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PCBD-Dec2015

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22 The PCB Design Magazine • December 2015 Judy Warner is director of business development for the Western Region and RF/microwave markets for zentech Manufacturing. Chapter: He's a giver. Scott doesn't give to get something in return—he gives for the joy of contributing to our industry. And he has sur- rounded himself with like-minded contributors like Terri Kleekamp, Kathy Palumbo and others. He enjoys providing designers with resources that will educate, inspire and allow them to net- work with their peers. Subsequently, designers become better at what they do, which empow- ers them to compete well globally. Generosity and altruism are at the heart of Scott's and his team's success. If you want to follow in Scott's shoes and set up your own Designers Council chapter, be a purposeful giver. Beyond that, carve out some time to build relationships in order to support your efforts and to grow meeting attendance. No matter how much we rely on our electron- ic devices to inform and connect us, nothing compares to the power and value of meaningful face time. Scott's playbook, and his support of local design professionals, are keys to his chap- ter's success. PCBDESIGN MCCURDY: HoW To BUILD A SUCCESSFUL IPC DESIGNERS CoUNCIL CHAPTER light and electricity dance a complicated tango in devices like leDs, solar cells and sen- sors. A new anti-reflection coating developed by engineers at the university of Illinois at urbana Champaign, in collaboration with researchers at the university of Massachusetts at lowell, lets light through without hampering the flow of electricity, a step that could increase efficiency in such devices. The researchers, led by u. of I. electrical and computer engineering professor Daniel Wasser- man, published their findings in the journal Ad- vanced Materials. At the interface between two materials, such as a semiconductor and air, some light is always reflected, Wasserman said. This limits the effi- ciency of optoelectronic devices. If light is emit- ted in a semiconductor, some fraction of this light will never escape the semiconductor mate- rial. Alternatively, for a sensor or solar cell, some fraction of light will never make it to the detec- tor to be collected and turned into an electrical signal. Researchers use a model called Fresnel's equations to describe the reflection and trans- mission at the interface between two materials. "It has been long known that structuring the surface of a material can increase light trans- mission," said study co-author viktor Podolskiy, a professor at the university of Massachusetts at lowell. "Among such structures, one of the more interesting is similar to structures found in nature, and is referred to as a 'moth-eye' pat- tern: tiny nanopillars which can 'beat' the Fresnel equations at certain wavelengths and angles." Although such patterned surfaces aid in light transmission, they hinder electrical transmission, creating a barrier to the underlying electrical material. The researchers demonstrated that their technique, which results in metal covering roughly half of the surface, can transmit about 90 percent of light to or from the surface. Nanostructured Metal Coatings Let the Light through for Electronic Devices feature

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