(Press-News.org) Transistors — the tiny on-off switches inside microchips — have gotten smaller and smaller over the years, increasing computing power and enabling smaller devices. During that time, the copper wires that connect these switches have likewise shrunk.
However, smaller, thinner wires create a big problem, said Daniel Gall, professor of materials science and engineering at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.
“The job of the wire is to conduct electrons — electricity. Imagine a wire as a crowded hallway that the electrons have to get through. The narrower the hallway, the more the electrons bump into things and scatter. We call that resistance,” Gall explained.
As the wires in chips get smaller and thinner, resistance increases, and efficiency goes down.
“Today, resistance is the biggest barrier to more efficient chips,” Gall said.
Thanks to a new, three-year $1.2 million grant from the National Science Foundation, Gall will lead collaborators at RPI, Notre Dame University, and Cornell University on a hunt for new materials that can be made even smaller than current copper wires while offering far less electrical resistance.
Discovery of such materials may one day lead to smaller, faster, more energy-efficient computer chips, Gall said.
The grant will also support a workforce development initiative that will connect hundreds of students and leaders at historically Black colleges and universities, minority-serving institutions, and community colleges; semiconductor experts at research intensive universities; and microelectronics engineers from chip manufacturing companies.
This component of the project will advance semiconductor curriculum, generate immersive industry-led courses, establish a seminar series and, at RPI, launch an interdisciplinary master’s degree program in semiconductors technology.
“Right now, the semiconductor industry does not reflect the diversity of the U.S. population. To change that, we need to start in the classrooms of institutions that serve those underrepresented in the semiconductor workforce. We are excited to work with researchers and leaders from 21 historically Black colleges and universities and minority-serving institutions to co-design interactive teaching approaches that foster an immersive learning environment and student mentorship,” said Shayla Sawyer, professor of electrical, computer, and systems engineering, who will lead the workforce development component of the project. Sawyer directs the Mercer XLab at Rensselaer, which supports innovative learn-by-doing approaches for students.
“No one person or institution alone will be able to effect the changes needed to support a thriving domestic chip industry, which is why RPI is proud to bring together researchers, educators, and students who represent the future of semiconductors in the U.S.,” said Shekhar Garde, dean of Rensselaer’s School of Engineering.
The project is funded by NSF’s Future of Semiconductors Program, a public-private partnership aimed at accelerating new chip technologies and developing the U.S. chip manufacturing workforce. This program is made possible by the 2022 CHIPS and Science act.
###
About Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute:
Founded in 1824, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute is America’s first technological research university. Rensselaer encompasses five schools, over 30 research centers, more than 140 academic programs including 25 new programs, and a dynamic community made up of over 6,800 students and 110,000 living alumni. Rensselaer faculty and alumni include upwards of 155 National Academy members, six members of the National Inventors Hall of Fame, six National Medal of Technology winners, five National Medal of Science winners, and a Nobel Prize winner in Physics. With nearly 200 years of experience advancing scientific and technological knowledge, Rensselaer remains focused on addressing global challenges with a spirit of ingenuity and collaboration. To learn more, please visit www.rpi.edu.
Contact:
Samantha Murray
Senior Communications Specialist
murras7@rpi.edu
518-960-4051
For general inquiries: newsmedia@rpi.edu
Visit the Rensselaer research and discovery blog: https://everydaymatters.rpi.edu/
Follow us on Twitter: @RPINew
END
URBANA, Ill. — Waterhemp, the aggressive weed threatening Corn Belt crop production, is throwing curveballs once again, according to researchers at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. The weed has famously developed resistance to not one or two, but seven herbicide sites-of-action classes, nearly exhausting the chemical tools farmers can use to defend their livelihood.
In a new Weed Science study, U. of I. researchers show that a single major gene is responsible for waterhemp’s resistance to S-metolachlor ...
EMBARGOED FOR RELEASE UNTIL 4 P.M. ET, WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 8, 2023
MINNEAPOLIS – People with low education and income levels may have a 10% increased risk of death or being dependent on others to complete daily tasks three months after a stroke compared to people with high education and income levels, according to new research published in the November 8, 2023, online issue of Neurology®, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology. The study does not prove that low education and income cause worse outcomes after stroke. It only shows an association.
“Compared ...
EMBARGOED FOR RELEASE UNTIL 4 P.M. ET, WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 8, 2023
MINNEAPOLIS – For people with epilepsy, doing yoga may help reduce feelings of stigma about the disease along with reducing seizure frequency and anxiety, according to new research published in the November 8, 2023, online issue of Neurology®, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.
“People with epilepsy often face stigma that can cause them to feel different than others due to their own health condition and that can have a significant impact on their quality of life,” said study author ...
Embargoed for release: Wednesday, November 8, 4:00 PM ET
Key points:
In a randomized trial of the cardiometabolic impacts of workplace interventions designed to reduce work-family conflict, older employees and those at baseline higher risk for cardiometabolic disease saw their risk of developing cardiovascular disease decrease equivalent to five to 10 years of age-related cardiometabolic changes.
The study is among the first to assess whether changes to the work environment can affect cardiometabolic risk.
Boston, MA—Increasing workplace flexibility may lower employees’ risk of cardiovascular disease, according to a new ...
After conducting the first scoping review of its kind, researchers at the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus have developed an evidence based interactive mapping tool to assist policymakers as they consider regulating the concentration of THC in cannabis products and as more potent products move into the marketplace.
Their review, funded by the State of Colorado, was released today in the American Journal of Public Health (AJPH).
“We looked at studies that measured adverse or beneficial effects of high concentration ...
An accountability framework, including independent monitoring of state compliance, is critical for the pandemic agreement's success, according to researchers at Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health and affiliates at Spark Street Advisors. The paper and findings are published in BMJ Global Health.
“Countries signing up to a pandemic agreement is no guarantee of its effective implementation,” said Nina Schwalbe, adjunct assistant professor in the Department of Population and Family Health and principal visiting fellow at Columbia Mailman School. “Countries' lack of compliance with ...
Scientists using NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope just made a breakthrough discovery in revealing how planets are made. By observing water vapor in protoplanetary disks, Webb confirmed a physical process involving the drifting of ice-coated solids from the outer regions of the disk into the rocky-planet zone.
Theories have long proposed that icy pebbles forming in the cold, outer regions of protoplanetary disks — the same area where comets originate in our solar system — should be the fundamental seeds of planet formation. The main requirement of these theories is that pebbles should drift inward toward the star due to friction in the gaseous disk, ...
Carlos Trejo-Pech, an associate professor in the Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics at the University of Tennessee Institute of Agriculture, is a newly appointed editor of the Journal of Food Distribution Research.
“It is a great honor and big responsibility to serve as a journal editor of a publication outlet in the agricultural economics and agribusiness discipline,” said Trejo-Pech. “We, the editors, are committed to disseminating the results of high-quality research.”
The journal was established in 1969 under the auspices of the Food Distribution Research Society, the only body of scholars and practitioners in the United States dedicated ...
October Consumer Food Insights Report highlights Thanksgiving meal plans
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. – Nearly eight in 10 Americans will celebrate the upcoming Thanksgiving holiday with a special meal, according to the October 2023 Consumer Food Insights Report.
The survey-based report out of Purdue University’s Center for Food Demand Analysis and Sustainabilityassesses food spending, consumer satisfaction and values, support of agricultural and food policies, and trust in information sources. Purdue ...
Hodgkin’s lymphoma is one of the most common types of lymphoma in young adults. It is characterized by the presence of enlarged B lymphocytes, which are unusual in that they bear on their surface the identifying markers of many other immune cells – such as those found on phagocytes, dendritic cells, or T cells. Now, a team led by Stephan Mathas from the Experimental and Clinical Research Center (ECRC) has explained how these changes take place in the cells and what impact they have. The ECRC is a joint institution of the Max Delbrück Center and Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin.
“Many different ...
