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  • A new process turns plastic waste into gasoline and diesel fuel
    Scientists at Oak Ridge National Laboratory have developed a surprisingly simple way to turn polyethylene, the common plastic used in shopping bags and cutting boards, into gasoline and diesel-like fuels. The process uses inexpensive aluminum-based molten salts to break long plastic molecules into smaller hydrocarbons, producing about 60% gasoline under relatively mild conditions.
  • Billions in rare earth elements may be hiding in America’s coal ash
    Scientists are looking to diatoms, sea sponges, and plants for a cleaner way to recover rare earth elements and other valuable minerals hidden inside coal ash, red mud, and mine tailings. The bio-inspired approach could turn massive industrial waste piles into useful materials while reducing energy use, harsh chemicals, and reliance on new mining.
  • Scientists turn seawater into fresh water without harmful brine
    Scientists have developed a solar-powered desalination system that turns seawater into fresh water while removing nearly all of the leftover salt as a solid instead of producing harmful brine. The self-cleaning technology could also recover valuable minerals such as lithium, potentially turning desalination waste into a useful resource.
  • Scientists are building a microscope powered by a quantum computer
    Scientists are combining an electron microscope with a quantum computer to squeeze far more information from each electron. The approach could reveal faint details with fewer electrons, helping protect fragile samples that conventional microscopy can damage.
  • Tiny nanolaser could cut computer energy use in half
    Scientists have created an ultra-small nanolaser that could eventually allow microchips to transmit information with light instead of electricity, potentially making computers faster while cutting energy use roughly in half. Thousands of the lasers could fit on a single chip, opening possibilities for more efficient data centers, smartphones, and advanced medical sensors.
  • Quantum oscillations defy expectations in this exotic material
    Scientists have uncovered an unusual form of electron behavior in zirconium pentatelluride, a quantum material that can act as both an insulator and a conductor. Under temperatures near absolute zero and magnetic fields reaching 60 tesla, electrons produced quantum oscillations that continued even after conventional physics predicted they should disappear.

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Futuristic illustration of microchips, a silicon wafer, and 3D chip stacks representing the nanoelectronics era, with the text "Scaling beyond 100nm" and "Nanoelectronics Era" in bold letters.
Scaling beyond 100nm – Nanoelectronics Era
As silicon and silicon dioxide reach their scaling limits, engineers turn to high-k materials, metal gates, and new device architectures like FinFETs and SOI. These...
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Abstract visualization of microelectronic scaling trends, showing chip layers, wafers, and nanostructures representing technological progress from larger nodes to nanoscale devices.
Scaling of CMOS: Microelectronics era
As CMOS technology shrank below 1 μm in the microelectronics era, high electric fields caused reliability issues like hot carrier effects. Techniques such as LATID...
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Illustration showing CMOS scaling progression, highlighting reduced transistor sizes and technological milestones in the sub-100nm nanoelectronics era.
Scaling of CMOS and its Issues
Dennard scaling revolutionized microelectronics by showing that reducing transistor size and voltage proportionally keeps power density constant. However, real-world limitations like subthreshold slope and interconnect...
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Fig 18. Several steps more can be done to complete several metal layers for interconnects. The last step in the process is the deposition of the final passivation layer, usually Si3N4 (silicon nitride), deposited by PECVD.
CMOS Process Steps: 3um to 1.25um
CMOS chips are made using a twin-well process, with precise tailoring of each well starting from a lightly doped substrate. Key production steps include using...
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Illustration of the nMOS fabrication process steps visualized as a factory layout, including substrate selection, device isolation, ion implantation, gate formation, and metallization.
Basic nMOS Technology: Process Steps
NMOS fabrication involves key process steps like substrate selection, isolation, gate formation, and metallization. LOCOS isolation prevents unwanted current flow, while polysilicon gates enhance process...
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Illustration representing extrinsic semiconductors, showing doped silicon structures with labeled donor or acceptor atoms.
The Physics and Technology of Extrinsic Semiconductors
Doping modifies a semiconductor by introducing donor or acceptor atoms, increasing free electron or hole concentration. This creates an n-type or p-type material, shifting the...
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