Engineers develop powerful tool to help semiconductor manufacturers spot defects

Faulty mobile phones and solar cells could soon be a thing of the past thanks to a ground-breaking invention developed at the Australian National University (ANU). Engineers have developed a powerful new tool to help manufacturers spot defects or unwanted features in everyday technology-such as mobile phones, batteries, and solar cells more easily and much earlier in the fabrication process.
Lead author Dr. Hieu Nguyen said the invention worked by capturing high-resolution images of semiconductor materials, including many potential defects, within seconds. "We're calling it the miracle of speed and space. It's not just several times faster than techniques currently being used-it's tens of thousands of times faster," said Dr. Nguyen from the ANU Research School of Electrical, Energy and Materials Engineering.