IMAGIC Seminar: Imaging technology for non-visible wavelengths
Digital imaging is currently growing in importance for non-visible wavelengths (thermal and near infrared, ultraviolet, and X-ray) and is expected to open up new opportunities for industrial applications in the fields of security/surveillance/space, automotive safety, medical diagnosis and treatment, electronics production, industrial process control, and environmental monitoring.
At the IMAGIC seminar day on September 13th more than 50 people gathered in the Science Tower, Kista, Stockholm, to hear presentations from both national and international speakers and to discuss non-visible imaging technology. More than half of the participants came from industry while the remainder came from universities, institutes and other organisations.
The presentations in the full day programme covered a wide range of topics from material and device technology to applications and products. The technical presentations started with the longer wavelengths as Dr. Sarath Gunapala from the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in California presented the “Physics and applications of next generation photon detectors for thermal infrared”. This was followed by a jump to shorter wavelengths in the talk by another international authority, Dr. Jean-Yves Duboz from CRHEA, CNRS, France, who spoke about his latest results “AlGaN detectors and arrays for UV detection”. The focus then moved to even shorter wavelengths as Prof. Jan Linnros from the Royal Institute of Technology (KTH) presented the development of a novel x-ray imaging detector, which will be commercialized by the new spin-off company Scint-X.
The final presentation from the academic world covered the important topic ”Signal processing electronics for image sensors” by Prof. Robert Forchheimer from the University of Linköping.
IMAGIC industrial partners (SAAB Bofors Dynamics, NOTE and Optronic) contributed with presentations on appications and product development.
An overview of the Institute Excellence Center IMAGIC hosting the event was also given by the Center manager, Dr Jan Andersson of Acreo. The center comprises industry and research actors with the aim of realising next generation electronic imaging devices for non-visible wavelengths from x-ray to thermal IR. This will create internationally renown research results, the commercial application of which will promote growth of the participating companies, as well as offering challenging new technology for the community.
Read more on Acreo Publ&Events. Read more about IMAGIC.
Seminar: Power Components in Silicon Carbide - Applications and Challenges
Devices made from Silicon Carbide (SiC) have a great potential for next generation of efficient power electronics, especially for hybrid electric vehicles and industrial motor drives. A seminar day aiming at presenting today’s status of SiC technology as well as the present and future application areas was held in Kista Electrum on November 6th, organized by the T-A-K group (TranSiC – Acreo – KTH). SiC is specifically targeting applications for power devices operating at higher frequency and temperature, where volume and weight are critical issues, like for cars, trains, airplanes and ships.
A number of presentations were given in the full day programme, ranging from SiC application areas, over an introduction to SiC device technology, to an overview over the current status of SiC material quality and production. A general impression was that SiC power device technology is mature enough and with the availability of 100 mm substrates and multi wafer epitaxy reactors also ready for introduction to larger volume markets. This will be possible with the availability of high power switches, which will be soon in production (Infineon Germany and Cree USA).
In addition, two speakers from abroad were invited to talk about high temperature electronics with SiC devices and the corresponding reliability concerns. Edgar Cilio from Arkansas Power Electronics International, Inc. (APEI) in USA showed an impressive overview over their work on high temperature three phase inverters and multi chip power modules with SiC power devices and SOI-based control functions, and Prof. Josef Lutz from Chemnitz University of Technology in Germany gave an overview over reliability issues in packaged devices under harsh temperature environments.
The T-A-K group is working together in a Vinnova and Swedish Energy Agency funded project to realize unipolar and bipolar SiC power devices and modules for in the end 1200 V, 100 A operation. A first prototype of a power module consisting of TranSiC´s BitSiC switches and Schottky barrier diodes (SBDs) from Acreo was shown during the seminar day.
Workshop: Printed electronics
– new effective and low-cost production of future electronics and systems
On November 20th the network Printed Electronics Arena together with Acreo arranged a workshop devoted to printed electronics. Around 80 delegates gathered to discuss the new technology and listen to enlightened presentations by experts in the field.
Dr Peter Harrop from IDTechEx Ltd gave an inspiring talk on the exciting possibilities for printed electronics to impact nearly all aspects of life in the future. Possibly being the answer for the realisation of ubiquitous electronics printed electronics is forcasted to even surpass the volumes of silicon based electronics some time around 2025.
Experts from Acreo described research and development results from printed electronics already being ready for commerzialisation such as e-ID and invisible electronic bar code with great potential. Another promising technology is dry phase patterning DPP providing low cost manufacturing for RFID and EAS applications. PaperDisplay, a new business unit of Acreo providing the world’s first printed paper display, was also described. PaperDisplay manufactures and sells low cost displays printed on paper substrates for applications in smart labels, smart packaging, printed matters, etc.
Finally the network Printed Electronics Arena (PEA) was presented. PEA aims at creating sustainable, long-term growth within the Norrköping region through commercialisation and exploitation of the extensive research and development activities which are conducted at Linköping University (LiU) and Acreo in the new technological field of Printed Electronics.
Read more on Acreo Publ&Events. Read more about Printed Electronics.
Nanoelectronics & sensors for new medical technology products
December 6th Acreo together with the Royal Institute of Technology (KTH) in the Electrum laboratory arranged a seminar focused on new technology for medical applications. Progress within nanoelectronics and sensor technology will enable the development of new medical products, a field where Swedish industry is very strong. More than 70 delegates came to listen to short presentations from 8 experts in the field. The common theme was research results from KTH and Acreo with commercial potential.
Dr Jan Andersson gave an introduction on nanomaterials, electronics and MEMS, and explained how the different technologies relate to each other. Prof Göran Stemme showed many examples of MEMS sensors for measurement of e.g. pressure, flow, gas content or EEG. An important advantage is in many cases the miniaturisation possibility. Early contact with industry is important for successful commercialization.
Prof Mikael Östling explained how the technology from the development of next generation CMOS transistors can be used in life-science. Nano-wires can obtain extreme sensitivity and be used for very fast detection of DNA and other biomolecules. Prof Jan Linnros showed how the sensitivity and resolution can be improved for X-ray detectors by combining a sensitive material with high performance etching of silicon. Peter Norlin gave an overview of the emerging technology field neuro-engineering. With arrays of tiny electrodes the function of the brain and neural system is studied, and he showed the state-of-art in mental steering of prostheses. Dr Niclas Roxhed presented microsystems that can be used for injection of medical drugs directly through the skin. In his own research he has demonstrated a system with integrated pump and an array of hollow micro-needles. Prof Mamoum Muhammed gave the state-of-art of chemically synthesized nano-particles and how they can be used for precise distribution of medical drugs to specific organs.
Finally Christian Vieider presented the joint capacity of Acreo and KTH at the Electrum Laboratory to run projects from research to development into production. A number of projects in the medical field have been transferred successfully and several companies have ongoing collaboration for their product development. Packaging is a critical task where the Electrum laboratory is building up a joint resource with Note. The importance of an extensive network was pointed out. Through the program minST Acreo can assist companies to get access to expert competence.