’s in its “normal” or downward orientation. Fortunately, BenQ provides an exploded-view video that shows where it’s located:

Specifically, assuming the video is accurate in pinpointing what it calls the “Webcam flip sensor,” it’s the tiny five-lead chip labeled U12 on the PCB and marked FT8DSN, below and to the left of the left-side PCB hole. To the right of the flip sensor and toward the center of the PCB is a larger IC whose identity I unfortunately can’t discern. It’s marked as follows:

IG1600
2109AAD
TP1X841
0570011

Ideas, anyone? And while we’re at it, does anyone know the identity of the tall rectangular eight-lead chip at far right, above the USB wiring harness connector, and marked as follows (accompanied by a yellow paint “dot” in its lower left corner)?

GD
N1C0
UF8096

Flip the front assembly over:

and with the retaining screws now removed, the cover portion lifts right off:

The clear plastic middle region is purely protective, as far as I can tell, with no meaningful optical properties of its own that I can ascertain:

Note the holes for the microphone input, in the black piece’s lower left region, and the activity LED, below and to its right (and at the black piece’s bottom). And around the perimeter is the frosted white opaque plastic thru which the ring light LEDs diffuse-shine when illuminated.

Speaking of which:

Items of particular note include the lens assembly at center (with the aforementioned 8 Mpixel Sony CMOS image sensor unseen behind it), the system processor to its left (a Sunplus Innovation Technology SPCA2680A, not found on the manufacturer’s website, although note the presumably related SPCA2688), and the surprisingly large MEMS mic to the lens’s lower right. Along with, of course, the activity LED below the lens and the six-LED ring around the perimeter.

I’m going to stop at this point, in the hopes that if I’m careful with my reassembly, I might actually be able to return the ideaCam S1 Plus to its original fully functional condition…

Success! It still works! Over to you for your thoughts in the comments.

—Brian Dipert is the Editor-in-Chief of the Edge AI and Vision Alliance, and a Senior Analyst at BDTI and Editor-in-Chief of InsideDSP, the company’s online newsletter.

 Related Content

• Disclosing the results of a webcam closeup
• The slammed webcam: An impromptu teardown erases my frown
• Prosumer and professional cameras: High quality video, but a connectivity vulnerability
• Digital camera design, part 2: Motion considerations for frame rate, exposure time, and shuttering

The post Disassembling a premium webcam appeared first on EDN.

Microchip’s LAN887x PHYs offer extended reach up to 40m and are designed to be compliant with industry standards

The automotive and industrial markets are widely adopting Single Pair Ethernet (SPE) solutions for network connectivity because of the system level benefits of reducing cost, weight and cable complexity. SPE, with its proven performance and reliability in automotive applications, is now also being deployed in other segments like avionics, robotics and automation. For exceptional flexibility and interoperability, Microchip Technology today announces it has expanded its SPE solutions with its family of LAN887x Ethernet PHY transceivers supporting 100 Mbps to 1000 Mbps using 1000BASE-T1 network speeds and cable lengths up to 40m for extended reach.

For interoperability across industries, Microchip’s LAN887x PHYs are designed to be fully compliant with IEEE 802.3bp for the 1000BASE-T1 specification and IEEE 802bw-2015 for the 100BASE-T1 specification. Microchip has collaborated with the University of New Hampshire InterOperability Laboratory (UNH-IOL) to create the development test platform for 1000BASE-T1 conformance. For many automotive and industrial applications that operate in harsh environments and need to withstand extreme temperatures, these devices are also designed to be ISO 26262 functional safety ready with ASIL B classification.

These devices provide advanced diagnostics including cable fault detection, signal quality indicator, link down and errors, built in self-test, and temperature and voltage monitoring for increased reliability. To provide flexibility with varying connectivity requirements across end applications, the LAN887x PHYs support Type A operation with cable lengths up to 15m and Type B operation to support extended cable lengths of up to 40m. Both operation types include four inline connectors.

The LAN887x is a low-power solution with EtherGREEN technology for increased energy efficiency. The OPEN Alliance TC10 Sleep and Wakeup feature provides additional power savings with a maximum of 16 µA standby power consumption, which extends operating time in battery applications. An optional integrated linear regulator can optimize BOM costs by reducing the number of components in the design.

“Our comprehensive solutions, which include PHY transceivers, bridge devices, switches and development boards, make it easier for designers to implement Single Pair Ethernet technology into their designs,” said Charles Forni, vice president of Microchip’s USB and networking business unit. “The low-power sleep, extended cable reach features and functional safety support make our LAN887x devices versatile and robust solutions to support our customers’ expanding networking needs.”

The LAN887x PHYs are compatible with Microchip’s broad portfolio of microcontrollers (MCUs), microprocessors (MPUs), System-on-Chip (SoC) devices and Ethernet switches. Microchip offers a growing range of SPE solutions including PHYs, controllers and switches to support data transmission speeds from 10 Mbps to 1000 Mbps. To learn more about Microchip’s SPE solutions, visit the website.

Development Tools

The LAN887x family of PHY transceivers is supported by comprehensive hardware evaluation platforms; Type A and Type B media converter kits, SFP (SGMII), USB and PCIe plug-in boards and Linux software drivers.

Pricing and Availability

The LAN8870, LAN8871 and LAN8872 are now available in production quantities. For additional information and to purchase, contact a Microchip sales representative, authorized worldwide distributor or visit Microchip’s Purchasing and Client Services website, www.microchipdirect.com.

The post Expanded Single Pair Ethernet Portfolio with 100BASE-T1 and 1000BASE-T1 PHY Transceivers for Network Interoperability appeared first on ELE Times.

Ideal for medical, industrial, transportation, and high-end consumer applications

Littelfuse, Inc., an industrial technology manufacturing company empowering a sustainable, connected, and safer world, announced a product update on the C&K Switches KSC2 Sealed Tactile Switch product line. This surface-mounted, waterproof tactile switch series now incorporates the Electrical Height enhancement.

The KSC2 series of tactile switches for surface-mount technology (SMT) is an IP67-rated, 3.5 mm high momentary-action tactile switch featuring a soft actuator. The switches are available in several models and provide numerous electrical lifespans that can withstand various operating forces.

The latest KSC2 tactile switch, with its superior durability and extended lifespan, outperforms other switches in the market, reducing the need for frequent replacements. Its consistent performance over time instills confidence in users, ensuring reliable functionality. The KSC2 tactile switch provides clear tactile feedback, making it easier for users to know when an input has been registered. Using the redesigned KSC2 series results in a more reliable, user-friendly, and secure product, ultimately benefiting end users.

The KSC2 series design gives users a positive, adaptable tactile feeling, ideally suited for a wide range of markets and applications, including:

• Medical: Surgical tools, healthcare wearables
• Transportation: Door handles, window lifters, steering wheel columns
• High-end consumer: Power tools, lawnmowers, snow blowers
• Industrial: Elevators, automation, machinery

The KSC2 Tactile Switches offer these key features and benefits:

• Electrical Height of Sealed Tactile Switch: Guarantees precise and reliable electrical connections by precisely defining the distance between the actuation point and bottom contact.
• IP67 Rating: Ensures durability and reliability in harsh environments by providing resistance to dust and water up to 1 meter for 30 minutes.
• Compatibility with Lead-Free Reflow Soldering: Enables efficient, reliable, environmentally friendly manufacturing by withstanding high temperatures and thermal cycling in lead-free, RoHS-compliant soldering processes.
• Soft Actuator (3.5 mm high): Provides comfortable, improved user experience and precise operation via a soft actuator that offers gentle touch and consistent activation.

How it works: Electrical Height enhancement enables better precision on the electrical switching position compared to the printed circuit board (PCB) reference, which is necessary for stack-up tolerances. This new feature makes the KSC2 switch easier to integrate than other products on the market with Electrical Travel. Generally, designers need to determine the switching point position from the PCB and apply the formula: Product Height ±0.2 mm minus Electrical travel ±0.2 mm, giving a total tolerance of ±0.4 mm as a minimum. The target of dimensioning with the Electrical Height value is to avoid cumulated tolerances and to propose a functional value with tighter tolerance. Electrical Height is stable, and a standard tolerance at only ±0.15 mm or ±0.2 mm is recommended.

“This newly specified feature (Electrical Height) demonstrates the decades of experiences the Littelfuse engineers have when it comes to the integration of our products into the final application, as well as the level of control we have on our manufacturing capabilities,” said Jeremy Hebras, Vice President Digital & Technical Developments, Electronics Business Unit at Littelfuse. “By committing to the switch electrical height on this popular series, together with its tight tolerance, we are helping our customers to optimally design their products, obtain the most qualitative and consistent haptic and performance results, and ultimately enhance their product’s quality.”

The same Electrical Height enhancement is planned for additional tactile switch series in the Littelfuse/C&K Switches portfolio.

The post Littelfuse Enhances KSC2 Tactile Switch Series to Empower Designers with Precise Electrical Height appeared first on ELE Times.

The Appalachian Regional Commission (ARC) — an economic development partnership agency of the federal government and 13 state governments including Pennsylvania — has awarded $600,000 to Penn State University’s Silicon Carbide Innovation Alliance (SCIA, launched in early April) to develop a series of educational courses, workshops and paid academic and industrial internships focused on workforce development in Pennsylvania for the growing semiconductor industry...

submitted by /u/ProbablyCreative [link] [comments]

Editor’s note: The first part of this two-part design idea (DI) shows how modifications to an oscillator can produce a useful and unusual pulse generator; this second and final part extends that to step functions.

 In the first part of this DI, we saw how to gate an oscillator to generate well-behaved impulses. Now we find out how to extend that idea to producing well-behaved step functions, or nicely smoothed square waves.

The ideal here is the Heaviside or unit step function, which has values of 0 or 1 with an infinitely sharp transition between them. Just as the Dirac delta impulse which we met in Part 1 is the extreme case of a normal distribution or bell curve, the Heaviside is the limit of the logistic function (which I gather logisticians use about as often as plumbers do bathtub curves).

Wow the engineering world with your unique design: Design Ideas Submission Guide

Square wave with smooth edges

Anyone working with audio kit will have employed square-wave testing with that infinity tamed by an RC time-constant, which is good enough for everyday use, but another approach is to replace that still-sharp step with a portion of a cosine wave. Taking the circuit from Part 1 and adding some more gating means that instead of generating a full raised-cosine pulse for every trigger input, we get a half cycle at each transition, with alternating polarities. The result: a square wave at half the frequency of the trigger and with smooth edges. The revised circuit is in Figure 1.

Figure 1 Extra logic added to the original circuit now gives half a cosine on each trigger pulse, with alternating polarities, generating a square wave with smoothed edges.

In pulse or oscillator modes, U1b delivers a reset to U2 whenever A1b’s output goes high, which gives a full cycle of the raised cosine. In the square wave mode, U2 is reset whenever A1b changes, irrespective of polarity, at the half-cycle point. U1b and U3b/c act as a gated EXOR with delays through one leg to generate the reset pulse. Some waveforms are shown in Figure 2; compare these with those in Figure 2 of Part 1. As before, A2 is jammed when the oscillator mode is selected, forcing continuous, sine-wave operation.

Figure 2 Some waveforms from the circuit in Figure 1.

A single, positive-going transition is shown in Figure 3, with our target curve for comparison. These are both theoretical plots, but the actual output is very close to the cosine.

Figure 3 The target step-function is a logistic curve; a segment of a cosine is shown for comparison.

In Part 1, we tried to get closer to a normal distribution curve by some extra squashing of our tri-wave. This worked up to a point but was clunkily over-elaborate, partly owing to the waveform’s lack of symmetry. We now have a symmetrical function to aim at, which should be easier to emulate.

Building our target curve

The spare section of mux U1 together with three new resistors offers a neat solution, and the circuit fragment in Figure 4 shows how.

Figure 4 Adding the components in red gives a much better fit to our target curve. The tri-wave amplitude is increased and can now be squashed even more.

Putting 47k (R14) in series with D3/4 increases the trip points’ levels, so that the tri-wave now spans ~4.3 V rather than ~1.1 V. The increased drive to D5/6 through R7 results in the diodes not so much squashing the triangle into a (co)sine as crushing it into something much squarer though with greater amplitude. R24 and R25, connected across D7/8, pot the voltage across the diodes down so that the peaks—which are now gentle curves—are cropped by A2b’s (rail-to-rail) output. (The resistive loading of D7/8 slightly softens their response, which also helps.)

U1c does two jobs. When pulses or a continuous sine wave are to be generated, it shorts out R14 and opens R24, giving our standard operating conditions, but in square-wave mode, R14 is left in circuit while R24 is grounded, as needed for the extra tri-wave amplitude and crushing.

The waveforms now look like Figure 5 (note the change of scale for trace C) while a single, actual edge is shown in Figure 6 with a theoretical, ideal step for comparison—and the match is now very good.

Figure 5 Waveforms after adding the mods shown in Figure 4.

Figure 6 Comparison of the target curve with part of the trace D in Figure 5.

There is some fudging involved here, the two curves in Figure 6 having been adjusted for the same slope at the half-height point. Because R24/R25 reduce the amplitude of the signal across the diodes by nearly 20%, the slope will also be that much shallower than for the cosine version, which is not a practical problem.

The final circuit

To turn all this into a functional piece of kit ready for doing some audio testing, we need to add some extras:

• A rail-splitter to define the central, common rail
• Level-control pot with an output buffer
• Simple oscillator to produce the trigger pulses, with an input so that an external TTL signal can override the internal one
• A switch to select the mode.

Putting all these together, we reach the full and reasonably final circuit of Figure 7. Multiple ranges can easily be accommodated by adding the extras detailed in Part 1, Figure 5. The modified pulse-shaping circuit shown in Part 1, Figure 6 could also be added, but may be more fiddly than it is worth.

Figure 7 The full circuit, which now produces square waves with well-shaped edges as well as pulses and continuous sine waves.

The absence of pin numbers is deliberate, because their inclusion would imply an optimized layout. Be careful to keep the logic signals away from analog ones, especially at and around the earthy end of R24, which can pick up switching spikes when open-circuited. U1’s E-not (pin 6) and VEE (pin 7) must be at 0 V.

While this approach to generating nicely-formed pulses is perhaps more interesting than accurate, it does show that crunching up triangles with diodes is not limited to generating sine(ish) waves, which was the starting-point for this idea. For anything more complex, an AWG is probably a better solution, if less fun.

—Nick Cornford built his first crystal set at 10, and since then has designed professional audio equipment, many datacomm products, and technical security kit. He has at last retired. Mostly. Sort of.

Related Content

• How to control your impulses—part 1
• Squashed triangles: sines, but with teeth?
• Dual RRIO op amp makes buffered and adjustable triangles and square waves
• Arbitrary waveform generator waveform creation using equations
• 555 triangle generator with adjustable frequency, waveshape, and amplitude; and more!
• Adjustable triangle/sawtooth wave generator using 555 timer

The post How to control your impulses—part 2 appeared first on EDN.

Hybrid bonding—a significant advancement in chip packaging technology—is becoming vital in heterogeneous integration, which enables semiconductor companies to merge multiple chiplets with diverse functions, process nodes, and sizes into a unified package. It vertically links die-to-wafer or wafer-to-wafer via closely spaced copper pads, bonding the dielectric and metal bond pads simultaneously in a single bonding step.

However, the enhanced reliability and mechanical strength of its interconnects compared to traditional bump-based interconnections don’t come without challenges. For instance, to successfully transition to high-volume manufacturing with high yields, it requires advanced metrology tools that can quickly identify defects such as cracks and voids within the bonded layers.

PVA TePla OKOS, a Virginia-based manufacturer of industrial ultrasonic non-destructive (NDT) systems, claims to have a solution based on scanning acoustic microscopy (SAM). A non-invasive and non-destructive ultrasonic testing method, SAM is quickly becoming the preferred technique for testing and failure analysis involving stacked dies or wafers, according to Hari Polu, president of PVA TePla OKOS.

SAM utilizes ultrasound waves to non-destructively examine internal structures, interfaces, and surfaces of opaque substrates. The resulting acoustic signatures can be constructed into 3D images that are analyzed to detect and characterize device flaws such as cracks, delamination, inclusions, and voids in bonding interfaces. The images can also be used to evaluate soldering and other interface connections.

Figure 1 SAM is becoming a preferred technique for testing and failure analysis involving stacked dies or wafers. Source: PVA TePla OKOS

SAM—an industry standard for inspection of semiconductor components to identify defects such as voids, cracks, and delamination—has been adapted to facilitate 100% inspection of hybrid bonded packages, says Polu.

How it works

In hybrid bonding, various steps must be reliably performed to ensure quality. The process starts with manufacturing the wafers or dies in a semiconductor fab before the chips are bonded together. The next key steps include the preparation and creation of the pre-bonding layers, the bonding process itself, the post-bond anneal, and the associated inspection and metrology at each of the step.

However, in conventional SAM techniques, wafers are held horizontally in a chuck and processed in a water medium. That, in turn, could lead to water ingress, which could cause significant issues in the next step of assembly. On the other hand, by re-designing the chuck in a vertical orientation, engineers can use gravity to eliminate any concern over water ingress while also using other water management technologies.

Here, SAM directs focused sound from a transducer at a small point on a target object. The sound hitting the object is either scattered, absorbed, reflected, or transmitted. As a result, the presence of a boundary or object and its distance can be determined by detecting the direction of scattered pulses as well as the time of flight. Next, samples are scanned point by point and line by line to produce an image.

Figure 2 SAM stands ready to deliver 100% non-destructive inspection of vertically stacked and bonded die-to-wafer or wafer-to-wafer packages to help facilitate the adoption of hybrid bonding. Source: PVA TePla OKOS

It’s important to note that scanning modes range from single-layer views to tray scans and cross-sections and that multi-layer scans can include up to 50 independent layers. The process can extract depth-specific information and apply it to create 2D and 3D images. Then, the images are analyzed to detect and characterize flaws like cracks, delamination, and voids.

The AI boost

Polu is confident that advancements in artificial intelligence (AI)-based analysis of the data collected from SAM inspection of wafer-to-wafer hybrid bonding will further automate quality assurance and increase fab production. “Innovations in the design of wafer chucks, array transducers, and AI-based analysis of inspection data are converging to provide a more robust SAM solution for fabs involved in hybrid bonding,” he said.

So, when fabs take advantage of the higher level of failure detection and analysis, the production yield and overall reliability of high-performance chips improve significantly. “Every fab will eventually move toward this level of failure analysis because of the level of detection and precision required for hybrid bonding,” Polo concluded.

Especially when the stakes are higher than ever because one bad wafer, die, or interconnection could cause the entire package to be discarded down the line.

Related Content

• EAG Adds IC Analytical Tools
• The Importance of 3D IC Ecosystem Collaboration
• CEA-Leti Presents TSVs that Promise Smarter Cameras
• Applied Materials, IME Extend Hybrid Bonding Research
• Intel and FMD’s Roadmap for 3D Heterogeneous Integration

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For second-quarter 2024, Guerrilla RF Inc (GRF) of Greensboro, NC, USA has reported revenue of $6.1m, up 61.7% on $3.8m a year ago. The firm develops and manufactures radio-frequency integrated circuits (RFICs) and monolithic microwave integrated circuits (MMICs) for wireless OEMs in markets including network infrastructure for 5G/4G macro and small-cell base stations, SATCOM, cellular repeaters/DAS, automotive telematics, military communications, navigation, and high-fidelity wireless audio...

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Moog’s Cascade single-board computer supports multiple payloads and spacecraft bus processing needs within a single radiation-hardened unit. Cascade was created through an R&D partnership with Microchip Technology, as part of NASA’s early-engagement ecosystem for its next-gen High-Performance Spaceflight Computing (HPSC) processor.

The SBC is based on Microchip’s PIC64-HPSC, a radiation-hardened microprocessor with 10 64-bit RISC-V cores. In addition to advanced computing power, the processor provides an Ethernet TSN Layer 2 switch for data communications, fault tolerance and correction, secure boot, and multiple levels of encryption.

Available with or without an enclosure, Cascade is an extended 3U SpaceVPX board that conforms to the Space Standards Open Systems Architecture (Space SOSA) standard for maximum interoperability. The rad-hard SBC can withstand a total ionizing dose (TID) of 50 krad without shielding and has a single event latchup (SEL) tolerance of 78 MeV/cm² after bootup.

For more information about the Cascade SBC, click the product page link below.

Cascade product page

Moog

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Percept current sensors from Molex employ a coreless differential Hall-effect design and proprietary packaging to slash both size and weight. The sensor-in-busbar configuration allows for simple plug-and-play installation in automotive and industrial current sensing applications, such as inverters, motor drives and EV chargers.

Percept integrates an Infineon coreless magnetic current sensor in a Molex package to create a component that is 86% lighter and up to half the size of competing current sensors. The design also suppresses stray magnetic fields and reduces sensitivity and offset errors. 

Automotive and industrial-grade Percept sensors are available in current ranges from ±450 A to ±1600 A, with ±2% accuracy over temperature. They offer bidirectional sensing with options for full-differential, semi-differential, and single-ended output modes. AEC-Q100 Grade 1-qualified devices operate across a temperature range of -40°C to +125°C.

Sensors for industrial applications are expected to be available in October 2024, with the automotive product approval process scheduled for the first half of 2025. Limited engineering samples for industrial applications are available now.

Percept product page

Molex

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TDK-Lambda expands its i7A series of non-isolated step-down DC/DC converters with seven 500-W models that provide 20 A of output current. The converters occupy a standard 1/16th brick footprint and use a standardized pin configuration.

With an input voltage range of 28 V to 60 V, the new converters offer a trimmable output of 3.3 V to 32 V and achieve up to 96% efficiency. This high efficiency reduces internal losses and allows operation in ambient temperatures ranging from -40°C to +125°C. Additionally, an adjustable current limit option helps manage stress on the converter and load during overcurrent conditions, enabling precise adjustment based on system needs.

The 20-A i7A models are available in three 34×36.8-mm mechanical configurations: low-profile open frame, integrated baseplate for conduction cooling, and integrated heatsink for convection or forced air cooling.

Samples and price quotes for the i7A series step-down converters can be requested on the product page linked below.

i7A series product page

TDK-Lambda 

Find more datasheets on products like this one at Datasheets.com, searchable by category, part #, description, manufacturer, and more.

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