Printing nanotech solar cells

Australian researchers have invented nanotech solar cells that are thin, flexible and use 1/100th the materials of conventional solar cells.

Printable, flexible solar cells that could dramatically decrease the cost of renewable energy have been developed by PhD student Brandon MacDonald in collaboration with his colleagues from CSIRO’s Future Manufacturing Flagship and the University of Melbourne’s Bio21 Institute.

Their patented technology is based on inks containing tiny, semiconducting nanocrystals, which can be printed directly onto a variety of surfaces.

By choosing the right combination of ink and surface it is possible to make efficient solar cells using very little material or energy.

'The problem with traditional solar cells,' Brandon says, 'is that making them requires many complex and energy intensive steps.'

'Using nanocrystal inks, they can be manufactured in a continuous manner, which increases throughput and should make the cells much cheaper to produce.'

Nanocrystals, also known as quantum dots, are semiconducting particles with a diameter of a few millionths of a millimetre. Because of their extremely small size they can remain suspended in a solution.

This solution can then be deposited onto a variety of materials, including flexible plastics or metal foils. It is then dried to form a thin film.

Brandon and his colleagues discovered that by depositing multiple layers of nanocrystals they can fill in any defects formed during the drying process.

The result is a densely packed, uniform film, ideal for lightweight solar cells.

The nanocrystals consist of a semiconducting material called cadmium telluride, which is a very strong absorber of light. This means that the resulting cells can be made very thin.

'The total amount of material used in these cells is about 1% of what you would use for a typical silicon solar cell.
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Electric Cigarette – things to keep in mind

All persons do not like the smell of cigarette which may be a reason for the scarceness in number. For those people, a new version of cigarette is launched. Named as electric cigarette, this e-cigarette works as real cigarettes. With electric cigarettes, you will not create any environmental issues.
There are many companies that offer electronic cigarettes at different price rates. Since there are many companies to choose from, you will find it difficult to select the most reliable and reasonable company from the bunch. You have to consider certain factors while buying electric cigarettes. First of all you have to ensure that you have sufficient knowledge in all aspects of electric cigarette. Adequate information is necessary to buy the quality electronic cigarette from the market. You have to ensure the quality, price rates and factors included in the electric cigarette before buying the device from the market.
You may have to wander around the city and ask among the friends and relatives. All are enough to tire you. What is the need to search here and there to get quality information on electric cigarette? Just enter into the amazing world of internet. Here you can find many websites that offer authentic information on electric cigarette. At online, you can find many websites that offer electric cigarettes at reasonable price rates. Some sites will offer both information and gadgets while others offer any of them. It is good to visit those sites that offer both information and electric cigarettes. Hence, you will be able to buy the most reliable and reasonable electric cigarette via online.
If you are the one looking for some reliable websites that provide quality information on electric cigarettes, log on to e cigarette store. This is the place where you can find out amazing array of information about electric cigarettes in reader friendly contents.

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Breakthrough Towards Lab-on-Chip System for Fast Detection of Single Nucleotide Variations in DNA

Panasonic, core partner within imec's Human++ program and imec has present at the International Electron Devices Meeting in San Francisco various critical components of a biomedical lab-on-chip sensor enabling fast detection of Single Nucleotide Polymorphisms (SNPs) in DNA, such as a miniaturized pump for on-chip generation of high pressures, a micropillar filter optimized for DNA separation achieving world-record resolution, and a SNP detector allowing on-chip detection using very small sample volumes.
A SNP is a single nucleotide replacement in a DNA sequence which can result in different reaction by people to pathogens and medicines. Detection of these SNP's is therefore becoming increasingly important with the move towards more personalized healthcare.
Existing methods to detect SNP's require many sample processing steps in dedicated medical tools at medical laboratories. Such tests are labor intensive, time-consuming and expensive. Moreover, rather large blood samples are needed. A lab-on-chip device can bring huge advantages both to the patient and the healthcare system. Such devices enable fast, easy-to-use, cost-effective test methods which can be performed at regular times in a doctor's office or even near the patient's bed. This is very interesting for point-of-care applications such as personalized medicine.
By combining advanced micro-electronic fabrication processes with heterogeneous integration, imec and Panasonic aim to realize a state-of-the-art microfluidic device for SNP detection. In order to do this, advanced microfluidic components have been fabricated and optimized, such as a miniaturized pump for on-chip generation of high pressure, a micropillar filter optimized for DNA separation achieving world-record resolution, and a SNP detector allowing on-chip detection using very small sample volumes.
The entrance unit of the SNP detection system samples very small volumes of blood. This entrance unit features a miniaturized high-pressure pump based on an advanced conductive polymer actuator. After optimization, the actuator generates high pressures (up to 3MPa) at low voltage (~1.5V). The high pressure is essential to generate a fluid flow through the next unit of the SNP detection system. The on-chip low voltage operation is important because it opens the path to autonomy and portability of the lab-on-chip device.
Next, the DNA separation unit featuring an advanced micro-pillar array filter was developed. This deep-UV patterned silicon pillar array was realized using advanced MEMS technology. It consists of many micron-scale pillars, being typically 20µm high and with 1-2µm inter-pillar distance. The pillar array is used for DNA separation based on ion-pair reversed-phase (IR-RP) liquid chromatography. Imec and the VUB (Vrije Universiteit Brussel), a scientific partner of imec, optimized the pillar-based IR-RP liquid chromatography technique for DNA separation. This resulted in the first miniaturized on-chip system that enables fast and highly selective separation of short, double stranded DNA strands which only differ 50 base pairs in length. The resolution of the system is the highest in the world and proves the potential to handle 5 SNPs at the same time in the final SNP detection system.
The other functional units of the SNP detector are a unit for DNA extraction and polymerase chain reaction (PCR) using heaters and temperature sensors, and a SNP detection unit based on electrochemical sensors. The miniaturization of these sensors was of crucial importance, since the minimum required sensor volume determines the blood sampling volume needed for the SNP detection, and hence the dimensions of all components of the device. Scientists of Panasonic and imec demonstrated SNP detection capabilities using on-chip sensors handling a volume as small as 0.5µL.
Imec's Human++ program provides a multidisciplinary R&D platform for industrial partners to collaborate on finding industry-relevant solutions for future healthcare and wellness needs by combining nanoelectronics and biotechnology into heterogeneous systems for diagnosis and therapy. Human++ partners build on imec's 25 years of expertise in micro- and nanoelectronics and expertise in several healthcare-relevant domains.
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Mouser says Europe is its fastest growing market

Europe is the fastest growing market for online and catalogue distributor Mouser Electronics, growing even faster than Asia Pacific.
"Business in Europe is the fastest growing market for us at more than 220%," Mark Burr-Lonnon, Mouser v-p of Europe and Asia told Electronics Weekly.
"Asia Pacific is growing well too, but is just 200%," said Burr-Lonnon   
"Right now about 25% of our semicondcutor business is going into Europe," said Burr-Lonnon.
The US-based distributor is in the middle of a drive to increase its business outside the US, which currently stands at around 38%.
Europe currently accounts for 18% of Mouser's business.
Mouser has been opening European sales offices, most recently in Sweden and the Czech Republic.
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"Next year we will open offices in the Netherlands and Spain and then we are about right," said Burr-Lonnon. 
Mouser has just extended its distribution agreement with Avago Technologies to include Europe.
The distributor has identified specific products which it target at the European market, they include RGB, SMD, 5mm high brightness, plus 1- and 3W LEDs, along with Avago’s RF semiconductors.
“Our relationship with Avago Technologies correlates extremely well with our recent expansion into Germany, UK, Italy, France and Israel,” said Burr-Lonnon.
Steffi Kircher, Avago Technologies sales director for distribution in Europe, said he believes the distribution deal will help Avago expand the reach of its optoelectronics and RF products to a broader range of European design engineers.
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New Forms of Highly Efficient, Flexible Nanogenerator Technology

Can a heart implanted micro-robot operate permanently? Can cell phones and tiny robots implanted in the heart operate without having their batteries charged? Such advances may be possible in the near future, thanks to new nanogenerator technology.

he team of Prof. Keon Jae Lee (KAIST, Dept. of Materials Science and Engineering) and Prof. Zhong Lin Wang (Georgia Institute of Technology, Dept. of Materials Science and Engineering) has developed new forms of highly efficient, flexible nanogenerator technology using the freely bendable piezoelectric ceramic thin film nano-materials that can convert tiny movements of the human body (such as heart beats and blood flow) into electrical energy.
The piezoelectric effect refers to voltage generation when pressure or bending strength is applied to piezoelectric materials. The ceramics, containing a perovskite structure, have a high piezoelectric efficiency. Until now, it has been very difficult to use these ceramic materials to fabricate flexible electronic systems due to their brittle property.
The research team, however, has succeeded in developing a bio-eco-friendly ceramic thin film nanogenerator that is freely bendable without breakdown.
Nanogenerator technology, a power generating system without wires or batteries, combines nanotechnology with piezoelectrics that can be used not only in personal mobile electronics but also in bio-implantable sensors or as an energy source for micro robots. Energy sources in nature (wind, vibration, and sound) and biomechanical forces produced by the human body (heart beats, blood flow, and muscle contraction/relaxation) can infinitely produce nonpolluting energy.
Prof. Keon Jae Lee (KAIST) was involved in the first co-invention of "High Performance Flexible Single Crystal Electronics" during his PhD course at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. This nanogenerator technology, based on the previous invention, utilized the similar protocol of transferring ceramic thin film nano-materials on flexible substrates and produced voltage generation between electrodes.
Prof. Zhong Lin Wang (Georgia Tech, inventor of the nanogenerator) said, "This technology can be used to turn on an LED by slightly modifying circuits and operate touchable flexible displays. In addition, thin film nano-materials ('barium titanate') of this research have the property of both high efficiency and lead-free bio compatibility, which can be used in future medical applications."
This result is published November in the online issue of the American Chemical Society journal Nano Letters.
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Femtocells - The State of the Market

Simon Saunders, Chairman of the Femto-Forum looks at the state of the femtocell market their deployment, business case and new femtocell developments.

Much has been made of the disruptive potential of femtocells over the past few years, but we are now seeing the technology radically reshape live mobile networks. According to Informa Telecoms & Media, femtocells now outnumber macrocells in the USA - it won't be long before they do the same in the UK and Japan. Such is the nature of the small cell revolution that single countries will soon have more cells than currently exist on the whole planet. Here we'll look at what's driving the rapid ascent of the femtocell market and what we can expect in the coming months.

Femtocells have started to move into the mainstream following deployments by major operators in Europe, Asia and North America. The latest heavyweight to rollout services was Telefonica with its offering for businesses and consumers in Spain. This follows hot on the heels of Vodafone's trailblazing femtocell launches in Europe - in fact the operator now offers services in the UK, Spain, and Greece. Progress has been even quicker elsewhere with the three largest operators in the US and Japan all offering femtocells as well. In total there are now 17 operators that have deployed femtocells - double the number there were this time last year.

This influx of major operators has created a corresponding rise in major telecom vendors entering the space. While large infrastructure manufacturers such as Alcatel Lucent, Nokia Siemens Networks, Huawei and NEC have been offering femtocell products for some time, we're now seeing the major semiconductor players also entering the space. Qualcomm recently launched its femtocell chipset while Broadcom has made the first major acquisition in the femtocell space in the shape of Israeli chip start-up Percello.

Femtocell packages

Over the past few months we've also seen an important evolution in the consumer proposition. Several mobile operators around the world have started offering femtocells for free, or at highly discounted rates, either as a customer retention tool or as a means of rapidly increasing market share. For example, SoftBank Mobile in Japan is giving away free femtocells and ADSL connections to its customers while several others are offering packages where the femtocell and associated service are provided for free to loyal customers.

A recent consumer research project by analysts Parks Associates found that 56% of US consumers (with mobile phones and broadband) consider femtocells appealing with two thirds of these finding the technology either 'very' or 'extremely' appealing. This number rose to 89% when asking those already familiar with femtocells, suggesting that as awareness of the technology grows, so will interest.

The primary driver for consumer interest was improved in-home coverage followed by improved battery life, advanced femtocell services and home-zone tariffs. In fact, femtocell services, which use the presence of the mobile device in the home to trigger different events, could drive a new revenue stream for operators. Of those interested in femtocells 72% were very interested in at least one femtocell service; half of these respondents would be willing to pay $4.99/month for their single favourite service or $9.99/month for a bundle of their favourite three illustrating a potential new revenue opportunity for operators. Examples of such services include a virtual home number, which calls all mobiles in the home, or receiving personalised reminders when entering or leaving the home.
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Digital control is key, says Ericsson executive

"Digital control has been the single most important development in power supplies over the last decade and is the most promising advance for the future success of system power management,"  says Patrick LeFevre, head of marketing and communications at Ericsson Power Modules.

"When combined with best analogue design practice, digital power is an enabling technology through which board-level power modules can be integrated into other digital circuit elements such as processors and memories.

"This gives system architects the ability to precisely monitor and control the level of energy delivered under changing conditions.

"Power modules that incorporate digital control can respond to requests from a central energy management controller and also deliver data about operating conditions that helps in predictive maintenance.

"Despite the ongoing debates about the benefits of analogue versus digital control, for those already using digitally controlled DC/DC converters and point-of-load converters, such debates sound pre-historic.

"Both technologies have their merits and comparing one against another in generic terms is nonsense, particularly when you consider that digitally controlled power modules will always have embedded analogue circuits within them.

"To understand the potential of digital power, imagine a radio-base station powered by solar panels connecting a remote population to a main city. It is vital that communication works all the time and the cellular infrastructure must be energy-optimised at all times.

"Digital power sources optimise energy delivered to the load, monitor and control operational parameters, and make it easy to remotely reconfigure the system without sending an engineer to the remote site."
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