November_EDFA_Digital

edfas.org 47 ELECTRONIC DEVICE FAILURE ANALYSIS | VOLUME 22 NO. 4 Microchip’s CXP devices enable manufacturers to get the same throughput from two ports on cameras and frame grabbers as they previously could with four. The devices can be used to retrieve a real-time low frequency clock at the camera side, which provides more accurate signal timing. The manufacturers can also use it as a cable repeater, further extending the distances over which the cameras can be linked. Their low power consump- tion makes them ideal for bringing to market smaller, better-performing image-capture solutions that increase customer value yet are simpler and less costly to design. “WithMicrochip’s CXP devices, we support our market needs for a doubling in data throughput while keeping the same system costs,” says Andre Jacobs, director of marketing and sales with Adimec. “JIIA is excited to see that Microchip is bringing low-power, high-performance CoaXPress 2.0 solutions to market that fully comply to the recently released CoaXPress 2.0 specification,” says Sachio Kiura, Chairman of the Japan Industrial Imaging Association. In addition to providing key capabilities that Microchip believes will help to accelerate the adoption of better performing, lower-cost solutions in industrial inspection applications, the company expects that its CoaXPress 2.0 family will have an equally transformational effect on applications including traffic monitoring, surveillance and security, medical inspection systems and embedded vision solutions. For more information, visit microchip.com LIQUID METAL SYNTHESIS FOR BETTER PIEZOELECTRICS An RMIT-UNSWcollaboration has applied liquid-metal synthesis to piezoelectrics, advancing future flexible, wearable electronics, andbiosensors drawing their power from the body’s movements. Materials such as atomically thin tin-monosulfide are predicted to exhibit strong piezoelec- tric properties, converting mechanical forces or movement into electrical energy. This property, along with their inherent flexibility, makes them likely candidates for developing flexible nanogenerators that could be used in wearable electronics or internal, self- powered biosensors. However, to date, this potential has been held back by limitations in synthesizing large, highly crystalline monolayer tin-monosulfide (andother group IVmonochal- cogenides), with difficulties caused by strong interlayer coupling. The new study resolves this issue by applying a new liquid-metal technique, developed at RMIT, to syn- thesize thematerials. Subsequentmeasurements confirm that tin-monosulfide synthesized using the new method displays excellent electronic and piezoelectric properties. The resulting stable, flexible monolayer tin-monosulfide can be incorporated in a variety of devices for efficient energy harvesting. The unprecedented technique of synthesis involves the van der Waals exfoliation of a tin sulfide (SnS), that is formed on the surface of tin when it is melted, while being exposed to the ambient of hydrogen sulfide (H 2 S) gas. H 2 S breaks down on the interface and sulfurizes the surface of the melt to form SnS. This liquid metal based method allows extraction of homogenous and large scale monolayers of SnS with minimal grain boundaries. Measurements confirm the material has high carrier mobilityandpiezoelectriccoefficient,which translates into exceptional peak values of generated voltage and loading power for aparticular applied strain,markedly higher than that any previously reported 2D nanogenerator. High durability and flexibility of the devices are also demonstrated. This is evidence that the very stable synthesized monolayer SnS can be commercially imple- mented into power-generating nanodevices. They can also be used for developing transducers for harvesting mechanical human movements, with the potential to support piezoelectric-based, flexible, wearable energy- scavenging devices. Piezoelectricmaterials canconvert appliedmechanical force or strain into electrical energy. Best known for the simple “piezo” lighter used for gas grills and stovetops, piezo-electric devices sensing sudden changes inaccelera- tion are used to trigger vehicle air bags, andmore sensitive devices recognize orientation changes in mobile phones or form the basis of sound and pressure sensors. Microchip Technology’s EQCO125X40 family of CoaXPress devices.