Light Emitting Silicon Steps It Up 94
h4mm3r writes "STMicroelectronics plans to announce a breakthrough on Monday in light-emitting silicon that could lead to a new generation of more powerful computing processors and more efficient automobile components as well as
potentially higher-speed optical data-transmission systems. (gotta register, free yadda yadda)"
The coolest part of this story... (Score:2, Funny)
Re:The coolest part of this story... (Score:5, Funny)
Saab (Score:3, Informative)
I don't really see how it will have an effect on me, but I think it is a cool idea in general.
Saab is owned by GM, soi I don't know if it is a trend that all of GM is heading towards, or if Saab is somehow special.
Re:Saab (Score:1, Funny)
Re:Saab (Score:2, Interesting)
Due to the fact that most collisions are over in a matter os miliseconds, electrically controlled airbag systems are kind of like cap-guns. In other words, as soon as they detect that one of their deployment parameters has been breached they must immediately go off. If they don't they will be too late to be effective.
The fiber in the BMW's ISIS system allows the car to gather data from many sensors around the vehicle that help it to get a "picture" of the way the accident is developing. Not only what direction the collison is coming from, but how fast it is propigating through the crumple-zones, etc. The system then calculates the optimal deployment timing for the airbags and sets them off according to the plan it has developed. Without fiber there would not be enough time for the car to design and implement the deployment plan. Now consider, the new 7 series BMW has two front airbags, side airbags for all four outboard seats, head airbags for all four outboard seats, and knee airbags for the front occupants. Furthermore, the front airbags have multiple deployment types depending on the severity of the collision and whether the front occupants have their belts on or not. There are also pre-tensioners on the seatbelts that help make sure the driver and passenger are properly situated in the seat to recieve the front airbag deployment. ALL of this is controlled by the ISIS system.
In addition, the 7 series has an optical entertainment bus that cotrols the stereo components, phone system, navigation system, and the DVD system. It is upgradable and expandable.
Fiber is great for cars, no emf problems, dosen't corrode, more reliable than electrical components (no shorts), but the neatest thing that may be coming for BMW is the possible addition of Blue Tooth technology for the phone system. This would allow ANYONE in the car with a compatible phone system to use the boosted transmitter/antenna system in the car along with voice activated/handsfree operation.
It is completely impossible to say anything intelligent or enlightening in a space this size, excep
Saab is owned by GM (Score:1)
Like Jag... Volvo....ect...
Re:Saab is owned by GM (Score:1)
Ford owns Aston Martin, Jaguar, and Volvo. BMW briefly owned Land Rover and now Ford owns that too.
BMW is pretty much the only luxury company left that is all by itself.
the rest all share parts and labor to drive down costs and increase reliability.
I personally don't like nor trust Ford, so I won't be in anything they touch, but Saab still has a great deal of freedom and control in what they do while still under GM, but now they have a larger bankroll with which to do things like the new engine that a poster above noted.
Re:Saab (Score:2)
Grab.
Google partner link (Score:3, Informative)
Why can't slashdot become a partner to NYT?
If you don't want to give google false page hits there's always majcher [majcher.com]
ST website (Score:1)
(Score:-1, Overrated)
Re:Google partner link (Score:1)
Integration (Score:4, Informative)
Re:Integration (Score:1)
Re:Integration (Score:1, Offtopic)
My statement was also meant as more of an agreement with the article. I didn't need to read the article to know this was true because I work in the industry. I do agree that the moderation is undeserved however.
Re:Integration (Score:1)
I find it fairly interesting that you work in the industry- maybe you could fill in a bit more on the usual "Disneyfied" versions of the truth. Saying that- NDA and all - I know I could give industry responses to gaming topics but nothing to specific....
Re:Integration (Score:2)
I try to add value when I can. I can't contribute too much to the computer related articles beause that is not my area, I come here to learn about that. So when these semiconductor related articles pop up, I try to join in and compare my understanding to others. But alas, things get misinterpreted which is fine. It's part of the system here and I have more to worry about (like finishing my degree). Anyway, thanks for your support!
The Other Way? (Score:5, Interesting)
Nitpicking... (Score:3, Informative)
Solar Cells != Photo-Diodes
While both are PN junctions, insofar as the construction is concerned, photovoltaic cells actually produce a voltage, while photodiodes behave...differently.
When you have a photovoltaic cell, you need only connect a load to it to use EM energy for whatever work you need done.
With diodes, you have one PN junction (meaning P-type material on one side, and N-type material on the other.). To forward-bias the diode, you attach your positive voltage source to the P region, and your negative voltage source to the N region. This causes your electrons (called current carriers) to be pushed across the PN junction toward your positive voltage supply.
If you reverse-bias the diode, your current carriers will be drawn away from the PN junction, and almost no current, called leakage current, can cross.
All PN junctions are sensitive to light in that light striking silicon will produce current carriers(disclaimer: I'm only telling half the story...it can get confusion if you start considering "electron holes"...but if generation of free electrons bothers you, feel free.), wherever they strike. If they're particularly near the PN junction, they will serve to cause an increase in the leakage current, the external measurement of which is how the information is retrieved.
A rudimentary photodiode is simply a PN junction with a glass window.
There are all sorts of things you can do with semiconductors, doped or not. I keep seeing discussion proclaiming the downfall of semiconductors, but I wouldn't count on, say, quantum computing, to be able to function without supporting circuitry for the next twenty to thirty years. I hope to retire about then.
Light emitting silicion is easy. (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Light emitting silicion is easy. (Score:2)
Re:Light emitting silicion is easy. (Score:1)
hopey
Re:Light emitting silicion is easy. (Score:1)
They wanted light emitting silicon, not smoke emitting silicon....
Then I was like.... HUH??? (Score:2)
Re:Then I was like.... HUH??? (Score:4, Informative)
http://siliconstrategies.com/story/O
Basically, LEDs use Gallium and some other material because Silicon is horribly inefficient at photo-applications (its a electron band-gap thing, ask a physicist), but because its so cheap and GaAs is very not cheap, they still use polycrystalline Si for large solar cells.
Unfortunately, Leds are just too dim when silicon is used, so Gallium and whatever else (depends on wavelength) is still necessary there. By getting efficient light emitting Silicon, a whole pantload of money gets saved by avoiding Gallium.
End note: Why is Si cheaper than Ga? Refinement is more complex for Ga, Si is much more plentiful, and it hard to make large wafers of GaAs. Plus GaAs oxide (don't know the formula) is liquid at room temperature, so the only demand is photo applications (and stressed Si) because making IC with just GaAs means you can't use a liquid GaAs-oxide as a mask/gate/whatever.
Re:Then I was like.... HUH??? (Score:4, Informative)
Gallium Arsenide (not gallium) is used to make a variety of LED and semiconductor lasers. Silicon is unattractive for light-emitting applications because it has an indirect bandgap, making emission of photons much less efficient than in direct bandgap materials.
Making large wafer of GaAs is not so much a processing issue as a cost issue (i.e. how much would one wafer end up having to sell for, and would anyone at all even think of dropping that much money on one). HOWEVER, neither GaAs nor its native oxide(s) are liquid or even water-soluble at room temperature. You were perhaps thinking of Germanium. The problem with GaAs oxides is that they do not form into such nice layers as SiO2, and that they do not effectively passivate the GaAs surface such that MOSFETs cannot be fabricated. GaAs (and InP) and still widely used (in your cellphone for example), but in different ways than silicon and not nearly as widely as silicon.
Augmentation (Score:2, Informative)
I'm working on a GaAs project now, if you want to keep me company -- WRITE!
Re:Augmentation (Score:1)
Of course direct vs. indirect bandgap also plays an important role in determining efficiency.
right (Score:1)
Thanks very much.
InGaAs it is indeed that corresponds to the 1550nm optic fibers I'm working with.
Ever done any work with Erbium-doped waveguides, acting as optical amplifiers?
Re:Then I was like.... HUH??? (Score:4, Informative)
The reason the Sun designer described it as "the holy grail" is timing circuitry on CPU's. What's the figure, something like 75-80% of a CPU is dedicated to timing circuitry? Think about what happens when you replace all that timing circuitry with a light pulse, and just pick it up wherever you need it. Eliminate all the wiring currently used to distribute the timing, and you get lower power, tons more silicon to devote to other things, and probably the potential for speed gains.
Re:Then I was like.... HUH??? (Score:2)
Me too! I was hoping to hear about new LED light bulbs and they start talking about, y'know, geek stuff. What a bummer.
Wasn't in the article... (Score:2)
Re:Then I was like.... HUH??? (Score:1, Insightful)
I find this quite entertaining for the simple reason that this same situation of efficiency mismatch was at the heart of the invention of the integrated circuit (invented independently by Jack Kilby at Texas Instruments and Robert Noyce (then at Fairchild, prior to starting Intel)). Jack Kilby in particular was struggling with the "tyranny of numbers problem." This was because,basically, prior to the coming of integration, trying to build useful circuits out of full-sized components and wire them all together was simply too complex to actually do in a practical way. Kilby needed to convince his boss to let him do an experiment where he would put more than one device together in a solid state material and he knew that TI had put a ton of effort into how to work with Silicon. He realized that even though Silicon was a "horrible" choice for making resistors and capacitors, that in fact it *could* be done and that combined with the fact that Silicon made great transistors, which are by far the most prevalent device in logic circuits, an efficient overall process might be reached. The electronics world of the time gave a collective laugh, thinking the use of non-optimal materials for the non-transistor components of this "ugly chunk of rock" was silly and that the process of making these "integrated chip things" would be way too expensive to compete with traditional circuits. We all know how things turned out. -TitaniumTurtle
Opto-Isolators? Duh. (Score:1, Interesting)
"The first applications of the new technology will be to build power control devices in which the control circuitry is electrically isolated from the power switching devices, the company said. Currently such isolation can only be achieved by using external components, adding bulk and cost to designs."
Are they trying to re-invent opto-isolators?
Re:Opto-Isolators? Duh. (Score:5, Interesting)
Of course, I'm guessing that is not as easy as it seems, which is why STMicroelectronics is making simple devices like opto-isolators. It could be several years before optical clocking is perfected.
Re:Opto-Isolators? Duh. (Score:2)
They don't have to sell their opto-isolators cheaper. They can just manufacture them cheaper, claim they're better in some way or other, and sell them at the same price. People will buy the "new better" technology and they'll turn more profit than the existing opto-isolator manufacturers.
Re:Opto-Isolators? Duh. (Score:1)
--
Reinventing opto-isolators. (Score:2)
Yep. They did. See their web site. (Sorry, don't have time to copy the link from another posting...)
But when THEY make an opto-isolator they put the emitter(s) and the detector(s) on the same chip, getting the alignment between them by using the same set of masks. Then they convert the region between the two sides into silicon Dioxide (also known as "glass") to form a VERY GOOD transparent insulator without disturbing the alignment.
So what's new? (Score:1)
Light Emitting Silicon?! (Score:5, Funny)
Very challenging to do (Score:5, Informative)
Re:Very challenging to do (Score:5, Insightful)
However, the fact that Si has an indirect bandgap means it will never be as efficient as its direct gap brethren, such as GaAs.
The addition of a rare earth element such as Erbium increase the light output substantially as you say. However, the emission spectrum is very broad and likely undesired. A rare earth dopant and a resonant cavity structure however would be a good candidate for efficient emission.
Re:Very challenging to do (Score:2)
Hope that helps.
Re:Very challenging to do (Score:1)
hopey
Re:Very challenging to do (Score:2)
The extraction efficiency of GaAs is limited by the critical angle, you are correct in this. However, this can be overcome to some degree by microcavity structures ot photonic bandgap structures. Still the material must have a high internal quantum efficiency to produce a large amount of light, single crystal Si alone does not have this. Doped Si may be better but it is still going to be much lower than the near 100% acheivable in GaAs.
Re:Very challenging to do (Score:1)
hopey
Re:Very challenging to do (Score:1)
hopey
Re:Very challenging to do (Score:2)
Even with this help, single crystal Si will never be able to produce ligth as efficiently as GaAs.
Re:Very challenging to do (Score:1, Funny)
When I have GaAs, my emissions would not be considered "light".
I can see it already... (Score:5, Funny)
"Case dismissed!"
Re:I can see it already... (Score:2, Funny)
Film Photography (Score:2, Troll)
Re:Film Photography (Score:2)
this is how film is processed, no computers at all, unless you consider teh clock a computer.
please clear your ignorance cache before posting again.
Re: To whoever modded above troll (Score:1)
Instead, a more reasonable assumption is that it is intended as humor. Now while various people might disagree as to how funny it might actually be, I think your troll moderation is, well, immoderate. Evidently, I am not alone, Quill_28, also raises the question, "How is this a troll". Subsequently someone has demonstrated for him, by marking the inquiry itself troll.
I have been getting moderater points fairly frequently. I try to use them with more care than this.
Glow? (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Glow? (Score:1)
Re:Glow? (Score:5, Interesting)
Standard silicon does emit radiation, but it's all in the infrared. IBM actually invented a technique a few years ago that essentially looks at a chip under a microscope with a high-speed IR camera. You can actually see gates turning on because they appear as bright spots in the camera. This technology is useful for diagnosing problems with silicon. (For example, if you're getting too high a current draw, you can see transistors that are on when they're supposed to be off. Did that designer forget to draw a wire to ground?)
Re:Glow? (Score:2)
Re:Glow? (Score:2)
Re:Light emitting anus (Score:1)
New way of doing case mods? (Score:4, Insightful)
But in all seriousness, after I saw the article a while back (on slashdot) with something about optical traces on a motherboard in about 5 years from now, it had me very intrigued. I mean if you can shave a few nanoseconds from every bus cycle that's gotta be worth 10% increase in performance eventually. Especially on a clawhammer/sledgehammer where you've eliminated the north bridge part of the chipset.
GOOGLE News (Beta) Link (Score:4, Informative)
Google News (Beta) Link [nytimes.com]
new math (Score:4, Funny)
well now, let us see.. 100 times ZERO. Maybe that "new math" [dbooth.net] we all learned can help us with this.
Please forgive this post, I am a bitter III/V (read GaAs et al) guy
LES Hardware (Score:2, Insightful)
What, shining fake tits?? (Score:2, Funny)
Story on EETimes also (Score:2, Informative)
We already have it... (Score:2)
Most of you probably do and don't even know it. Simply remove your Athlon heatsink, and for a brief period, the chip will emit a reddish glow.
It is pretty, but DO NOT touch.
Last Post! (Score:1)
where everything is reversed, after which the point becomes to understand
more and more that there is something which cannot be understood.
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