CDE Expands its High-Energy Storage, Pulse-Discharge Film Capacitors

CDE Cornell Dubilier Electronics, Inc. announces a major product expansion of standard and custom high energy storage, pulse-discharge capacitors. These are specialized devices, designed for applications requiring repetitive high energy and high voltage charge/discharge cycles.

Source: CDE Expands its High-Energy Storage, Pulse-Discharge Film Capacitors

Combining Capacitors and Inductors in a Single Component 

Researchers at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign have devised a method of combining capacitors and inductors in a tiny, 3D rolled membrane. This will save space in the electronic filters found in phones and other wireless devices. They eliminate or enhance specific input signals to get the best output signals. While essential, these filters take up space on the chips that researchers are constantly trying to make smaller.

Source: Combining Capacitors and Inductors in a Single Component | Microwaves & RF

Survey in 3D Electronics Alternative to PCBs 

Mention an electronic circuit and you are likely to picture a printed circuit board (PCB): a rigid rectangle in a characteristic green color with copper lines and a bewildering array of components soldered onto it. But does adding electronic functionality means using a PCB and thus requires shoehorning a rigid rectangle into the product?

Source: Survey in 3D Electronics Alternative to PCBs – Passive Components Blog

Researchers Demonstrated Ultrahigh Energy Density Ceramic Capacitor 

By introducing defects to a common ceramic material, Berkeley Lab researchers create a highly efficient capacitor with dramatically increased energy density.

Source: Researchers Demonstrated Ultrahigh Energy Density Ceramic Capacitor – Passive Components Blog

Memory pricing downward pressure to extend to 1H21

Oversupply in the memory market is likely to extend downward pricing pressure to the first half of 2021. Memory prices are expected to drop 10% in fourth-quarter 2020. Although demnd for memory products from the PC sector may be flat in fourth-quarter 2020, notebook brand vendors are all-out trying to secure shipments from ODMs to meet strong demand for notebooks in the months ahead. Meanwhile, ASML will soon unveil an EUV technology training center in Taiwan to better serve its major client, TSMC.

Source: Highlights of the day: Memory pricing downward pressure to extend to 1H21

Acacia sampling 100G QSFP-DD coherent pluggable module

Acacia Communications Inc of Maynard, MA, USA (which develops and manufactures high-speed coherent optical interconnect products) is sampling new 100G coherent pluggable solutions specifically designed for optimization in edge and access applications with unamplified links up to 120km.

Source: Acacia sampling 100G QSFP-DD coherent pluggable module

CHIPS Act Targets Post-Globalized Industry 

The U.S. economy is tanking, America is recording more than 1,000 coronavirus deaths daily, millions file for unemployment benefits each week. Amid the crises, chips are taking center stage in what looks like a new, pandemic-driven industrial policy .Manufacturing advanced and secure circuits domestically is no longer just a talking point. Momentum is building, observers note.

Source: CHIPS Act Targets Post-Globalized Industry | EE Times

SMD Package for Rad-Hard Power Electronics 

Anchoring surface mount components (SMD package) to PCBs is a challenge. All too often, different thermal coefficients lead to an expansion misalignment of the materials used, resulting in loss of efficiency. The problem can be especially severe for electronics headed for space.

Source: SMD Package for Rad-Hard Power Electronics | EE Times

Supercapacitors: A 25-Year Market Review

This MarketEYE article discusses the subject of supercapacitors from a perspective of 25 years of behind-the-scenes consulting on markets, technologies and opportunities related to double layer carbon and mixed metal oxide components, operating at the maximum available capacitance range.

Source: Supercapacitors: A 25-Year Market Review | TTI, Inc.

Combating Counterfeit Chips

The harsh reality is that today, the authenticity of chips is often impossible to guarantee. The counterfeit chip market is sizeable and growing with a worldwide value estimated at $75B in 2019. Those counterfeits are believed to have been integrated into more than $169B of electronic devices. Recent confirmed incidents of counterfeit parts found in electronic systems include defibrillators, airport landing lights, intravenous (IV) drip machines, and braking systems for high speed trains. With electronic devices critical to nearly every aspect of modern life, the risk of counterfeits can range from an inconvenience to injury or loss of life.

Source: Combating Counterfeit Chips

Global Semiconductor Sales Increase 5.1% Year-to-Year in June 

WASHINGTON—Aug. 3, 2020— The Semiconductor Industry Association (SIA) today announced worldwide sales of semiconductors were $34.5 billion in June 2020, an increase of 5.1 percent from the June 2019 total of $32.9 billion. Sales in June were 0.3 percent less than the May 2020 total of $34.6 billion. Sales during the second quarter of 2020 were $103.6 billion, an increase of 5.1 percent over the second quarter of 2019, but a small decrease of 0.9 percent compared to the first quarter of 2020. Monthly sales are compiled by the World Semiconductor Trade Statistics (WSTS) organization and represent a three-month moving average. SIA represents 95 percent of the U.S. semiconductor industry by revenue and nearly two-thirds of non-U.S. chip firms.

Source: Global Semiconductor Sales Increase 5.1 Percent Year-to-Year in June; Q2 Sales Down Slightly Compared to Q1 – Semiconductor Industry Association

Rethinking Competitive One Upmanship Among Foundries

The winner in the foundry business used to be determined by who got to the most advanced process node first. For the most part that benchmark no longer works.Unlike in the past, when all of the foundries and IDMs competed using basically the same process, each foundry has gone its own route. This is primarily due to the divergence of end markets, and the realization that as costs increase, only a handful of companies would be able to afford or need the most advanced nodes. And while performance and power are still critical elements of a design, there are multiple ways to get there.

Source: Rethinking Competitive One Upmanship Among Foundries