In 2023, almost every VR device uses LCDs (Liquid Crystal Displays) to replace the real world with digital content, but a shift might be underway in 2024. Apple's Vision Pro is set to be one of the earliest VR devices to use OLED-on-Si technology, also known as micro-OLED, in a move to shrink headsets down whilst offering extremely high-quality images.

Wednesday 27 September 2023 - AI capabilities, and why these matter; Market revenue forecasts for AI chips at the edge up to and including 2034; Analyses relating to multiple key industry verticals, such as consumer electronics and automotive; Discussion of trends within these industry verticals.

New quantum sensors measuring brain activity have the potential to revolutionize our understanding of how humans respond to sleep, movement, diet, and aging.

The new report from IDTechEx, "Electric Vehicles in Construction 2023-2043", shows that there are many reasons to adopt an electric vehicle as a construction professional: they are quieter than diesels, they help with air quality in the construction site, they can be more precise and easier to operate, and so on.

Since the introduction of Artificial Intelligence to the data center, AI has been loath to leave it. With large tracts of floorspace dedicated to servers comprising leading-edge chips that can handle the computational demands for training the latest in AI models, as well as inference via end-user connections to the cloud, data centers are the ideal environment for facilitating much of what AI has to offer.

Spatial computing promises to transform the way people interact with their devices as computing goes truly 3D, with early signs of change already underway. While Apple's upcoming Vision Pro is bringing new excitement to this space, gaming-focused VR (Virtual Reality) headsets from companies including Meta, Sony, and Pico have sold in the millions.

The increasing power density of data center racks, driven by technologies like cloud computing, generative AI, and crypto mining, has led to the exploration of liquid cooling as a thermal management solution.

Running in the background to the more visible, very real wars occurring around the world at present, there is another, economic and industrial in nature. This is a trade war between two principals: the USA and China.

Thursday 24 August 2023 - What is the status and outlook for the quantum technology industry as a whole? How do different hardware platforms for quantum sensing compare? Which new applications are unlocked by quantum sensors? How does the scale and type of opportunity differ between quantum sensing and quantum computing?

Quantum computers have the potential to tackle problems it would take classical computers trillions of years to solve. Most quantum computer designs depend on cooling the hardware to extreme temperatures well below -200 degrees Celsius.

Quantum sensors promise to unlock new applications through dramatically increased sensitivity. Characterizing the quantum sensor market, quantum sensing technologies, and quantum sensor players, with report covers 17 quantum sensing technology areas along with applications in electric vehicles, GPS denied navigation, medical imaging, and quantum computing with market forecasts from 2024 to 2044.

Thursday 3 August 2023 - Materials and Processing Trends for 2.5D and 3D Semiconductor Packaging; An overview of advanced semiconductor packaging technology: landscape and development; Manufacturing methods and dielectric materials choice for 2.5D packaging; A review of 3D Cu-Cu bonding packaging technology: materials and manufacturing processes barriers and future trend

How far is printed/flexible electronics along the road to widespread adoption? The emerging manufacturing methodology, which replaces etched copper laminate with printed conductive inks on flexible substrates, offers multiple benefits, including flexibility/stretchability, the potential for low-cost roll-to-roll production, digital manufacturing/rapid prototyping, and improved sustainability.

With the continuous increase in the thermal design power (TDP) of chips, traditional air-cooling methods are struggling to meet the cooling requirements of modern hyperscale data centers. As a result, liquid cooling has emerged as a promising solution due to the high specific heat capacity of liquids.

Thursday 20 July 2023 - Navigating the Liquid Cooling Dominance in Data Centers - An IDTechEx Roadmap; Air cooling: An overview of the traditional air-cooling approach and its benefits and limitations; Direct-to-chip/Cold Plate Cooling: An exploration of cooling methods that involve direct contact between the cooling medium and the chips or the use of cold plates; Immersion cooling: An examination of cooling techniques that utilize immersion of servers or components in dielectric fluids; Coolant comparison and regulations: A comparison of different coolants used in liquid cooling systems, along with relevant regulations; Single-phase and two-phase cooling: An analysis of single-phase and two-phase cooling methods and their applications in data centers; Thermal interface materials (TIMs): An overview of the importance of thermal interface materials in efficient heat transfer within cooling systems.

Thursday 27 July 2023 - Surging Demand for Lithium-Ion Batteries Driving the Carbon Nanotube Market. 10-year market outlook for CNTs; Analysis of CNT usage in the energy storage industry, including technology trends in LiBs and next generation batteries; Overview of other key applications; Discussion of key players and supply chain pain points; Emerging technologies incl. green feedstock

There is no denying that silicon carbide (SiC) MOSFETs are the story of the next decade for electric vehicle power electronics. The material improves powertrain efficiency (EV range), operates at higher voltages for faster charging, and creates new materials opportunities, such as Ag or Cu sintering, as power densities and operational temperatures increase.

In a recently published article, AI and Security: Ensuring That Opportunities Outweigh the Threats, IDTechEx discussed the importance of ownership and culpability when it comes to deploying AI tools, especially in the context of creative works. This matter of accountability and the potential insidious use of artificial intelligence in the creation of intellectual property is a theme touched on in the first episode of the new Black Mirror season, "Joan Is Awful".

The success of electric vehicles in the construction industry will largely be determined by battery prices being low enough that the total cost of ownership is cheaper than diesel alternatives.

This is a data-centric world. The growing amount of data generated in various industries increasingly drives the demand for high-bandwidth computing. Applications such as machine learning and AI require powerful processing capabilities, leading to the need for dense transistor placement on chips and compact interconnection bump pitches in packaging.