Notable & Newsworthy

May 2021
LTE CAT-M1 Module For Massive IoT Based On Monarch Technology
Renesas Electronics Corporation introduced the RYZ014A, Renesas’ first cellular IoT module supporting the LTE Cat-M1 specification. This technology allows devices to directly connect to the internet without the need for a gateway by relying on the existing communication infrastructure owned by mobile network op
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Date:
05/27/2021
40 Gbps DPDT Differential Switch for High-speed Switching
Menlo Microsystems, Inc. (Menlo Micro) has announced a new double-pole/double-throw (DPDT) switch providing the industry’s highest performance and data rates for high-speed differential switching applications. Based on Menlo Micro’s market-proven Ideal Switch technology, the new MM5600 DPDT switch offers high-speed operation from DC
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Date:
05/27/2021
Panasonic Industry PAN1781 Bluetooth 5 Low Energy module
The PAN1781 is a Bluetooth 5 Low Energy module based on the Nordic nRF52820 single chip controller and is, in a way, the lightweight version of the PAN1780. Bluetooth 5 features additionally a higher symbol rate of 2 Mbps using the high speed LE 2M PHY or a significantly longer range using the LE coded PHY a
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Date:
05/27/2021
eBook Offers a Complete Guide to Thermal Management
CUI Devices’ Thermal Management Group announced the release of a free, comprehensive ebook on the topic of thermal management. As an almost inescapable factor in electronic design, managing heat is often an afterthought during the design phase. With this free-to-download ebook titled, The Complete Guide to Th
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Date:
05/27/2021
Chip Ferrite Beads for Automotive Applications up to 175°C
Murata has introduced the BLM18KN_EH series of chip ferrite beads for noise suppression in power lines at temperatures up to 175°C. Target automotive applications include engine and transmission electronic control units (ECUs) and turbo motor controllers. The components also meet AEC-Q200 qualification re
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Date:
05/27/2021
Amerlux's UV-Free, White Antimicrobial Lighting Solutions
Amerlux launched an innovative, UV-free lighting solution that kills viruses, bacteria and other microbes on surfaces while providing crisp, white, comfortable illumination and meeting international standards for continual and unrestricted use around people. ActiveClean combines Amerlux’s commercial-grade LED lighting&n
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Date:
05/27/2021
Next-Generation, High-Performance Inertial Measurement Unit
ACEINNA Inc. announced the general availability of the OpenIMU335RI, a rugged inertial measurement unit (IMU) with CAN and RS232 interfaces. The OpenIMU335RI is the third product in ACEINNA’s Gen 3 architecture and adds a rugged sealed standalone product to the earlier introduced IMU383ZA and OpenIMU330BI. It delivers
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Date:
05/26/2021
Complete 13MP PDAF UVC Camera Reference Design Kit
THine Solutions, Inc., a THine company, introduced their new THEIA-CAM family of camera Reference Design Kits. The first Kit in the family is the THSCU101, a 13-megapixel Phase-Detection Auto-Focus (PDAF) USB Video Class (UVC) camera Reference Design Kit. The THSCU101 Kit is based on THine’s THP7312 image sig
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Date:
05/25/2021
Single Pole Tactile Switch for High Reliability Applications
C&K has developed a single pole double throw (SPDT) tactile switch designed for elevator buttons, gaming controllers and the industrial market. The TLSM Series SPDT tact switch combines a space-saving design with high reliability all within a compact design that is only 6.0mm x 6.1mm. At only 6.0 mm x
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Date:
05/25/2021
Megger Donates $10,000 to Phoenix Children’s Hospital Foundation

Pictured left to right: Kelsey Dean, Phoenix Children’s Hospital representative; Tyler Danner, daughter of David Danner; David Danner, director, Americas distribution, Megger; Steven Danner, David Danner’s grandson; Mike Palmer, Western regional US sales manager for Megger; and Julie Romero, Phoenix Children’s Hospital representative

Megger recently donated $10,000 to Phoenix Children’s Hospital Foundation. This foundation is dedicated to providing the philanthropic funding for vital, life-saving care to children in Arizona and across the country. Each year, since 2001, Megger holds its Annual Distributor Golf Outing in support of Phoenix Children’s Hospital Foundation. This year, due to the covid-19 pandemic, the outing was cancelled; however, Megger still made a donation to the Foundation.   “Our customers and distributors were upset that this year’s event was canc
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Date:
05/25/2021
Demonstration Board Delivers Best-in-Class Power Density
EPC announces the availability of the EPC9149, a 1 kW-capable 48 V input to 12 V output LLC converter that operates as a DC transformer with a conversion ratio of 4:1. This demonstration board features the 100V EPC2218 and 40 V EPC20 24GaN FETs. The board is the size of DOSA-standard ⅛th brick format, measur
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Date:
05/25/2021
Expanded Range of 16V Operation 1.0A Step-up DC/DC Converters
Torex Semiconductor Ltd. has launched a synchronous rectification type boost DC/DC converter--XC9143/XC9144 series, which incorporates two driver FETs required for switching operation. In recent years, demands of power supply ICs for small display systems and drive systems such as small motors and valves have
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Date:
05/25/2021
30 V N-Channel MOSFET Delivers High Power Density, Efficiency
Vishay Intertechnology, Inc. introduced a versatile new 30 V n-channel TrenchFET Gen V power MOSFET that delivers increased power density and efficiency for both isolated and non-isolated topologies. Offered in the 3.3 mm by 3.3 mm thermally enhanced PowerPAK 1212-8S package, the Vishay Siliconix SiSS52DN features best in class on-resistance of 0.95 mΩ
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Date:
05/24/2021
Flammable Gas Sensors for Real-time Personal Safety Monitors
NevadaNano announced that Universal Site Monitoring (USM) will use its Molecular Property Spectrometer (MPS) Flammable Gas Sensors in their BLE Gas Sensors to bring real-time gas detection capabilities to the mobile phone market. This will allow end-users to monitor gas risks in the field simply by connecting th
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Date:
05/24/2021
Plasma Jets Reveal Magnetic Fields Far, Far Away

A black hole (marked by the red x) at the centre of galaxy MRC 0600-399 emits a jet of particles that bends into a "double-scythe" T-shape that follows the magnetic field lines at the galaxy subcluster's boundary.

For the first time, researchers have observed plasma jets interacting with magnetic fields in a massive galaxy cluster 600 million light years away, thanks to the help of radio telescopes and supercomputer simulations. The findings, published in the journal Nature, can help clarify how such galaxy clusters evolve.
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Date:
05/24/2021
New Quantum Material Discovered

A compound of cerium, ruthenium and tin -- with surprising properties.

In everyday life, phase transitions usually have to do with temperature changes - for example, when an ice cube gets warmer and melts. But there are also different kinds of phase transitions, depending on other parameters such as magnetic field. In order to understand the quantum properties of materials, phase tr
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Date:
05/24/2021
TRACO's DC/DC Converters Shipping from Sager Electronics
Sager Electronics is now stocking TRACO Power’s TEP 40UIR and TEP 60UIR DC/DC converters. TRACO Power's TEP 40UIR and TEP 60UIR are high performance DC/DC converters offered in a compact quarter brick metal package. With an ultra-wide 12:1 input voltage range, these DC/DC converters are an all-in-one solution for
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Date:
05/24/2021
ROHM Launches
ROHM Semiconductor announced its “Environmental Vision 2050” program, which will contribute to achieving a sustainable society by 2050. In addition to pursuing zero carbon emissions (zero CO2 emissions), ROHM will promote business activities in harmony with the natural cycle to protect biodiversity ba
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Date:
05/21/2021
Amphenol Heavy-Duty Power Connectors in Stock at TTI
TTI, Inc., has in stock for immediate shipment Amphenol’s new PowerLok G2 Heavy-Duty Power Connector, featuring RADSOK contact technology. TTI and Mouser Electronics are the exclusive distributors for the new Amphenol product. Amphenol’s PowerLok G2 Connector features a 60A to 500A operating current, makin
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Date:
05/21/2021
Molex Thin-Film Battery in Stock at TTI
TTI, Inc., announces the availability of the Molex Thin-Film Battery from stock at TTI. Molex’s Thin-Film Battery is a low-profile, flexible, disposable battery with a small footprint designed for low-power single-use applications. The batteries are zinc-carbon primary cells (Zn anode/MnO2 cathode) that nomin
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Date:
05/21/2021
Smart Power Stage Family Provides High Efficiency
Alpha and Omega Semiconductor Limited announced a new series of Smart Power Stages (SPS) targeting multiphase VR regulators powering high-performance GPU and CPU in desktop Add-In Graphics Cards (AICs), gaming laptops, servers, data storage, artificial intelligence, and networking equipment. The AOZ527xQI series us
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Date:
05/21/2021
Ionization Energy of Atoms for Chemical Synthesis Advancements

Dispersion relations for TM Bloch modes in one-dimensional PC for different values of the refractive index (a) nh?=?2, (b) nh?=?3, (c) nh?=?5, (d) nh?=?7. The number of bands n in dispersion relations linearly increases with the refractive index of PC material host.

Ionization energy is one of the most important physicochemical parameters. It is defined in terms of the amount of energy required to rip an electron from an atom. The dependence of the ionization energy on the atomic number determines the periodic law of chemical elements, which is assumed to be fundamentally co
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Date:
05/21/2021
Advanced Model to Improve Safety of Next-Generation Reactors

Pebble-bed reactors use passive natural circulation to cool down, making it theoretically impossible for a core meltdown to occur.

When one of the largest modern earthquakes struck Japan on March 11, 2011, the nuclear reactors at Fukushima-Daiichi automatically shut down, as designed. The emergency systems, which would have helped maintain the necessary cooling of the core, were destroyed by the subsequent tsunami. Because the reactor could no
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Date:
05/21/2021
Seeing Graphene Growing Using a Standard Electron Microscope
Researchers from the University of Surrey have revealed a new method that enables common laboratory scanning electron microscopes to see graphene growing over a microchip surface in real time. This discovery, published in ACS Applied Nano Materials, could create a path to control the growth of graphene in pro
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Date:
05/21/2021
Nondestructive Broadband Imager: Next Step to Advanced Tech

The robot-assisted photo-source and imager built-in multi-axis movable PTE monitor arm, which represents a consolidation of functionality, led to the non-destructive unmanned remote high-speed omnidirectional photo-monitoring of a miniature aerial defective winding road-bridge.

One of the key aspects of academic and industrial research today is non-destructive imaging, a technique in which an object or sample is imaged (using light) without causing any damage to it. Often, such imaging techniques are crucial to ensuring safety and quality of industrial products, subsequently leading to
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Date:
05/21/2021
PSDcast – The U.S. Ranks Very Low in the Battery Supply Chain

CEO of Almonty, Lewis Black

A recent report put China atop the list of the lithium-ion battery raw material supply rankings, with 80% of global refining capacity for raw materials needed for batteries. While the U.S. comes in at a rather paltry 15th.
Date:
05/20/2021
Efabless and SkyWater Bring Chip Creation to the Masses
Efabless announced the launch of its new chipIgnite program to bring chip design and fabrication to the masses and a collaboration with SkyWater Technology for the first node supported in the program. The chipIgnite program expands upon the SKY130-based open source chip manufacturing program sponsored by Google an
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Date:
05/20/2021
Ultra-Broadband Capacitors Perform from 16KHz to 70+GHz
AVX Corporation has released new UBC 550 Series ultra-broadband capacitors designed to deliver reliable, repeatable performance from 16KHz to 70+GHz in ultra-broadband microwave and millimeter-wave RF applications with stringent operating requirements. The new UBC 550Z, 550U, and 550L Series ultra-broadband ca
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Date:
05/20/2021
Improved Lab Management Software for Remote Battery Testing
NH Research Inc. (NHR) announces the launch of Enerlab 2.0, a battery test lab management solution. Enerlab 2.0 battery test lab management software has a new enhanced design including a state of the art GUI focused on improving the user experience and productivity. Enerlab is a top level enterprise
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Date:
05/20/2021
Souriau UTGX Trim Trio Connectors in Stock at TTI
TTI, Inc., now carries Souriau’s UTGX Trim Trio Industrial Connector line. Souriau UTGX Trim Trio Bayonet Connectors are a versatile, ruggedized solution for industrial applications. These connectors are waterproof, shock-proof and UV resistant, allowing the series to withstand continuous underwater immersion
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Date:
05/19/2021
Entry-Level RZ/V2L MPUs with Best-in-Class Power Efficiency
Renesas Electronics Corporation announced the expansion of its RZ/V Series of microprocessors (MPUs) with the new RZ/V2L MPUs designed for entry-level AI-enabled applications. As part of the RZ/V Series, the new MPUs incorporate Renesas’ exclusive AI accelerator – the DRP-AI (Dynamically Reconfigurable Processor) – t
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Date:
05/19/2021
Building the Workforce for the Quantum Age
The Stone Age. The Bronze Age. The Iron Age. The Industrial Revolution. Eras tend to be defined by their technology, and humans may be headed for a new one: the Quantum Age. As the Digital Revolution ushered in an era of computer scientists, software engineers and electrical engineers, the evolution of quantu
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Date:
05/17/2021
High-Performance Solid Electrolyte for Solid-State Batteries
Natrion announced a new high-performance, flexible, and durable solid electrolyte thin film for the production of all-solid-state batteries (ASSBs). Called the Lithium Solid Ionic Composite (LISIC), this technology has been designed as a "plug and play" component that can be rapidly implemented by li
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Date:
05/17/2021
High Reliability Sensors for Fast Steering Mirror Control
The Measuring Division of Kaman Precision Products, Inc., announces the KD-5100+, an upgraded higher reliability version of Kaman’s legacy KD-5100 measuring system. The KD-5100+ retains the proven performance of the KD-5100 system while incorporating upgrades to the circuit layout, ground connections, and se
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Date:
05/17/2021
Thin-Film Wraparound Chip Resistor Delivers Tight TCR
Vishay Intertechnology, Inc. introduced a new high precision thin film wraparound chip resistor for industrial, medical, military, and aerospace applications. The Vishay Sfernice P2TC offers a tight TCR of ± 2 ppm/°C over wider resistance and temperature ranges — and in more case sizes with higher pow
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Date:
05/17/2021
Silicon Labs Expands Isolated Gate Driver Product Family
Silicon Labs announced the addition of Si828x version 2 to its isolated gate driver product family. This update allows the product family to effectively drive Silicon Carbide (SiC) Field Effect Transistor (FET) gates, addressing the growing market for half- and full-bridge inverters and power supplies that require im
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Date:
05/17/2021
Servo Controller/Driver Module Accelerates Robotics
TRINAMIC Motion Control GmbH & Co. KG, introduces the smallest and lowest-power single-axis servo controller/driver module with integrated motion control. The new TMCM-1321 servo controller/driver module enables two-phase bipolar stepper motors in robotics and automation equipment to optimize speed and synchronization of a
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Date:
05/17/2021
Best-in-class 65W USB-C PD GaN Adapter Reference Design
Transphorm, Inc. and Silanna Semiconductor announced a world-class GaN power adapter reference design. The solution is an open frame, 65W USB-C Power Delivery (PD) charger that combines Transphorm’s SuperGaN Gen IV platform with Silanna Semiconductor’s proprietary Active Clamp Flyback (ACF) PWM controller. To
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Date:
05/17/2021
Building a Foundation for High-Power Tech

Brandon Grainger (left) and Paul Ohodnicki received $820,000 from the Office of Naval Research to create new materials and manufacturing processes for ultra-wide bandgap semiconductors.

As electrification advancement accelerates and more renewables are integrated into the electric grid, improved power electronics systems are needed to convert AC or DC power into a usable form. New semiconductor device materials and advanced magnetic materials can enable an unprecedented combination of voltage le
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Date:
05/16/2021
Above the Noise

Deep learning helps researchers to find hidden features in resistive pulse signals in nanopore sensing of nanoscale objects.

Scientists from the Institute of Scientific and Industrial Research at Osaka University used machine learning methods to enhance the signal-to-noise ratio in data collected when tiny spheres are passed through microscopic nanopores cut into silicon substrates. This work may lead to much more sensitive data collection wh
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Date:
05/16/2021
Ecology-Inspired Mathematical Models for Social Networks
The ease with which anyone can create online content for free, especially on social media, has led to superabundance of information being one of the defining characteristics of today's communication systems. This situation has resulted in increasingly intense competition for attention, which has become a scarce goo
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Date:
05/16/2021
UPS Minimizes Unplanned Disruptions in Harsh Environments
As more power-sensitive devices are deployed in automated industrial processes, the need for reliable battery backup power is growing exponentially, yet serious challenges remain in the design of traditional Uninterrupted Power Supplies (UPS). Most UPS are simply too large or heat-sensitive to be installed in co
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Date:
05/16/2021
IEC-Style C6 Inlet is UL Uprated to 7A/125 VAC
SCHURTER announces a change to the UL/CSA ratings for its 2561/2562 series IEC C6 inlet. The inlet conforms with the standards update UL 498 & CSA C22.2 to UL 60320-1, where the ratings are also updated to reflect both IEC 2.5A at 250 VAC and UL 7A at 125 VAC. With the trend toward downsizing equipment t
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Date:
05/16/2021
Generac Expands Offering w/ Largest Gaseous Generator Set
Generac Industrial Power’s leadership in gaseous fueled generators expands with the introduction of its largest natural gas unit in the lineup to date.   The new SG1000 1000 kW gaseous generator is designed with Generac’s in-house engine expertise and uses robust MOTORTECH components. The new engin
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Date:
05/12/2021
DC-DC Demonstration Board Powered by GaN FETs
EPC announces the availability of the EPC9137, a 1.5 kW, two-phase 48 V – 12 V bidirectional converter that operates with 97 % efficiency in a very small footprint. The design of this demonstration board is scalable; that is, two converters can be paralleled to achieve 3 kW or three converters can be paralleled to
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Date:
05/11/2021
Proximity Sensor Offers Power Consumption Down to 6.63 μA
The Optoelectronics Group of Vishay Intertechnology, Inc. introduced a new fully integrated proximity sensor designed to increase efficiency and performance in consumer and industrial applications. Featuring a vertical-cavity surface-emitting laser (VCSEL), the Vishay Semiconductors VCNL36825T combines a photodiode, si
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Date:
05/11/2021
Linear ReDrivers Deliver Enhanced Signal Integrity
Diodes Incorporated has strengthened its position in the linear ReDriver IC market with the introduction of the 1.8V PI2DPX1066, PI2DPX1217, and PI2DPX1263. Suited for a range of applications including notebook and desktop PCs, smartphones, tablets, docking stations, gaming consoles, monitors, and virtual reality eq
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Date:
05/11/2021
Design Suite Accelerates Embedded Security Implementations
In 2019, Microchip Technology released its Trust Platform for its CryptoAuthentication family, bringing the industry’s first pre-provisioned solutions for hardware-based secure elements to companies of all sizes that want an easy way to implement secure authentication. Today, the company is further en
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Date:
05/11/2021
Stack Accelerates Development of Industrial Automation Systems
Lattice Semiconductor Corporation extended its portfolio of comprehensive low power FPGA-based solution stacks with the introduction of Lattice Automate. The stack includes software tools, industrial IP cores, modular hardware development boards, and software-programmable reference designs and demos that simplify an
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Date:
05/11/2021
Study: Renewable Energy will Enhance Power Grid's Resilience

Image created by Dakota Thompson using the electric grid energy resources GIS data from S&P Global Platts. (2017) Platts Energy Map Data Pro.

A new Dartmouth Engineering study shows that integrating renewable energy into the American Electric Power System (AEPS) would enhance the grid's resilience, meaning a highly resilient and decarbonized energy system is possible. The researchers' analysis is based upon the incremental incorporation of architectural chan
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Date:
05/11/2021
Electromagnetic Levitation Whips Nanomaterials into Shape
In order for metal nanomaterials to deliver on their promise to energy and electronics, they need to shape up -- literally. To deliver reliable mechanical and electric properties, nanomaterials must have consistent, predictable shapes and surfaces, as well as scalable production techniques. UC Riverside engineers
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Date:
05/11/2021
PSDcast – The World's First Holographic Hotel Check-In System

Glenn Imobersteg from Holo Industries

The global pandemic has fundamentally changed a number of societal norms – likely permanently. One of those changes is that people will take extra care to prevent the spread of infection, whether that’s using hand sanitizer, wearing masks in crowded social situations, or thinking twice about touching objects
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Date:
05/11/2021
Advanced Solar Tech Runs Cooler and Lasts Longer
Australian photovoltaics researchers have made a 'cool' discovery: Singlet fission and tandem solar cells - two innovative ways to generate solar power more efficiently - also help to lower operating temperatures and keep devices running for longer. Tandem cells can be made from a combination of silicon - the most
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Date:
05/10/2021
Light Meets Superconducting Circuits

A cryogenic dilution refrigerator. The base temperature is 10 milli Kelvin.

In the last few years, several technology companies including Google, Microsoft, and IBM, have massively invested in quantum computing systems based on microwave superconducting circuit platforms in an effort to scale them up from small research-oriented systems to commercialized computing platforms. But fulfilling th
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Date:
05/10/2021
Magnetic Nanoparticles Pull Valuable Elements from Water

Potential lithium sources from water produced in mining and petroleum operations, expressed as concentration (parts per million). Data from US Geological Survey, Produced Water Database.

A clever idea to use magnetic nanoparticles to capture valuable materials from brines has blossomed into industrial-scale pilot projects that could help make the U.S. a producer of critical minerals used in electronics and energy production. Today, most of these minerals are obtained from international sources, ma
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Date:
05/10/2021
TDK Introduces DC Link Capacitors with Exceptionally Low ESL
TDK Corporation presents a new series of EPCOS power capacitors for DC link applications. The new capacitors are available for rated voltages of 700 V DC to 2000 V DC and cover a capacitance range of 20 µF to 270 µF. The current handling capacity can be up to 60 A at 65 °C with the ability to tolerate current pe
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Date:
05/07/2021
Optek Smart Sensor Modules Now Available from TTI
TTI, Inc., is now stocking the OPB9001 Reflective Optical Sensor from TT Electronics - Optek. This sensor is targeted for the medical and industrial applications including industrial printing, dispensing, manufacturing automation and portable lab/medical equipment. Optek’s OPB9001 is a reflective, CMOS logic
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Date:
05/07/2021
TTI Offering Backlighting Chip LEDs from ROHM
TTI, Inc., is now offering the ROHM CSL0901/CSL0902 LED series. These compact, high-output, surface-mount LEDs are designed with molded lenses to optimize intensity. This new lineup includes 18 devices, comprised of the CSL0901 series and featuring standard brightness and the high brightness CSL0902 series. LED
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Date:
05/07/2021
Perovskite Solar: High Efficiency on a Large Surface Area

An innovative combination of processes enables the interconnection of cells to form modules with nearly no losses. (Photo: Amadeus Bramsiepe, KIT)

From cell to module without loss of efficiency: This is one of the main challenges of perovskite photovoltaics. Researchers at Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) have now managed to produce perovskite solar modules with minimum scaling loss. For this purpose, they combined laser-based series interconnections wi
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Date:
05/07/2021
3D Printing Using Electron Beams
Prof. Dr. Carolin Körner, Chair of Materials Science and Engineering for Metals at Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg (FAU) has been awarded an ERC Advanced Grant, which is not only extraordinary funding, but also recognition of Erlangen and Nuremberg as an exceptional location for science an
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Date:
05/07/2021
Server / Telecom - Si and WBG solutions: Part 3 of 4 Editorial Series Sponsored by Infineon; Towards Efficient, Reliable, and Cost-Effective Power Supply Units for 5G Telecom Rectifiers Applications Using Wide-Bandgap Semiconductors

Click image to enlarge

Figure 1: Key features required for AC-DC SMPS in the latest generation of telecom applications

The 5G spectrum has been released in several countries worldwide and already in commercial use. 5G is accelerating and promises to change our lives thanks to large bandwidth, massive connection, and ultra-low latency. On top of this network evolution, we need to consider the advancements in the so-called mobile ed
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Date:
05/07/2021
Server / Telecom - Si and WBG solutions: Part 4 of 4 Editorial Series Sponsored by Infineon; Design Guidelines for High Power Server and Telecom Power Supplies Use-Cases

Click image to enlarge

Table 1a: Key performance indicators of silicon (Si)-based superjunction technology CoolMOS™ C7 compared to SiC MOSFET CoolSiC™ and GaN HEMT technology CoolGaN™

Introduction With the recent introduction of active wide bandgap (WBG) power semiconductors on a broad commercial scale, the number of use cases is rapidly increasing. High power applications such as power supplies for server and telecom have been among the first adaptors driving acceptance and early success stories.
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Date:
05/07/2021
Synthesis of Perovskite Visible-Light-Absorbing Semiconductors

A cheaper perovskite-based semiconductor material that is free of toxic lead and can absorb a wide range of visible light with potential photofunctional applications.

Narrow-gap semiconductors with the ability to use visible light have garnered significant interest thanks to their versatility. Now, scientists in Japan have developed and characterized a new semiconductor material for application in process components stimulated by light. The findings have, for the first time, su
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Date:
05/07/2021
Dead Lithium Batteries Could Undergo Unique Recycling Process

American Resources Corp. and Purdue University have teamed to advance an environmentally safer method that recycles rare-earth metals to advance clean energy electronic technologies used in hard disk drives, electric vehicles, wind turbines and other electronics.

American Resources Corp., a socially responsible supplier of high-quality raw materials, announced Thursday (May 6) an expansion of its existing sponsored research program with Purdue University. The agreement will focus on advancing the purification of critical and rare-earth elements ("REEs"). The partnership builds on
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Date:
05/07/2021
Plug-and-Play Gate Driver Targets Railway Applications
Power Integrations announced a new SCALE-2 gate driver for 130 x 140 mm single IGBT high-power (IHM) modules, commonly used in railway and other long-life applications. Comprising the 1SP0630V2M1R main driver, 1SP0635D2S1R peripheral driver and ISO6125R-33 power supply, the new SCALE-2 plug-and-play gate drivers st
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Date:
05/06/2021
Software for Precise Control of ICs in BLDC Motor Drives
Power Integrations released its Motor-Expert software, an embedded “C” code application, library and control GUI that enables designers using the company’s BridgeSwitch brushless DC (BLDC) motor driver ICs to precisely control and tune single-phase motors. BLDC motors are widely used in modern, high-efficiency ap
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Date:
05/06/2021
Laboratory-Type Accuracy in a  Battery-Operated DC Calibrator
Vitrek offers the XiTRON 2000 series for metrologists who need superior accuracy and portability when calibrating thermocouple, pressure, flow and DC instrumentation. Delivering laboratory-level accuracy in a battery-powered DC calibrator, the 2000 Series is a cost-effective calibration/simulation tool ideal fo
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Date:
05/06/2021
High-Voltage DC-DC Converters for Analytical Applications
XP Power released the HRC05 series of 5W regulated high-voltage DC-DC converters that delivers a fully adjustable and reliable output voltage up to 6kVDC in a small package. Models in the series provide design engineers working on high voltage integration with a complete set of features as standard in one compact fo
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Date:
05/06/2021
Server / Telecom - Si and WBG solutions: Part 2 of 4 Editorial Series Sponsored by Infineon; How to Reap the Benefits of  Wide-Bandgap Semiconductors in Server Applications

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Figure 1: Comparison of temperature dependency of the on-state resistance for different semiconductor technologies, such as Infineon’s CoolMOS™, CoolSiC™, and CoolGaN™

The emergence of cloud-based internet services, artificial intelligence, and cryptocurrency has initiated a strong growth of processing power in data centers worldwide. Since the data centers have also been facing rising electricity and real estate prices, there is a clear trend towards highly efficient and co
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Date:
05/06/2021
20Gbps Multi-Channel Mux/Demux For Video Signal Routing
Diodes Incorporated has further expanded its video passive multiplexer/demultiplexer (mux/demux) switch portfolio with the introduction of the 4-channel PI3WVR14412. Supporting up to 20Gbps operation, this 2:1/1:2 mux/demux device provides speeds beyond those of other products on the market - resulting in a 35% increas
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Date:
05/05/2021
Thick Film Chip Resistors Provide Superior Pulse Handling
Applications that experience pulse events require special consideration for selecting resistors. General purpose thick film chip resistors have variable pulse handling depending on calibration trim length. As a result, their pulse performance can be unreliable. Stackpole’s RPC series has limited trim lengt
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Date:
05/05/2021
Closing in on State-of-the-Art Semiconductor Solar Cells
A synthetic approach that improves absorber layers in perovskite solar cells could help them achieve their full potential and draw closer to the performance of leading gallium arsenide devices. Solar cells that rely on perovskite thin films to capture sunlight are the fastest growing photovoltaic technolog
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Date:
05/05/2021
Complex Shapes of Photons to Boost Future Quantum Technologies

Conceptual image of the used method for manipulating the spatial structures of photons using multiple consecutive lossless modulations.

As the digital revolution has now become mainstream, quantum computing and quantum communication are rising in the consciousness of the field. The enhanced measurement technologies enabled by quantum phenomena, and the possibility of scientific progress using new methods, are of particular interest to researchers ar
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Date:
05/05/2021
400PV Photovoltaic Fuses Provide Rugged Circuit Protection
Littelfuse, Inc. announced the 400PV Fuse series, a 2410 size, surface mount design (SMD) circuit protection component that offers low resistance for photovoltaic (PV) applications. The 400PV is specifically designed to address the latest trend in solar roofing by enabling PV shingles that integrate both the shing
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Date:
05/04/2021
RECOM Power's AC/DC Converters Shipping from Sager Electronics
Sager Electronics is now stocking RECOM Power’s RAC02E-K/277 & RAC03E-K/277 series 2W and 3W AC/DC converters. RECOM Power's RAC02E-K/277 and RAC03E-K/277 series AC/DC modules are capable of 277 VAC with 4kVAC isolation. Providing versatile power in a compact space, these converters offer outputs ranging from 3.3
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Date:
05/04/2021
Tri Global Energy Advances 175 MW West Texas Wind Project
Tri Global Energy, an independent renewable energy originator and developer, announced the sale of its 175 MW West Texas wind project, Appaloosa Run, in southeast Upton County near the county seat of Rankin, Texas. Comprised of approximately 12,300 leased acres, the project's land is privately owned by a single lan
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Date:
05/04/2021
400 W Motor Drive Demonstration Powered by GaN Power Stage
EPC announces the availability of the EPC9146, a 400 W motor drive demonstration. The EPC9146 power board contains three independently controlled half bridge circuits, featuring the EPC2152 monolithic ePower Stage with integrated gate driver, 80 V maximum device voltage, 15 A (10 ARMS) maximum output current. The
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Date:
05/04/2021
Packaging, Functional Integration Driving Semiconductor Growth
The over $42 billion global power semiconductor market (according to a recent Research and Markets report) is seeing incremental growth in traditional silicon power semiconductors like rectifiers and diodes, TVS devices, silicon MOSFETS and IGBTs. In the wide bandgap (WBG) segment, silicon carbide (SiC) is relatively sm
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Date:
05/03/2021
Triple Bucks Plus a Boost Controller to Meet Tough Requirements

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Figures 1: Cold crank-tolerant automotive supply with three regulated outputs. Three bucks are powered with a boost preregulator (VOUT4), yielding precise regulation for all three outputs through a VBAT cold crank event (also shown)

Automobiles present space-constrained, harsh environments that demand reliable and compact power supplies for increasingly complex electronics systems. The LT8603 compact regulator is a robust solution that combines two high voltage 2.5 A and 1.5 A buck regulators, a low voltage 1.8 A buck regulator, and a boost co
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Date:
05/03/2021
Which Airflow Direction for Power Supply Fan Cooling?

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Figure 1: Genesys+ DC programmable power supply

With integral, built-in fans some power supplies have the fan blow cool air into the power supply and others have the fan extract the hot air. The option to have the power supply manufacturer reverse the direction of the fan may be available. This may be of interest to the user when the system and power supply ai
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Date:
05/03/2021
Powering Patient-Connected Medical Devices

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Figure 1: Medical power system with secondary DC-DC

Many medical products are likely to come into contact with patients or operators during normal use or may require a sensor or device to be directly applied to a patient to perform their function. These ‘applied parts’ must be suitably isolated from any power source and ground to prevent current flow and co
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Date:
05/03/2021
When the Greek God Aeolus Meets the Norse Goddess Skadi!

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Figure 1 – Wind-farm Markbygden 1101 up-North Sweden deploying more than 1100 wind turbines (Picture: PRBX / Courtesy of Svevind AB Markbygden 1101)

Although solar is getting a large amount of attention, wind turbines are stealthily and rapidly gaining market share. In less than 10 years wind turbines have become more efficient and more powerful, with the latest generation units being almost as high as the Eiffel Tower and able to deliver 13 megawatts of po
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Date:
05/03/2021
MOSFET for Hot-Swap Applications

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Figure 1. Multi-module Telecom-server Hot-Swap Applications

When hot-swap circuits are used in high-availability systems, the operation will not be interrupted if there is a need to replace or add attentional units for system operation. Figure 1 shows that hot-swapping can often involve a large transient current (up to hundreds of amperes) to charge the output capacitor
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Date:
05/03/2021
Mitigating Heat Problems in Modern Computer Power Systems

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Figure 1. LT3033 typical application

Each successive generation of computing systems demands more total power and lower supply voltages than its predecessor, challenging power supply designers to keep pace with higher output current in a small area. At high power densities with low output voltages, the problem of heat dissipation rises to the top of
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Date:
05/03/2021
Powering 5G

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Figure 1: Base station energy consumption rise (adapted from Huawei data)

We have all been looking forward to 5G mobile communications and the promised benefits – faster downloads at speeds theoretically greater than 50Gps, 50x lower latency than 4G, the opening up of the IoT for home and factory automation and of course control of autonomous vehicles. By 2025, the resulting data tr
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Date:
05/03/2021
Foundations of Quiescent Current in Linear Power Systems

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Figure 1. Common battery-powered applications that use LDOs

With many portable medical devices, consumer electronics and building automation products now relying exclusively on battery power, design engineers are increasingly looking to reduce power consumption to get the most they can from their batteries. Figure 1 depicts some of the most common applications for which
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Date:
05/03/2021
Shrinking the Physical Layouts of Power Systems Designs

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Figure 1: Infineon Technologies CoolSiC 1200V SiC Trench MOSFETs support higher switching frequencies with reduced heat dissipation in a space-saving package. (Source: Mouser Electronics)

Business magnate, industrial designer, and engineer Elon Musk is aiming to land humans on Mars by 2026. Musk’s vision is leading humanity to explore more of space. In contrast, power systems designers are primarily concerned with saving space on their physical layouts of power systems designs. Not to be
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Date:
05/03/2021
Diamonds are a Battery's Best Friend
In this space in the past, I’ve written quite often on battery technology. It’s no surprise as battery research is the place to be right now. The speed of adoption of electric vehicles and renewable energy is dependent on energy storage that has higher capacity, is more efficient and charges faster. Every mo
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Date:
05/03/2021
Navigating (and Thriving in) the Global Semiconductor Shortage
From the first day of the global pandemic, our industry was classified “essential,” so we were spared most of the worldwide economic fallout from COVID-19. Notwithstanding work-from-home policies, it’s been business-as-usual…mostly. Send most of the world indoors for months at a time, and you’re
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Date:
05/03/2021
PCIM Goes Virtual for a Second Year
Usually at this time of year, I’d be preparing to head off to Nuremberg for the biggest power event of the year. PCIM is always the showcase for the power industry in Europe and the exhibition that almost every company involved in the industry uses as a launchpad for their newest products and technologies. Un
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Date:
05/03/2021
As Fundamental as they Come
We’re closer than ever to eradicating COVID-19 – vaccines are disseminating, restrictions are lifting, and even if the coronavirus lingers for months (or years), we’re beginning to return to “normal.” But not soon enough. Next month’s Applied Power Electronics Conference (APEC), the Super Bowl of t
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Date:
05/03/2021
Server / Telecom - Si and WBG solutions: Part 1 of 4 Editorial Series Sponsored by Infineon; Innovative Silicon Solution for Highest PFC Efficiency

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Figure 1: Circuit diagram of the proposed solution using CoolMOS™ in a half-bridge configuration

Introduction As a result of the pandemic that lately has had a significant impact on our lives, communication networks became a crucial part of critical social infrastructure. To achieve the required server capacities and fast connectivity and address the challenges of this unprecedented situation and, highly
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Date:
05/03/2021
Thermoelectric Coolers Increase PCR Cycling Reliability
Laird Thermal Systems announces the launch of the PowerCycling PCX series of thermoelectric coolers designed to meet demanding thermal cycling applications found in molecular diagnostics, PCR and point of care test devices. Thermal cycling exposes thermoelectric coolers to mechanical stresses as the module contrac
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Date:
05/03/2021
AC Filtering Film Capacitors Withstand THB Testing of 40°C
Vishay Intertechnology, Inc. introduced a new series of metallized polypropylene AC filtering film capacitors optimized for high humidity environments. Vishay Roederstein MKP1847C AC Filtering devices withstand demanding temperature humidity bias (THB) testing — 40 °C, 93 % relative humidity for 56
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Date:
05/03/2021
Molex Off-the-Shelf MX150 Cable Assemblies in Stock at TTI
TTI, Inc., announces the availability of the full range of OTS MX150 Cable Assemblies from stock at TTI. Molex continues to broaden and deepen its OTS cable assembly offering with MX150 being the latest to hit TTI’s shelves. The MX150 Cable Assemblies deliver a 22.0A current rating and offer a variety of c
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Date:
05/03/2021
The Next Revolutionary Step for Low Power

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Figure 1. Simplified circuit of the active clamp flyback (ACF) topology

Introduction It is estimated that 4 billion chargers and adapters are produced globally every year. They charge our mobile phones, tablets, wearables, and the myriad of other consumer electronic goods we consume continuously. The cost of the adapter is undoubtedly a significant consideration for original equipme
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Date:
05/01/2021
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