
ASML’s medical-isotope brainchild doesn’t make it to the finish line
Efforts to industrialize ASML’s serendipitous discovery to bypass nuclear reactors in medical-isotope production – a project deemed a Dutch National Icon – have been shelved. A method conceived by ASML to produce the medical isotope technetium-99m (Tc-99m) without nuclear reactors won’t be put into practice anytime soon. IRE, the Belgian supplier of radiopharmaceuticals that was […]

(Super)conducting research into a compact all-in-one antenna
The size of a milk carton, a quantum RF antenna has the potential of replacing a wide range of traditional, much larger antennas. At the joint lab of Thales and CNRS, near Paris, Juan Trastoy and his fellow researchers are putting their award-winning innovation on the path to maturity. Regular radio antennas can become quite […]

Ask the headhunter
J.F.K. asks: A year ago, I fled from my hometown Kharkiv in Ukraine to the Netherlands to escape the Russian invasion. I had to leave everything behind: my new apartment, my friends and especially my parents. They insisted I go because I’m a young woman and the invaders are ruthless. My parents chose to stay […]
Background

Integrated photonics: no platform to rule them all
No technology platform can do it all in integrated photonics. In this final installment of a four-part series, we’ll review strengths and weaknesses of the major photonic flavors and take a closer look at how combinations of them unlock the full potential of integrated photonics.

PhD pitches at the Benelux RF Conference
Learn about the latest trends and developments in high-end RF techniques. On 24 May, the Benelux RF Conference will take place in Nijmegen. New this year are the PhD pitches, in which young professionals present their research results. Make sure to reserve your seat in time and register now.
News & Analysis

Why ASML isn’t worried about Applied’s pattern-shaping tool
Anything that keeps Moore’s Law chugging along is to ASML’s benefit as well. ASML’s stock took a bit of a tumble on the last day of February when Applied Materials announced what some investors apparently considered to be a threat to EUV scanner sales. Those fears are overblown. Even if Applied’s “pattern-shaping technology” works as […]
Interview

Goodbye manual test cases, hello model-based testing
After many success stories in other markets, model-based testing is starting to gain momentum in high tech. Julien Schmaltz from CGI, Johan Poelsma from ICT and Bryan Bakker from Sioux are committed to strengthening the foothold. “We have to stop creating test cases by hand. Especially in the high-tech industry, systems have become so complex […]
Background

C++ and Rust
Despite a host of up-and-coming alternatives, C++ is still a force to be reckoned with, certainly in the legacy-fraught high-tech industry. In a series of articles, High Tech Institute trainer Kris van Rens puts the language in a modern perspective.

Thin layers paved the way for ASM’s success
ASM played a key role in developing a deposition technique that has saved Moore’s law more than once. Outgoing CTO Ivo Raaijmakers explains what atomic layer deposition has brought the semiconductor industry – and ASM – and what more is in store.

Blurring boundaries in chip manufacturing
The end of traditional scaling is in sight, but Moore’s law thunders on. Imec’s Eric Beyne highlights one part of the bag of tricks that will open in the coming years: backside power delivery.

Protagonist rule #2: Have a purpose
Failing to choose a purpose may easily cause you to waste your life. You need to own it and put your time and energy into it. When Western society to a large extent was religious, Christianity offered a ready-made framework for meaning and purpose. The promise of an eternal afterlife offers a powerful incentive to […]

AI is teamwork
Like with any tool, it’s knowing how to use it that makes a deep-learning algorithm useful, observes Albert van Bremen. Last week, I visited a customer interested to learn more about artificial intelligence and its application in pick-and-place robots. After a quick personal introduction, I started to share some of my learnings while working for […]