Notable & Newsworthy

December 2014
The Energy Department's National Renewable Energy Laboratory has announced the demonstration of a 45.7 percent conversion efficiency for a four-junction solar cell at 234 suns concentration. This achievement represents one of the highest photovoltaic research cell efficiencies achieved across all types of solar cel
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Date:
12/30/2014
The Consumer Electronics Association (CEA) announced that the 2015 International CES will feature the largest ever showcase of products, services and technologies that make up the “Internet of Things” (IoT), with more than 900 exhibitors planning to share innovations that harness the power of the network to
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Date:
12/29/2014
Coupling quantum dot light emitters with nanofibers for quantum internet applications

Research is ongoing to develop fiber in-line technology to integrate atomic sources of light into optical nanofibers

Professor Hakuta and his group at the Center for Photonic Innovations are addressing the following issues to develop fiber in-line technology to integrate atomic sources of light into optical nanofibers. Fabrication of high efficiency tapered glass nanofibers; development of reproducible methods for integrating si
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Date:
12/24/2014
Renovo Coupe on display at NVIDIA booth at CES to highlight automotive innovation

The Renovo Coupe

Renovo Motors, makers of the first all-electric American supercar, announced their revolutionary Renovo Coupe will be featured at the NVIDIA Booth (#30307) at the 2015 Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas from Jan. 6-9, 2015. Founded in Silicon Valley in 2010, Renovo unveiled the Coupe at the 2014 Pebble Beach Co
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Date:
12/22/2014
2014 trends lay groundwork for IoT

The Intel Edison is part of a Wearables campaign by Intel.

The Internet of Things (IoT) promises to construct a digital shadow of the physical world, and this presents opportunities that are tremendous in scope and profound in their implications. At the same time, realizing this vision of a massively interconnected life requires both the push of a critical mass of smart de
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Date:
12/19/2014
UNSW's solar researchers have converted over 40% of the sunlight hitting a solar system into electricity, the highest efficiency ever reported. The world-beating efficiency was achieved in outdoor tests in Sydney, before being independently confirmed by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) at their out
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Date:
12/18/2014
AF tests first all-electric vehicle fleet in California

Miranda Ballentine greets vendors during the unveiling of the first federal facility to replace its entire general-purpose fleet with plug-in electric vehicles Nov. 14, 2014, at Los Angeles Air Force Base in El Segundo, Calif.

Air Force officials unveiled the Department of Defense’s first non-tactical vehicle fleet composed entirely of plug-in electric vehicles, Nov. 14, at Los Angeles Air Force Base, California. The rollout of the 42-vehicle fleet marks a milestone in the DOD’s demonstration of emerging technology and the vehicles wi
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Date:
12/17/2014
O2Micro, a global leader in the design, development and marketing of high-performance integrated circuits and solutions, was granted a U.S. patent for its Battery Management Systems (BMS) with Vertical Bus Circuits. A BMS monitors battery modules to ensure safe operation and to maximize capacity and
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Date:
12/17/2014
Nanoparticle network could bring fast-charging batteries

This schematic diagram depicts the concept for a new electrode design for lithium-ion batteries that has been shown to potentially reduce the charging time from hours to minutes by replacing the conventional graphite electrode with a network of tin-oxide nanoparticles.

A novel electrode design for lithium-ion batteries has been shown to potentially reduce the charging time from hours to minutes by replacing the conventional graphite electrode with a network of tin-oxide nanoparticles. Batteries have two electrodes, called an anode and a cathode. The anodes in most of today's lit
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Date:
12/11/2014
Smart lighting for Christmas trees

The Lightify light chain and smartphone app drives the Christmas tree to around 16 million different colors

Osram is now offering ”smart“ lighting for Christmas trees. The Lightify light chain enables the festive trees to radiate in around 16 million different colours, controlled by a smartphone app. Thanks to modern LED technology, Christmas budgets are also better – the German Energy Agency calculates that up
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Date:
12/11/2014
Infineon launches advanced high-power-module platform with royalty-free license of package design

Royalty-Free License of Package Design for Industry Use

Infineon Technologies announced the launch of two new power module platforms designed to improve the performance of high-voltage IGBTs in voltage classes from 1200V up to 6.5kV. To make the benefits of the new module broadly available, Infineon is offering a royalty-free license of the design to all providers of
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Date:
12/10/2014
Superconductivity without cooling

No resistance at room temperature: The resonant excitation of oxygen oscillations (blurred) between CuO2 double layers (light blue, Cu yellowy orange, O red) with short light pulses leads to the atoms in the crystal lattice briefly shifting away from their equilibrium positions. This shift brings about an increase in the separations of CuO2 layers within a double layer and a simultaneous decrease in the separations between double layers. It is highly probable that this enhances the superconductivity. Credit: Jörg Harms/MPI for the Structure and Dynamics of Matter

Superconductivity is a remarkable phenomenon: superconductors can transport electric current without any resistance and thus without any losses whatsoever. It is already in use in some niche areas, for example as magnets for nuclear spin tomography or particle accelerators. However, the materials must be cooled to
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Date:
12/09/2014
Controlling a material with voltage

This technique could let a small electrical signal change materials’ electrical, thermal, and optical characteristics

A novel way of switching the magnetic properties of a material using just a small applied voltage, developed by researchers at MIT and collaborators elsewhere, could signal the beginning of a new family of materials with a variety of switchable properties, the researchers say. The technique could ultimatel
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Date:
12/09/2014
ST Chips Capture the beat in the smallest wearable heart monitor

Wearable heart-rate monitor from PulseOn

Tiny motion-sensing and data-processing chips from STMicroelectronics, a global semiconductor leader serving customers across the spectrum of electronics applications, have enabled the market’s smallest wearable heart-rate monitor from PulseOn for fitness enthusiasts of all levels. The sleek and stylish w
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Date:
12/09/2014
Mouser awards $10,000 prize to winners of TI's Innovation Challenge Europe 2014

From left to right: Mark Burr-Lonnon, Glenn Smith, Nobby Stevens, Stijn Wielandt,Nuria Llin,Jean-Francois Fau, Steve Lyle, Florian Sartral

Mouser Electronics has presented prizes worth tens of thousands of dollars to the winners of Texas Instruments’ Innovation Challenge: Europe Analog Design Contest 2014. Part of Texas Instruments’ European university programme which facilitates the inclusion of world-class embedded processing and analogue te
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Date:
12/05/2014
TE Connectivity offers fiber optic solutions for racecar EMI issues

TE Connectivity has brought fiber optic solutions to the cutting edge of connectivity for autosports

With the new high-current electrical systems on engines in Formula 1 and Le Mans cars, many teams have struggled with electromagnetic interference (EMI) issues. By understanding the relationship between 2014 engines and how they run higher current to the battery packs, TE Connectivity has brought fiber optic so
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Date:
12/04/2014
STMicro celebrates Success of Rosetta comet-chasing satellite

Rosetta navigation camera (NAVCAM) image taken on 22 August 2014 at a distance of about 64 km from comet 67P/C-G

STMicroelectronics (NYSE: STM), a global semiconductor leader serving customers across the spectrum of electronics applications, is celebrating the technical prowess achieved by the space satellite Rosetta and its probe Philae. Rosetta and Philae contain over 10,000 radiation-hardened, high-reliability ICs designed an
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Date:
12/02/2014
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