Bench Talk

The distinct types of thin film solar cells have different working principles based on their fundamental chemistry. All thin film solar cells work differently from conventional inorganic solar cells, and even though their efficiencies are not as high, they have other benefits.

Inorganic solar cells are the most common and efficient solar cells and rely on many different aspects of chemistry to function. Without chemistry, it would not be possible to create the internal current generation mechanisms that enable solar cells to harness sunlight, and here we explain how.

Not all future smartphones will include chargers, so engineers have an opportunity to step up designs for USB Type-C power systems. Let’s take a look at some options.

Optimizing the design of programmable PMIC SoC requires balancing design flexibility, system efficiency, cost, and time to market. We review one product type that illustrates this balance.

The increase in COVID-19 hospitalizations has created a strain on the world's inventory of ventilators. Learn how ON Semiconductor plays a critical role in the supply chain for medical devices, including the ventilators that are helping the breathing of patients with severe cases of COVID-19.

The TTI family of companies are sponsoring Reality.2020, a two-day online symposium that will bring together product experts from some of the world's leading electronic component suppliers. Eleven speakers will discuss topics ranging from 5G to Internet of Things to the cloud.

Protecting interface connections from overvoltage conditions and transient events is more important than ever with the proliferation of embedded electronics. Bourns clamp and crowbar protection is effective at protecting circuit interfaces in silicon and ceramic electronic components.

When in 1945 Raytheon’s engineer Percy Spencer accidently discovered the potential of RF energy for heating food (or in Spencer’s case, for melting a chocolate bar in his pocket), the device generating that energy was a magnetron. Sixty years later, this venerable “vacuum electron device” is still powering everyone’s microwave ovens, making it the only consumer product still using a vacuum tube rather than a semiconductor for any purpose. However, this last bastion of vacuum tubes in consumer electronics may soon be relegated to history now that RF power transistors have achieved the required RF output power, efficiency, and ruggedness required to replace them.