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28 DESIGN007 MAGAZINE I JUNE 2018 designs. The new generation of 3D multi-board product-level design tools enable real-time 3D hierarchical design, allowing design teams to concurrently create any combination of advanced stack dies, packages and PCBs. With a native 2D and 3D architecture, designers can effectively co-design a chip, package and board to optimize I/Os at each level, embed components in the dielectric of a stack-up intelligently, and verify manufacturing rules in real-time. Next-generation tools manage multiple boards and their associated enclo- sures simultaneously and provide collision checking directly in the native ECAD tool. The new integrated 3D multi-board chip-package- board co-design environment makes it possi- ble to holistically optimize the package, board and IC design to a greater degree than was possible in the past with the end result being higher performance and lower manufacturing costs. DESIGN007 Bob Potock is vice president of marketing for Zuken USA. A team of material researchers from Jülich, Munich, and Prague has succeeded in producing a composite material that is particularly suited for electrodes in lith- ium batteries. The nanocomposite material might help to significantly increase the storage capacity and lifetime of batteries as well as their charging speed. The research- ers have published their findings in the journal Advanced Functional Materials. Lithium-ion batteries are the ultimate benchmark when it comes to mobile phones, tablet devices, and electric cars. Their storage capacity and power density are far superior to other rechargeable battery systems. Despite all the progress that has been made, however, smart- phone batteries only last a day and electric cars need hours to be recharged. Scientists are therefore working on ways to improve the power densities and charging rates of all-round batteries. "An important factor is the anode material," explains Dina Fattakhova-Rohlfing from the Institute of Energy and Climate Research (IEK-1). One way of addressing this problem is hybrid materi- als or nanocomposites – composite materials that contain nanoparticles. The scientists developed a material com- prising tin oxide nanoparticles enriched with antimony, on a base layer of graphene. The graphene basis aids the structural stability and conductivity of the material. The tin oxide particles are less than three nanometres in size – in other words less than three millionths of a millimetre – and are directly "grown" on the graphene. The small size of the particle and its good con- tact with the graphene layer also improves its tolerance to volume changes – the lithium cell becomes more stable and lasts longer. "The nanocomposite anodes can be produced in an easy and cost-effective way. And the applied concepts can also be used for the design of other anode materials for lithium-ion batteries," explains Fattakhova-Rohlfing. "We hope that our development will pave the way for lithium-ion batteries with a sig- nificantly increased energy density and very short charging time." Turbocharge for Lithium Batteries