Microsystems Technology Laboratories

We look forward to celebrating this milestone with you all as we commemorate the amazing research that has come out of MTL over these past 40 years, and the impact that our students, faculty, staff and partners are having as we together define the future of electronics and microsystems.

Silicon transistors, which are used to amplify and switch signals, are a critical component in most electronic devices, from smartphones to automobiles. But silicon semiconductor technology is held back by a fundamental physical limit that prevents transistors from operating below a certain voltage. This limit, known as “Boltzmann tyranny,” hinders the energy efficiency of computers and other electronics, especially with the rapid development of artificial intelligence technologies that demand faster computation. In an effort to overcome this fundamental limit of silicon, MIT researchers fabricated a different type of three-dimensional transistor using a unique set of ultrathin semiconductor materials. “This is a technology with the potential to replace silicon, so you could use it with all the functions that silicon currently has, but with much better energy efficiency,” says Yanjie Shao, an MIT postdoc and lead author of a paper on the new transistors. “With conventional physics, there is only so far you can go. The work of Yanjie shows that we can do better than that, but we have to use different physics. There are many challenges yet to be overcome for this approach to be commercial in the future, but conceptually, it really is a breakthrough,” says senior author Jesús del Alamo, the Donner Professor of Engineering in the MIT Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science (MIT EECS). They are joined on the paper by Ju Li, the Tokyo Electric Power Company Professor in Nuclear Engineering and professor of materials science and engineering at MIT; EECS graduate student Hao Tang; MIT postdoc Baoming Wang; and professors Marco Pala and David Esseni of the University of Udine in Italy. The research?appears today in?Nature Electronics. Read more: https://lnkd.in/gYuhSNRY

On Monday, October 21st, we hosted the MIT Workshop on Small Display Technologies - an inaugural event in the exploration and development of advanced display technologies, including AR/VR, transparent displays, and more. The workshop featured contributions from distinguished MIT faculty including Prof. Moungi Bawendi and Prof. Vladimir Bulovic, experts in quantum dots (QD); Prof. Jeehwan Kim and Prof. Tomas Palacios, specialists in MicroLEDs; Prof. Marc Baldo, an authority on OLEDs; Prof. Juejun Hu, renowned for his work on microlenses and optics; and Prof. Jelena Notaros, an expert in holographic displays and optics. In addition to MIT faculty, it also featured insights from industry giants such as Sumsung, Microsoft, Meta, eMagin, SilliconCore and FSB.

Active electronics — components that can control electrical signals — usually contain semiconductor devices that receive, store, and process information. These components, which must be made in a clean room, require advanced fabrication technology that is not widely available outside a few specialized manufacturing centers. The ability to 3D print an entire, active electronic device without the need for semiconductors could bring electronics fabrication to businesses, labs, and homes across the globe. While this idea is still far off, MIT researchers have taken an important step in that direction by demonstrating fully 3D-printed resettable fuses, which are key components of active electronics that usually require semiconductors. The researchers’ semiconductor-free devices, which they produced using standard 3D printing hardware and an inexpensive, biodegradable material, can perform the same switching functions as the semiconductor-based transistors used for processing operations in active electronics. “This technology has real legs. While we cannot compete with silicon as a semiconductor, our idea is not to necessarily replace what is existing, but to push 3D printing technology into uncharted territory. In a nutshell, this is really about democratizing technology. This could allow anyone to create smart hardware far from traditional manufacturing centers,” says Luis Fernando Velásquez-García, a principal research scientist in MTL and senior author of a?paper describing the devices, which appears in?Virtual and Physical Prototyping. Read more: https://lnkd.in/gRarWuEj

Throughout its history, industry professionals have turned to MIT's research enterprise for specialized expertise in fields ranging from space exploration and mobility to healthcare, artificial intelligence, quantum computing, and beyond. Now, it's your opportunity to harness these groundbreaking innovations for your organization's success. Join the MIT Industrial Liaison Program (ILP) and Microsystems Technology Laboratories (MTL) at this year’s Research & Development Conference to gain exclusive insights into the latest breakthroughs shaping the future of industry. Engage with MIT’s world-renowned faculty and thought leaders, including Ian Waitz, Anantha Chandrakasan, Tomas Palacios, Rafael Reif, and many more, as they share cutting-edge research and findings, fostering collaborations designed to address the most pressing challenges of our time. Registration: bit.ly/4dyjwgk Agenda: https://ilp.mit.edu/RD24 This is a unique opportunity to connect, learn, and contribute to conversations driving global innovation. Don’t miss out—reserve your spot today and position your organization at the forefront of tomorrow's transformative developments. #MIT #ILP #MITCorporateRelations #MITFaculty #ResearchAndDevelopment #Innovation #AI #Mobility #LifeSciences #SpaceTech #QuantumComputing?#TechConference #FutureTech #InnovationEcosystem #StartupExchange #MTL #MTL40 #Events #EVENTALERT Massachusetts Institute of Technology, MIT AeroAstro, MIT Startup Exchange, MIT EECS, J-WAFS at MIT, MIT Department of Chemistry, MIT Mobility Initiative, MIT Sloan School of Management, MIT School of Engineering, MIT Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory (CSAIL)

Congratulations, Prof. Dirk Englund!

Massachusetts Institute of Technology researchers have developed a miniature, chip-based “tractor beam,” like the one that captures the Millennium Falcon?in the film “Star Wars,” that could someday help biologists and clinicians study DNA, classify cells, and investigate the mechanisms of disease. Small enough to fit in the palm of your hand, the device uses a beam of light emitted by a silicon-photonics chip to manipulate particles millimeters away from the chip surface. The light can penetrate the glass cover slips that protect samples used in biological experiments, enabling cells to remain in a sterile environment. Using a system called an integrated optical phased array, the MIT researchers have developed a new modality for integrated optical tweezers that enables trapping and tweezing of cells more than a hundred times further away from the chip surface. “This work opens up new possibilities for chip-based optical tweezers by enabling trapping and tweezing of cells at much larger distances than previously demonstrated. It’s exciting to think about the different applications that could be enabled by this technology,” says Jelena Notaros, the Robert J. Shillman Career Development Professor in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science (MIT EECS), and a member of the Research Laboratory of Electronics at MIT. Joining Notaros on the paper are lead author and EECS graduate student Tal Sneh; Sabrina Corsetti, an EECS graduate student; Milica Notaros PhD ’23; Kruthika Kikkeri PhD ’24; and Joel Voldman, the William R. Brody Professor of EECS. The research?appears today in?Nature Communications. https://lnkd.in/gnzSxfPQ

The MIT-MTL/Samsung Semiconductor Research Fund Fall Workshop took place September 31-October 1, 2024. We were thrilled to welcome 14 attendees from Samsung, including 4 executives, 9 MIT Professors and 10 MIT graduate students as they gathered at MIT for research overview presentations and discussions. The MIT-MTL/Samsung Semiconductor Research Fund was established in 2022 to promote a long-term partnership between Samsung Electronics and MIT researchers in the semiconductor field. Photos by Justin Knight Photography.

It’s an exciting time to be an electrical engineer. The discipline sits at the core of some of the most profound innovations of the 21st century, such as quantum computing. Electrical engineers will be critical partners in solving the thorniest technological challenges faced by humanity: how to harness the power of AI; how to mitigate the worst effects of climate change; how to address humanity’s future in space.? ? For all these reasons, we’re thrilled to announce MIT’s new degree in electrical engineering, 6-5, "Electrical Engineering With Computing".

Congratulations to Prof. Jelena Notaros and her group for another journal paper published on "multi-beam solid-state LiDAR using star-coupler-based optical phased arrays" in Optica's Optics Express. Read more: https://lnkd.in/ehSAVQx9 D. M. DeSantis, B. M. Mazur, M. Notaros, and?J. Notaros, "Multi-beam solid-state LiDAR using star-coupler-based optical phased arrays," Optics Express 32(21), 36656-36673 (2024).