New electronic technologies. From soot to circuits: graphenes

Electronics(electronic technology) - the science of the interaction of electrons with electromagnetic fields, based on electronic theory¹, and of methods for creating electronic instruments and devices in which this interaction is used to convert electromagnetic energy, mainly for the transmission, processing and storage of information. Based on electronics, the electronics industry develops and produces electronic devices, computers and a wide range of other products used in all areas of science, technology and modern human activity.

History of the emergence and development of electronics

Background - invention of the telephone, phonograph, cinema

Attempts to create a telephone date back to the second half of the last century. With the development of the theory of electricity, in particular the theory of electromagnetism, the scientific basis for its invention was created. Back in 1837, the American C. Paidus established that a magnetic strip can produce sound if it is subjected to rapid magnetization reversal. In 1849-1854. Vice-inspector of the Paris Telegraph Charles Bourseul theoretically formulated the principle of the telephone apparatus. The first example of a telephone was a device designed by the German physicist Philipp Reis in 1861 (Fig. 1).

Rice. 1. Reis' telephone (1861).

Reis' telephone consisted of two parts: a transmitting and receiving apparatus, the action of which was interconnected. In the transmitting apparatus, during transmission, a periodic opening and closing of the current circuit occurred, which in the receiving apparatus corresponded to the trembling of the metal rod that reproduced the sound. With the help of Reis' apparatus it was possible to transmit music well, but the transmission of speech was difficult.

In 1876, American technician A. Bell (1847-1922), originally from Scotland, created the first satisfactory telephone design. In the same year he received a patent for his invention (Fig. 2).

Rice. 2. Telephone by A. Bell (1876).

However, Bell's telephone handsets could transmit speech well only over a relatively short distance and, in addition, had a number of other disadvantages that made their practical use impossible. By this time, the idea of ​​​​creating a telephone had spread very widely. In the USA, for example, in the 70s, over 30 patents were taken for telephone sets. The same was the case in Europe.

Many inventors worked to improve the telephone. The most significant improvements to the telephone in 1878 were independently made by the Englishman D. Hughes (1831-1900) and the American T. Edison. They invented the most important part of the telephone - the microphone. The Hughes-Edison microphone was only a transmitter that perceived sound vibrations and amplified the inductive current in the Bell telephone coil. With the invention of the microphone it became possible to speak in long distances, and the sound on the phone was cleaner. Edison then proposed using an induction coil in the telephone. With its introduction into the telephone set, its design was basically completed. Further work by a number of inventors in various countries was reduced to improving existing designs.

The telephone, unlike other new technical inventions, quickly came into use in almost all countries. First city telephone exchange was put into operation in the USA in 1878 in New Havana. In 1879, telephone networks were already available in 20 cities in the United States. The first telephone exchange in Paris was opened in 1879, in Berlin in 1881.

The pioneer of telephony in Russia was engineer P. M. Golubitsky (1845-1911), who introduced many significant improvements to the design of the telephone. In 1878, Golubitsky built the first series of multi-pole telephones. He also proved the ability of telephones to operate at a distance of up to 350 km.

In 1881, the Russian Joint Stock Company was established in Russia “for the establishment and operation of telephone messages in various cities of the Russian Empire.” First telephone lines in Russia were built in 1881 simultaneously in five cities - St. Petersburg, Moscow, Warsaw, Riga and Odessa. The most interesting invention of this period was the phonograph - a device for recording and reproducing sound. This device, invented in 1877 by Edison, had the ability to store, and then at any time reproduce and repeat sound vibrations recorded on it, previously caused by the human voice, musical instruments, etc. (Fig. 3).

Rice. 3. T. A. Edison's phonograph, (1877)

The structure and principle of operation of the phonograph are as follows. Sound vibrations in the phonograph were transmitted to a very thin glass or mica plate, and with the help of a writing needle attached to it (a cutter with a sapphire tip) they were transferred to the surface of a rotating roller wrapped in tin foil or coated with a special wax layer. The writing needle was connected to a membrane that received or emitted sound vibrations. The phonograph roller axis had a thread, and therefore, with each revolution, the roller shifted along the axis of rotation by the same amount. As a result, the writing needle squeezed out a helical groove on the wax layer. When moving along this groove, the needle and the membrane associated with it performed mechanical vibrations, reproducing the recorded sounds. On the basis of the phonograph, the gramophone and other instruments used in mechanical sound recording then emerged.

In the 90s of the XIX century. cinema appears, combining a number of inventions and discoveries that made it possible to carry out the basic processes necessary to reproduce photographed movement. The closest predecessors of cinematography, which made it possible to carry out the process of cinematography, were the “apparatus for the analysis of stroboscopic phenomena” by the Russian inventor Timchenko (1893), which combined projection onto a screen with an intermittent change of images, the chronophotograph of the French physiologist J. Demeny, which combined chronophotography on film and projection onto the screen (1894), as well as the “panopticon” created by the American inventor W. Latham in 1895, which combined chronophotography with projection onto a screen, and other inventions.

The device, which combined all the basic elements of cinema, was first invented in France by Louis J. Lumière (1864-1948). In 1895, he, together with his brother Auguste, developed the design of a movie camera for filming. Lumiere called his invention cinema. An experimental demonstration of a film shot on film using this device took place in March 1895, and in December of the same year the first cinema began operating in Paris. In the 90s, cinema appeared in other countries, and almost every European country had its own inventor of this device. In Germany, the pioneers of cinematography were M. Skladanowski (1895) and O. Mester (1896); in England - R. Pole (1896); in Russia - A. Samarsky (1896) and I. Akimov (1896); in the USA - F. Jenkinson (1897) and T. Armat (1897).

One of the greatest discoveries in the field of technology was the invention of radio. The honor of its invention belongs to the great Russian scientist A. S. Popov (1859-1906). Back in 1886, the German scientist G. Hertz (1857-1894) was the first to experimentally prove the fact of radiation electromagnetic waves. He established that electromagnetic waves obey the same basic laws as light waves. At the end of the 90s, N. Tesla read a number of reports in Europe and America, accompanied by demonstrations of experiments. He excited long waves using high-frequency generators, lit lamps and sent signals over a distance. Tesla confidently predicted the possibility of using these waves for telephony and even for the transmission of electrical energy. Back in 1889, Popov, working in the field of research of electromagnetic oscillations, first expressed the idea of ​​​​the possibility of using electromagnetic waves to transmit signals over a distance.

On May 7, 1895, A. S. Popov demonstrated a radio receiver for the first time at a meeting of the Russian Physics and Mathematics Society in St. Petersburg. In his work on increasing the sensitivity of instruments for detecting electromagnetic oscillations, Popov followed his own original path. He was the first to use an antenna and, seeing the imperfection of vibrators as sources of electromagnetic waves, adapted a receiver to record lightning discharges of atmospheric electricity. The radio receiver invented by Popov was called by him a lightning detector (Fig. 4).

Rice. 4. Radio receiver A. S. Popov (1895).

The design of the lightning detector was as follows: a tube with metal filings and a relay were connected to the battery circuit. Under normal conditions, the current in the relay coil was weak and the relay armature was not attracted. But during a thunderstorm, lightning discharges caused the appearance of electromagnetic waves. This led to the fact that the resistance of the sawdust in the tube dropped and the relay was activated, connecting an electric bell, which signaled the arrival of electromagnetic waves. Popov's lightning detector made it possible to receive radio waves at a distance of several kilometers. A. S. Popov’s report in May 1895 was published in full a few months later in the January issue of the Journal of the Russian Physico-Chemical Society under the title “Device for detecting and recording electrical oscillations.” This report was then published in 1896 in the magazine “Electricity” and in the magazine “Meteorological Bulletin”. As a result of numerous experiments, on March 24, 1896, Popov carried out the world's first radiotelegraph transmission. His report at the Physicochemical Society was accompanied by the work of a lightning detector, which received telegraph signals at a distance of 250 m. Transmitting and receiving antennas were used in the transmission. In 1897, Popov established communication between the ships “Africa” and “Europe” at a distance of 5 km. And in the fall of 1899, when rescuing the battleship Admiral General Apraksin, which ran into rocks, A. S. Popov established constant radiotelegraph communication at a distance of more than 46 km. A. S. Popov did not publish a detailed report on his experiments. The Russian military department proposed to classify this work. A year after Popov’s first report and two months after his second report, in 1897, the Italian G. Marconi took out a patent in England for a device for telegraphing without wires. From the description it is clear that Marconi's radio receiver very closely reproduced A. S. Popov's lightning detector. In 1897, a special joint-stock company was formed in England to exploit Marconi's invention. The fates of Popov and Marconi turned out differently. While Marconi, having received financial support, was able to carry out work on a large scale to improve radio equipment, A. S. Popov had to work in very difficult conditions. Few funds were allocated to improve his ingenious invention, and the results of his work were almost not covered in the press. Radio technology, the foundations of which were laid by the work of A. S. Popov, began to develop especially rapidly after the First World War, during which radio communications became the most important form of communication in the army and navy. Radio was then widely used for civilian purposes. These branches of technology were not of great importance in the period under review, but, despite their insignificant role, they were the pinnacle of technical progress at the end of the 19th and beginning of the 20th centuries. and became the starting points of technological progress in the modern era.

Electronics originated at the beginning of the 20th century. after creating the foundations of electrodynamics (1856–73), studying the properties of thermionic emission (1882–1901), photoelectron emission (1887–1905), X-rays (1895–97), discovery of the electron (J. J. Thomson, 1897), creation of electron theories (1892-1909). The development of electronics began with the invention of the tube diode (J. A. Fleming, 1904), the three-electrode tube - triode (L. de Forest, 1906); using a triode to generate electrical oscillations (German engineer A. Meissner, 1913); development of powerful generator lamps with water cooling (M.A. Bonch-Bruevich, 1919-25) for radio transmitters used in long-distance radio communication and broadcasting systems.

Vacuum photocells (an experimental model was created by A. G. Stoletov, 1888; industrial designs were created by German scientists J. Elster and G. Heitel, 1910); photoelectron multipliers - single-stage (P. V. Timofeev, 1928) and multi-stage (L. A. Kubetsky, 1930) - made it possible to create sound cinema and served as the basis for the development of transmitting television tubes: vidicon (the idea was proposed in 1925 by A. A. Chernyshev) , iconoscope (S.I. Kataev and, independently of him, V.K. Zvorykin, 1931-32), supericonoscope (P.V. Timofeev, P.V. Shmakov, 1933), superorticon (a double-sided target for such a tube was proposed by the Soviet scientist G.V. Braude in 1939; superorthikon was first described by American scientists A. Rose, P. Weimer and H. Lowe in 1946), etc.

Creation of a multicavity magnetron (N.F. Alekseev and D.E. Malyarov, under the leadership of M.A. Bonch-Bruevich, 1936–37), a reflective klystron (N.D. Devyatkov and others, and independently of them, Soviet engineer V.F. Kovalenko, 1940) served as the basis for the development of radar in the centimeter wavelength range; flight klystrons (the idea was proposed in 1932 by D. A. Rozhansky, developed in 1935 by the Soviet physicist A. N. Arsenyeva and the German physicist O. Heil, implemented in 1938 by the American physicists R. and Z. Varian and others) and traveling wave lamps ( American scientist R. Kompfner, 1943) ensured the further development of radio relay communication systems, particle accelerators and contributed to the creation of space communication systems. Simultaneously with the development of vacuum electronic devices, gas-discharge devices (ion devices) were created and improved, for example, mercury valves, used mainly for converting alternating current into direct current in powerful industrial installations; thyratrons for generating powerful pulses electric current in devices pulse technology; gas-discharge light sources.

The use of crystalline semiconductors as detectors for radio receiving devices (1900–05), the creation of cuprox and selenium current rectifiers and photocells (1920–1926), the invention of cristadine (O. V. Losev, 1922), the invention of the transistor (W. Shockley, W. Brattain, J. Bardeen, 1948) determined the formation and development of semiconductor electronics. The development of planar technology of semiconductor structures (late 50s - early 60s) and methods for integrating many elementary devices (transistors, diodes, capacitors, resistors) on one single-crystal semiconductor wafer led to the creation of a new direction in electronics - microelectronics(integrated electronics). The main developments in the field of integrated electronics are aimed at creating integrated circuits - microminiature electronic devices(amplifiers, converters, computer processors, electronic storage devices, etc.), consisting of hundreds and thousands of electronic devices placed on one semiconductor crystal with an area of ​​several mm 2. Microelectronics has opened up new opportunities for solving problems such as automation of process control, information processing, improvement computer technology and others, put forward by the development of modern social production. The creation of quantum generators (N.G. Basov, A.M. Prokhorov and independently of them C. Townes, 1955) - quantum electronics devices - determined qualitatively new possibilities of electronics associated with the use of sources of powerful coherent radiation of the optical range (lasers) and the construction ultra-precise quantum frequency standards.

Soviet scientists made major contributions to the development of electronics. Fundamental research in the field of physics and technology of electronic devices was carried out by M. A. Bonch-Bruevich, L. I. Mandelstam, N. D. Papaleksi, S. A. Vekshinsky, A. A. Chernyshev, M. M. Bogoslovsky and many others .; on the problems of excitation and transformation of electrical oscillations, radiation, propagation and reception of radio waves, their interaction with current carriers in vacuum, gases and solids - B. A. Vvedensky, V. D. Kalmykov, A. L. Mints, A. A. Raspletin, M.V. Shuleikin and others; in the field of semiconductor physics - ; luminescence and other areas of physical optics - S. I. Vavilov; quantum theory of light scattering, radiation, photoelectric effect in metals - I. E. Tamm and many others.

Electronic Science and Technology

Electronics is based on many branches of physics - electrodynamics, classical and quantum mechanics, solid state physics, optics, thermodynamics, as well as chemistry, crystallography and other sciences. Using the results of these and a number of other fields of knowledge, electronics, on the one hand, poses new tasks for other sciences, thereby stimulating their further development, on the other hand, it creates new electronic instruments and devices and thereby equips science with qualitatively new means and methods of research.

Electronics is the science of methods for creating electronic instruments and devices in which this interaction is used to convert electromagnetic energy. The most typical types of transformations of electromagnetic energy are the generation, amplification and reception of electromagnetic oscillations with a frequency of up to 10 12 Hz, as well as infrared, visible, ultraviolet and x-ray radiation (10 12 - 10 20 Hz). Convert to so high frequencies possible due to the exceptionally low inertia of the electron - the smallest currently known charged particle. In electronics, the interactions of electrons are studied both with macrofields in the working space of an electronic device, and with microfields inside an atom, molecule or crystal lattice.

Electronics applications: development of electronic instruments and devices that perform various functions in systems for converting and transmitting information, in control systems, in computer technology, as well as in energy devices; development of the scientific foundations of the production technology of electronic devices and technology using electronic and ionic processes and devices for various fields of science and technology.

Electronics played a leading role in the scientific and technological revolution. The introduction of electronic devices into various spheres of human activity has significantly (often decisively) contributed to the successful development of complex scientific and technical problems, increased productivity of physical and mental labor, and improved economic indicators of production. Based on advances in electronics, it develops, producing electronic equipment for various types communications, automation, television, radar, computer technology, process control systems, instrument engineering, as well as lighting equipment, infrared technology, X-ray technology and many others.

Electronics includes 3 areas of research:

Each area is divided into a number of sections and a number of directions. The section combines complexes of homogeneous physical and chemical phenomena and processes that are of fundamental importance for the development of many classes of electronic devices in this field. The direction covers methods for designing and calculating electronic devices related in operating principles or in the functions they perform, as well as methods for manufacturing these devices. Electronics is in a stage of intensive development, characterized by the emergence of new areas and the creation of new directions in existing areas.

Electronic device technology . The design and manufacture of electronic devices are based on the use of a combination of various properties of materials and physical and chemical processes. Therefore, it is necessary to deeply understand the processes used and their impact on the properties of devices, and be able to accurately control these processes. The exceptional importance of physical and chemical research and the development of the scientific foundations of technology in electronics are due, firstly, to the dependence of the properties of electronic devices on the presence of impurities in the materials and substances sorbed on the surfaces of the working elements of the devices, as well as on the composition of the gas and the degree of rarefaction of the environment surrounding these elements; secondly, the dependence of the reliability and durability of electronic devices on the degree of stability of the source materials used and the controllability of the technology. Advances in technology often give impetus to the development of new directions in electronics. The technology features common to all areas of electronics are the exceptionally high (compared to other branches of technology) requirements imposed in the electronics industry on the properties of the raw materials used; degree of protection of products from contamination during the production process; geometric precision in the manufacture of electronic devices. The fulfillment of the first of these requirements is associated with the creation of many materials with ultra-high purity and perfect structure, with predetermined physical and chemical properties - special alloys of single crystals, ceramics, glasses, etc. The creation of such materials and the study of their properties constitute the subject of a special scientific and technical discipline — electronic materials science. One of the most pressing technology problems associated with fulfilling the second requirement is the struggle to reduce the dust content of the gas environment in which the most important technological processes take place. In some cases, the permissible dust content is no more than three grains of dust less than 1 micron in size per 1 m3. The stringency of the requirements for geometric accuracy in the manufacture of electronic devices is evidenced, for example, by the following figures: in some cases, the relative dimensional error should not exceed 0.001%; The absolute accuracy of the dimensions and relative positions of integrated circuit elements reaches hundredths of microns. This requires the creation of new, more advanced methods of processing materials, new means and methods of control. Characteristic of technology in electronics is the need for widespread use of the latest methods and means: electron beam, ultrasonic and laser processing and welding, photolithography, electron and x-ray lithography, electric spark processing, ion implantation, plasma chemistry, molecular epitaxy, electron microscopy, vacuum installations that provide residual pressure gases up to 10-13 mm Hg. Art. The complexity of many technological processes requires the exclusion of subjective human influence on the process, which makes the problem of automating the production of electronic devices using computers urgent. These and other specific features of technology in electronics led to the need to create a new direction in mechanical engineering - electronic engineering.

Prospects for the development of electronics. One of the main problems facing electronics was related to the requirement to increase the amount of information processed by computing and control electronic systems while simultaneously reducing their size and energy consumption. This problem was solved by creating semiconductor integrated circuits that provide switching times of up to 10 -11 seconds; increasing the degree of integration on one chip of more than a million transistors measuring less than 1 micron; use of optical communication devices and optoelectronic converters, superconductors in integrated circuits; development of storage devices with a capacity of several gigabits on a single chip; applications of laser and electron beam switching; expanding the functionality of integrated circuits; transition from two-dimensional (planar) integrated circuit technology to three-dimensional (volumetric) and the use of a combination of various properties of a solid in one device; development and implementation of the principles and means of stereoscopic television, which has more information content than conventional television; creation of electronic devices operating in the range of millimeter and submillimeter waves for broadband (more efficient) information transmission systems, as well as devices for optical communication lines; development of powerful, high-efficiency microwave and laser devices for energetic impact on matter and directed energy transfer (for example, from space). One of the trends in the development of electronics is the penetration of its methods and means into biology (for studying the cells and structure of a living organism and influencing it) and medicine (for diagnostics, therapy, surgery). As electronics develops and the production technology of electronic devices improves, the areas of use of electronics achievements in all spheres of people's lives and activities are expanding, and the role of electronics in accelerating scientific and technological progress is increasing.

Recommended reading

Alferov A.V., Reznik I.S., Shorin V.G., Orgatekhnika, M., 1973.

Vlasov V.F., Electronic and ion devices, 3rd ed., M., 1960;

Kushmanov I.V., Vasiliev N.N., Leontyev A.G., Electronic devices, M., 1973.

Re-reading today's issue, I caught myself thinking that there is no positive in it - a lot is said about the bad: about the Ministry of Telecom and Mass Communications and the current minister, about stupidity in government decisions, as well as projects that have become a reflection of Samsung's ambitions. In a word, nothing that would make us happy. But perhaps the autumn spleen is the reason for this, I don’t know. I’ll try to find cheerful topics next time, but for now let’s talk about sad things, especially since the decisions that officials make cost us very specific money. Our money, which we pay to the treasury.

Technology for technology's sake, or how manufacturers are deceiving themselves

Large companies have moments when they start producing something that is practically not applicable in real life, devoid of any meaning or commercial calculation. But press releases, an abundance of advertising and attention to such products make us doubt the initial conclusion - does the company really know something that we don’t see? As a rule, only successful companies suffer from releasing useless products based on the latest technological advances. They have huge research laboratories, and they are testing the latest technologies that have the potential to revolutionize the market. And here the usual game of reports, achievements and the like comes into force - it is important not only to create the technology, but also to show it. And what could be better than a commercial product for the market? So strange devices appear that cause bewilderment.

Without going too far, I want to discuss the direction in which Samsung has gone, since record profits and market position give this manufacturer the opportunity to express itself at any cost. It sometimes looks funny, but as a result, products appear on the market that, in a different balance of power, would never have made it out of the walls of research laboratories. I'll start with the loud announcement of Samsung Round.

From the photographs it is clear that the Round has a curved screen; this is its main difference from the Galaxy Note 3, of which this model is a copy (the Snapdragon 800 variant). The screen has typical characteristics - 5.7 inches, SuperAMOLED HD with FullHD resolution. I was amazed that after the announcement they began to discuss the fact that such a phone is convenient to carry in a pocket, it supposedly follows the circumference of the body - you already guessed which pockets we are talking about. The story about lines that follow the human body and are natural was launched in Sony Ericsson, when they began to produce devices with a curve, later Nexus from Samsung appeared, in which the body also had a slight bend.

Samsung tried for a long time to come up with at least something that could explain the presence of a curved screen, and this is what they came up with: this function is called Roll Effect.

Not much for innovative phone, and it’s hard for me to imagine many people wanting to buy a phone with a curved screen. Moreover, the logic of the development of the electronics market was such that for a long time the creation of flat screens was impossible, they always had a curvature - remember televisions and how the first devices with flat screens marched through the market, even before the advent of LCD panels. Samsung doesn’t remember or don’t want to remember any of this, since they were solving a completely ordinary and technological problem. One could laugh at this product and say that they released nonsense that no one needed (which is not far from the truth compared to the Note 3), but the problem is much broader and looks more interesting. The technology used in the display for the Round may find application in new generations of products, and these most likely will not be phones at all. But it is not possible to draw a conclusion about this from this announcement - it looks comical and deservedly becomes the butt of jokes.

Samsung's research lab created a screen on a plastic substrate, while many modern screens work on glass. The use of a plastic substrate makes it possible to create displays that are resistant to external influences; for example, in theory, you can hit them with a hammer and nothing will happen to them. I am sure that the appearance of such screens will put an end to protective coatings, such as Corning Gorilla Glass, since they will unexpectedly become a weak link and will break - the resistance of “plastic” screens to scratches, shocks, and falls will increase many times over. It is possible that someone's understanding of this even started a rumor that a version of the Note 3 Active with an IP68 protection level and this kind of screen will appear on the market. So far, nothing is known about such a device, and this should be interpreted as a rumor, and nothing more.

The use of plastic also allows the screen to bend, which is what we see with the Round. For Samsung, it was a low-cost way to show the technology's functionality, commercial applicability, and ability to be produced at scale. But it’s a completely different matter that the product itself turned out to be not even niche, but absolutely not needed by anyone. It has no scripts to use - none. This is just a demonstration of the capabilities of technology.

But are they needed? curved screens in our life? The clear answer is yes, since many objects around us are not flat, and fitting a display into them today is not such an easy task. A flat surface is required, meaning the screen can only occupy part of the area. The best example is a fortune telling ball, in which the screen is usually placed at the top; with new displays, almost the entire surface of the ball can be made into one large screen.

I have a Netatmo weather station cylinder on my desk, which can also accommodate a large semicircular screen. In a word, you can come up with many real scenarios where such displays will be needed.

But from the Round announcement this is completely unclear; moreover, it is not very clear who this $1,000 product is for. Let me remind you that it is already sold in Samsung’s native market, South Korea. It is unlikely that it will be released in other countries, and if it does appear, it will not make much noise.

Let's look at another story where a product is released for political reasons rather than to demonstrate technology. For Samsung, such a product can safely be considered the Gear, a watch that is a companion to the Note 3 and costs 15,000 rubles. Their sale began in Russia the other day.

At exhibitions, watch-phone, watch-headset with touch screen have been traveling for more than five years, Samsung likes to show prototypes of devices to partners and see their reaction. All this happens behind closed doors, and almost nothing that is shown turns into commercial products. This is a demonstration of the technologies of the future, they should impress visitors, and nothing more. Many different watches have been shown over the years, but Samsung has never tried to bring them to market, since the first experiments in the mid-2000s showed that people did not need such products. Apple's activity in this area, however, spurred Samsung to create its own version of the watch, and this was done in record time - 3-4 months. In fact, one of the last prototypes was taken and sculpted into a commercial product. It turned out quite strange and incomprehensible from a PR point of view, now Samsung can safely say that they were the first, but from the point of view ordinary consumers All this causes outright bewilderment.

Using the watch, I collected very different reviews from my friends and acquaintances, but one conversation stuck in my memory, I will try to convey it as accurately as possible. Here's what it looked like:

Oh this smart watch from Samsung, let's connect them to my iPhone and see what they can do!
- They don't work with iPhone, sorry.
- Well, okay, I have a Note 2, let's pair it with it.
- They don't work with this phone yet, only with Note 3.
- ??? It seems to me that this is not very big market, if they only work with one phone. Does Samsung really think this is right? Successful companies They usually try to make money, but here’s a strange story.

The main problem of the Samsung Gear is not at all in the technical implementation or not only in it, the problem lies in what this watch was created for. There was no attempt to make them comfortable, no research into how people would use them. They tried to make them first, and this task was solved brilliantly. But in solving this problem, it was impossible to make the watch also comfortable - you cannot quickly and efficiently create a product in a category where you do not know how to do it. This is unlikely.

IN detailed review I'll tell you about my complaints about the watch, but in short, I don't like it at all. This is a crude product, with many visible and hidden problems (localization is partially done, the controls are confusing and complex, there are phone freezes!). But from the point of view of the idea, I hate watches that write to you that their charge has run out and you need to recharge them. The watch can withstand the stated 25 hours of operation, but very often you forget to charge it in the evening, which results in a discharged device in the morning.

Another funny thing about the watch: in Samsung stores you can spin it, but it is shown with a charger - apparently so that it does not run out of charge. It looks like this.

People discussed with me that the watch turned out to be huge and ugly. That is, ordinary buyers believed that the watch looked exactly like this! It's funny how just the wrong display can affect how a product is perceived.

Perhaps the main idea that I wanted to touch on in describing technology for the sake of technology is that the motivation of the manufacturer is always very important - why he created the product, who he was thinking about or what. It is ideas that rule the world, and even with the best components, you can create something indigestible from them, just as without the best components, you can create something stunning. All the power lies in ideas and their implementation.

extracurricular reading:

• Galaxy NX - a mirrorless camera on Android - an example of another product for the sake of technology

Quiet revolution from T-Mobile - unlimited roaming in one hundred countries

In Russia, for several years now the Ministry of Communications has been fighting for the abolition intranet roaming, when a person, leaving his city, suddenly begins to pay several times more on the network of his own operator. This is not observed almost anywhere in the world, and there are no real prerequisites for the existence of this phenomenon in Russia, with the exception of the Ministry of Communications itself, which in the past created the conditions for this phenomenon and cannot now cancel them. The struggle of the Ministry of Communications resembles shooting at one’s own feet, when the result is not important, but only political slogans are important. For some reason, our officials often take as the best foreign practices something that is not at all what they actually are best example. Due to the lack of outlook or erudition, they spend our money without counting it and throw it away. To the best of my modest strength, I will tell you about the experience of T-Mobile in the USA, which can definitely be considered successful and interesting for consumers, but in Russia the implementation of something like this is seen as a utopia - our officials will not be able to create an environment for such innovations.

T-Mobile launched 4G LTE coverage for users in the United States and at the same time announced that it was offering unlimited data roaming in one hundred countries around the world (including Russia), with no additional payment required, everything is included in the price of your tariff plan. The second point is that the cost of voice calls in these countries will not exceed 20 cents per minute, this is the maximum price. For $10 a month, the operator also offers unlimited SMS. All this fun starts working on October 31st and only in the USA.

But this is what data plans look like in T-Mobile; for a Russian consumer, spoiled by cheap mobile Internet, they will seem extortionate.

But considering that for $70 a month (before taxes) you can get unlimited Internet in a hundred countries around the world, this becomes very interesting offer. Of course, we need to see in practice how the unlimited option will work in roaming, but what is announced can modestly be called a revolution. That's exactly it and no other way. I am terribly sorry that this revolution is not taking place Russian operators. It’s even sadder that we don’t expect anything like this for many reasons. The regulator is perhaps the main of these reasons. This will be discussed in the next part of “Spillikins”.

4G to every village in Russia – Ministry of Communications and another political project

Great hopes were attached to Nikolai Nikiforov's arrival as Minister of Communications - he was young and had completed projects behind him. It was believed that with him the industry would be able to develop faster and better. Unfortunately, all these hopes remained hopes, since at present the Ministry of Communications is one of the most reactionary and politically biased. Just look at the concept of industry development for 2014-2020, which provides, so far only on paper, for the classification of most IT projects as strategic. This will mean that Western companies will not be able to directly participate in such projects and they will have to find Russian partners. De facto, this is the creation of corruption schemes in which Russian companies they become simply intermediaries, receive their percentage for introducing a foreign partner - but nothing else changes. In modern Russian history, such stories are not uncommon, and such “schemes” have been tested in various areas. The result is always the same, the final price of the product increases by an order of magnitude, but its quality or characteristics do not change in any way. The Deputy Minister of Communications, Mark Shmulevich, is apparently responsible for this project. I don’t know him personally, but in response to a question asked on his personal Twitter, I received a call from the Ministry’s PR specialist asking what I wanted to know. Surprisingly, I asked everything I wanted to know on Twitter. I am touched by an official who reads his own Twitter and spends public money so “effectively”, not knowing how to take a minute to respond and creating a whole story around it. This is an excellent reflection of how the Ministry operates and the “effective team” that got there today.

Unfortunately, watching the Ministry’s projects in the public space on a weekly basis, I do not find an answer to one question - why are we presented with crazy projects on which we waste time, but most importantly, our money. In the absence of personal responsibility for spent budgets, officials feel great and produce projects one better than the other. My sincere indignation was caused by another innovation of the Ministry, which proposed to oblige operators to install fourth-generation networks in populated areas with a population of 500 or more.

This initiative was opposed at a meeting of the State Frequency Commission (SCRF) not only by the operators who needed to implement it, but also by the Ministry of Defense, Roskomnadzor, FAS, and the Ministry of Economy. The reason is quite simple - the proposal of the Ministry of Telecom and Mass Communications has exclusively political overtones and is designed to create populism in the eyes of the population, for whose rights the Ministry is supposedly fighting. Let's try to figure out why this, if implemented, will bring an increase in communication prices to the population and will not solve the main problem.

IN this moment licenses for LTE imply that operators must cover settlements of 10,000 or more people in three years; later the Ministry of Telecom and Mass Communications wanted to tighten the requirements. De facto, this happens retroactively, when operators began building networks.

The good goal of providing all residents of the country with the latest generations of mobile communications cannot but inspire respect. And therefore, perhaps, the Ministry should be praised for trying to force “rich” operators to perform a social function. But in this matter, everything is not so simple, but rather complicated, and this can be shown by the statistics on the use of existing 3G networks, which are deployed in many small towns and cities.

If you don’t take the northern territories, where the connection with outside world carried out via satellite, then we have optical fiber to most regions, which, in theory, can provide good and fast communication. In practice, optical fiber does not go to every settlement, and the development of terrestrial networks always occurs gradually - from cities with the largest population to smaller ones and then to villages. It is impossible to immediately install backbone networks everywhere; this is not necessary. The demand for Internet access services in small towns is much less than in large cities.

Cellular operators were the first to come en masse to all populated areas, and they were the ones who resolved the issue last mile– another thing is that the connection speed is not always good everywhere, but in the absence of alternatives, this suits consumers. We must remember that people will always and everywhere complain about the quality of mobile communications and connection speed - nothing changes in this world. Such complaints do not at all describe real situation business

The experience of deploying 3G networks shows that in small settlements the load on the cellular network for data transmission rarely reaches 25 percent; as a rule, this is ten percent of the capacity at peak load. That is, the available network capacity is significantly greater than the communication needs of the local population. And this is a question of the price of the service, which many consumers see as high.

Look at the typical MegaFon tariff for the regions; for 25 GB of traffic you pay 250 rubles. Is it a lot or a little? For large cities it looks inexpensive - a cup of coffee. For small towns this is very expensive. And it is not the operators’ problem that residents of such villages and hamlets do not have money to pay for communication services. This is rather a state problem.

All statistics on the use of mobile Internet in small towns indicate that downloads cellular networks No. The number of service users is small, a few percent of all residents, which clearly indicates a barrier in the form of the cost of the service. How the advent of 3G, 4G, 5G or something similar can solve the issue of lack of money among the population remains a mystery to me. If they do not consume mobile Internet today, then the emergence of a new, faster data transfer technology will not force them to do so tomorrow. To understand this simple truth, you don’t have to be a government official, you just need to think a little and look at the statistics on network usage.

The political subtext of this story is clear - Minister Nikiforov wants to report on his care for all residents of the country. At any cost. He somewhat forgot that he, as an official responsible for communications, should know and remember about the modernization of networks by cellular operators. I am not ashamed to remind you that all operators are planning a gradual update and modernization of 3G stations to 4G. It will just happen not so quickly, perhaps not in three years. But 4G will eventually appear almost everywhere. If you force operators to do this now, then the cost of equipment that will be idle will be redistributed to the price of services, which will increase for all subscribers without exception, regardless of where they live. The existing scheme is the opposite - rich cities and regions subsidize the construction of networks in small settlements. This is how this business operates and does so in defiance of the Ministry and attempts to manage the industry, which lead to counter-productive results.

Surprisingly, the main obstacle to the development of new technologies in Russia today is the reactionary Ministry of Communications, for which the main tasks are political projects, and not real development industry. As a cherry on the cake, I suggest reading an interview with the wife of our Minister of Communications, in which the value is not the main text, but the comments under it, many of which are very difficult to disagree with.

I am sure that the utopia in the form of 4G in every locality will not work. But this stupidity is already widely discussed, many people have wasted time that could have been spent on real projects. And it's sad.

P.S. Have a good week, and I want to wish you to be able to create new qualities in familiar things and phenomena, to be useful to others and not to be like our officials (not all, but many) who do not know how to work and do not even want to start.

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Eldar Murtazin ()

Now the world is ruled by electronics, which surround us literally everywhere. Science does not stand still; every year scientists present new developments in the field of electronic technologies. Many of them are tightly integrated into our daily lives.

Speeding up computers

American researchers have proven that instead of electric current, ultrashort laser flashes can be used to move individual electrons. This technology will make it possible to create quantum computers. They also plan to use the innovation in the field of quantum cryptography and to optimize chemical reactions.

The electron must be “pushed”, pumped with energy using pulses from a terahertz laser to the level of separation from the nucleus and the crystal begins to move along atomic bonds. Such laser systems are so fast that they can trap and hold electrons between two energy states.

Researchers from different countries have long sought to create special implants for living organisms. Fundamental difference is that they would not need to be surgically removed from the body after they have fully served their function.

Scientist Leon Bellan presented a new development - a polymer that remains stable at temperatures above 32 degrees. A base is made from it, and a silver nanowire is inserted inside. The result is a primitive electrical circuit. While the polymer is on the warm stove in the pan, current flows through the network. As soon as the tile is turned off, he turns into slime and the wire structure crumbles.

Using this principle, you can make, for example, medical devices for monitoring sugar levels. The device is placed under the skin and operates while the doctor takes data. After applying ice, the device is destroyed. This is much more convenient than taking samples or wearing sensors.

Blue LEDs

Blue light from LEDs has pronounced antibacterial properties. This has been officially proven by scientists from the University of Singapore. If you combine it with refrigeration, then preservatives that are added to food become unnecessary.

The developers are confident that their discovery will become popular in fast food chains. After all, consumers have heard about the dangers of artificial additives, and food without them will definitely be in demand.

The greatest effect can be achieved if you combine blue light with a temperature of +4-+15 degrees and an acidic environment. Bacterial cells contain light-sensitive compounds that absorb light in the visible region of the electromagnetic spectrum. Accordingly, under such conditions, massive death of bacteria occurs.

"E-liquid"

Experimental studies with nanostructures have shown that electrons can “flow” like a liquid. Accordingly, it is possible to create ultra-fast “fluid” electronics.

According to the laws of physics, highest speed the destruction of electrons occurs during their encounter with other particles or atoms. A good example is a complete vacuum environment, in which the trajectory of particles is similar to the flight of projectiles. But to date, no one has been able to simulate such conditions. According to physicists, such media can be carbon nanotubes or graphene sheets. However, for now this is only at the level of guesswork.

Pacemakers have one significant disadvantage - a limited service life. After seven years, you need to change tritium batteries, which are reaching the end of their service life. This means that repeated heart surgery is necessary to replace the power source.

Several countries are already developing batteries with more long term services. In Russia, this is done by scientists at the University of Chemical Technology. Active participation in this project The company "Advanced Nuclide Technologies" also accepts. The basis of the new battery is the radionuclide Ni 63. Its half-life is more than a hundred years. The invention can be used without replacement for 20 years, which will make life easier for many cardiac patients.

Everyone knows that cats and dogs have a unique sense of smell that is able to recognize volatile chemicals released by humans during illness.

Scientists at the University of Cambridge decided to create a so-called “digital nose”. This is a spectrometer on a crystal microchip the size of a small coin. It is equipped with sensors configured and calibrated to detect odors. If danger is suspected, the device will sound a signal. In the future, all information will be displayed on smartphone displays.

In addition to the medical industry, the “electronic nose” is of interest to the food industry. A number of large companies (Nestlé, Coca-Cola) want to use the invention to determine the freshness of products.

New transistors

An American university has developed a new design of transistors. With their help, electronic devices can work for months or years. At the same time, energy consumption will be minimal, and perhaps they will function without batteries at all. They are planned to be used in the Internet of things and in devices that do not need to be connected to the network and recharged.

Thin nanowire

In the UK, the thinnest one-dimensional nanowire made of tellurium was created. Its thickness is only one atom. To make the structure of the product more durable, the developers introduced carbon nanotubes into it. Thus, the tellurium atoms end up in one chain.

Monoatomic nanowires hold great promise for miniaturizing microcircuits. This means that modern electronics can be significantly reduced in size.

At the University of California, it was decided to create efficient computer processors using electron vacuum tubes.

To produce the first tube computers, they used bulky vacuum tubes. Then transistors appeared, which made a real revolution in the field of radio electronics. But they also have a significant drawback - the impossibility of infinitely reducing the size of transistors. For further development to occur, it was necessary to introduce innovation in the form of electronic vacuum tubes. The fact is that when passing through a semiconductor, the current begins to slow down and lose its efficiency. Vacuum elements do not have this problem because current flows freely through them. Such transistors are ten times more efficient than their semiconductor counterparts. The developments are not finished yet; they are actively continuing in the direction of reducing the size of the lamps.

Leading electronics manufacturers have decided to create flexible power supplies. Panasonic has developed 0.55 mm thick lithium-ion batteries designed for wearable devices (tablets, phones, cameras).

They have a special multilayer structure and a special electrode placement design. Copper acts as the anode, and aluminum acts as the cathode. They can be of various shapes, most often cylindrical. Due to their mechanical properties, they can be bent and twisted without loss of power. There are several models, the strength of some of them is a thousand turns and bends.

Flexible electrical circuits at 5G speed

All kinds of " smart bracelets"have become very popular recently. They are constantly being upgraded and equipped with new features. Further global changes are coming very soon. America has already developed the world's most flexible electrical circuit. It has an unusual design - two lines intertwined in a chain, forming S-shaped bends. Thanks to this shape, the lines can stretch without loss of performance. In addition, they are well protected from external influences. The transmission of electromagnetic waves occurs in certain range frequencies – up to 40 GHz.

At Georgia Tech, engineers developed rectennas. They have a unique ability - capturing light and converting it into direct current. This is done using vertical carbon nanotubes at the top of the silicon substrate.

Complex processes lead to the formation of a charge that converts alternating current into direct current. So far, the efficiency of the device is extremely low, but scientists are confident that in the near future it will be possible to reach higher levels.

Microchip based on the human brain

A unique development of American bioengineers is the NeuroCore microchip. It operates thousands of times faster than a personal computer. Innovation is based on the principle of the human brain.

Bioengineers have created a printed circuit board consisting of 16 microchips. It simulates the work of one million neurons and forms billions of synaptic connections. Energy consumption is minimal.

In the future, the developers plan to reduce the price of the board and create a compiler for the software.

Currently, developments are in full swing to create magnetic devices for storing data. It is a next-generation storage medium that could lead to the creation of atomically small computing machines.

The goal facing the researchers was to organize a certain movement of atoms. For example, at some point they need to stop rotating. This was achieved through a combination of platinum, holmium and negative temperature. The quantum system is destabilized and the moment of the atom is preserved.

Electric unicycle

The innovation is an electric motor. Its body is made of impact-resistant plastic. The weight of a unicycle is on average 10-20 kg, and its height is half a meter.

It is equipped with a system of gyroscopes and control electronics to maintain the vehicle in an upright position. A person is only required to master the skill of maintaining balance on it. The wheel can change speed, regulate the position of the body in space, and give signals in case of danger on the road. It is easy to operate, maneuverable and safe.

Included with the unicycle Charger. The battery is charged by connecting to an outlet for a couple of hours.

Stanford University pioneered the development of a battery with an aluminum anode. It's durable, inexpensive, and can charge quickly. An aluminum-based battery with high stability was also presented. It uses a graphite foam cathode and an aluminum metal anode. Such batteries are very flexible, which will allow them to be used to create flexible gadgets.

Additional benefits:

• low cost;
• safety;
• ultra-fast charging;
• huge battery resource.

This is a promising material with good performance properties.

The main ones:

• resistance to alkalis, acids and low temperatures;
• high electrical resistance.

They are made from radiation-treated polyolephelins. Fluorine-containing elastomers, silicones, and polyvinyl chloride can also be used in production.

Types of heat-shrinkable materials:

• cable joints;
• heat shrink;
• cable guards;
• gloves;
• non-flammable tubes.

These materials are used in energy, instrument making, aircraft manufacturing, electrical engineering and many other industrial fields.

Almost all leading countries are developing and improving electronic technologies. The state and private investors are interested in the emergence of more and more innovations in this area, so they actively support the development of promising projects.

Laser chips, flexible printed circuits, memristors and other technological wonders are just around the corner! Imagine a world where electronic devices charge themselves, music players that can play your entire audio collection, self-healing batteries and chips that change their capabilities on the fly. Judging by what American research laboratories are working on today, all this is not only possible, but also promising.

“The next five years are going to be a really exciting time in electronics,” says David Seiler, head of the semiconductor electronics division in the commercial division of the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) in Gaithersburg, Maryland. “Many things that today seem like distant science fiction will become widespread.”

So, are you ready to start your journey into the future of electronics? Many of the ideas we'll talk about today may sound fantastic, some may seem devoid of common sense, but what they all have in common is that they have already been tested in laboratories and have every chance of becoming commercial products in the next 5 years.

The main topic of this article is new developments in microprocessor technology - from processors that transmit data using lasers that replace wires, to circuits based on new materials that will replace traditional silicon. These technologies could become the building blocks for many new innovative products, some of which we cannot even imagine today.

Chips without wires: laser connection

Upon closer inspection, you can see that a typical microprocessor contains millions of thin wires that stretch in all directions to connect the active elements. Looking under the surface you will find five more wires. Jurgen Michel, a scientist at MIT's Microphotonics Center in Cambridge, intends to replace all these wires with pulses of germanium lasers that transmit data using infrared radiation.

“As the number of cores and components in processors increases, the interconnect wires become overloaded with data and become a weak communication link. Using photons instead of electrons improves the situation,” explains Michel.

By moving data at the speed of light, germanium lasers can transfer bits and bytes of information 100 times faster than moving electrons through wires. This is especially important for communication between processor cores and its memory. Just as fiber optic lines have improved the efficiency of telephone calls, the use of lasers in microprocessors can take data processing to unprecedented heights.

The best part is that the MIT system does not require a huge number of thin cables inside the processors. Instead, the chip contains many hidden tunnels and cavities through which light pulses travel and tiny mirrors and sensors transmit and interpret the data.

Combining traditional silicon electronics with optical components, known as silicon photonics, can make computers greener - friendlier to the environment. This is because lasers consume less energy than wires and emit less heat into the environment.

“Optoelectronics is the real holy grail,” Seiler says. “It allows you to expand the capabilities of electronics and is a great way to reduce energy consumption because it does not contain wires, which are real heat sinks for the environment.”

In February 2010, Michel and his colleagues, Lionel Kimerling and Jifeng Liu, successfully created and tested a working circuit using an embedded germanium laser for data transmission. The new chip achieved data transfer rates of over 1 TB/s, which is two orders of magnitude faster than today's best wired chips.

The new chip was created using modern technologies production of semiconductors with some additions, so Michel believes that the transition to the use of chips based on laser connections will take place within the next five years. If further tests are successful, MIT will license the manufacturing technology. Widespread use of the new type of chip is expected by 2015.

Moreover, by 2015, computers with 64-core processors are expected to appear, the cores of which will work independently and simultaneously.

“Connecting them with wires is a dead end,” says Michelle. “The use of a germanium laser has enormous potential and great advantages.”

Latest schemes: memristors

Is your MP3 player full of your favorite music and you feel like a murderer deleting this or that track? In this case, the memristors may arrive just in time.

These are the first fundamentally new electronic components since the creation of silicon transistors in the 50s of the last century. Memristors are a faster, longer-lasting, and potentially cheaper alternative to flash memory. They are also twice as capacious - a real treat for music lovers.

“If we decide to redefine computer technology today, we simply have to use memristor memory,” said R. Stanley Williams, lead researcher and head of the Quantum Science Research (QSR) group at HP Labs in Palo Alto. California. “This is the fundamental structure for future electronics.”

A memristor—in other words, a resistor with a memory—was first mentioned by University of California professor Leon Chua back in 1971. But HP Labs' memristor prototypes weren't publicly demonstrated until 2008.

To create memristors, HP uses alternating layers of titanium dioxide and platinum. Under an electron microscope they appear as a series of long parallel projections. Below, at a right angle, the same layer is located, forming “cubes” with cell sizes of 2 x 3 nm.

Key moment is that any two adjacent wires can be connected to an electrical switch under the surface, creating a memory cell. By varying the voltage applied to the cubes, scientists can open and close tiny electronic switches, storing data just like traditional flash memory chips.

The new type of memory is called ReRAM (Resistive Random Access Memory). These chips not only store twice as much data as flash, but are also 1,000 times faster and can withstand up to 1,000,000 write cycles, compared to 100,000 write cycles for standard flash memory. Additionally, ReRAM reads and writes data at comparable speeds, whereas flash memory takes much longer to write data than to read it.

HP and the South Korean company Hynix have entered into a cooperation agreement to establish mass production of ReRAM chips, which can be used in many portable devices such as multimedia players. But this means terabytes of music tracks, videos and e-books! The first products with new memory chips are expected on the market in 2013.

ReRAM will also replace dynamic RAM in computers. Since ReRAM is non-volatile, it will not lose information when the system is turned off and will not consume power, unlike DRAM. According to Williams, the era of instant data processing is coming. Today, users more often do not turn off their computers, but put them into sleep mode. But still for "awakening" computer technology it takes from a few seconds to a minute, and only after that access to the data will be restored. Devices using ReRAM return to working condition instantly.

Moreover, according to Williams, it is possible to place arrays of memristors on top of each other within the chip. This is the path to creating 3D memory, which will make it possible to more efficiently use the space inside the chip and fit much more memory into the same physical volume.

“There is no fundamental limit to the number of layers we can produce,” Williams explains. “In the next 10 years, we can create chips with petabyte-sized memory.” That's a million gigabytes of memory, enough to store enough high-definition video for a year of viewing. Moreover, the dimensions of the chip itself do not exceed the size of a human fingernail.

“Memory is only one of the possibilities for using memristors, but far from the only one. This technology has enormous potential,” says Seiler.

In the next 20 years, computer design may be redefined. In 2010, HP researchers discovered that memristors could be used for logic computing, not just data storage. This means that, in theory, both of these functions can be implemented on the same chip.

And again, Williams says: “A single memristor can replace many circuits, which in turn will simplify the architecture, design and operation of computers.” For example, a single memristor can replace six transistors used to create static RAM cells in the processor cache.

According to Williams, memristor technology will even make it possible to create artificial neural synapses that can imitate the functioning of the brain. Today these are only distant prospects, but the main thing is that they are possible in principle.

“Memristors have the potential to rewrite the rules of electronics,” says Supratik Guha, director of physical sciences at IBM. However, in his opinion, the technology requires further improvement. “They may have potential as memory elements,” he adds. “But like any technology, it must crawl before it walks and walk before it runs.”

In other words, memristor technologies will not appear unexpectedly. It will be a long time before memristors become as widespread as DRAM or flash memory.

Changeable chips: programmable layers

From the fastest processors to the smallest memory modules. Almost all chips used in modern electronics, have one thing in common: their active elements are located in the top 1-2% of the silicon layer from which it is made.

This will change over the next few years as manufacturers try to cram as many components as possible into vertical layers. Some manufacturers, such as Intel, are using technology to bond individual chips, and scientists at the University of Rochester are creating multi-layer 3D structures inside chips. Both approaches are very complex and expensive.

Now, if only it were possible to force chips to rebuild their circuitry “on demand” in order to have several layers of active elements. This idea was embodied in Tabula's Spacetime technology and found its way into the ABAX chip architecture.

Instead of permanently imprinting multiple layers of permanent components into silicon, ABAX uses reprogrammable circuits that can change functions depending on user requirements. Today's manufacturer chips contain 8 different layers, the properties of which can be changed in the blink of an eye.

“It looks like a supermarket with eight floors,” explains Steve Tieg, head of technology at Tabula. “You use an escalator to move between floors.” But rather than creating eight separate physical floors with their own structure and product mix, Tabula demonstrated a way to create a single layer (or floor) that can be reconfigured depending on the needs.

“It's like while a customer is on an escalator, someone rearranges the floor to create the right level with the right products,” Teague adds. “The environment outside the escalator looks like the customer is on the eighth floor, but in fact there is one floor, simply changed to suit his needs.”

Reprogramming the chip into a working state takes only 80 picoseconds, 1000 times faster than the calculation cycle of a conventional chip. Thus, the layers are changed almost on the fly while the chip is waiting for the next command chain.

Thus, ABAX chips allow you to do more with less. Made using traditional semiconductor manufacturing technology, Tabula ABAX chips cost the manufacturer about the same amount as conventional chips to produce. This design still uses only the top layers of the chip, but one layer serves as eight different chips. According to Teague, the technology allows the circuit density to be doubled, and the memory and throughput video - 3.5 times.

Today Tabula has concentrated its efforts on producing chips for special purposes. Such chips are the real “workhorses” of our time. They find application, for example, in wireless routers or equipment for cell towers.

Tabula's future plans include establishing the production of chips for popular electronic devices - digital cameras, game consoles, and maybe even for full-fledged computers. The current 8-layer chip design has already entered mass production, and Tabula is now working on creating a 12-layer version with the prospect of increasing the number of layers to 20.

“There is no limit to the number of layers we could integrate,” Teague noted.

From soot to circuits: graphenes

Over the past 45 years, the number of transistors in silicon computer processors has doubled every two years, proving that Moore's law works as reliably as the law of gravity. As the active elements of chips became smaller and cheaper to produce, they could be “squeezed” into final devices in ever-increasing quantities, which in turn increased the complexity, capabilities and ... power consumption of electronics.

But in fact, this path turned out to be a dead end. Scientists tried to fit even more transistors into a silicon chip, but at about 14 nm, difficulties began with further miniaturization of the elements. 14 nm is the size of two hemoglobin molecules in our blood, or about one thousandth the size of a talcum powder granule.

A substance called graphene breathes new life into Moore's law, proven by silicon technology. Graphene is a layer of carbon atoms arranged in hexagonal cells. The thickness of such a layer is 1 atom. Under an electron microscope, graphene looks very much like a honeycomb.

“It not only looks strange, but also has unusual properties,” says Walt de Heer, head of the Georgia Institute of Technology's nanolab. - Graphene is a unique material of the future. It is fast, consumes little energy and can be used to make the smallest elements. Its capabilities are superior to silicon, it does what silicon cannot do. This is the future of electronics.”

Semiconductor researchers have been experimenting with graphene since the 1970s. But until recently, they were unable to create ultrathin layers of graphene hexagons. University of Manchester scientists Andre Geim and Konstantin Novoselov successfully created the first graphene layers in 2004 (for this and other achievements in graphene research, they were awarded the Nobel Prize in 2010). After this, graphene technologies began to develop rapidly.

In early 2011, de Geer's group created graphene wires - the first big step towards creating microchips. A wire thickness of about 10 nm was achieved by epitaxy - growing pure graphene on a silicon base. (Epitaxy is the process of growing a thin layer of a crystal on a substrate of another crystal (substrate), so that the grown layer repeats the structure of the substrate).

In the end, scientists were able to obtain electronic structures that are 1 nm thick and much faster than silicon. According to scientists' forecasts, the use of graphenes will make it possible to create processors with a frequency measured in terahertz - this is 20 times faster than the speed of modern silicon processors.

Next year, Georgia Tech scientists hope to complete a prototype chip embedded with graphene and test how the material's unique properties can be used to create microcircuits.

IBM scientists have created experimental transistors and integrated circuits based on graphenes using standard semiconductor production technologies. According to them, this can be considered the first step towards the use of graphene on an industrial scale.

“This area has enormous potential,” says IBM director of physical sciences Supratik Guha. - Graphenes will find application in the military industry and in wireless technologies, in addition, they can be integrated with silicon. Today we need to work hard to demonstrate the feasibility of creating amplifier circuits with high-quality graphene active elements integrated into them.”

The first products using graphenes are expected to appear in 2013. Therefore, it is premature to expect super-fast laptops with graphene processors to appear in the near future. If such a technique does appear, it will be too expensive and can only be used in those areas where price does not matter compared to high speeds and low power consumption.

Also, the integrated circuits we are familiar with were once an “expensive pleasure” and were used only in the military industry and for other special purposes. The history in this area is that many things are introduced into the world as expensive and unavailable, and then become cheap and common. Graphenes have enormous potential; it is expected that they could become publicly available in the next 10 years.

Printed Circuits: Budget Chips

Standard semiconductor manufacturing technology involves a series of complex steps that are carried out in a completely clean room, free of electronics-damaging dust and contaminants. Xerox uses a simpler and cheaper method of producing electronics by printing circuits on a plastic base. The process involves using equipment that can cost thousands of dollars, but not the billions required to set up a traditional processor manufacturing plant.

"Conventional electronics are fast, small and expensive," says Jennifer Ernst, former director of business development at Xerox PARC Laboratory in Palo Alto, California. “By printing them directly onto plastic, PARC makes electronic components slow, large and cheap.”

PARC's circuit printing process requires little great effort than, for example, printing a regular picture. All that is needed is special materials, such as silver ink, and the circuit itself is applied to flexible polyethylene wafers, rather than fragile silicon. In principle, the final product can hardly even be called a chip.

By adapting a variety of printing technologies, including ink injection, stamping and screen printing, PARC produces amplifiers, batteries and switches that are much less expensive than those produced traditionally. And recently the company managed to set up production of 20-bit memory and controllers, which will go on sale next year.

Another interesting project based on printed circuits- an explosion detector that PARC developed for the U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA). Flexible printed circuits are being built into military helmets, where new sensors measure pressure, sound power, acceleration and light in combat environments.

After spending a week on the front line, the soldier returns and submits his helmet to a special laboratory, where the data obtained is carefully analyzed, and doctors make a conclusion about the possibility of brain injuries. These sensors do the job well and cost less than $1 compared to the $7 a traditional sensor costs.

Of course, printed circuits don't come close to competing with silicon when it comes to speed or the ability to pack billions of transistors into a small volume. But there are many applications where cost is much more important than performance. And at the beginning of 2012, printed circuits will begin to be used in toys and electronic games that require simple data processing - for example, speech synthesizers, as well as for controlling airbags in cars.

And by 2015, printed circuits can be found in other electronic products - flexible e-book readers that can be rolled into a tube like paper magazines or for the production of clothing from special fabrics with solar cells, with which you can charge a mobile phone or music player.

Flexible printed circuit sales are projected to grow from $1 billion in 2010 to $45 billion in 2016, according to research firm IDTechEx. They will find application in a wide range of devices.

Printed electronics for low cost electronic systems. State of technology and equipment development.

Annotation. In recent years, printing has become of great interest as a method of obtaining cheap and mass-produced electronic systems. Printing allows the use of entirely additive processes, thereby reducing process complexity and material consumption. Combined with the use of inexpensive substrates such as plastics, metal foils and so on, this predicts that printed electronics will enable the implementation of a wide range of easily deployable electronic systems, including displays, sensors and RFID (Radio Frequency IDentification) tags. We review our work in developing technology and equipment for printed electronics. By combining synthetically produced inorganic nanoparticles and organic materials, we have developed a range of printable electronics "inks" and are using them to demonstrate the printing of passive components, multilayers, diodes, transistors, memories, batteries and various gas analyzers and biosensors. Using printing capabilities, it is possible to inexpensively integrate different functionalities and materials on a single substrate, so it is possible to implement printing systems that take advantage of the advantages of printing while avoiding the disadvantages of printing.

Introduction. In recent years, there has been a significant level of interest in using printing as a technology to realize low-cost, mass-market electronics. Printing is expected to make it possible to implement electronics on flexible, relatively low-cost substrates such as plastic and metallic foil. Cost and feasibility analysis of printing-based microelectronics suggests that printing could potentially enable the implementation of electronic systems on plastic at a significantly lower cost per unit area than conventional lithography-based ones. On the other hand, operating costs are expected to be higher based on the lower resolution of printed electronics. As a consequence, various potential applications for printed electronics are proposed: embedded displays, various types of sensors, and RFID. To implement these systems, it is, of course, necessary to develop the necessary “ink” that can be used to print inductors, capacitances, batteries, traces (connectors), resistors, transistors, diodes, memory units, sensitive elements and displays. In addition, the development of appropriate printing technologies is also required, including technologies for making the necessary thin layers uniform, controlling boundaries and combining layers. Thus, in this work, we analyze the current status and prospects for printed electronics. First, the viability of printing as a technology for realizing printed electronics is explored. Next, we'll look at the classes of printed materials we've developed for printed electronics. Finally, we review the state of the art in printed electronics devices and assess the needs for realizing viable printed electronics devices.

Printing technologies for electronics

Interest in printing as a means of implementing electronic systems has traditionally primarily stemmed from the fact that printing is expected to be a low-cost technology for implementing electronic systems. To test this claim, it is worth comparing print-based manufacturing technologies with traditional high-end microelectronics manufacturing technologies. Firstly, printing requires less capital investment compared to lithography. Interestingly, this is not true for conductor widths > 1 µm, because greatly reduces the cost of lithographic tools available in these modes; In addition, to achieve high uptime, low defectiveness of printing tools will require the development of new equipment for printed electronics, adding to the capital costs of this. Thus, it is not obvious that printing will reduce initial equipment costs. Secondly, printing promises to reduce the overall complexity of the process, since it can allow the use of entirely additive processes, instead of the subtractive processes required for lithography. This is a huge advantage because... This reduces the total number of operations, material costs, and overall equipment costs, therefore reducing capital investments and increasing the throughput of the entire flow. Third, printing can potentially take advantage of low-cost substrate processing and production automation because it allows the use of low-cost roll-to-roll or sheet-feed feed technologies. While this is likely to be true in the long term, the development of high-precision alignment tools is still a work in progress, and the results are ultimately unclear. Considering material costs, substrate costs, capital cost estimates, and performance estimates, the economic viability of printed electronics can be concluded. This analysis suggests that printing should be cheaper per unit area than conventional electronics; The actual cost depends on the specific technological solutions used, but cost advantages of >10X times are quite real. On the other hand, the cost of one transistor in printed electronics is several orders of magnitude higher than the cost of one silicon transistor, due to the inferior track width (the best achievable track width in high-speed printing today is less than 10 μm). As a consequence, the cost-effectiveness can be summarized very simply - printed electronics are cost-effective in applications that are space-constrained, while they are not cost-effective in applications that are functionally density-constrained.

Various printing methods are available for use in electronics manufacturing. It is therefore useful to summarize the advantages and disadvantages of each of the broad classes of printing methods. The printing methods discussed here are screen printing (silk-screen printing), inkjet printing, stamping (embossing)/nanoimprinting (a method of pressing a template with nano-sized elements into a layer of material) and intaglio printing (intaglio). Other printing methods exist, but are generally not used in the manufacture of printed electronics.

Screen printing is perhaps the most mature technology for producing printed electronics. Screen printing is used for production printed circuit boards for decades. In screen printing, viscous ink is “pressed” through a stencil using a staple. The image on the stencil is usually formed using a photosensitive coating. Screen printing is widely used in electronics because... it is used to pattern traces of conductors (usually silver pastes are used), resistances (carbon films are used), capacitors (polyimide dielectrics are used), etc., in the production of printed circuit boards. The resolution of commercial high-speed screen printing equipment is typically worse than >50 µm, although in studies silkscreen printing has been used to achieve printing in the <1000 cP (centipoise) range to prevent excessive smearing and excess binder. This is problematic for some materials in printed electronics. High ink viscosity is usually achieved by adding polymer binders to the ink. While this is not a serious problem for printing, it can be a serious problem for printed electronics, since such binders can destroy the functionality of semiconductors, introduce excessive leakage and loss in dielectrics, or degrade the conductivity of conductors. As a result, the use of screen printing is generally limited to products where binders can be added without critical loss of performance. For example, silver paste binders are commonly used in screen printing. While the conductivity is reduced relative to the pure silver layer, it is still acceptable for specified applications (eg thin layer membrane switches, automotive keypads, etc.). Screen printing has been applied in some limited applications for printed electronics such as printing conductors, etc.

The most widely used technology for printing active electrical circuits today is inkjet printing. Inkjet printing allows the use of low viscosity ink (1-20cP); this is extremely important because allows the development of inks that contain only the active substance and solvent, without a binder. Combined with digital data input, which allows design changes on the fly, inkjet printing dominates research into printed transistors, etc. On the other hand, the production of viable inkjet printing not yet determined. Firstly, inkjet printing, being a drop-by-drop (drop by drop) technique, is a head with strictly pixelated emission, in which the drying phenomenon is combined with drops, can produce a variety of variations of the printed pattern. This issue will be discussed below. Secondly, inkjet printing is generally slow, and high throughput is only achieved by using a large number of heads working in parallel. This, in turn, presents a productivity problem due to the failure of individual heads when printing a design. Thirdly, there is a “cone of uncertainty”, depending on the angle of the droplet ejection from the nozzle; this is typically 10 µm, the result of ±3σ variation in placement when dropped from height. This in turn introduces edge roughness line and placement limits into the design scaling rules.

Drying phenomena associated with inkjet printing are especially important because... Smooth, thin layers with low edge roughness are very important for the implementation of printed devices. An integral part of drying drops is the so-called “coffee ring” effect. In this drop drying effect, there is a strong migration of material from the center of the drop to the edges of the drop due to strong convective forces associated with the evaporation of the solvent from the drop. Depending on the relative evaporation and convective currents, the droplet dries and this allows a ring-shaped final layer to form as a result, as shown in Figure 1. This is obviously a serious problem for printed electronics because The large thickness variation inherent in vias and sharp edges contribute to the unsuitability of the layer shape. The effects of drying on the formation line are clearly visible in Figure 2, which shows changes in the morphology (the science of shape and structure) of the line depending on the distance between droplets in the printed line. All other parameters remain the same. Clearly, simply changing one parameter has a large impact on the morphologies of the printed line, again due to the strong convective forces associated with droplet drying.

The origin of changes in the printed line can be easily understood by considering the convective forces associated with drying (Figure 3). When a droplet is added to the end of an already formed line, convective forces cause the droplet's fluid to be transported towards the connecting point to the line. If the spacing between droplets is too large, then the connection is too small to support the transfer, and the result is that the droplets dry to a solid line as shown in Figure 2.1. If the distance is a little closer, then the same materials are pulled into a line, but the limited connection interferes with the transfer, as a result of drying/gelling of the drop, a jagged line is formed instead of a smooth sidewall (Figure 2.2). If the interval between drops is reduced further, then actually smooth continuous line edges can be formed (Figure 2.3). However, if you reduce the spacing between drops even further, the connection point between the line and the drop becomes too large and an excessive amount of material from the drop is transferred into the line. The line cannot withstand the amount transferred and, therefore, overflowing, becomes convex. Increasing the cross-section of the convexity allows further fluid transfer, and thus the isthmus recedes again, only increasing as the resistance to fluid transfer falls. This leads to the formation of periodic bulges on the line (Figure 2.4). Now it is clear why the morphology of the line is difficult to control, and the technological process for the same reason is complex, but interesting. A solution to the problem that is commonly adopted by many authors involves a "fast drying" line such that the droplets dry very quickly upon touching the substrate. Lines of this shape consist of individually dried drops overlapping each other (Figure 2.5.). Unfortunately, such lines suffer from poor film thickness uniformity and limited feature size scalability.

The pixelated nature of inkjet printing, low productivity and production challenges have sparked interest in alternative printing technologies.