On The Cutting Edge Of Eco-Friendly Energy: The Solar Electricity System

Ever since Edison gave us the light bulb, our lives have been illuminated in more way than we could have ever imagined. Behind the power of electricity are the thrills of new discoveries and the dreams of future inventions that seem endless. Electricity it literally makes the world go round and we have come to depend on it like the water we drink every day. Businesses thrive and industries grow around the commodity of electricity which the public demands seems to multiply like cells divide. Could we ever live without it? Could we still maintain the level of communication that seems to outpace our needs? I Think Not. Yes it is a given that coal, oil, natural gas and even nuclear material have provided the means to generate the electrical power thus far. However, these resources are limited and are they really Eco-friendly? That is why we are waking up to the reality that we must find and use cleaner and safer sources for energy. Well I'm here to tell you that our future is very bright and I really mean it, just look up to the sky after day-break. Yes my friends, using the sun's unceasing energy we are able to produce all the power we need by means of a solar electricity system.

Utilizing the sun's power by continuous and reflected light solar electricity systems work very efficiently. By using wafer thin pieces of semiconductor materials like silicon or crystalline gallium arsenide better known as solar cells or PV (photovoltaic) cells, technology enables us to exchange the sunlight for electricity. Using basic electronic circuits the PV cells are connected in series and parallel to produce affordable electricity. Would you believe that 20 or 30 cents per kilowatt/hour is a reasonable price? Our scientists have been using this type of power for decades. We rely on this technology more than you may think, from communication satellites that orbit the earth to probes that send us critical information about the vastness of space, all are powered by solar cell systems. Compared to more traditional fossil fuel generation plant, solar electricity systems offer an eternal Earth-friendly use of a free resource. Given the fact that the sun only shines for a given period each day and our planet orbit create seasons, the effectiveness of solar cells can be fairly low. In order to efficiently use solar converted electricity, which is DC (Direct Current) we use converters that transform it to AC (Alternating Current), the common form that we have come to know.

Energy from the sun can be used in other ways too. Solar radiation includes an energy spectrum of infrared light waves which are longer and generate heat in dense materials. This energy can be focused and directed to heat and even boil specific liquids including water to run turbines which drive electric generators. Using a highly reflective surface shaped to bounce the solar radiation into a specific area is better known as a parabolic trough. This technology enables the concentrated radiant solar energy onto a receiver which contains a thermal transfer liquid. The heated liquid drives a turbine-generator by releasing its heat and is returned to the receiver to be re-heated again. Systems such as these work very well in hot arid desert locations. Solar radiation is converted more efficiently with this type solar electric system. To optimize the productivity of systems such as these, solar dishes and power generation towers are implemented.

As we have evolved from primitive energy sources of coal, oil and natural gas our understanding of their use has become evident. Considering the ecologic effects of using fossil fuels using cleaner and sustainable energy sources has a greater benefit to all life of the planet. Long before there was ever a need for electricity, plants have always utilized their unique ability of photosynthesis to harness the suns energy harmoniously, why can't we? Our society is at the age of technology and information and we have a responsibility to use it wisely. By modeling our environment and using solar energy such as the live sustaining vegetation of the earth, there is no reason to dig into the earth for our energy needs. Every day is filled with an endless amount of energy from the sun and solar electricity systems can achieve our needs.

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Photovoltaic (PV) Module and Its Lifespan

Photovoltaic (PV) cells are transistors or integrated circuits on steroids. Most people have seen the latest microcomputer chip used in PCs. It's a silicon wafer about the size of your thumbnail that holds several millions transistors and other electronic parts. PV cells start out the same way circuits, but they are kept in the oven until they are much larger, approximately 10 cm in diameter. The baked silicon rods are sliced into wafers which are polished and assembled with interconnecting electrical wires. A grouping of PV cells which are arranged in a frame is called module.

Almost all photovoltaic module manufacturers provide a written guarantee for 20 to 25 years or more. The manufacturers are obviously quite sure that their products will stand the test of time. The reason for this certainty is the same one that explains why old transistor radios last so long. The semiconductor technology of the cell wafer results in very little wear and degradation.

The standard warranty term from siemens states that any module that loses more than 10 % power output within 10 years or 20 % within 25 years will be repaired or replaced. (This is known as a limited liability warranty, more commonly known as the fine print; be sure to read this detail carefully to ensure you understand the warranty terms.) Cell technology and quality of workmanship are very high in the industry, so be sure to purchase cells with the best possible warranty for your money.

The cells themselves are quite fragile. To protect them from damage and weather, the cells are bonded to a special tempered-glass surface and sealed using a strong plastic backing material. (Laminated or flexible "roof shingle" systems replace the glass surface with a tough, flexible polymer). The entire module is inserted into an aluminum, non-corroding housing to form the finished assembly. Once a grouping of modules, called an array, is mounted to a roof or to a fixed or tracking rack, it should stay put forever.

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Perspectives on Photovoltaics - Costs Decrease As Solar Cell Technology Advances

When it comes to photovoltaic (PV) cells, Wall Street is concerned primarily with established companies employing traditional silicon-based technologies. However, record high oil prices based on genuine long-term supply worries has Wall Street increasing its interest in companies developing other PV technologies and materials, because at least for the immediate future, all types of PV technologies will thrive. This is despite the fact that the price of polysilicon, a key material used in traditional silicon-based solar cells and semiconductors, is expected to come down within the next six months. Lower polysilicon prices would seem to dampen interest in alternative non-silicon PV technologies because of their lower efficiencies in harnessing solar energy.

In fact, it is easy to foresee a segmented industry with a dual focus. One segment would focus on silicon-based photovoltaics using rigid, bulky solar panels primarily in large-scale applications such as producing power for utilities. A second segment would focus on low-cost technologies based on nanomaterials and conductive polymers to provide flexible PV products for buildings with better efficiencies and aesthetics.

Silicon-based Photovoltaics

The generally higher efficiencies (12-22 percent) of rigid solar cells based on silicon technology have made silicon the photovoltaic of choice despite its relatively high manufacturing costs. One way to bring down cost is through a modified manufacturing process called silicon ribbon growth that reduces the number of processing steps to six from the nine used in conventional bulk silicon growth based on ingot technology. Evergreen Solar (www.evergreensolar.com), a recognized leader in the field, has been developing interesting manufacturing processes using ribbon silicon technology.

Regardless of whether silicon solar cells are based on ingot or ribbon growth manufacturing technologies, however, increasing energy conversion efficiency will always be an issue. One way to attain greater efficiency is to increase solar cells' spectral sensitivity by using broader or different regions of solar radiation, by better matching the solar emission and producing higher absorption coefficients, and by using a higher fraction of sunlight that eliminates losses through excessive heating of the silicon cell. For example, a 2004 patent, "High Efficient PN Junction Solar Cell" (US6696739B2) describes a solar cell showing improved energy conversion efficiency by minimizing the shading loss while reducing the manufacturing costs.

Still another way of lowering cost is through the technique of concentrated photovoltaics. Passive optical elements are used to concentrate sunlight onto photovoltaic cells resulting in more energy output while using fewer PV cells.

Thin Films and Plastic or Polymer-based Photovoltaics

The first generation PV cells, developed in the 1970s, used monocrystalline or polycrystalline silicon. These are the rigid panels most people think of whenever solar cells are mentioned. These PV cells are made of semiconductor wafers in glass and require complex manufacturing processes.

The second generation, developed in the '80s, is known as thin films. It still requires low-pressure, high-temperature film deposition and complex manufacturing processes. Cadmium telluride (CdTe) cells are the most successful technology of this generation because of their very high conversion efficiency combined with a bandgap that is very close to the theoretically calculated optimum value for solar cells under un-concentrated sunlight. This is also an ideal PV cell for use in concentrated photovoltaics.

The majority of these second-generation cells are placed on glass, so they remain rigid. However, Global Solar (www.globalsolar.com) announced in March 2008 that it has developed a proprietary process for manufacturing flexible thin-film copper indium gallium diselenide (CIGS) photovoltaic modules. While other companies produce CIGS on glass, Global Solar is thought to be the only company with CIGS on flexible materials. CIGS cells are deposited on a stainless steel backing which also makes them lightweight and durable.

Organic Solar Cells

Plastic or polymer-based photovoltaics, developed in the '90s, are considered third- generation solar cells. Also called organic solar cells, these cells use photoactive or photosensitive dyes and conducting polymers that can be manufactured at high speeds and low temperatures.

Manufacturing costs can be reduced as a result of using a low temperature process similar to printing instead of the high temperature vacuum deposition process typically used to produce the first and second generation cells. Reduced installation costs are achieved by producing flexible rolls instead of rigid crystalline panels.

Currently, third generation solar cells are not as efficient as the first- or second-generation cells, but their lower cost offsets this deficiency. In the long term, these materials should cost even less and, using quantum dots to decrease the bandgap of the base material, they should reach higher efficiency levels than conventional cells.

Efficiency Improvements Being Explored

University of Notre Dame researchers have shown that adding carbon nanotubes to a titanium dioxide film doubles the efficiency of converting ultraviolet light into electrons when compared with the performance of nanoparticles alone. (Titanium dioxide is a main ingredient in white paint.) Without the carbon nanotubes, electrons generated when light is absorbed by titanium dioxide particles have to jump from particle to particle to reach an electrode. Many never make it out to generate an electrical current. The carbon nanotubes provide a conduit for electrons for a more direct route to the electrode, improving solar cell efficiency.

Titanium dioxide, however, absorbs only ultraviolet light, leaving most of the visible spectrum of sunlight to be reflected rather than absorbed. In dye-sensitized solar cells, a one-molecule thick layer of light-absorbing dye is applied to the titanium dioxide nanoparticles to catch more of the spectrum. Another approach coats nanoparticles with quantum dots or nanocrystals, which act as tiny semiconductors. Unlike conventional materials in which one photon generates just one electron, quantum dots are able to convert high-energy photons into multiple electrons. Other ways of improving collection of electrons within a solar cell include forming titanium dioxide nanotubes or complex branching structures made of various semiconductors.

Emerging Leaders in Printed Photovoltaics

Konarka Technologies (www.konarka.com) recently announced the first demonstration of manufacturing solar cells by highly efficient inkjet printing. "Demonstrating the use of inkjet-printing technology as a fabrication tool for highly efficient solar cells and sensors with small area requirements is a major milestone," says Rick Hess, President and CEO at Konarka. "This essential breakthrough in the field of printed solar cells positions Konarka as an emerging leader in printed photovoltaics." Inkjet printing is commonly used for controlled applications of functional materials solutions in specific locations on a substrate (RFID tags, for example), and it can provide easy and fast deposition of polymer films over a large area. Another leader in organic or plastic solar cells (third generation PV) is Plextronics (http://www.plextronics.com), a company concentrating on printed electronics technology.

Konarka's Power Plastic technology is focused on delivering lightweight, flexible, scalable, and manufacturable products. The inkjet demonstration confirms that organic solar cells can be processed using printing technologies with little or no loss compared with clean-room semiconductor technologies, such as spin coating. Inkjet printing could become a smart tool to manufacture solar cells with multiple colors and patterns for lower-power requirement products, such as indoor or sensor applications.

According to Solar Cells Info (solarcellsinfo.com), by 2009 at the latest, Konarka plans to bring multiple forms of its product to market-everything from tiny cells for sensors to fabric-based (solar cells embedded in awnings, for example) and larger building panels. The process involves printing or coating nanoparticles such as quantum dots or nanocrystals onto other material. Hess says Konarka is currently working with U.S. Green Building Council LEED designers on custom installations.

Final Thoughts

On the environmental side, it is estimated that compared to fossil fuel electricity generation, each kW of installed solar PV power annually saves up to 25 kg (55 lbs) of nitrogen & sulfur oxides, and offsets 600 to 2300 kg (1300 to 5100 lbs) of carbon dioxide, depending on the fuel mix and solar insolation (Incident solar radiation). It is worth noting that only a few years ago, while oil prices were relatively low, the growth of interest in PV technologies was based mostly on the environmental concerns rather than the concern on exhaustion of fossil fuel reserves and the recent higher oil prices. It is now clear that the dual focus of PV technologies along with improving the efficiency and reducing costs of the various PV systems will ensure sustained growth in this industry.

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Silicon in the Modern Age

Unlike some other elements, silicon is not found in its pure form in nature but rather as oxides or silicates. Examples of these materials include flint, jasper, sand, mica clay, asbestos, quartz, amethyst, and granite. Silicon was first isolated from other materials by Swedish chemist Baron Jöns Jakob Berzelius in 1823.

One of the greatest aspects of Silicon is that it can be combined with a wide variety of other elements in order to make useful products, ranging from soap, shampoo, glass materials, medical implants and enamel to most notably semiconductors. Silicon wafers are used in electronic devices because of silicon's natural semiconducting properties.

Silicon wafer preparation requires a great deal of expertise and a plethora of steps. In general, the first step of wafer preparation is to ensure that all materials are produced in what is known as a clean room, that is, a room completely free of contaminants. Silicon cylinders, or ingots are chemically produced, polished and cut into wafers of desired thickness, etched and polished again. The actual procedure is a great deal more painstaking and complicated and results in a variety of wafers to be used for a host of electronic devices. Adding impurities, called dopants, to silicon controls the conductivity of the element.

The result of such work though cannot be understated, for without silicon and silicon grinding techniques computers, televisions, phones, satellites and the myriad of trappings of the digital age that are so essential to our daily lives would simply not exist. In fact, Silicon Valley is so named because of this element's amazing usefulness in the modern era.

The result of such work though cannot be understated, for without silicon and silicon grinding [http://www.disolutions.biz] techniques computers, televisions, phones, satellites and the myriad of trappings of the digital age that are so essential to our daily lives would simply not exist. In fact, Silicon Valley is so named because of this element's amazing usefulness in the modern era.

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The Multi-faceted Uses of Silica

People attribute silica to sand. Some of the lesser intelligent beings consider silica to be the produce of the Silicon Valley! I am sure that most of you might have heard about silicon based breast implants. Think about semiconductor wafers that are used in computers and mobile phones - they also contain silica. In short, silica is widely used in our day-to-day lives. As usual, we tend to ignore the benefits of silica (who has the time and energy to sit and ponder about those aspects of silica?). In the succeeding sections, I will be emphasizing on certain multifaceted uses of silica in our day-to-day lives.

Silica is often termed as the second most mineral found in the crust of the earth. We can find sand everywhere in this planet, and hence we cannot dispute the placement of this mineral at the second spot! Although research is still at its infancy, we have conclusive evidence to prove that regular consumption of silica supplements can prove to be highly effective for the human body. The same mineral can aid in the calcification process of the bones. Stronger bones will lead to a healthier skeletal system. You can start experiencing lesser fractures and pain in the joints.

Silicon is the primary mineral, but it is present in various forms in our environment. For example, we have heard a lot about quartz crystals. These crystals are nothing but silicon dioxide. Similarly, when silica is processed within the stomach, it will be converted into orthosilicic acid. There are precise differences between organic silicon and natural silicon. Only the former is fit for consumption, the latter is not. Eating sand is not going to bring about any vantages. I do realize that you are interested about the various sources of organic silicon.

Fruits, vegetables, nuts and cereals are the primary sources of organic silicon. Any vegetative plant that is fitting for consumption contains organic silicon. The naturally occurring silicon (present in the sand) is converted to organic silicon within plants. When we consume them, we get to enjoy the benefits. You will have to take note of another factor - too many processing of the food will lead to a drastic reduction in the inherent levels of silica. In simpler terms, although vegetables have a good share of organic silicon, we cannot assimilate the benefits in a proper manner, because we cook them to extreme temperatures.

If you are searching for options to beautify your hair and the nails, you must be in the grocery section (not in the cosmetic section) of your nearest supermarket! Organic silicon will facilitate in the proper growth of the skin. The scalp will be supplemented with additional nutrients. These nutrients will help in imparting an additional glow to the hair. Similarly, the hair growth will be augmented. Usually people attribute various kinds of side effects to the excess consumption of these minerals. The reality is something else. No marked side effects have been noted in the lab tests (as well as on the real world tests).

Hope this article enlightens you with various uses of silica and quartz crystal.

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Advancements in Atomically Precise Manufacturing

Nanotechnology is at the heart of a great number of breakthroughs that will power the future economy. Materials that will be manufactured using atomically precise technologies will offer performance and prices far superior to conventional materials.

For example, the state of the art in semiconductor technology is photolithographic manufacturing. Photolithography uses light to remove material on a chip wafer, layer by layer. It has been done that way for decades even as the chip density has increased and chip size has decreased.

One of the leading manufactures of capital equipment for the semiconductor industry is playing a big part in photolithographic manufacturing. The technology improvements have enabled them to pile an increasing number of components on semiconductor "real estate." Right now, advanced photolithography qualifies as nanotechnology, however there are theoretical size limits being approached.

This is because light is used to "cut" the electrical pathways and components on the chip. This gets harder to do if the features that are requested are smaller than the wavelength of light being used to do the job. As an example, you don't shave with a chain saw.

New technologies are being developed that don't rely on etching or otherwise removing unwanted materials. Increasingly, they will rely on the self-assembling capacities of carefully engineered molecules.

For example, MIT researchers have recently developed a molecular manufacturing technique that facilitates the adoption of electron beams in chip manufacturing. Beams of electrons can be far more narrowly focused than beams of light. This allows smaller chip features and more powerful, compact electronics.

This same progression is evident in scientific instruments. In the late 1500s, optical microscopes began the quest to see smaller and smaller objects. Eventually, the limits of optical resolution were reached; for the same reasons, we are hitting the limits of light-based lithography.

During the Great Depression, electrical engineers developed methods for using electrons to view very small objects. The scanning electron microscope became one of the most transformational scientific instruments of the 20th century. The insights it provided revolutionized many fields from biology and medicine to materials sciences.

However, in photolithographic chip fabrication, light has one advantage over electrons. An entire layer can be etched by simply exposing the layer to a project image with the desired pattern. This isn't much different than old-school darkroom photography. You expose photosensitive paper to an image pattern projected through the negative. After developing the picture, you have an entire image. Electron beams require that patterns be drawn one line at a time; like the Etch A Sketch we had as kids. Electron beam lithography allows higher resolution but it is much slower.

This is where the MIT researchers brought molecular self-assembly into the picture. They created a technique using electron beams to etch nano-sized posts on semiconductor wafers. They then exposed them to polymers that attach to the posts and spontaneously self-arrange into predictable but not particularly useful patterns.

To get useful patterns, some of the polymers were fabricated using silicon. After self-assembly, an electrically charged gas burned away the non-silicon polymers. Only the silicon polymers, in the desired pattern, remained.

Since the polymers can repel and attract each other in different ways, and since the individual links in a polymer chain can be tailored to fit an application, the patterns can be manipulated. The shapes that are formed can also be controlled by varying the spacing and number of posts created by the electron beam.

To date, the researchers have been able to create seven different shapes. As this breakthrough technology becomes more workable, it will increase the speed at which chips can be manufactured. Products using these chips will experience a short product development lifecycle and will come to market faster.

I trust this post has provide some background and evidence that powerful efforts are underway with breakthrough technology for precise manufacturing. These activities will soon provide alternative wealth creating opportunities and our economy will become significantly stronger.

In closing, I favor a quote from Steve Forbes. Forbes says that pursuing additional financial education and the resulting increase in our financial literacy (including the investment potential of breakthrough technology) will open our eyes to alternative wealth creating strategies and this will be the key to resolving our global financial crisis.

To gain the necessary financial education, it is best to obtain association with, access to, and membership in a wealth creation community. As a result, you will learn and have the knowledge to use alternative wealth creating strategies such as Bank on Yourself, debt reduction, and asset protection. You will be exposed to wealth acceleration investments in areas (discussed in this and previous blog posts) such as atomically precise manufacturing, nuclear power generation, commercial space ventures, Carrier Ethernet technologies, nanotech lithography, robotics, nano-based next-generation battery technology, precious metals, water rights, oil, natural gas, potash mines, food commodities, and gold mines. You will have the knowledge to consider investments in assets that are inherently useful like oil rigs, hydropower, or methanol plants; things that are hard to build, difficult to replace, and costly to substitute; definitely not financial stocks, definitely not retail stocks, definitely not commercial property.

Another benefit of membership in a wealth creation community is exposure to entrepreneurial leadership and business opportunities. Many of these leaders suggest that if you don't focus on being a digital entrepreneur, being self-employed, or being a small business owner, it will be a very tough road in the months and years ahead; actually it will be an uphill battle. As a result, the innovative wealth creation communities provide education and training on B2B, and B2C, eCommerce enabling a new breed of professionals that are creating six figure second incomes.

It is wise to monitor breakthrough technology as there are truly exciting developments afoot in the field of nanotechnology for precise manufacturing and related business activities. I will continue to monitor developments and provide updates in future articles and at my blog.

Until the next time, I invite you to learn more about me and my various activities by checking me out at the links below.

Have a Great Day and More Later,

Mike Farrell

Meet me here: http://www.facebook.com/mifarrell
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When not traveling for business or pleasure, Mike operates his own internet marketing company and consulting firm from the mountains of Colorado.

4 Key Parts Needed For Solar Power Electricity

Solar power electricity installations are gaining moment all over the world. Stock of fossil fuels is fast depleting and alternate natural energy solutions, like solar power electricity is becoming popular.

Natural energy solutions are environment friendly with little or no air pollution and no emissions or greenhouse effects. Solar power electricity production is also free of noise pollution.

How is solar power electricity produced?

It is produced by converting light from the sun into electrical energy using a silicon wafer / semiconductor called a photovoltaic cell. This technology is simple and easy to maintain.

What are the main parts of a typical residential solar power electricity system?

A typical residential system would have 4 key Parts:

1) Solar panel array

2) Charging controller

3) Batteries

4) Inverter

Solar panel array: Solar panel array is made up of several solar panels. A series of photovoltaic cells working in unison in a module form the solar panel. The solar panel array needs to be exposed to sunlight, and the array is normally installed on rooftops where sunlight exposure is more. The solar array converts light energy into solar power electricity. Electrical energy in the form of 12 volts (DC) is produced by the solar panel array.

Charging controller: The charging controller is the device that controls the amount of charging for the batteries. Batteries should not be overcharged, neither should they be undercharged. This device, which sits between the solar panel array and the battery bank, controls the charging.

Batteries: These are deep cycle batteries used for storage of solar power electricity produced by the solar array panel. The 12 volts (DC) produced by the solar panel array is stored in the batteries. The charging controller regulates charging, thus extending the life of these batteries.

Inverter: The output from batteries is 12 volts (DC) and can run only devices that work on 12 volts (DC). Most home appliances work on 110 / 220 volts (AC). Hence 12 volts (DC) needs to be converted into 100 / 200 volts (AC). The inverter does the job of converting 12 volts (DC) into 110 / 200 volts (AC).

Along with these four main components several other hardware accessories, wires and connectors would be required to have the complete solar power electricity system functional.

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Electronic Components

Electronic components form parts of electronic circuitry, and are used or manufactured in the field of electronics, which is the study of electrical devices used for controlling electrically charged particles or the flow of electrons to execute any electrical operation. Some of the most common electronic components are as follows:

Resistor: A resistor resists electric current, and the resistance is measured in ohms. Colors on the body of the resistor are a code for the value. Different colors represent the numbers from 0 to 9. In a variable resistor, resistance can be varied by moving a knob or slider. A variable resistor is used to control volume in many devices.

Capacitor: This is measured in farads. A capacitor is used for storing electrical charges that can be released upon demand. Capacitors can be of different types - electrolyte and ceramic disc are two of them.

Diode: A semiconductor device, diodes allow current to flow in one direction only.

Small, cheap and lasting, light emitting diodes (LEDs) are special diodes that give out light and allow current to flow in one direction.

NPN bipolar transistor: Used for current control, they can amplify currents with a small amount of heat dissipation and very little spatial waste.

PNP bipolar transistor: Its functions are the same as NPN, but construction is slightly

different.

Crystal: When a voltage is applied, crystals can accurately vibrate a specific frequency.

Integrated circuit: Having circuits etched into it, an integrated circuit is a semiconductor wafer that can hold capacitors, resistors, transistors, etc. in a large quantity. By allowing the chips to have millions of transistors, integrated circuits are capable of saving space.

Triac: A dual silicon controlled rectifier (SCR), triac is used to control alternating current (AC). Mostly used in dimmers and touch lamps, it controls the amount of electricity reaching an appliance.

Tapped secondary transformer: Used for transforming voltages, a plug-in transformer, the wall type, changes 120 volts AC into about 12 volts DC for small appliance needs. In a tapped secondary transformer, the secondary winding of the transformer is connected to a wire so that it can be used for multiple voltages, or more current.

Speaker: A speaker converts electrical energy into sound energy.

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Precision Manufacturing Of Silicon Wafers in a Nutshell

Silicon wafers are probably the single most important component in the modern electronics industry. Millions of wafers are used in electronics devices and produced daily on a mass scale. The process of developing these essential little items took years to develop, but now it has become a fairly routine process to manufacture them efficiently and economically.

Silicon is a simple element that can be naturally found in abundant quantities. In fact, this brittle substance is one of the most common elements known on the planet. It is present in many rocks and is used in a wide variety of applications that can range from cement to glass and synthetic rubber products.

As a semiconductor for electronic usage, it has the ability to control the passage of electricity in an extremely precise manner. By adding assorted other materials to it in its processed crystalline form, its conductivity properties can be altered as needed to produce a highly controlled way to channel minute amounts of electrical impulses in electronic gear.

Making a wafer is actually a complex process in its entirety, but the basics are quite easy to understand. To put the procedure into simple terms, the silicon is used to grow a crystal substance which will contain desired amounts of other materials which give it the desired properties for its specific application.

These crystal composites are then ground into any number of specific shapes which are uniformly sliced into wafers and polished. The wafers can be created in many different shapes and sizes, depending on what type of semiconductor devices they are required to be inserted into. The ultimate factors that determine their function are decided by their shapes, thicknesses and added ingredients.

In addition to the raw material of silicon, arsenic, boron and other elements are introduced. All of the components are essentially melted together inside specialized furnaces that form ingots ready for processing. Once the individual ingots are cooled and thoroughly inspected for defects, they are ready for grinding and slicing.

Each ingot will be ground into a relatively rough shape that is larger than the finished product. A diamond saw is most commonly used to slice the piece into a flat and uniform part. At this point, they will need to be lapped, or rough finished, to remove marks from the sawing process along with any other defects. This is basically a method of polishing and smoothing the material.

After this step, mild acids are used to further remove any surface imperfections that might be present. Special water solutions are applied to rinse and remove these acids. In most cases, addition grinding will be needed to round off corners to remove areas that could be easily broken during installation into the device for which they may be designed.

After being shaped, smoothed and cornered, each piece is finely polished and cleaned with chemicals such as ammonium hydroxide. Finally, they are all carefully inspected and are approved or rejected. While the exact details of the manufacturing process that silicon wafer suppliers use are quite complicated, the overall method is fairly straightforward.

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Semiconductors: An Important Element Available in Every Electronic Device!

Semiconductors are available in every electronic device which is used in the modern days including computers, telephones, radio etc. These semiconductors have entered every electronic device and now every human's life that are using these electronic gadgets. This has greatly increased the demand of semiconductor manufacturing companies. There are many top semiconductor manufacturing companies in the world who manufacture high quality silicon wafers. They are running business to provide various semiconductor turnkey solutions to the customers.

Today these semiconductors have become a part of our life and without these devices we can't survive. Whether you talk of computer which is lifeline or telephones which keep us connected, all have semiconductor in some form or the other. Basically, a semiconductor is a material which is having the special characteristics that enables it to conduct small amount of electrical current in a controlled manner. This electrical conductivity can be controlled either permanently or dynamically, depending on the requirement of the device it is used in. The devices like diodes, transistors and photovoltaic cells contain these semiconductors. It is found that these semiconductor materials have much lower resistance to the flow of electrical current in one direction than in another.

It's are made of several materials, not any single material forms these semiconductors. It is a known fact that semiconductors should not be a very good conductor of electricity, nor should it be a bad conductor of electricity. One amazing thing associated with these semiconductors is that their properties can be changed with the help of atoms. By adding or removing the atoms, one can do that. While creating semiconductors the materials used are many but the most widely used semi-conductor material is silicon. Other materials which aid to the development of this element are gallium arsenide, germanium and silicon carbide. Companies which provide semiconductor turnkey solutions make use of all of these materials in optimum quantity.

Whether you want integrated circuit test and assembly services or any other service related to semi-conductors, you will find numerous companies world over. Few of the popular names which are into the manufacturing of these semiconductors include AMI Semiconductor, Analog Devices, Amtel, Cosmic Circuits, Dynex Semiconductor, Elpida Memory, Fujitsu, IBM, Intel Corporation, Panasonic Corporation, Luxtera, Materials Research Corporation, Microchip Technology, National Semiconductor, Numonyx, Oramir, Sanyo, Seiko, Sitronics, Sony, Texas Instruments, Toshiba, Winbond to name a few. All these companies are related to the semiconductor manufacturing services, one or the other way.

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Company Profiles - ASML

This story is about change and growth. A company that came out-of-the-blue and is now number one in the field of wafer steppers. This is the so-called back-end part of the semiconductor-device fabrication. This phase is dominated by a lithographical process in which the circuit is projected on the silicon slices. In the adjacent phase -- the front-end -- the transistors and other components are being placed on the chip. ASML produces the back-end machines.

It all started in 1984 as a "spin-out" of Philips and ASM International. In 1990 ASMI divested the operation into a separate company because of the money-losing lithographic business at that time.

"In retrospect, it may have been the biggest blunder in ASMI's corporate history. ASML, after a rough patch in the early 1990s, began to find favor outside of its traditional base in Europe with American and Taiwanese chip makers." (1)

The company went public in 1995 and acquired SVG in the US in 2001. The lithographic market started in the US, but soon the Japanese producers Nikon and Canon dominated the market until the end of the 20th century. In 2003 that picture is changed completely:

"While - in 2003 -- ASML and No. 2 player Nikon are embroiled in bitter legal battles over intellectual property issues in the United States and Japan, Canon, the No. 3 lithography player, has declared publicly that its goal is to unseat ASML from its top spot within five years." (2)

In this market, innovation is the way to keep up with the heavy competition.

In this sense the type of technological changes do matter. Basically there are two types of technological innovations: one that has a focus on improvements, they are called sustainable technologies the other is disruptive. These latter are based on a new paradigm that changes the idea of the process completely.

A famous example of disruptive technology is the digital camera that replaced the analogue camera that required a film. In order to be successful, the disruptive technology must add more value to the client. In the beginning the lenses and the number of pixels were of a lower quality than the traditional cameras, but the ease of use and other functionality -- printing at home -- compensated the new technology. After years, digital cameras get the same quality as the previous cameras offered.

In the lithographical business, the sustainable development continue with the lithographic projections and the use of masks by which the light is filtered. Decreasing the size of the nodes (now as small as 45 nanometers) is the ultimate goal. The question is whether with the same technology this process of miniaturization remains possible...

A new - disruptive technology - is being developed in which the mask is no longer required by "writing the circuits on to silicon wafers with electron beams. Mapperlithography utilizes a Multi-Aperture Pixel-by-Pixel Enhancement of Resolution (MAPPER) technology that is based on deep ultraviolet (DUV) technology. It was founded in 2000 and is based in Delft, The Netherlands." (www.mapperlithography.com)

"John Cossins, product manager for ASML ... said in an interview that "for next generation lithography, ASML has narrowed the focus down to extreme ultraviolet solutions, while Canon and Nikon are looking more at electron beam-related solutions."

As for Mapper's technology, he said, "the alternative they're working on, though promising, is nowhere near a real product yet, and therefore not serious competition in the short term." - march 2003"

Where change and growth go often together becomes visible in the dividends policy of the company. After twelve year in business the company pays it first dividends to the shareholders and is intent to continue this new pattern. For the investor this may be a signal that the high growth of the company is now bend into a more stable growth. But what about the market entry of new parties?

IT is possible that the other parties also feel the pressure from the market. If ASML could beat the competition once why wouldn't it possible that another (new) party will do this too in the near future.

On the site of ASML we read about a collaborative intent:

"... December 21, 2007 - ASML Holding NV (ASML) and Carl Zeiss SMT (Zeiss) today announce that each has signed an agreement with Canon Inc. (Canon) for the global cross-license of patents in their respective fields of semiconductor lithography and optical components, used to manufacture integrated circuits, or chips..."

"ASML and Zeiss with their large current research and development efforts and resulting know how, welcome this agreement with Canon, with its substantial patent portfolio. There will be no transfer of technology, which means ASML and Zeiss will continue to compete with all players in the market on the basis of their capability to bring leading technologies to market."

"The cross-license helps the three companies to compete more freely in the area relevant to their customers, which is technology expertise and implementation, rather than on intellectual property (IP) rights. ASML and Zeiss are strongly committed to investing in research and development and will continue their build-up of know how and IP. "

Growth is also done by takeovers. Besides the large acquisition of CVG in 2001, the company continues the acquire other parties that add value to their process, like "Brion Technologies ... a leading provider of semiconductor design and wafer manufacturing optimization solutions for advanced lithography... Brion's computational lithography technology enables semiconductor manufacturers to simulate the realized pattern of integrated circuits and to correct the mask pattern to optimize the manufacturing process and yield."

"This combination extends significantly ASML capabilities to support the semiconductor industry as our complementary technologies can enhance further the efficiency of chip manufacturing," said Eric Meurice, president and CEO of ASML. "Brion's simulation technology combined with ASML's lithography systems will generate value for customers through faster time to market, better imaging quality and higher yield in wafer manufacturing."

(1) - http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0EKF/is_n2206_v44/ai_20323849/pg_1

(2) - [http://www.allbusiness.com/marketing-advertising/marketing-advertising-measures/6344072-1.html]

H.J.B

? Hans Bool

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Approaching Normal

Explicit Version. 2009 album from the Texas Post-Grunge quintet. Approaching Normal is Blue October's follow-up to their platinum-plus selling 2006 album Foiled and the 100k selling Foiled Deluxe. Famed Twilight author Stephanie Meyer says this about the band: ''...there is empathetic power in Blue October's music - the listener doesn't just sympathize with the feeling of the song, the listener has no choice but to feel the song as if the emotion was his/her own.'' 13 tracks including the first single 'Dirt Room'.

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Thin Film Solar Panels - An Exciting Breakthrough in Solar Technology

The thin film solar panels are one of the newest breakthroughs in the booming solar industry.  Compared to their predecessor, they are much thinner and affordable and may well lead to a much wider use of solar energy in near future.

The working mechanism behind the thin film solar panels is the same as their "thick" counterparts.  Both use photovoltaic cells to collect sunlight and convert it into electric current through the interaction between the sunlight and the semiconductor material contained in the PV cells.    The  electricity thus generated can be put into use right away at your home or office.  You can also store it with batteries to back up the power at nights or on cloudy days.

What exactly has enabled the thin film PV cells to work with the same efficiency but at a much reduced cost?  The answer is in the semiconductor material.  The first generation of solar panels, which are the thick ones that we are all used to seeing, use crystalline silicon as the semiconductor material.  Each solar cell is produced on a different silicon wafer, one by one.  This is an extremely labor-intensive process, which makes the solar panels unaffordable by mass people.

The semiconductor material used in thin film PV cells, as a contrast, is much thinner and cheaper.  What's better, it can be mass produced with an automated system and thereby cuts down the labor work by 3 times. You can imagine that, with this reduced cost, more and more businesses will be encouraged to enter the manufacturing of solar panels.  If this happens, the prices of solar panels will become even more affordable.

And, there are more exciting applications.  With the solar cells being smaller, they are also more light-weighted and can be flexibly placed onto various smaller and light-weighted objects.  For instance, the solar roof shingles are produced by covering the traditional asphalt roof with a layer of thin file solar cells.  Now,  instead of holding your solar panel with the large and heavy steel arrays, your solar roof can look almost the same as that of your neighbors.

Portable solar panels are another product of the thin film technology.  They are being manufactured to power up just any type of electric appliances, from cell phones, GPS devices, MP3 players, to televisions and laptops.   How handy it will be if you can install a solar panel on your backpack or in your purse?  You can carry it wherever you go and charge your portable electric devices whenever needed.

If the thin film solar panels still sound to you like a complex technical innovation rather than an easily accessible daily product, don't worry.  Think about the digital watches.  They cost dearly a few decades ago, but can be  purchased today at a very friendly price.  This will be the future of our solar panels!

Click here to check out various hot discussions about alternative energy power.

Click here for a related article about home wind power.

Important Facts About and Uses of Deionized Water

Deionized water is also spelled deionised water or called DI water. Another name for it which sounds a little more understandable for many people is demineralised water. However it is called or spelled, it means water that has extremely little ions or minerals in it. Ions are charged atoms. Atoms become charged after gaining or losing at least one electron. A sodium atom (Na) becomes a sodium ion after losing an electron (Na+). A chlorine atom (Cl) becomes a chloride ion (Cl-) after gaining an electron. Metallic salts are composed of ions and not molecules. That is why they are called ionic compounds. The popular example has just been given. Table salt is sodium chloride (NaCl) and it is a popular household ionic substance. For those who have forgotten basic chemistry, NaCl is not composed of molecules of NaCl but is actually composed of ions of Na+ and Cl- bound tightly together by strong electrostatic forces. However, water does the trick in separating these ions. As table salt dissolves in water it dissociates to its component ions. The same thing happens to any other salts in water, and because water is a remarkable solvent, it is never found in pure form, but has always impurities. Filtration and chlorination of water may remove organic impurities and bacteria, but minerals may still be present. These minerals are present in form of ions like calcium (Ca++) and magnesium (Mg++) as well as chlorides, nitrates and carbonates. Though water that contains minerals or ions may not be a health concern, it has some industrial drawbacks. For instance, tap water, which has lots of ion impurities leaves stains or spots on surfaces when used as a cleaning agent. This is where deionization steps in.

Deionization is the process of removing ionic impurities in water. It is also called demineralization. In the industrial scene, this may involve two phases. The first phase removes positive ions of sodium, potassium, calcium, magnesium and iron. They are displaced by hydrogen ions (H+). The second phase removes negative ions like chloride, nitrate, and bicarbonate. These are then displaced by hydroxyl ions (OH-). The resulting water teems with hydrogen and hydroxyl ions, which actually fuse to form water molecule. Both phases use resin beads which serve as an ion exchange site.

The resulting water is said to have no pH value since there are no ions to measure the pH by. However, water that is stripped of its ions is a more aggressive solvent. If left in an open container, it sucks carbon dioxide from the air. This results to an acidic solution causing water to assume a lower pH value. Nevertheless, heating the solution to the boiling point may remove carbon dioxide and restore water's deionized quality.

There are controversies as to the effects of demineralised water upon drinking it. There is a fear that because it is too pure it may actually be harmful to humans. Extremely pure water will rob the body off its useful electrolytes or ions. The matter with this claim is that it is based upon little evidence.

Industrial purposes of deionized water can never be refuted. It claims extensive application in the semiconductor industry as it is used during processing and cleaning of materials like silicon wafers. The optics industry also relies on this type of highly pure water, since optical surfaces are supposed to be extremely clean as a requirement for coating. Laboratory glasswares are rinsed in DI water as tap water is never recommended for this purpose. Water that is devoid of ions is also used in car wash shops. It is also very suitable and is in fact used in window cleaning. The efficacy of this pure water as a cleaning agent is due to its aggressiveness as a solvent, since water that contains no dissolved ions will tend to draw ions or solutes from the surroundings and surfaces. This means no spots or stains is left on surfaces.

Furthermore, in the manufacture of pharmaceutical and cosmetic products, DI water is often used because it does not contain impurities that may cause unwanted reactions with other substances used in these products.

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How to Boost Your Solar Power Efficiency

Are Fossil fuels forever?

Fossil fuel is finite. That means it would not last forever. There is only so much oil that can be pumped out of the ground or seabed. Burning fossil fuel releases harsh pollutants into the environment. You can contribute to environment conservation by using cheap solar energy. But I have heard many complaints about solar energy efficiency.

Engineering Solar Energy

You can basically tap into the sun energy in one of two ways: convert sunlight into electricity or collect the sun heat for heating purposes. The solar thermal approach to solar energy reflects the sun heat from mirrors onto a pipe filled with fluid. As the fluid heats up, it can boil water to supply your home. On the other hand, photovoltaic cells or solar panels utilize silicon as a semiconductor to absorb the sun rays and produce electricity.

There have been plenty of advances in engineering that have boosted solar power efficiency. Solar thermal power is about 30% efficient in converting the heat of the sun into electricity. This is double the efficiency of solar panels. So that makes solar thermal systems a lot cheaper than solar panels. But the solar dishes have to be very large to capture enough sunlight to concentrate for heating. That is definitely not practical for your home. That is why most houses use compact solar panels instead.

New Advances

Compared to the early 2000 years, the silicon wafers on solar panels are now 40% thinner. Up to 36 silicon wafers are located on one solar panel which is now about 20% - 40% efficient in converting solar energy to electricity. The sort of electricity you get is called direct current or D.C. This has to be converted to alternating current, or A.C, before you can use it to power your toaster and washing machine. There is an inverter that does the job for you. So that means solar power efficiency from solar panels becomes very much reduced due to the electricity conversion process.

Scientists argue that the maximum efficiency you can get from present day technology for silicon based solar panels is only 40%. Therefore, to get the highest amount of returns from your solar energy systems, you should use passive solar heating techniques coupled with direct sunlight for day lighting in your home. By using the highest efficiency level solar panels for your other energy requirements such as household appliances you can maximize solar power efficiency.

Solar Power Efficiency Rates

Although many folks have switched to using solar panels and solar water heating systems, current solar power efficiency rates mean that solar power can only provide about 70% of the energy requirements of your household. Despite the ability of storing energy in batteries, you can not rely on solar energy during prolonged periods of cold weather with weak sunshine. So you should also be connected to a utility network that provides you with power at the flick of a switch.

Right, so here is what you should do now... if your solar power efficiency is not up to scratch, you have got to take the right measures now to boost your solar efficiency.

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All About Rubber O Ring

A rubber O ring is generally made up of synthetic rubber called elastomer. One would rarely found a rubber O ring made up of natural rubber. Though the elastomers resemble a lot to natural rubber by giving similar look, feel and behavior. Hence, often people misunderstand synthetic rubber O ring as natural rubber O ring.

Synthetic rubber or elastomers are made to withstand higher temperatures and greater pressure ranges. These are manufactured for industrial purposes where the environment and conditions are tougher to sustain. Thus, elastomers are tailor made to absorb and sustain the abrasion and exposure to the hazardous chemicals and ultra violet rays.

Once you make a decision of buying O rings for an industrial application, you have to be extremely careful while picking the elastomer as it renders whatever you expect it to. One should be certain that the amount he is paying is not wasted in some kind of attributes which aren't any useful for him. For example, Kalrez and Viton are highly sophisticated space age elastomers which are used in semiconductor wafer processing and aerospace hence, it is pointless to invest in such elastomers if a lower grade of elastomer can fit your prescribed job.

Also, there are certain specialized rubber O rings made up of neoprene and silicone for the unique properties these elastomers hold. China is the largest manufacturer of neoprene and silicon rubber o rings which are further distributed by other distributors all over the world.

The most popular rubber o ring amongst all is the nitrile or buna-n O ring. It is the cheapest and most demanded elastomer of all. Used for various purposes, it is easily available at the local hardware store.

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Man Made Diamond Applications

The top spot of the gemstone market has long been occupied by the brilliant, lustrous, diamond. Technology, too, ranks diamonds very high, but because of the stone's ability to conduct heat, its hardness (a perfect 10 on the Mohs scale of mineral hardness) and its stability. The automotive industry uses diamond-edged saws and cutting tools. Medicine utilizes diamonds in lasers. Though in great demand, diamonds aren't in great supply. Mining is expensive and the quality can't be guaranteed, making pure diamonds quite rare. As a result, the world's scientific minds began developing ways to create man made diamonds. Molecularly identical to the diamond, man made diamonds are appropriate for the same applications. Due to the lower cost and the ability to "grow" to specifications, synthetics may even surpass naturally occurring diamonds.

Since man made diamond applications are the same as for natural diamonds, they can be used as electrodes. Diamonds are chemically inert (non reactive), allowing the electrodes to be used in situations where normal electrodes would be destroyed. Detecting redox (reduction/oxidation) reactions that normally can't be studied is another application for man made diamonds. Additionally, in water supplies, diamonds can sometime degrade the redox-reactive organic contaminants.

Diamond is radiation hard and possesses a wide bandgap, making its use as a radiation detection device another man made diamond application. In fact, especially due to its density mirroring that of soft tissue, diamond has already been utilized in some physics experiments, particularly in the area of quantum physics and matter/anti-matter particles.

Semiconductor use tops the list of man made applications. Already possessing thermal conductivity, man made diamonds can be made more so by adding boron and phosphorus during the creation process, resulting in n-type or p-type semiconductors. The advantage over current semiconductors is that diamonds as transistors aren't vulnerable to radiation or chemical damage and can handle much more heat than silicon. These traits give man made diamonds a promising future in the electronics industry, especially concerning power.

HPHT, high pressure, high temperature, is the original method of creating man made diamonds. Using large presses that can weigh several tons, HPHT uses pressures of 5 GPa (giga pascals) and temperatures of 1,500 degrees Celsius to recreate the earth's method of creating natural diamonds. Small, non gem-worthy chips and dust are the result of this process, and usually in a polycrystalline structure (unlike single crystal natural diamonds.)

These pressure created diamonds (PCD), in micrometer bits, are encased in a metal matrix, hardening it and applying the result to tools. Machining tools, especially when machining non-ferrous alloys is another prime use of PCD. Drilling for oil is also a man made diamond application for PCD, but machining aluminum is the principle use of PCD. In the automotive industry, PCD are used to machine aluminum alloys that can cause tools extreme wear. The only cost-efficient way to machine these alloys is diamond.

As the method of man made diamond production improves, so will man made diamond applications. Now with the recent breakthrough in CVD to grow diamonds, the stones can be cut by scientists into wafer shapes for use in technology. Conductivity can be improved, too. The possibilities are endless, as time will tell.

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The Evolution of Microchips

Since 1960, the number of elements that could be manufactured in an IC has doubled every 18 months. State-of-the-art silicon chips in 1979 contained 29,000 transistors, but by 1996 this figure had risen to 5.5 million. As every new generation of silicon chip squeezes more components into a circuit, electronic devices become smaller. When portable computers first became commercially obtainable, they were the size of a suitcase. Now, modern lap-top computers are the size of A4 notepads, and they have far higher processing and memory capabilities.

Some silicon chips have just one function. Memory chips in computers, for example, are created solely to store and retrieve information. Other silicon chips have many functions and act like minicomputers in their own right. They are known as microprocessors or microchips and contain extremely complex integrated circuits.

Microchips can be taught, or programmed, to do a variety of activities, including controlling the actions of other pieces of electrical equipment. In many modern cars, for instance, microchips monitor the engine's temperature and pressure, and adjust the amount of fuel injected into the engine accordingly. Typical silicon chips are between five and seven millimetres square and they're thin enough to pass via the eye of a needle. Every chip can include thousands of miniature circuits connected by tiny tracks of conductive aluminium, copper or tungsten.

Inside the chip

Pure silicon has a crystal structure similar to diamond, and is electrically insulating. Nevertheless, if impurity atoms (dopants), for example phosphorus, are implanted into its crystal structure, silicon becomes a semiconductor - it conducts tiny electrical currents. When silicon is doped, it is given either a negative or a positive charge, and is known as n- or p-type silicon, depending on its charge. Transistors, capacitors and resistors are made by combining patterned sections of this doped silicon with layers of conductive and insulating materials.

Every layer of material is built up in particular places on the chip by masking off sections of wafer that don't need to be covered - in much the same way as a decorator uses masking tape to protect glass from stray splashes of paint. Integrated circuits include tens of thousands of different elements linked together by circuit tracks. Often, it takes at least 50 procedure steps to make a microprocessor, and their manufacture is known as Large Scale Integration (LSI).

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Semiconductors Device Fabrication

Semiconductor device fabrication is the process by which chips are made. These chip are integrated circuits that are present in electrical and electronic devices and appliances. The process of semiconductor device fabrication is of multiple steps during which a wafer is created using pure semi conducting material. Usually Silicon is used to make integrated circuits. However, Gallium arsenide and Germanium are also used.

The entire fabrication process takes six to eight weeks. This includes the packaging of the chips.

A wafer is made from pure silicon ingot. These ingot are sliced into 0.75 mm thick wafers. Then they are polished to get a flat and even surface. After this many steps are required to make this wafer into an integrated circuit.

With time the integrated circuits have gone smaller and smaller, leading to them being produced in clean rooms. These clean rooms are called fabs. Fabs are pressurized with filtered air to remove even the smallest particle as it might rest on the wafer and make it defective. People working in the manufacturing facilities are required to constantly wear clean room suits to protect the chips from contamination.

With the demand increasing, semiconductors are now being manufactured in a number of countries like Ireland, Japan, Taiwan, Korea, Singapore, China and the US. Intel is the world's leading manufacturer and has manufacturing facilities in Europe, Asia and the US. Other top manufacturers of semiconductors are Samsung, Texas Instruments, Advanced Micro Devices, Toshiba, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company, Sony and NXP Semiconductors.

According to US Industry & Market Outlook, there are approximately 5,000 semiconductor and electronic component manufacturers in the United States alone and they contribute $165 billion in terms of sales.

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Semiconductor Wafer Inspection System

Introduction of new surfscan SP2XP, a new monitor for wafer inspection system for the integrated circuit has built a success upon its predecessor tool with the same name. The new wafer inspection system features improved sensitivity to defects on silicone, poly and metal films. It also has the ability to sort defects by the type and size. This new semiconductor wafer inspection system also features vacuum handling and best-in-class throughput.

This system is designed and manufactured to enable facilitate chipmakers to bring in their devices to the market with superior quality and in minimal amount of time. This system has an integrated ultra high sensitivity operating mode to speed up the process of development of next generation devices.

This SP2 system is designed for 65 and 45 nm nodes and below. This slip in new UV laser technology, dark field optics and advanced algorithms. This tool is developed to continuously provide reliable and accurate defects in engineered substrates. This tool is designed to detect defect patterns of 6 nm or higher in a multilayered wafer patterns at a relatively higher speed. The false alarm rate is designed to be less than 0.5 occurrences per chip. The performance is achieved by using the optical set up and the digital design pattern data. The main function of the digital design pattern data is to isolate the defective areas into different layers, so as to facilitate the isolation of the defects. The image is processed in one pass by an image processer that has high speed pipeline structured and which can detect for defects at a video rate of 7 mega hertz.

This semiconductor wafer inspection system technology is designed to address the needs to quickly detect the defective materials so that the problem can be rectified sooner. To sooner lesser is the wafer scrap, yield loss and market delay. This technology is believed to actually improve the production of leading edge devices with minimal defects at a lesser period of time.

The advantages of the surfscan SP2XP monitor wafer inspection system include thirty six percent increases in the throughput resulting from changes in opto-mechanics, electronics and software. The multi channel architecture enables the wafer inspection system to automatically separate particles from micro scratches, voids, water marks etc. Ultra high sensitivity mode enables the system to be used for development of next generation chips. The introduction of Opto-mechanics has proved to be effective in detecting defects even over rough films. The new differential interference contrast channel enables capture of shallow, flat and faint defects which can result in failure of devices at advanced devices. The defect sizing capability enables detecting defects at higher speed with greater accuracy.

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Integrated Circuit Design Flow

The process of chip design is very complex and its understanding requires many years of study and practical experience. From a digital integrated circuit design perspective, it could be divided into different hierarchies or stages where the problems are examined at several different levels: system design, logic design, circuit design, layout design, fabrication and testing. These steps are not necessarily sequential; interactions are done in practice to get things right.

System Design: This stage provides the specifications and main operations of the chip. It examines such issues like chip area, power, functionality, speed, cost and other design factors while setting these specifications. Sometimes, the resources available to the designer could act as a constraint during this stage. For instance, a designer may like to design a chip to work at 1.2V, but available process technology can only support a voltage of 5V. In this situation, the designer has to adjust these specifications to satisfy the available tools. It is always a good habit to understand the process technology available before system design and specifications. Process technology is basically the specific foundry technology rules where the chip would be fabricated. Typical examples are AMI 0.5um, TSMC 0.35um and IBM 0.13um. A design based on one process technology is unique to that process and accordingly should be fabricated in a foundry that supports that process. At the system design level, the main sections of the system are illustrated with block diagrams, with no details on the contents of the blocks. Only the input and output characteristics of the sections are detailed.

Logic Design: At this stage, the designer implements the logic networks that would realize the input and output characteristics specified in the previous stage. This is generally made of logic gates with interconnecting wires that are used to realize the design.

Circuit Design: Circuit design involves the translation of the various logic networks into electronic circuitries using transistors. These transistors are switching devices whose combinations are used to realize different logic functions. The design is tested using computer aided design (CAD) tools and comparisons are made between the results and the chip specifications. Through these results, the designer could have an idea of the speed, power dissipation, and performance of the final chip. An idea of the size of the chip is also obtained at this stage since the number of transistors would determine the area of the chip. Experienced designers optimize many design variables like transistor sizes, transistor numbers, and circuit architecture to reduce delay, power consumption, and latency among others. The length and width of the transistors must obey the rules of the process technology.

Layout Design: This stage involves the translation of the circuit realized in the previous stage into silicon description through geometrical patterns aided by CAD tools. This translation process follows a process rule that specifies the spacing between transistors, wire, wire contacts, and so on. Violation of these rules results to malfunctioning chips after fabrication. Besides, the designer must ensure that the layout design accurately represents the circuit design and that the design is free of errors. CAD tools enable checks for errors and also incorporate ways of comparing layout and circuit designs provided in form of Layout Versus Schematic (LVS) checks. When errors are reported, the designer has to effect the corrections. A vital fundamental stage in layout design is Extraction, which involves the extraction of the circuit schematic from the layout drawings. The extracted circuit provides information on the circuit elements, wires, parasitic resistance and capacitance (a parasitic device is an unbudgeted device that inserts itself due to interaction between nearby components). With the aid of this extracted file, the electronic behavior of the silicon circuit is simulated and it is always a good habit to compare the results with the system specification since this is one of the final design stages before a chip is sent to the foundry.

Fabrication: Upon satisfactory verification of the design, the layout is sent to the foundry where it is fabricated. The process of chip fabrication is very complex. It involves many stages of oxidation, etching, photolithography, etc. Typically, the fabrication process translates the layout into silicon or any other semiconductor material that is used. The result is bonded with pins for external connections to circuit boards.

Fabrication process uses photolithographic masks, which define specific patterns that are transferred to silicon wafers (the initial substrate used to fabricate integrated circuits) through a number of steps based on the process technology. The starting material, the wafer, is oxidized to create insulation layer in the process. It is followed by photolithographic process, which involves deposition of photoresist on the oxidized wafer, exposure to ultra-violet rays to form patterns and etching for removal of materials not covered by photoresist. Ion implantation of the p+ or n+ source/drain region and metallization to form contacts follow afterwards. The next stage is cutting the individual chip from the die. For external pin connection, bonding is done. It is important to emphasize that this process steps could be altered in any order to achieve specific goals in the design process. In addition, many of these functions are done many times for very complex chips. Over the years, other methods have emerged. A notable one is the use of insulators (like sapphire) as starting materials instead of semiconductor substrate (the silicon on which active devices are implanted) to build the transistors. This method called Silicon on Insulator (SOI) minimizes parasitic in circuits and enable the realization of high speed and low power dissipation chips.

Testing: The final stage of the chip development is called testing. Electronic equipment like oscilloscopes, probes, pattern generators and logic analyzers are used to measure some parameters of the chip to verify its functionalities based on the stated specifications. It is always a good habit to test for various input patterns for a fairly long time in order to discover possible performance degradation, variability, or failures. Sometimes, fabricated chip test results deviate from simulated results. When that occurs, depending on application, the designer could re-engineer the circuit for improvement and error corrections. The new design should be fabricated and tested at the end.

Dr. Ndubuisi Ekekwe blogs at Nkpuhe
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Solar Cells - An Intro and Overview

To understand the field of solar energy, one must begin with solar cells (otherwise known as photovoltaic cells.) Basically, these are devices that convert light directly into electricity. The photovoltaics market is generally invested in the manufacture of cells made of wafer-like pieces of silicon. Typically, many individual cells are assembled together in frames, forming a solar array. There are currently three types of solar cell commonly available for practical residential and personal use.

The cheapest and least efficient type of solar cell is known as amorphous silicon. This is a form of silicon that can be applied to a material (usually glass) in a thin film. It is therefore much cheaper to manufacture. A strong disadvantage of this material is that it lacks the well-ordered crystalline pattern of other forms of silicon, and features a large drop-off in conversion efficiency.

The highest efficiency comes from monocrystalline silicon cells, constructed of single crystals cut from large cylindrical ingots, resulting in circular wafer-like cells. This rounded shape comes with one disadvantage: multiple cells can't be framed snugly together, resulting in some wasted space. This raises some contention as to whether or not, when framed together in a larger arrays, these cells produce notably more electricity than the polycrystalline cell variety. Panels made with monocrystalline cells also come with a higher price tag.

Based on sales, the most common type of photovoltaic cell is polycrystalline. These are made from multiple silicon crystals and cut into square wafers to be mounted together in an array. They are cheaper and easier to manufacture than monocrystalline cells, but slightly less efficient.

Solar power is one of the fastest growing fields in energy production, and new developments are being made all the time. R&D labs around the world are developing cells boasting higher conversion rates. Panels are being developed made from cheaper forms of silicon, and a process has even been developed to recycle or "re-purpose" suitable material from scrapped semiconductor wafers. The AIST, a Japanese research facility, has been able to develop transparent panels that convert UV light into electricity while allowing visible light to pass through. Such a material could one day be used to replace windows. Bottom line, solar energy is a massive field, and the small, unassuming solar cell has the potential to carry the world into a cleaner and easier future.

Edmund E. Taylor has researched and writes on a number of topics including solar energy, the green movement, renewable resources and recycling. His background is in teaching and higher education. For more of Edmund's articles on green energy, please visit PV Power, a supplier of residential and commercial solar power information.

A Brief History on Silicon Chips

Most silicon chips are smaller than the nail on your little finger, yet they are the hidden 'brains' discovered inside almost every electronic device. These tiny slithers of material are proving to be a bigger influence on modern life than the steam engine during the industrial revolution.

Silicon chips are utilized for a wide range of applications. They guide satellites into orbit close to the Earth. They control signals and monitor train movements around railway networks. They record and control the flow of cash between banks, shops and building societies. They can even wake us up in the morning with a fresh pot of coffee. This revolution in electronic wizardry began in 1948 in the Bell Telephone Laboratories, USA. Here research scientists produced the first semiconductor transistor - a pea-sized component created by adding (implanting) impurities into different sections of a pure silicon crystal.

The new transistors carried out the same function as old-fashioned thermionic valves - they amplified or strengthened electric signals fed into them - but they took up far less space and used much less energy. Semiconductor transistors soon started to replace thermionic valves in all sorts of electronic equipment, from radio sets to computers. At first, transistors had been used as individual elements on printed circuit boards (PCBs). Nevertheless, in 1958, Texas Instruments developed a technique of making separate elements on a single crystal of silicon. Transistors, resistors and many other elements were made by adding impurities into various sections of the crystal. These new electrical circuits were called integrated circuits (ICs), and also the wafer of silicon on which they were formed became known as a silicon chip.

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Everybody Loves Raymond: The Complete Seventh Season

The seventh season of Everybody Loves Raymond serves up a delightful mix of comedy and pathos as the Barones deal with cults, theft, marriage, and death. The season opener (which aired on CBS in 2002) starts where season 6 ended: with Debra (Patricia Heaton) and Marie (Doris Roberts) feuding, and Ray (Ray Romano) and Robert (Brad Garrett) conjuring up a plan to get them to make up. This 5-disc set includes all 25 episodes, including the two-part wedding finale between Robert and Amy (Monica Horan). In typical Marie fashion, she has a shocking and inappropriate comment to make when the priest makes the rhetorical statement, "If anyone can think of any reason why these two should not be joined, speak now or forever hold your peace." There is very little peace when Marie is around. A fantastic cook and a loving mother, Marie is the reason why women worldwide dislike mama's boys. When things go wrong on the home front, Ray isn't above comparing Debra to his mother. Sometimes it's unintentional. But at other times, it's calculated as a means of getting his way. The show's saving grace is the likeability of the characters and the strong writing, which makes up in humor what it lacks in subtlety.

The relationship between woebegone Robert and Amy is a delight, especially because viewers get to meet her parents this season. Fred Willard (Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy) and Georgia Engel (The Mary Tyler Moore Show) play Amy's conservative parents who'd rather see their daughter remain single than marry into the Barone family. Chris Elliott also guest stars as Amy's spoiled, unemployed brother who likes to stir things up between the two clans. The show's success always has been less about completely out-there premises than taking a slice of everyday life--helping the kids with their homework, sharing chores, dealing with in laws--and presenting them in a comical manner. In the real world, a lazy husband like Ray wouldn't be nearly as cuddly. And an interfering mother-in-law like Marie would not be tolerated by most wives. But on Everybody Loves Raymond, they're two of the main reasons why viewers consistently tuned in to this hit sitcom. --Jae-Ha Kim

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