What's New @ IEEE in Circuits

VOLUME 6 NUMBER 4 APRIL 2005

CONTENTS:
1. MEMS Manufacturers Take Cues from Apple's Mysterious Supplier
2. IEEE Bipolar/BiCMOS Meeting to Host Nobel Prize Winner
3. Superconducting Electronics Enable New Software-Defined Radio
4. Riding Life's Twists and Turns: IEEE Spectrum Reports
5. Researcher's Model May Point to Breakthrough in Computing Speed
6. IEEE Now Offers Full-Text Search of Online Content for Members and Subscribers
7. Half-Year Dues Now Available on IEEE Memberships, Publications
8. Researchers Use Salt to Create Terahertz-Speed Optical Switch
9. IEEE Launches New U.S. Bank Visa Credit Card for Members
10. New Proceedings Unveil Latest Technologies for Communications
11. CD-Like Chips: Researchers Invent Reflective Material for Hardware
12. New Wiley-IEEE Press Title Assesses Delta-Sigma Converters
13. Magnetism May Explain Unconventional Superconductor

WHAT'S NEW THIS WEEK IN IEEE XPLORE?
Find the latest technical papers online:
ieeexplore.ieee.org/xpl/newinfo.jsp

1. MEMS MANUFACTURERS TAKE CUES FROM APPLE'S MYSTERIOUS SUPPLIER
The new laptop from Apple implements a new sudden motion sensor with a built-in tri-axis accelerometer -- allowing a computer to recognize that it is being dropped and triggering a safeguard mechanism that protects the spinning hard-drive. Although Apple will not reveal the name of its supplier, Smalltimes.com examines the implications of this new feature: MEMS manufacturer Analog Devices Inc announced plans to develop facilities for tri-axis sensing; and another manufacturer, Kionix Inc, announced the smallest-ever tri-axis sensor for low-g applications. What do these plans mean for the MEMS manufacturing industry? Smalltimes.com has the story: smalltimes.com/print_doc.cfm?doc_id=8978

2. IEEE BIPOLAR/BICMOS MEETING TO HOST NOBEL PRIZE WINNER
Dr. Herb Kroemer, winner of the 2000 Nobel Prize in Physics and recipient of the IEEE Medal of Honor, will be the keynote speaker at the 2005 IEEE Bipolar/BiCMOS Circuits and Technology Meeting (BCTM). Kroemer won the Nobel Prize in Physics in 2000 for developing semiconductor heterostructures used in high-speed and optoelectronics. He first proposed the SiGe HBT in a paper in 1954, inventing much of what the BCTM conference focuses on. The meeting, sponsored by the IEEE Electron Devices Society, will be held 9 to 11 October in Santa Barbara, California, USA. For more information, or to register to attend, visit: www.ieee-bctm.org

In related news, Sir Harry Kroto, the 1996 Nobel Prize winner for Chemistry who discovered C60 Buckminsterfullerene, will speak at the 18th IEEE International Vacuum Nanoelectronics Conference (IVNC), which runs from 10 to 14 July. For more information, or to register to attend, visit: www.ivnc2005.org/

Don't miss the next conference you need for your career. IEEE sponsors more than 300 technical conferences and workshops each year, highlighting the latest technological advances. Find events through the IEEE ConferenceSearch Web site at: www.ieee.org/conferencesearch

3. SUPERCONDUCTING ELECTRONICS ENABLE NEW SOFTWARE-DEFINED RADIO
Hypres, Inc., is developing superconducting electronics that can digitally emulate virtually any RF component in real-time, a capability the U.S. Defense Department hopes to use in reducing its entire spectrum of military communications to a single, superconducting software radio. Hypres' technology encodes binary bits as individual magnetic flux quanta to form digital logic circuits known as rapid single-flux quantum (RSFQ) logic. State-of-the-art RSFQ circuits run at 20 gigahertz. Mixed-signal devices can easily reach 100 gigahertz, and the laboratory speed record is 750 gigahertz. The quanta are immune to noise, solving a major problem in mixed-signal circuit design. In conventional semiconductors, noise from the digital portion of the circuit tends to interfere with the analog circuits. Using flux quanta to encode bits takes advantage of their status as fundamental units of nature, indivisible and determined by physical constants. Read more: www.commsdesign.com/news/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=159905410

4. RIDING LIFE'S TWISTS AND TURNS: IEEE SPECTRUM REPORTS
Almost half a century ago, Joseph Heller saw his first strand of DNA on the cover of Life Magazine and knew he was to pursue a career in genetics. Heller, profiled this month in IEEE Spectrum, invented the silicon substrate that allows researchers to electronically move DNA on a lab slide. He says of himself, "I'm 60 years old and still excited every day... hoping I'll come up with something... I'm really lucky to have seen science and technology from so many perspectives." Read more about his inspirational story: www.spectrum.ieee.org/WEBONLY/resource/apr05/0405care.html

5. RESEARCHER'S MODEL MAY POINT TO BREAKTHROUGH IN COMPUTING SPEED
A StanfordUniversity researcher has created a theoretical model for the rippling of electrons on the surface of metal wires that could allow computer chips to operate at frequencies 100,000 times faster than today's Pentium chips. These ripples, known as "plasmons," travel at the speed of light and are created when light hits a metal at a particular angle, causing waves to propagate through surface electrons. While computer chips have become much faster, wires that carry the data between them have not. Ordinary light waves can also transmit data at high frequencies, but can't be used in chips because the optical fiber required is over twice the thickness of the wires in current chips. Read more: www.newscientist.com/article.ns?id=dn7164

6. IEEE XPLORE 2.O NOW OFFERS FULL-TEXT SEARCH OF ONLINE CONTENT FOR MEMBERS AND SUBSCRIBERS
All 1.1 million IEEE online technology documents are now full-text searchable, a move enabled by last month's launch of the IEEE Xplore 2.0 online delivery system. IEEE Xplore powers IEEE online subscriptions for organizations and individuals, including collections like the IEEE/IEE Electronic Library. It contains documents from IEEE journals, magazines, transactions, and conferences, all active IEEE standards, and journals and conference proceedings from Europe's Institution for Electrical Engineers (IEE). Also with the launch of IEEE Xplore 2.0, all non-subscribing guest researchers may now, for the first time, conduct free keyword searches of IEEE abstracts directly from the IEEE Xplore home page. For more on this and other new few features of IEEE Xplore 2.0, or to start researching, visit: ieeexplore.ieee.org

7. HALF-YEAR DUES NOW AVAILABLE ON IEEE MEMBERSHIPS, PUBLICATIONS
Dues on new IEEE memberships and additional IEEE Society memberships are now available at half price through 15 August 2005. Discounted rates on new subscriptions to IEEE publications are also available to IEEE members during this period. Individual memberships and subscriptions become active upon payment and continue through the remainder of 2005. IEEE Societies focus on specific technologies such as communications and aerospace engineering or focus on general technology subjects. There are 122 publications that may be added to membership during this half-year cycle. To join IEEE, visit www.ieee.org/join. To add societies or publications to existing memberships, visit: www.ieee.org/addservices.

8. RESEARCHERS USE SALT TO CREATE TERAHERTZ-SPEED OPTICAL SWITCH
Researchers in France and Japan have leveraged the promising optoelectronic properties of organic salt to create switches that operate at the terahertz range of speed. This could enable the practical mass storage of optical data in applications such as high-speed routers and hubs in optical networks. Collaborating teams from the Tokyo Institute of Technology and RennesUniversity in France bounced 800-nanometer infrared laser pulses onto salt crystals at a speed of one kilohertz. After 2 picoseconds, they discovered, the crystals turned from insulators to conductors. For the entire article, visit: www.spectrum.ieee.org/WEBONLY/wonews/mar05/0305nhell.html

9. IEEE LAUNCHES NEW U.S. BANK VISA CREDIT CARD FOR MEMBERS
The IEEE has partnered with U.S. Bank® to provide a new credit card program for members in the United States. Purchases made with the official IEEE U.S. Bank Visa® benefit ongoing IEEE operations. The card features no annual fee, a low introductory APR, an on-line application, and a choice of three programs: the IEEE Visa Platinum, IEEE Cash Back Visa Platinum or IEEE Travel Rewards Visa Platinum card. For details, visit: www.ieee.org/fap

10. NEW PROCEEDINGS UNVEIL LATEST TECHNOLOGIES FOR COMMUNICATIONS
The proceedings of the 2004 IEEE International Conference on Communications, Circuits and Systems (ICCCAS) address the latest technologies and developing standards driving the telecommunications and information systems industries today, and feature in-depth analysis of the theories and applications driving communications. Areas of interest include: wireless, broadband and optical communication; bio-, blind- and multimedia signal processing; neural networks and computational intelligence; circuits and systems. For more information, or to purchase the proceedings, visit ShopIEEE: shop.ieee.org/store/product.asp?prodno=EX914
***IEEE members save up to 60% off the list price for conference proceedings titles***

11. CD-LIKE CHIPS: RESEARCHERS INVENT REFLECTIVE MATERIAL FOR HARDWARE
Binary ones and zeros stored on a thin layer of antimony and tellurium may be the basis of futuristic DRAM, flash memory or hard drives, reports ZD Times India. Invented by researchers at Royal Phillips Electronics, Inc, the material's reflective surface can be shaped into an amorphous or crystalline shape to represent binary digits. The company says that phase changes occur within 30 nanoseconds and use 0.7 volts of energy. Read more: www.zdnetindia.com/print.html?iElementId=119056

12. NEW WILEY-IEEE PRESS TITLE ASSESSES DELTA-SIGMA CONVERTERS
A new book from Wiley-IEEE Press, "Understanding Delta-Sigma Data Converters," details real-world operations of Delta-Sigma converters to generate insight into industry applications. Authors Richard Schreier, winner of the Outstanding Paper Award at the 2002 IEEE International Solid-State Circuits Conference, and Gabor C. Temes, recipient of the 1998 IEEE Graduate Teaching Award, contextualize the uses of first-, second- and higher-order delta-sigma modulation using the Delta-Sigma Toolbox, a design-oriented software. Learn more about this title at: www.wiley.com/WileyCDA/WileyTitle/productCd-0471465852,miniSiteCd-IEEE.html
***IEEE members: Receive a 15% discount on any Wiley-IEEE Press titles. Use code 18493 at checkout***

13. MAGNETISM MAY EXPLAIN UNCONVENTIONAL SUPERCONDUCTOR
Magnetic attraction, rather than vibrations in crystal, may be responsible for electron pairing in plutonium-cobalt-pentagallium (PuCoGa5), according to researchers at Los Alamos National Laboratory and ChonnamNationalUniversity. Not quite a d-wave or s-wave superconductor, PuCoGa5 transitions at temperatures of minus 427 degrees Fahrenheit -- slightly higher than any existing actinide-based compound. The discovery could eventually lead to room-temperature semiconductors. Read more: www.innovations-report.com/html/reports/energy_engineering/report-42401.html

WHAT'S NEW @ IEEE IN CIRCUITS is a monthly, opt-in email update designed to provide you with the latest news regarding IEEE activities, industry trends, career development tips, and new IEEE product releases. We welcome your feedback on this service.

Managing Editor: John Platt j.platt@ieee.org
Editor: Bhavika Desai
Contributing Editors: Peg Gallos, Robert J. Howe

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