NEUBIBERG, GERMANY – European researchers have joined for a project aimed at making electronic devices more efficient and compact.

The MaxCaps (or materials for next-generation capacitors and memories) initiative will involve 17 companies and research institutions working together until August 2011.

They will explore new ways of integrating capacitors on silicon chips, with the eventual aim of cutting the number of capacitors on PCBs by around 30%. Depending on the application, the space required by PCB-mounted discretes could be cut by about a half. Reliability gains are also expected as due to the smaller number of soldered connections on the board.

Researchers also will look into integrating high-capacity capacitors on silicon chips, and possible alternatives to silicon dioxide and silicon nitrate.

The German Federal Ministry of Education and Research recently announced funding worth €2.75 million for the German partners of the project, including Aixtron and Infineon Technologies.

In addition, Raytheon announced plans to develop self-healing IC boards for the US military.