Author Archives: Walt

About Walt

I have been involved in various aspects of nanotechnology since the late 1970s. My interest in promoting nano-safety began in 2006 and produced a white paper in 2007 explaining the four pillars of nano-safety. I am a technology futurist and is currently focused on nanoelectronics, single digit nanomaterials, and 3D printing at the nanoscale. My experience includes three startups, two of which I founded, 13 years at SEMATECH, where I was a Senior Fellow of the technical staff when I left, and 12 years at General Electric with nine of them on corporate staff. I have a Ph.D. from the University of Texas at Austin, an MBA from James Madison University, and a B.S. in Physics from the Illinois Institute of Technology.

Another year of interesting developments

Posted on December 31, 2022 by Walt | Permalink 0

Energy from Fusion – As reported in Phys.Org [Ref. 1] a breakthrough announcement in fusion came from Lawrence Livermore National Labs.  For the first time an experiment in [..]

Science

Chiplets – What are semiconductor chiplets and why needed

Posted on November 30, 2022 by Walt | Permalink 0

As there are more references to the development of semiconductor chiplets, it might be useful to consider what they are and why they are needed. As the size [..]

Semiconductor Technology

Where Wafer Scale Integration Came From

Posted on October 31, 2022 by Walt | Permalink 0

This is a story that starts in the early days of electronics.  As new concepts were developed for applications employing electricity, there was a need to develop a [..]

Semiconductor Technology

Advancements for Nano and Below

Posted on September 30, 2022 by Walt | Permalink 0

Previous blogs have mentioned the need for improved tools and the goal of at least one order of magnitude greater capability than the objects attempting to be evaluated.  [..]

Nanotechnology

Metamaterials – Optics

Posted on August 31, 2022 by Walt | Permalink 0

In June’s blog, invisibility cloaking was covered.  While that is a type of optical metamaterial, the advantage of optical metamaterials is that they can provide the ability to [..]

Metamaterials

Metamaterials – Acoustic

Posted on July 31, 2022 by Walt | Permalink 0

Metamaterials are usually identified by indicating it is a constructed material that has characteristics not observed in nature.  As the last blog demonstrated, metamaterials at the nanoscale can [..]

Metamaterials

Metamaterials – Cloak of Invisibility details

Posted on June 30, 2022 by Walt | Permalink 0

Metamaterials are usually identified by indicating it is a constructed material that has characteristics not observed in nature.  While typically referring to nanoscale materials, there are metamaterials that [..]

Metamaterials

Metamaterials – Cloak of Invisibility

Posted on May 31, 2022 by Walt | Permalink 0

An excellent example of how metamaterials work comes from Stanford University [Ref. 1].  The concept can be described as creating nanoscale antenna to affect the performance of electromagnetic [..]

Metamaterials

What comes after nanotechnology?

Posted on April 30, 2022 by Walt | Permalink 0

In many cases semiconductor industry leads the application of technology shrinkage.  Each “generation” of new devices employs smaller and smaller dimensional structures in the circuitry.  There is work [..]

Metamaterials

Is there an end to transistor area density shrinkage?

Posted on March 31, 2022 by Walt | Permalink 0

Moore’s Law is quoted in many different forms.  Basically, area density is a primary focus.  If the difference between generations in a 30% reduction in dimensions, then the [..]

Semiconductor Technology