The FPGA Chip became an IEEE Milestone

Good news! First developed in the 1980s.

"Many of the world’s most advanced electronic systems—including Internet routers, wireless base stations, medical imaging scanners, and some artificial intelligence tools—depend on field-programmable gate arrays. Computer chips with internal hardware circuits, the FPGAs can be reconfigured after manufacturing.

On 12 March, an IEEE Milestone plaque recognizing the first FPGA was dedicated at the Advanced Micro Devices campus in San Jose, Calif., the former Xilinx headquarters and the birthplace of the technology. ...

The FPGA architecture originated in the mid-1980s at Xilinx, a Silicon Valley company founded in 1984. The invention is widely credited to Freeman, a Xilinx cofounder and the startup’s CTO. He envisioned a chip with circuitry that could be configured after fabrication rather than fixed permanently during creation. ..."

The FPGA Chip Is an IEEE Milestone - IEEE Spectrum

Inside Huawei's chip comeback: The woman taking on US sanctions

Headline of the day!

Inside Huawei's chip comeback: The woman taking on US sanctions - Nikkei Asia (behind paywall) "Chip chief He Tingbo says breakthrough will make cutting-edge EUV tools unnecessary"

Huawei says new Kirin chip for phones overcomes US sanctions by 2031, first ever to adopt the LogicFolding architecture

If it will take Huawei up to five years to catch up, then these sanctions are kind of effective. I have my doubts it will take them that long!

Impressive progress by Huawei!

"Huawei Technologies on Monday said it has found a new way to design chips to bring its semiconductor capabilities close to those of global chipmakers Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. and Intel, as China's tech champion continues working to overcome U.S. sanctions that have cut it off from top-tier global suppliers. ..."

"... the Tau (τ) Scaling Law, a new principle for guiding the future development of the semiconductor industry. This law proposes replacing geometric scaling with time (τ) scaling as a new guiding principle for the evolution of both semiconductors and electronic systems.

Based on this principle, innovative technologies such as LogicFolding can be used to continuously compress signal propagation delay and steadily improve transistor density, which will drive the ongoing evolution of semiconductors and electronic systems. ...

HUAWEI's application of the τ Scaling Law to smartphones and AI computing. Over the past six years, HUAWEI has designed and mass-produced 381 chips based on the τ Scaling Law, serving a wide range of industries, sectors, and markets.

The Kirin chips scheduled to launch in Fall 2026 will be the first ever to adopt the LogicFolding architecture, which will considerably enhance the chips' performance.

By 2031, the high-end chips HUAWEI designs based on the τ Scaling Law are expected to feature a transistor density that is equivalent to 14 Å (1.4 nm) processes. ..."

Huawei says new Kirin chip for phones overcomes US clampdown - Nikkei Asia (behind paywall) "Chinese titan unveils new chip approach it says could help it match TSMC, Intel by 2031"

HUAWEI Presents the Tau (τ) Scaling Law, Enabling Breakthroughs in Transistor Density and System Performance (I believe, this is the underlying news release by Huawei)

How researchers cleared the metal–perovskite interface bottleneck holding back next-gen electronics

Good news!

"Researchers ... have discovered a way to dramatically improve how electrical current enters perovskite semiconductors, an emerging class of materials with enormous potential for next-generation electronics.

A longstanding challenge has been the metal–perovskite interface, where electrical current often struggles to pass efficiently from the metal electrode into the semiconductor. T...

The research team developed a strategy that makes this transition much easier. By creating a very thin, locally modified region under the metal contact, they enabled electrons to pass through the barrier using a quantum mechanical process called tunneling.

This approach reduces the resistance at the contact by shrinking the “blocked” region from about 250 nanometers to less than 25 nanometers. As a result, current can flow more efficiently at lower voltages. ...

They developed a contact-induced charge-transfer doping method using silver oxide nanoclusters formed at the interface.

The process involved three key steps:

1. A van der Waals–laminated metal electrode was placed on the perovskite surface to minimize damage.
2. Mild thermal annealing allowed small amounts of silver to diffuse into the near-surface region.
3. Ultraviolet light exposure converted the silver into silver oxide nanoclusters. These nanoclusters act as electron acceptors, pulling electrons away from the perovskite and creating a locally p-doped region beneath the metal contact.

..."

From the abstract:

"Efficient carrier injection at metal–semiconductor interfaces is essential for probing intrinsic electronic properties and enabling high-performance devices. Thinning the Schottky barrier via contact doping is a cornerstone strategy in semiconductor technology for minimizing contact resistance (Rc).

However, carrier doping in halide perovskites has remained elusive, and selective contact doping has not been achieved, resulting in excessive Rc that far exceeds the intrinsic material resistance.

Here we report an effective contact-doping strategy by transferring Ag/Au electrodes onto single-crystal CsPbBr3 thin films using a low-energy van der Waals integration process. Moderate annealing (80–180 °C) during transfer enables silver diffusion into CsPbBr3, followed by its transformation into Ag2O clusters upon ultraviolet treatment, forming an Ag2O/CsPbBr3 bulk heterojunction. The Ag2O clusters embedded in CsPbBr3 act as interfacial electron acceptors, inducing a local hole density of ∼5 × 1017 cm−3 in the contact region. This markedly shrinks the Schottky barrier and enhances carrier injection, yielding a substantially reduced Rc of 26–70 Ω cm and a notably high two-terminal sheet conductance exceeding 225 µS at 190 K."

How UCLA researchers cleared the nanoscale bottleneck holding back next-gen electronics | UCLA

Bulk-heterojunction doping in lead halide perovskites for low-resistance metal contacts (no public access)

'Thermal diode' design promises to improve heat regulation, prolonging battery life

Good news!

"New technology from University of Houston researchers could improve the way devices manage heat, thanks to a technique that allows heat to flow in only one direction. The innovation is known as thermal rectification ...

These concepts have so far only been demonstrated theoretically, but Zhao aims to build experimental platforms to show the innovation in action. ..."

"Key Takeaways

• UH researchers developed a way to make heat flow in only one direction, giving engineers new control over how devices manage temperature.
• The technology works like an electronic diode for heat, helping prevent overheating and potentially extending battery life in phones, electric vehicles and satellites.
• The approach could lead to cooler, safer and more reliable electronics, especially in extreme environments like space.

...

This new technology gives engineers a new way to control radiative heat with the same precision that electronic diodes control electrical currents, which means longer-lasting batteries for cell phones, electric vehicles and even satellites. It also has the potential to change our approach to AI data centers. ..."

From the abstract:

"As a type of energy carrier, polaritons can play a dominant role in the thermal conductivity of nano/microstructures.

Here, we report an asymmetric thermal conductivity mediated by polaritons that break the Lorentz reciprocity. In contrast to existing approaches that rely on nonlinearity or time modulation, we leverage nonreciprocal polaritons induced by magnetic effects.

We show that nonreciprocal surface plasmon polaritons in time-reversal symmetry-breaking systems, including magneto-optical materials and magnetic Weyl semimetals, can alter the symmetry of thermal conductivity in systems like thin films, resulting in direction-dependent thermal conductivity.

Thermal conductivities of reciprocal material systems can also be made asymmetric through near-field coupling with these material systems. In accompaniment with the surging interest in nonreciprocal thermal radiation by polaritons, we extend the role of nonreciprocal polaritons from radiative heat transfer systems to conduction systems, paving the way for next-generation thermal devices and efficient energy management solutions."

'Thermal diode' design promises to improve heat regulation, prolonging battery life

University of Houston Researchers Bring the Heat (original news release) "New Technology Promises to Improve Heat Regulation, Prolonging Battery Life"

Asymmetric thermal conductivity mediated by nonreciprocal polaritons (no public access)

Credits: Physiker knacken ein Grundproblem moderner Elektronik

Japanese semiconductor supplier plans expansion in Arizona

What makes Arizona so attractive for Taiwanese and Japanese semiconductor companies?

Maybe it is the Roadrunner? Just kidding!

"A semiconductor supplier that has operated in Phoenix since the mid-1990s is seeking city approval to build a new industrial facility, with most of the space dedicated to warehouse operations."

Shin-Etsu MicroSi plans 17,000-square-foot Ahwatukee expansion - Phoenix Business Journal

Roadrunner

Scientists Create New Type of Semiconductor in hyperdoped Germanium

Good news!

"Researchers have made germanium superconducting for the first time, a feat that could transform computing and quantum technologies. Using molecular beam epitaxy to embed gallium atoms precisely, the team stabilized the crystal structure to carry current without resistance. The discovery paves the way for scalable, energy-efficient quantum devices and cryogenic electronics."

From the abstract:

"Doping-induced superconductivity in group-IV elements may enable quantum functionalities in material systems accessible with well-established semiconductor technologies.

Non-equilibrium hyperdoping of group-III atoms into C, Si or Ge can yield superconductivity; however, its origin is obscured by structural disorder and dopant clustering.

Here we report the epitaxial growth of hyperdoped Ga:Ge films and trilayer heterostructures by molecular-beam epitaxy with extreme hole concentrations (nh = 4.15 × 1021 cm−3, 17.9% Ga substitution) that yield superconductivity with a critical temperature of Tc = 3.5 K.

Synchrotron-based X-ray absorption and scattering methods reveal that Ga dopants are substitutionally incorporated within the Ge lattice, introducing a tetragonal distortion to the crystal unit cell.

Our findings, corroborated by first-principles calculations, suggest that the structural order of Ga dopants creates a narrow band for the emergence of superconductivity in Ge, establishing hyperdoped Ga:Ge as a low-disorder, epitaxial superconductor–semiconductor platform."

Scientists turn common semiconductor into a superconductor "A team has made germanium, a key semiconductor, superconducting by precisely integrating gallium atoms into its crystal lattice."

Scientists Create New Type of Semiconductor that Holds Superconducting Promise (original news release) "International team of physicists’ innovation could vastly advance wireless communications, computer speed, and aerospace technology"

Superconductivity in substitutional Ga-hyperdoped Ge epitaxial thin films (no public access)

Superconductivity in Substitutional Ga-Hyperdoped Ge Epitaxial Thin Films (preprint, open access)

Figure 1:Superconductivity in germanium by p-type hyperdoping

Fujitsu and Nvidia to develop energy-efficient AI chips by 2030

Good news!

Fujitsu and Nvidia to develop energy-efficient AI chips by 2030 - Nikkei Asia (behind paywall) "Jensen Huang sees Japan's FugakuNEXT supercomputer as 'driving force' in joint efforts"

Fujitsu CEO Takahito Tokita, left, and Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang pose for a photo in Tokyo on Oct. 3.

Last week, China barred its major tech companies from buying Nvidia chips by Andrew Ng

Recommendable! On the advanced chip wars between China, Taiwan, and the US!

"Last week, China barred its major tech companies from buying Nvidia chips. This move received only modest attention in the media, but has implications far beyond what’s widely appreciated. Specifically, it signals that China has progressed sufficiently in semiconductors to break away from dependence on advanced chips designed in the U.S., the vast majority of which are manufactured in Taiwan. It also highlights the U.S. vulnerability to possible disruptions in Taiwan at a moment when China is becoming less vulnerable.

After the U.S. started restricting AI chip sales to China, China dramatically ramped up its semiconductor research and investment to move toward self-sufficiency. These efforts are starting to bear fruit, and China’s willingness to cut off Nvidia is a strong sign of its faith in its domestic capabilities.

For example, the new DeepSeek-R1-Safe model was trained on 1000 Huawei Ascend chips. While individual Ascend chips are significantly less powerful than individual Nvidia or AMD chips, Huawei’s system-level design approach to orchestrating how a much larger number of chips work together seems to be paying off. For example, Huawei’s CloudMatrix 384 system of 384 chips aims to compete with Nvidia’s GB200, which uses 72 higher-capability chips.

Today, U.S. access to advanced semiconductors is heavily dependent on Taiwan’s TSMC, which manufactures the vast majority of the most advanced chips. Unfortunately, U.S. efforts to ramp up domestic semiconductor manufacturing have been slow.

I am encouraged that one fab at the TSMC Arizona facility is now operating, but issues of workforce training, culture, licensing and permitting, and the supply chain are still being addressed, and there is still a long road ahead for the U.S. facility to be a viable substitute for manufacturing in Taiwan. ...

If China gains independence from Taiwan manufacturing significantly faster than the U.S., this would leave the U.S. much more vulnerable to possible disruptions in Taiwan, whether through natural disasters or man-made events. ..."

AI Agents Spend Money, Online Betting Automates, ChatGPT Users Shift, Reinforcement Learning Accelerates

Japanese chipmaker Rapidus begins test production of 2nm circuits — company commits to single-wafer processing ahead of 2027 mass production target

Good news! Is Rapidus catching up with TSMC and Samsung? Competition is good, more competition is better.

"Rapidus on Friday announced that it had begun prototyping of test wafers with 2nm gate-all-around (GAA) transistor structures at its IIM-1 facility in Japan. The company confirmed that early test wafers are already attaining the expected electrical characteristics, which means that the company's fab tools operate as planned and its process technology development is proceeding well. ...

Nowadays, large chipmakers like Intel, Samsung, and TSMC use a combination of batch and single-wafer processing methods in their semiconductor fabrication processes. ..."

Japanese chipmaker Rapidus begins test production of 2nm circuits — company commits to single-wafer processing ahead of 2027 mass production target | Tom's Hardware

Rapidus Achieves Significant Milestone at its State-of-the-Art Foundry with Prototyping of Leading-Edge 2nm GAA Transistors (original news release)

Prototypes of 2nm Gate All Around Transistors on Silicon Wafer

Australian engineers at CSIRO use quantum machine learning for semiconductor fabrication in world first

Good news!

"Engineers at Australia’s national science agency, CSIRO, have performed a world-first use of quantum machine learning to fabricate semiconductors. The research could reshape the way future microchips are designed. ...

The team was particularly interested in modelling the Ohmic contact resistance of the semiconductor material. This property is a measure of the electrical resistance where the semiconductor comes into contact with a metal and the current flows easily between the materials in both directions.

Modelling Ohmic contact resistance is critical to semiconductor design and fabrication, but it’s also a property which is notoriously difficult to model. ...

The team developed an innovative Quantum Kernel-Aligned Regressor (QKAR) architecture.

Their QKAR setup included a Pauli-Z quantum feature map – a mathematical operator which can translate classical data into quantum states in the form of 5 quantum bits, or qubits.

Once data is mapped to the qubits, a quantum kernel alignment layer is used to perform the machine learning. ..."

From the abstract:

"Modeling complex semiconductor fabrication processes such as Ohmic contact formation remains challenging due to high-dimensional parameter spaces and limited experimental data.

While classical machine learning (CML) approaches have been successful in many domains, their performance degrades in small-sample, nonlinear scenarios.

In this work, quantum machine learning (QML) is investigated as an alternative, exploiting quantum kernels to capture intricate correlations from compact datasets. Using only 159 experimental GaN HEMT samples, a quantum kernel-aligned regressor (QKAR) is developed combining a shallow Pauli-Z feature map with a trainable quantum kernel alignment (QKA) layer.

All models, including seven baseline CML regressors, are evaluated under a unified PCA-based preprocessing pipeline to ensure a fair comparison. QKAR consistently outperforms classical baselines across multiple metrics (MAE, MSE, RMSE), achieving a mean absolute error of 0.338 Ω·mm when validated on experimental data.

Noise robustness and generalization are further assessed through cross-validation and new device fabrication.

These findings suggest that carefully constructed QML models can provide predictive advantages in data-constrained semiconductor modeling, offering a foundation for practical deployment on near-term quantum hardware. While challenges remain for both QML and CML, this study demonstrates QML's potential as a complementary approach in complex process modeling tasks."

Australian engineers at CSIRO use quantum AI for semiconductor fabrication in world first

Quantum Kernel Learning for Small Dataset Modeling in Semiconductor Fabrication: Application to Ohmic Contact

Fig. 7 The process of how to build the QML model.

Nvidia Hit $4 Trillion: From Bankruptcy to owning AI future with Palki Sharma

Very recommendable! Includes a short history of the company.

Closing in on superconducting semiconductors

Amazing stuff!

"... Superconducting electronics have arisen as a promising alternative for classical and quantum computing, although their full exploitation for high-end computing requires a dramatic reduction in the amount of wiring linking ambient temperature electronics and low-temperature superconducting circuits.

To make systems that are both larger and more streamlined, replacing commonplace components such as semiconductors with superconducting versions could be of immense value. ...

One of the critical long-standing requirements is the need for the efficient conversion of AC currents into DC currents on a chip while operating at the extremely cold cryogenic temperatures required for superconductors to work efficiently.

For example, in superconducting “energy-efficient rapid single flux quantum” (ERSFQ) circuits, the AC-to-DC issue is limiting ERSFQ scalability and preventing their use in larger circuits with higher complexities. To respond to this need, ... team created superconducting diode (SD)-based superconducting rectifiers — devices that can convert AC to DC on the same chip. These rectifiers would allow for the efficient delivery of the DC current necessary to operate superconducting classical and quantum processors. ...

The new approach ... will significantly cut down on the thermal and electromagnetic noise traveling from ambient into cryogenic circuitry, enabling cleaner operation.

The SDs could also potentially serve as isolators/circulators, assisting in insulating qubit signals from external influence. The successful assimilation of multiple SDs into the first integrated SD circuit represents a key step toward making superconducting computing a commercial reality.  ..."

From the abstract:

"Superconducting electronics is of use in the development of energy-efficient classical and quantum computing applications.

Non-reciprocal superconducting circuit elements, such as superconducting diodes, are needed for such systems, but integrating several superconducting diodes in a superconducting circuit remains a challenge.

Here we report a superconducting diode bridge that consists of multiple superconducting diodes with reproducible characteristics and operating temperatures of a few Kelvin.

The superconducting diodes are fabricated from thin-film bilayers of the elemental superconductor vanadium and the insulating ferromagnet europium sulfide.

Four practically identical diodes are patterned on the same superconducting film to create the superconducting diode bridge. The bridge can function as a full-wave rectifier with an efficiency up to 42 ± 5%, and offers alternating current (a.c.) to direct current (d.c.) signal conversion capabilities at frequencies up to 40 kHz."

Closing in on superconducting semiconductors | MIT News | Massachusetts Institute of Technology "Plasma Science and Fusion Center researchers created a superconducting circuit that could one day replace semiconductor components in quantum and high-performance computing systems."

Efficient superconducting diodes and rectifiers for quantum circuitry (no public access)

Highly Efficient Superconducting Diodes and Rectifiers for Quantum Circuitry (open access; Google search identified this preprint as a close match last updated June 2024)

Figure taken from preprint

China's automakers aim for cars with 100% domestic chips from 2026

Sounds very ambitious! Other Chinese industries will surely follow!

"Chinese automakers including SAIC Motor, Changan, Great Wall Motor, BYD, Li Auto and Geely, are preparing to launch models equipped with 100% homemade chips, with at least two brands aiming to start mass production as early as 2026 ...

The first of these models to be mass-produced will be the newest versions of existing lines made by a few brands, with more makers to follow, according to people familiar with the situation. These efforts are part of Beijing's ambitious vision for increasing the country's self-reliance in chips amid intensifying tensions with the U.S. ..."

"... By 2027, all automotive semiconductors are to be developed and manufactured domestically. ..." 

China's automakers aim for cars with 100% domestic chips from 2026 - Nikkei Asia "BYD, Geely and SAIC among those racing to meet Beijing's ramped-up targets"

Nikkei Asia newsletter

New 3D chips with gallium nitride could make electronics faster and more energy-efficient

Good news!

"The advanced semiconductor material gallium nitride will likely be key for the next generation of high-speed communication systems and the power electronics needed for state-of-the-art data centers.

Unfortunately, the high cost of gallium nitride (GaN) and the specialization required to incorporate this semiconductor material into conventional electronics have limited its use in commercial applications.

Now, researchers from MIT and elsewhere have developed a new fabrication process that integrates high-performance GaN transistors onto standard silicon CMOS chips in a way that is low-cost and scalable, and compatible with existing semiconductor foundries.

Their method involves building many tiny transistors on the surface of a GaN chip, cutting out each individual transistor, and then bonding just the necessary number of transistors onto a silicon chip using a low-temperature process that preserves the functionality of both materials.

The cost remains minimal since only a tiny amount of GaN material is added to the chip, but the resulting device can receive a significant performance boost from compact, high-speed transistors. ...

The researchers used this process to fabricate a power amplifier, an essential component in mobile phones, that achieves higher signal strength and efficiencies than devices with silicon transistors. In a smartphone, this could improve call quality, boost wireless bandwidth, enhance connectivity, and extend battery life. ..."

New 3D chips could make electronics faster and more energy-efficient | MIT News | Massachusetts Institute of Technology (the links to the research paper in this article are wrong)

TSMC Announces German Design Center and Chip Plant

Yes, the banana republic of Germany urgently needs some developmental assistance from foreigners. Once vaunted German engineering has gone down the drain!

Funny how this German guy Marco Mezger in the interview defends German design!

This Company Is China’s Main Bet Against TSMC and Samsung

Recommendable!

US GlobalFoundries weighs merger with No. 2 Taiwan chipmaker UMC

Wow! Looks like TSMC is not the only Taiwanese chipmaker in the news!

"U.S. contract chipmaker GlobalFoundries and United Microelectronics Corp., Taiwan's No. 2 chipmaker, are exploring the possibility of a merger amid American efforts to mitigate risks surrounding the Taiwan Strait and fend off growing competition from China in mature chips ..."

GlobalFoundries weighs merger with No. 2 Taiwan chipmaker UMC: sources - Nikkei Asia "Move could secure American access to older chips amid China aggression"

China's SiCarrier emerges as challenger to ASML, other chip tool titans

How fast can China catch up?

"... Shenzhen SiCarrier Technologies, backed by the Shenzhen government, has been developing equipment in chip fabrication and has set machines from companies such as ASML, Applied Materials and Lam Research as its benchmark, sources briefed on the matter said. The machines it is working on involve lithography, chemical vapor deposition, measurement, physical vapor deposition, etching and atomic layer deposition, all fields that are currently dominated by companies from the Netherlands, U.S. and Japan, they said. SiCarrier has been working closely with Huawei's growing team of specialists in chip production and chip equipment making, multiple sources with knowledge of the matter said. ..."

China's SiCarrier emerges as challenger to ASML, other chip tool titans - Nikkei Asia "Huawei-linked machine maker aims to overcome key bottleneck from U.S. export curbs"

U.S. Taiwan Representative on a Thinning ‘Silicon Shield,’ Trump, TSMC and More

Recommendable!