­Background Lateral Programmable Metallization Cell (PMC) structures have a wide range of potential applications. These devices rely on the electrodeposition of metal in a channel comprising a solid electrolyte between a pair of electrodes – an oxidizable anode that supplies metal ions, and a cathode that supplies electrons to the redox-based...

Background With the advent of the internet of things (IoT), internet security concerns have increased dramatically. All secure communications require random number generation to create a secure key. The naturally occurring randomness in semiconductor device characteristics can provide random numbers via appropriate reading circuitry from within an...

Background Interposers are now used extensively in the semiconductor industry to provide connections between silicon integrated circuits (ICs) and certain types of package, and to provide connections between multiple ICs within the same package to create a system-in-package (SiP) design. Advanced interposers not only contain multiple layers of wiring...

The field of microfluidics has rapidly emerged and been implemented in an array of applications, such as molecular analysis, bio-defense, molecular biology, and microelectronics. Microvalves can be used to control routing, timing, and separation of fluids in many different microfluidic systems. However, current microvalve technology faces challenges...

Timing devices are important for a variety of applications, ranging from defense technologies to consumer electronics. Solid state timers are a popular option, but are volatile, meaning that they do not retain their state during a loss of power. Additionally, many timers are susceptible to interference or damage from radiation. This prevents the timers...

Electrical structures which interact with light, such as solar cells and optical sensors, generally employ electrodes to collect a generated current (or to apply an external field) however, the electrode designs commonly used suffer from a number of disadvantages. For example, the wide spacing of electrodes in conventional solar cells, necessary to...

MEMS microphones have become very popular in commercialized products in recent years, and one of the greatest demands currently is for directionality. This requires that multiple microphones be matched with great precision, but there is generally some degree of mismatch even when the microphones are manufactured very carefully. Existing techniques for...

Electrical structures which interact with light, such as solar cells and optical sensors, generally employ electrodes to collect a generated current (or to apply an external field), however, the electrode designs commonly used suffer from a number of disadvantages. For example, the wide spacing of electrodes in conventional solar cells, necessary...