Semiconductors, Computing & AI

The use of image sensors is set to revolutionize multiple industries from advanced driver-assistance system (ADAS)/autonomous driving to agriculture, industrial inspections, and medical imaging. The visualization of images beyond the visible light spectrum and the traditional red, green, and blue (RGB) is gaining traction and is set to impact the future of sensors in many more applications.

Virtual and Augmented Reality (VR and AR) headsets share, on the surface, 90% of the same component parts. However, two key technologies separate the former product category, which has sold in the millions on the consumer mass market, from the latter, which is yet to crack the mainstream market. Near-eye optics form one part of the puzzle, but display systems offer an equal challenge.

Wednesday 15 November 2023 - Electric vehicles: Battery strategies; Battery thermal interface materials; Direct oil cooling electric motors; Power electronics and adoption of wide bandgap semiconductors; Fire protection materials. Data centers: Increasing design power; Liquid cooling thermal management strategies; Industrial collaborations and opportunities for players

Tunneling magneto resistance sensors are rapidly disrupting the automotive and wearables industry. These tiny sensors leverage quantum phenomena to provide a performance edge over classical incumbents, including industry mainstays such as Hall effect sensors. Although they don't depend on the more exciting effects such as superposition and entanglement, in this article, IDTechEx highlights the lessons to be learned from the success of TMR sensors in the emerging quantum sensor market.

Quantum dots (QDs) could potentially be targeting the huge consumer electronics application via its adoption in image sensors, apart from existing industrial applications. IDTechEx has published its view on the global quantum dot markets and enabling technologies in their report "Quantum Dot Materials and Technologies 2024-2034: Trends, Markets, Applications".

Wednesday 25 October 2023 - Air Quality Monitoring Technology: Comparing the Opportunities in Smart Cities, Smart Buildings, and Smart Homes - What are the latest innovations in miniaturized gas sensor technology? What is the state of the market for air quality monitoring? Why is adoption into 'smart-cities' still niche? How do opportunities compare between smart-building and smart-home?

Radars are already cemented into the automotive market as they provide popular ADAS features such as adaptive cruise control (ACC) and blind spot detection (BSD). Despite their near ubiquitous presence in vehicles, IDTechEx's new report "Automotive Radar 2024-2044: Forecast, Technologies, Applications" finds that there is still large growth potential for this sensor, mostly driven by new opportunities for short-range radars.

As reported by Nvidia's Q2 financial statement, its second-quarter data center's revenue was a record US$10.32 billion, up 141% from the previous quarter and up 171% from a year ago. With the increasing demand for high-performance servers in data centers, IDTechEx has seen challenges in data center thermal management and tremendous opportunities in this industry.

The road to fully autonomous vehicles is, by necessity, a long and winding one; systems that implement new technologies that increase the driving level of vehicles (driving levels being discussed further below) must be rigorously tested for safety and longevity before they can make it to vehicles that are bound for public streets.

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.