Even more LEDs

Barely a month goes by without further evidence of the rapid growth in LED related areas. This month is no exception with figures showing the impact of the National Semiconductor Illuminating Project in China. In 2010, the growth of AlGaInP/AlGaAs/GaAsP/GaP epitaxial wafers, mainly used in red light LED products, accounted for 60.2% of the total epitaxial wafer output. Driven by the rapidly expanding markets for blue and white light LEDs in landscape lighting and backlighting, the GaN epitaxial wafer output accounted for 39.8% of China’s total epitaxial wafer output in 2010. However it is expected that the GaN epitaxial wafer output will exceed that of AlGaInP in 2011. No wonder that Aixtron believe that there is a market for a 16 x 4 inch or 69 x 2 inch MOCVD reactor.

Dim up North

A group at Oxford University have studied the eye sockets and brain capacity of human skulls from 12 different populations across the world and found that the further human populations live from the equator, the bigger their brains. The skulls used in the study dated back to the 1800s and included samples from England, Australia, Canary Islands, China, France, India, Kenya, Micronesia, Scandinavia, Somalia, Uganda and the United States. However, this does not unfortunately mean that us northerners are smarter. Apparently our ancestors developed bigger vision areas in the brain to cope with the low light levels at high latitudes. Living away from the equator, where there is less light available, humans had to evolve bigger eyes, their brains also need to be bigger to deal with the extra visual input.

Apples or Chinese Gooseberries?

They do say that imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. In which case Mr Jobs should be well pleased, but I guess that he is not. The news that several fake Apple Stores have been operating in China is quite amazing with some staff convinced that they actually worked for Apple. Several have now been closed and it is unclear whether all the stores only sold genuine Apple products or not. Perhaps shoppers should have tried to pay with fake money. On a separate issue it was interesting to note that on Friday of last week, Apple seemed to have more cash to spend than the US government. Perhaps some of it needs to be used to increase their manufacturing capacities. Apparently Apple sold 9.25 million iPads in the last three months but it could have sold more if it could only have made them.

EPSRC delivery plan for 2011 onwards

We all have at times a tendency to be cynical and find it easier to criticise and knock ideas down rather than develop and build them up. Equally, bitter experience can lead us towards supporting such phrases as "the devil is in the detail" or "the proof of the pudding is in the eating". However, on first reading, I am greatly impressed with the UK Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) delivery plan for 2011 onwards. EPSRC is the main UK government agency for funding research and training in engineering and the physical sciences, investing more than £850 million a year and at any one time supporting a £2-3 billion portfolio of research and training.

Economic realities have undoubtedly been a driving force within the strategic plan, however there is much more to it than merely cost cutting. Many of the ideas and methodologies therein are widely relevant and applicable. The strategic aim being to align the EPSRC portfolio of activities to areas of UK strength and national importance. Maintaining the UK's global research standing in light of increasing international competition, and with limited funding, requires tough decisions and changes. The EPSRC is changing, it is in transition from being a funder of research and training to a sponsor, where investments act as a strategic resource focused on outcomes for the national good. All these higher level strategic concepts and goals can sound grandiose, however the EPSRC do seem to have the action plans that will deliver the end results. I was particularly pleased to see an emphasis on two points:

a) The focusing on specific themes. This includes targeted technical themes (eg the digital economy) and facilitating themes (eg manufacturing in the future and research infrastructure). In addition, the plan is brave enough to clearly state that with limited funding and a more focused approach, there will be losers. Some existing areas will be reduced. This may be obvious, it will be painful for some but it needed saying clearly.

b) The focus on key people and developing leaders. The clear statement that the EPSRC will identify and invest preferentially in emerging and established leaders may not appear to some to be politically correct or even democratic but it gets my vote. Building on existing winners, together with creating even more, always strikes me as a good approach.

Yes, I agree that "the proof of the pudding is in the eating", but to end on another culinary note - "you can't make an omelette without cracking eggs".

University of Cambridge selects Escalab 250Xi

For their demanding high resolution work on organic thin film semiconductors, the Optoelectronics Group in the Department of Physics has selected the Escalab 250Xi as best meeting their analysis requirements in both XPS and UPS. Following the installation of both Theta Probe and K-Alpha instruments earlier this year, we will soon have all three of the latest generation of Thermo Fisher Scientific XPS instruments at customer sites in the UK. All of course run Avantage software (now on Windows 7) the acknowledged leading XPS software for ease of use and productivity.

Towards 200mm GaN/Si

Leading wafer manufacturer Siltronic AG and the Belgian nano-electronics research institute IMEC have concluded an agreement to collaborate on the development of gallium nitride layers on silicon substrates. Siltronic will partner IMEC in the GaN-on-Si programme aimed at delivering a manufacturable GaN technology on 200 mm silicon wafers for power device and LED applications.

Unveiling the unpronounceable

Two new elements have been added to the Periodic Table - welcome ununquadium and ununhexium. The good news is that these are only temporary names. The new elements have been added to the periodic table after a three-year review conducted by a joint working party of the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry and the International Union of Pure and Applied Physics. In recent years, there have been several claims for the discovery of new chemical elements at positions 113, 114, 115, 116 and 118 on the periodic table. However the working party concluded that only elements 114 and 116 fulfilled criteria for official inclusion in the Periodic Table. The others, as yet, do not.

Apple porridge

A court in Shenzhen, China, has sentenced three people to jail for stealing design details of Apple's iPad2 tablet computer from the contract manufacturer Foxcon. According to the Guangzhou Daily, the offences occurred in 2010 and meant that counterfeit versions of the iPad2 went on sale in China before Apple had launched the product. The court sentenced Xiao Chengsong, the legal agent of Maita Electronics, to 18 months in prison and fined him $23,000. It is reported that he paid about $31,000 for the design details. Two Foxconn employees who sold the details were also fined and given jail sentences. Officially the three were convicted of violating commercial secrets. I would imagine that Mr Jobs is not likely to forget in a hurry that Foxconn allowed Apple's design to walk out the door.

Reducing power

For many years we have wanted our electronics to drive thing smaller, faster and cheaper. The current trend (need) is to reduce our reliance on electricity generated from fossil fuels. Equipment and devices need to be more energy efficient. Electronic Times has a very interesting article that looks at the technologies that are, and will, play a major role in this power revolution. The areas discussed include: 3-dimensional transistor IC architecture; solid state LED lighting; superconducting cables within the electricity grid distribution system and SiC power devices.

91.4 Tesla and 8.126 petaflops

There must be something in the air in Germany. The last two weeks have seen some big numbers in science and engineering. In Dresden the Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf has set a new world record for magnetic fields with 91.4 Tesla. The team at the High Magnetic Field Laboratory Dresden (HLD) made a coil weighing about 200 kilograms in which an electric current can create the giant magnetic field for a period of a few milliseconds. The coil survives the short period and intense Lorentz forces, through being made of a cooper alloy and being held in place using a plastic fibre corset. Whilst 500km up the road in Hamburg, a Japanese supercomputer was becoming the fastest in the world. The K Computer achieved a mere 8.162 quadrillion calculations per second, or 8.162 petaflops (ten to the power fifteen, flops = floating point operations per second). But can it cope with Windows and IE9?

Big enough ideas?

Big Ideas for the Future is a new report from Research Councils UK (RCUK) and Universities UK that explores the research taking place in UK higher education under the auspices of the seven individual Research Councils. Quite rightly, RCUK promote the value of public investment in higher education and research and the positive impact this has on economic growth and the social wellbeing of the UK. In addition to emphasising the benefits of what has been done and is being done, it would be interesting to see the RCUK report tackling some more difficult issues. For example: considering what is not being done and how to prioritise what could be done against what should be done.