Printed Circuit Design & Fab Online Magazine - Current Issue

Current Issue

Mike Buetow Many years ago, in The Dark Knight, Batman’s nemesis the Joker famously observed that nobody panics when things go “according to plan – even if the plan is horrifying.” It’s when the unexpected happens that chaos erupts.

Read more: When the Robots Stop: From San Francisco, a Cautionary Tale

Mike Buetow Another Productronica has come and gone. What did we learn?

That the biggest trend – besides the ubiquitous white sneakers attendees wore – was size. (Glass-free substrates were a close second.) More on that in a moment.

Read more: Scaling Up: Size Mattered at Productronica, the West’s Largest PCB Show

Mike Buetow When it comes to the recent or pending investment in the US, some are interested in the company names – TSMC, Samsung, Wistron, Pegatron.

I’m more curious about the technologies they might bring.

Reason is, all the capital investment in the world won’t matter if you don’t have the personnel to operate the factories.

Or maybe not.

Read more: Walking the Line: The Rise of Humanoid Manufacturing

Mike Buetow Magnetic transistors have been a hot topic for years, but a breakthrough led by researchers at MIT with chromium sulfur bromide (CrSBr) could push us closer to realizing more energy-efficient and powerful electronics. By replacing silicon with this 2D magnetic material, researchers have overcome a significant hurdle: combining the benefits of magnetism and semiconductor properties in a single device.

The ability to switch or amplify the current by a factor of 10, along with the reduced energy cost of switching, could have huge implications for everything from memory storage to reducing power consumption in devices. And the fact that these magnetic states can be controlled by both electric current and an external magnetic field means added flexibility without added complexity. That's a real game-changer.

Read more: Magnetic Transistors – and Lack of Funding Clarity – Leave Us Spinning