Issue link: https://iconnect007.uberflip.com/i/1401769
60 PCB007 MAGAZINE I AUGUST 2021 system helps the designer perform manufac- turing checks that are unique to rigid-flex, such as overlapping traces that cause an un- desirable "I-Beam effect," or plated through- holes and vias in bend areas (keep-out ar- eas), which could lead to barrel fracturing and open circuits. Webb also demonstrates how to use Valor's Manufacturing Risk Analysis to identify potential problem areas in the circuit; Skoltech researchers and their colleagues from the U.S. and Singapore have created a neural net- work that can help tweak semiconductor crystals in a controlled fashion to achieve superior proper- ties for electronics. This enables a new direction of development of next-generation chips and solar cells by exploiting a controllable deformation that may change the properties of a material on the fly. The paper was published in the journal npj Com- putational Materials. Materials at the nanoscale can withstand ma- jor deformation. In what's called the strained state, they can exhibit remarkable optical, thermal, elec- tronic, and other properties due to a change in in- teratomic distances. The intrinsic properties of a strained material may change, with the semicon- ducting silicon, for instance, transforming into a designers can set the tool to report all errors, or only errors in critical areas. Webb manages to pack a lot of information into a webinar that rigid-flex designers can watch during their lunch break and still have time le over. If you design rigid-flex circuits, no matter what your skill level is, this is a must- watch webinar. PCB007 Access webinar here. Figure 1: The webinar explains how Valor NPI detects errors in rigid-flex designs. The software includes 3D view, a handy feature for rigid-flex. Putting a Strain on Semiconductors for Next-gen Chips material that conducts the electric current freely. Moreover, by varying the strain level, one can change these properties on demand. That notion has given rise to an entire field of inquiry: elastic strain engineering, or ESE. The approach can be used, for example, to modify the performance of semiconductors, providing a potential workaround for the impending Moore's law limit, when we ex- haust our other options for increasing chip per- formance. Another possible application lies with- in the field of solar cell development. As study co- author Alexander Shapeev from Skoltech explains, one can design a solar cell with tunable properties that can be changed on demand in order to max- imize performance and adapt to external circum- stances. (Source: Skoltech)