New-Tech Europe Magazine | August 2016 | Digital edition

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techniques. The sensor head, which connects to the test point, has complete electrical isolation and is powered over one of the optical fibers. Ten patent applications have been filed for this ground breaking technology.

2000V common mode voltage range and breakthrough common mode rejection ratio.” Using IsoVu, engineers can accurately measure small differential signals (5 mV – 50 V) in the presence of large common mode voltages from DC to 1 GHz. IsoVu is the first signal acquisition product where the common mode voltage capability does not de-rate over bandwidth. IsoVu technology is available in 6 models of the TIVM Series Isolated Measurement Systems with 200 MHz, 500 MHz and 1

New lithium metal batteries could make smartphones, drones, and electric cars last twice as long. An MIT spinout is preparing to commercialize a novel rechargable lithium metal battery that offers double the energy capacity of the lithium ion batteries that power many of today’s consumer electronics. Founded in 2012 by MIT alumnus and former postdoc Qichao Hu ’07, SolidEnergy Systems has developed an “anode-free” lithium metal battery with several material advances that make it twice as energy-dense, yet just as safe and long-lasting as the lithium ion batteries used in smartphones, electric cars, wearables, drones, and other devices. “With two-times the energy density, we can make a battery half the size, but that still lasts the same amount of time, as a lithium ion battery. Or we can make a battery the same size as a lithium ion battery, but now it will last twice as long,” says Hu, who co-invented the battery at MIT and is now CEO of SolidEnergy. The battery essentially swaps out a common battery anode “The feedback we received from designers at APEC was overwhelmingly positive, with many of them facing a critical need for the design insights IsoVu now makes possible,” said Chris Witt, general manager, Time Domain Business Unit, Tektronix. “Currently there is no measurement system on the market with IsoVu’s combination of high bandwidth, A critical advantage this technology offers for designers, such as those working on power devices involving GaN and SiC technologies, is superior common mode rejection that makes signals previously buried in common mode noise visible for the first time. IsoVu offers 1 Million:1 (120 dB) common mode rejection (CMRR) up to 100 MHz and 10,000:1 (80 dB) CMRR at 1 GHz. By comparison, competitive solutions at 100 MHz offer approximately 20 dB CMRR at 100 MHz, making IsoVu 100,000 times better.

material, graphite, for very thin, high-energy lithium-metal foil, which can hold more ions - and, therefore, provide more energy capacity. Chemical modifications to the electrolyte also make the typically short-lived and volatile lithium metal batteries rechargeable and safer to use. Moreover, the batteries are made using existing lithium ion manufacturing equipment, which makes them scalable. In October 2015, SolidEnergy demonstrated the first-ever working prototype of a rechargeable lithium metal smartphone battery with double energy density, which earned them more than $12 million from investors. At half the size of the lithium ion battery used in an iPhone 6, it offers 2.0 amp hours, compared with the lithium ion battery’s 1.8 amp hours. SolidEnergy plans to bring the batteries to smartphones and wearables in early 2017, and to electric cars in 2018. But the first application will be drones, coming this November. “Several customers are using drones and balloons to provide free Internet to the developing world, and to survey for disaster relief,” GHz bandwidth configurations with either 3-meter or 10-meter fiber optic cable lengths. The 10-meter cable option offers the same performance specifications as the 3-meter option and allows users to move their test system away from the interference and radiated emissions of the device under test. With this option, IsoVu is well-suited for such applications as remote testing and EMI validation.

Doubling battery power of consumer electronics

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