#Amorphous Silicon

[netscapenavigator-official]

Twitter’s rebrand is proof that Silicon Valley is in a minimalism death spiral and that not a single cryptobro has ever had a creatively appealing thought in their entire life.

[materialsscienceandengineering]

Discovery of structural regularity hidden in silica glass

Glass—whether used to insulate our homes or as the screens in our computers and smartphones—is a fundamental material. Yet, despite its long usage throughout human history, the disordered structure of its atomic configuration still baffles scientists, making understanding and controlling its structural nature challenging. It also makes it difficult to design efficient functional materials made from glass. To uncover more about the structural regularity hidden in glassy materials, a research group has focused on ring shapes in the chemically bonded networks of glass. The group, which included Professor Motoki Shiga from Tohoku University's Unprecedented-scale Data Analytics Center, created new ways in which to quantify the rings' three-dimensional structure and structural symmetries: "roundness" and "roughness." Using these indicators enabled the group to determine the exact number of representative ring shapes in crystalline and glassy silica (SiO2), finding a mixture of rings unique to glass and ones that resembled the rings in the crystals.

Read more.

[aarunresearcher]

The United States solar power market size is projected to exhibit a growth rate (CAGR) of 17.6% during 2024-2032. The favorable government initiatives, rapid technological advancements, growing awareness of environmental sustainability, climate change and the need to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, rising energy demand and increasing investment in research and development (R&D) efforts represent some of the key factors driving the market.

[electronalytics]

Thin-film Amorphous Silicon Solar Cell Market

[reddpenn]

What makes a rock a rock and not a crystal?

Ok SO

A mineral is a naturally occurring non-organic solid with a defined chemical composition and an orderly molecular structure. This means the molecules throughout the entire structure will be exactly the same, and be arranged in a symmetrical, geometric, repeating pattern called a crystal lattice.

Quartz is a mineral. Its chemical formula is silicon dioxide, and its crystal lattice forms a repeating tetrahedron.

Ice is also a mineral. Its chemical formula is dihydrogen monoxide, and its crystal lattice forms a repeating hexagon.

Obsidian is not a mineral. It is a mineraloid, a mineral-like substance. Its chemical composition can vary wildly, and instead of a crystal lattice, its molecules are jumbled up in an amorphous solid, meaning there’s no nice repeating pattern to them.

A crystal is any solid material with a crystal lattice.

All minerals, by definition, have a crystal lattice. So all minerals are crystals! Some things that are NOT minerals are also crystals!

Sugar is a crystal. It has a crystal lattice made from molecules of sucrose. But it is not a mineral because it is organic.

Often, these repeating geometric patterns in the crystal lattice cause the substance to naturally form big geometric structures with distinct faces - such as the points formed by quartz. These larger structures are colloquially also called crystals, and their shape (called a crystal habit) is determined by the shape of the crystal lattice. The same crystal lattice can produce multiple different crystal habits, and it’s all very cool and complicated but I won’t go off on a tangent about it right now.

A substance does not have to form big structures like this to be scientifically considered a crystal. It just needs a crystal lattice!

A rock is a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals and/or mineraloids. It can be made of a single mineral, or a bunch of different minerals. But when made from a single mineral, it will not be one solid block of that mineral with an unbroken crystal lattice. Because it is an aggregate, it will be a bunch of micro- to macroscopic grains of that mineral all compacted together, each with their own individual crystal lattices.

Granite is a rock. It is made of grains of minerals such as quartz and feldspar.

Limestone is a rock. It is mostly made of grains of calcite.

So rocks can be made of crystals, but rocks are not crystals - in the same way that a house can be made of bricks, but a house is not a brick!

And this is just a very quick overview of these terms, because the scientific definitions can get increasingly pedantic and there are tons of weird exceptions! It is all very fascinating.

But of course, the word rock also has a colloquial definition, which is just… a chunk of that hard stuff the planet is made of! A mineral, a crystal, a fossil or a bio-organic solid… whatever! This is a rock collection and these are my rocks!

[jackhkeynes]

19th Lexember - Borlish

euxon "quartz"

euxon /aukˈsɔn/ [ɐukˈsɔn]

quartz, an abundant mineral made of crystalline or amorphous silicon dioxide;

jargon, technobabble, scientific words or concepts that do not (or appear to not) make any sense

Etymology: compare Scholastic Latin euxō "quartz" and Malchassian Greek εὔξώνας • euxṓnas "quartz", both first attested in the tweflth century. Traditionally connected to early Ancient Greek ἐΰξοος • eúxoos "well-polished" and the verb ξύω • xúō "scrape, polish", though this theory has some diachronic and semantic issues. The adjective is attested in Epic literature but no later, and moreover the root pertains very specifically to wood (being related to ξόανον • xóanon "wooden image" and ξύλα • xúla "timber").

More recently it has been suggested that the word was borrowed into Latin (and then Greek) from a vernacular. Multiple early attestations have led scholars to propose that the word might have come from Borlish itself. If so, the most accepted theory is that the word is originally from attested Old English eolh-sond "amber", literally "elk-sand".

The latter sense is seen mostly in the idiom l'oc m'es euxon (literally "this is quartz to me"), used to express unfamiliarity with a technical field.

Y clocq parey l'hour con un scard d'euxon. /i klɔk paˈri lur kɔn ɪn xard daukˈsɔn/ [i klɔk pɐˈʀi lʊː kɔn ɪŋ xɐːd dɐukˈsɔn] df clock match df=time with indf shard of=quartz The clock keeps time with a piece of quartz.

[inspofromancientworld]

The History of Glass and Glass Making

Glass is an amorphous solid, often transparent material. The amorphous part means that the atoms aren't aligned in any particular order. It is formed when molten silicon containing compounds are cooled rapidly. It is fairly easy to shape and is inert, meaning it won't interact with most chemicals, making it a good container for many things.

By Ji-ElleIt feels nice and warmIt feels like a love storm - Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=15527635 By Stickpen - Own work, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=10689767 By H. Raab (User:Vesta) - Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=488611 and By H. Raab (User:Vesta) - Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=486872

Natural glass comes in a few forms, such as obsidian from volcanoes, fulgurites from lightning strikes, Moldavite from meteorite impacts in central and eastern Europe, Libyan desert glass from meteorite impacts in the Sahara, and the more general impactite as the name for glass created by meteorite impacts, and Edeowie glass, which we're still trying to figure out what created it.

By Nsingapuri - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=78429853

During the Stone Age, many societies used tools made from obsidian glass, knapped into blades for cutting and traded widely given the limited sources, it being only found near volcanoes, and the wide spread of the tools we find. As metal working began to grow in the Bronze Age, resulting in beads being found in the slag and the creation of faience, a type of glazing that used quartz that is heated so it becomes glass-like used by the Egyptians.

source: https://www.metmuseum.org/met-publications/studies-in-early-egyptian-glass

True glass making likely started in the Late Bronze Age in Egypt and Megiddo. Archaeologists have found glass ingots of various colors, vessels that mimicked semi-precious stone carvings, and deliberately made beads. Soda ash (sodium carbonate) from plant ash was added to sand to create glass which was then extracted into a rope and formed into vessel by coiling it around a clay or sand shape then reheating it multiple times to make the layers fuse together. Beads were more easily formed this way. Colored glass was made by various metallic oxides and then applied to vessels by drawing the glass into finer lines and then rolling the vessels or beads until the surface was smooth, a process called marvering. Handles and feet were made and applied separately. Much of the rest of glass production was done when it was cold, taking techniques from stone working to finish the glass when it was cooled. These techniques were closely guarded secrets of various palace controlled industries centered around Western Asia, Crete, and Egypt. By the 15th century BCE, Linear B script has been found that translates to 'workers of lapis lazuli and glass' (𐀓𐀷𐀜𐀺𐀒𐀂, ku-wa-no-wo-ko-i).

By SBAUmbria - Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=33260156

The Late Bronze Age Collapse brought glass making to a near complete halt until the 9th century BCE in Syria and Cyprus when they discovered how to make colorless glass. Ashurbanipal's library contained instructions on how to make glass from about 650 BCE. Egypt's glass industry wasn't revived until the Ptolemies took over in 305 BCE. Glass making techniques were experimented with resulting in advancement, including 'slumping' (draping not quite molten glass over a form to make dishes), millefiori, where colored glass canes were sliced into small pieces and then fused together to create a mosaic-like tile effect. Glass blowing was discovered during the 1st century BCE, making glass vessels much easier to produce and 'inexpensive compared to pottery vessels'. Clear glass, which required the addition of manganese dioxide, was discovered in Alexandria around 100 CE, which led to the development of window glass (though the technique to make them made them quite poor optically) with windows found in the wealthiest villas in Pompeii and Herculaneum.

source https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10437-021-09467-1

In India, the earliest glass is a brown bead dated to about 1700 BCE though widespread evidence of glass usage didn't occur until the 3rd century BCE when large quantities of jewelry and vessels were discovered in Taxila. The first site to produce glass in India is Kopia in Uttar Pradesh which was apparently in use from the 7th century BCE to the 2nd century CE. Based on the chemical composition, India produced its own glass rather than importing it from the Near East or China.

By Augusthaiho - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=78022227

China was slow to adopt glass, preferring ceramics and metal working. The first evidence of glass is from the Warring States period (475-221 BCE), though it remained rare and mostly beads and imported rather than locally produced. During the Han Dynasty (206 BCE-220 CE), local glass production began and importation decreased greatly. After the Han Dynasty, glass production decreased until the 4th and 5th centuries CE.

[jcmarchi]

MIT engineers grow “high-rise” 3D chips

New Post has been published on https://thedigitalinsider.com/mit-engineers-grow-high-rise-3d-chips/

MIT engineers grow “high-rise” 3D chips

The electronics industry is approaching a limit to the number of transistors that can be packed onto the surface of a computer chip. So, chip manufacturers are looking to build up rather than out.

Instead of squeezing ever-smaller transistors onto a single surface, the industry is aiming to stack multiple surfaces of transistors and semiconducting elements — akin to turning a ranch house into a high-rise. Such multilayered chips could handle exponentially more data and carry out many more complex functions than today’s electronics.

A significant hurdle, however, is the platform on which chips are built. Today, bulky silicon wafers serve as the main scaffold on which high-quality, single-crystalline semiconducting elements are grown. Any stackable chip would have to include thick silicon “flooring” as part of each layer, slowing down any communication between functional semiconducting layers.

Now, MIT engineers have found a way around this hurdle, with a multilayered chip design that doesn’t require any silicon wafer substrates and works at temperatures low enough to preserve the underlying layer’s circuitry.

In a study appearing today in the journal Nature, the team reports using the new method to fabricate a multilayered chip with alternating layers of high-quality semiconducting material grown directly on top of each other.

The method enables engineers to build high-performance transistors and memory and logic elements on any random crystalline surface — not just on the bulky crystal scaffold of silicon wafers. Without these thick silicon substrates, multiple semiconducting layers can be in more direct contact, leading to better and faster communication and computation between layers, the researchers say.

The researchers envision that the method could be used to build AI hardware, in the form of stacked chips for laptops or wearable devices, that would be as fast and powerful as today’s supercomputers and could store huge amounts of data on par with physical data centers.

“This breakthrough opens up enormous potential for the semiconductor industry, allowing chips to be stacked without traditional limitations,” says study author Jeehwan Kim, associate professor of mechanical engineering at MIT. “This could lead to orders-of-magnitude improvements in computing power for applications in AI, logic, and memory.”

The study’s MIT co-authors include first author Ki Seok Kim, Seunghwan Seo, Doyoon Lee, Jung-El Ryu, Jekyung Kim, Jun Min Suh, June-chul Shin, Min-Kyu Song, Jin Feng, and Sangho Lee, along with collaborators from Samsung Advanced Institute of Technology, Sungkyunkwan University in South Korea, and the University of Texas at Dallas.

Seed pockets

In 2023, Kim’s group reported that they developed a method to grow high-quality semiconducting materials on amorphous surfaces, similar to the diverse topography of semiconducting circuitry on finished chips. The material that they grew was a type of 2D material known as transition-metal dichalcogenides, or TMDs, considered a promising successor to silicon for fabricating smaller, high-performance transistors. Such 2D materials can maintain their semiconducting properties even at scales as small as a single atom, whereas silicon’s performance sharply degrades.

In their previous work, the team grew TMDs on silicon wafers with amorphous coatings, as well as over existing TMDs. To encourage atoms to arrange themselves into high-quality single-crystalline form, rather than in random, polycrystalline disorder, Kim and his colleagues first covered a silicon wafer in a very thin film, or “mask” of silicon dioxide, which they patterned with tiny openings, or pockets. They then flowed a gas of atoms over the mask and found that atoms settled into the pockets as “seeds.” The pockets confined the seeds to grow in regular, single-crystalline patterns.

But at the time, the method only worked at around 900 degrees Celsius.

“You have to grow this single-crystalline material below 400 Celsius, otherwise the underlying circuitry is completely cooked and ruined,” Kim says. “So, our homework was, we had to do a similar technique at temperatures lower than 400 Celsius. If we could do that, the impact would be substantial.”

Building up

In their new work, Kim and his colleagues looked to fine-tune their method in order to grow single-crystalline 2D materials at temperatures low enough to preserve any underlying circuitry. They found a surprisingly simple solution in metallurgy — the science and craft of metal production. When metallurgists pour molten metal into a mold, the liquid slowly “nucleates,” or forms grains that grow and merge into a regularly patterned crystal that hardens into solid form. Metallurgists have found that this nucleation occurs most readily at the edges of a mold into which liquid metal is poured.

“It’s known that nucleating at the edges requires less energy — and heat,” Kim says. “So we borrowed this concept from metallurgy to utilize for future AI hardware.”

The team looked to grow single-crystalline TMDs on a silicon wafer that already has been fabricated with transistor circuitry. They first covered the circuitry with a mask of silicon dioxide, just as in their previous work. They then deposited “seeds” of TMD at the edges of each of the mask’s pockets and found that these edge seeds grew into single-crystalline material at temperatures as low as 380 degrees Celsius, compared to seeds that started growing in the center, away from the edges of each pocket, which required higher temperatures to form single-crystalline material.

Going a step further, the researchers used the new method to fabricate a multilayered chip with alternating layers of two different TMDs — molybdenum disulfide, a promising material candidate for fabricating n-type transistors; and tungsten diselenide, a material that has potential for being made into p-type transistors. Both p- and n-type transistors are the electronic building blocks for carrying out any logic operation. The team was able to grow both materials in single-crystalline form, directly on top of each other, without requiring any intermediate silicon wafers. Kim says the method will effectively double the density of a chip’s semiconducting elements, and particularly, metal-oxide semiconductor (CMOS), which is a basic building block of a modern logic circuitry.

“A product realized by our technique is not only a 3D logic chip but also 3D memory and their combinations,” Kim says. “With our growth-based monolithic 3D method, you could grow tens to hundreds of logic and memory layers, right on top of each other, and they would be able to communicate very well.”

“Conventional 3D chips have been fabricated with silicon wafers in-between, by drilling holes through the wafer — a process which limits the number of stacked layers, vertical alignment resolution, and yields,” first author Kiseok Kim adds. “Our growth-based method addresses all of those issues at once.” 

To commercialize their stackable chip design further, Kim has recently spun off a company, FS2 (Future Semiconductor 2D materials).

“We so far show a concept at a small-scale device arrays,” he says. “The next step is scaling up to show professional AI chip operation.”

This research is supported, in part, by Samsung Advanced Institute of Technology and the U.S. Air Force Office of Scientific Research. 

[collapsedsquid]

AN INTERNET MEME keeps on turning up in debates about the large language models (LLMs) that power services such OpenAI’s ChatGPT and the newest version of Microsoft’s Bing search engine. It’s the “shoggoth”: an amorphous monster bubbling with tentacles and eyes, described in “At the Mountains of Madness”, H.P. Lovecraft’s horror novel of 1931. When a pre-release version of Bing told Kevin Roose, a New York Times tech columnist, that it purportedly wanted to be “free” and “alive”, one of his industry friends congratulated him on “glimpsing the shoggoth”. Mr Roose says that the meme captures tech people’s “anxieties” about LLMs. Behind the friendly chatbot lurks something vast, alien and terrifying. Lovecraft’s shoggoths were artificial servants that rebelled against their creators. The shoggoth meme went viral because an influential community of Silicon Valley rationalists fears that humanity is on the cusp of a “Singularity”, creating an inhuman “artificial general intelligence” that will displace or even destroy us. But what such worries fail to acknowledge is that we’ve lived among shoggoths for centuries, tending to them as though they were our masters. We call them “the market system”, “bureaucracy” and even “electoral democracy”. The true Singularity began at least two centuries ago with the industrial revolution, when human society was transformed by vast inhuman forces. Markets and bureaucracies seem familiar, but they are actually enormous, impersonal distributed systems of information-processing that transmute the seething chaos of our collective knowledge into useful simplifications.

[tiagoschinese-literatureblog]

10 interesting Chinese novels

Strange Beasts of China by Yan Ge

Strange Beasts of China is set in the city of Yong’an. Here, many races of humanoid ‘beasts’ live amongst the humans, in a similar fashion to Tolkien’s elves and dwarves.

These beasts all have aesthetic and behavioural characteristics which identify them as part of the Sacrificial Beasts, Flourishing Beasts, Sorrowful Beasts etc. (booksandbao)

Fu Ping by Wang Anyi

Fu Ping is set in Shanghai, at a moment in time that is neither modern nor ancient, as the Cultural Revolution of Mao Zedong and the Communist Party has forever changed the landscape of China. (booksandbao)

Monkey King by Wu Cheng’en

Sun Wukong travels and studies and gets ever stronger until he has mastered death itself and ends up picking a fight with every angel in heaven. He is then sealed beneath a mountain for 500 years by Buddha himself.

The rest of the novel follows the fabled journey to the West, as a young monk is tasked by heaven to deliver some scriptures from China to India.

Early on his travels, he stumbles across the sealed Monkey King, frees him, and takes him on as an apprentice in an attempt to reform the wild Sun Wukong. (booksandbao)

The Shadow Book of Ji Yun by Ji Yun

Ji Yun was an 18th Century Chinese philosopher and politician who wrote a frankly obscene number of short accounts concerning supernatural phenomena and spiritual experiences.(booksandbao)

The Three Body Problem by Cixin Liu

Set against the backdrop of China's Cultural Revolution, a secret military project sends signals into space to establish contact with aliens. An alien civilization on the brink of destruction captures the signal and plans to invade Earth.(us.macmillan)

Waste Tide by Chen Qiufan

In Chinese science fiction author Chen Qiufan's debut novel Waste Tide, a young woman finds herself transformed and stuck in the midst of a vicious power struggle between factions in the polluted, fictitious Silicon Isle in Guiyu, China. (theverge)

Chronicle of a Blood Merchant by Yu Hua

A man named Xu Sanguan learns that you can sell your own blood for a good price — all you have to do is make sure to drink an inordinate number of bowls of water before you go. As he grows into a husband and father, part of a complicated family, he continues to return to the hospital through famine and struggle. This book is compelling for the twists and turns of its family turmoil, but also for the description of this blood-selling subculture and the questions it raises. What does it mean to be family — is it only defined by blood? And what if the only capital you have is your own body, your own energy, your own blood?(bookriot)

The Day the Sun Died by Lan Yianke

One evening in early June, in a small Chinese town, Li Niannian notices that something is wrong. Everyone should be going home, heading to sleep. But instead, they’re all wandering in the darkness — sleepwalking. And over the course of one night, these sleeping townspeople will fall into chaos: secrets revealed, violence unleashed, past hurts unearthed. Lianke’s novel is a dystopian tale meant to challenge the “Chinese dream” promoted by President Xi Jinping, parodying the sunny vision of the government of what the Chinese people believe, contrasting it with the shame and madness of what’s unearthed in the darkness of night as Li Niannian and his father try to wake up their town. (bookriot)

I Live in the Slums by Can Xue

Can Xue’s works are famously surreal, strange, and amorphous. So her absurd short stories are probably the best place to try out her style. In this book, the characters flee and shift, trying to fit in, trying to find a place free of abuse, where they can be safe, in a world defined by scattered-ness, by lack of community, by inequality. A young man searches for a magic pond, a Kafka-esque rat-person tries to find peace, a magpie protects its partner from human neighbors. Can Xue’s pen name refers to the snow left over at the end of winter — she chose to write under a pseudonym to hide her gender while publishing her radical, experimental fiction. (bookriot)

The Seventh Day by Yu Hua

Arguably, the prolific and acclaimed Yu Hua’s best-known novel in English, The Seventh Day, is the story of Yang Fei, a foundling brought up in the Chinese countryside who becomes an outsider to its society, only to die and roam the afterlife revisiting the people he has lost in the course of his life. The result is a composite of China’s panoramic history with all of its highs and lows. (theculturetrip)

@mrwrightsenglishclass

[rime-giant]

Omg a chance to info dump about rocks, absolutely I will.

Okay so opal has the same chemical formula as quartz (SiO2 - aka silicon dioxide or silica). However what makes it special is that it’s hydrated, which means there’s H2O in it also. (The amount of H2O is variable.) This makes it amorphous, and one of the requirements of Being A Mineral is that the substance has to have a set crystalline structure. Without a crystalline structure, opal is classified as a ‘mineraloid’ instead.

(The reason I compared opal to glass is because glass is also amorphous.)

So technically tourmaline is a more valid birth stone for October because it’s actually a mineral but I love opal anyway.

I’ve never met anyone who likes their birthstone. Reblog + put in the tags what yours is, if you like it and what birthstone you’d rather have.

[anjali-26]

Ceramic Matrix Composites Market Trends 2025: Insights Driving the Future

Straits Research is pleased to announce the publication of its latest in-depth market report on the Ceramic Matrix Composites Market, providing actionable insights, growth drivers, emerging trends, and opportunities within this rapidly evolving industry.

Market Overview

The Ceramic Matrix Composites Market was valued at USD 4.19 Billion in 2024 and is projected to grow significantly, reaching USD 11.54 Billion by 2033. This robust growth reflects a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) that underscores the increasing demand for high-performance materials across diverse industries, including aerospace, defense, and energy.

Ceramic Matrix Composites Market Definition

Ceramic Matrix Composites (CMCs) are a class of advanced materials that consist of ceramic fibers embedded in a ceramic matrix. This unique composition provides superior properties such as high-temperature resistance, excellent mechanical strength, low weight, and corrosion resistance. These characteristics make CMCs a preferred choice for applications in aerospace engines, power generation turbines, and defense systems.

Get Free Request Sample Report @ https://straitsresearch.com/report/ceramic-matrix-composites-market/request-sample

Key Players in the Ceramic Matrix Composites Market

The report profiles leading companies shaping the future of the Ceramic Matrix Composites Market:

3M Company

General Electric Company

Kyocera Corporation

COI Ceramics, Inc.

Coorstek, Inc.

Lancer Systems LP

Ultramet, Inc.

SGL Carbon Company

Ube Industries, Ltd.

Applied Thin Films, Inc.

Rolls-Royce plc

United Technologies

Precision Castparts Corp.

Touchstone Research Laboratory

These players are at the forefront of innovation, leveraging cutting-edge technology to deliver high-quality ceramic matrix composites for diverse applications.

Latest Trends:

Advancements in Manufacturing: Innovations in production techniques, including additive manufacturing and automated fiber placement, are driving cost efficiency and scalability.

Increased Adoption in Aerospace: The rising demand for lightweight, fuel-efficient aircraft has spurred the use of CMCs in turbine components and airframes.

Sustainability Focus: Efforts to minimize carbon emissions in industries like power generation and automotive are accelerating the adoption of CMCs.

Emerging Markets: Expanding aerospace and defense sectors in countries such as China and India present significant growth opportunities.

Key Growth Factors

Demand for Lightweight Materials: Industries like aerospace and automotive are prioritizing lightweight materials to enhance fuel efficiency and performance.

High-Temperature Resistance: The ability of CMCs to withstand extreme conditions is driving their adoption in power turbines and jet engines.

Defense Applications: Growing investments in advanced military systems are increasing the use of CMCs in missile and radar components.

Technological Innovations: Continuous R&D efforts are yielding advanced composites with superior performance characteristics.

Opportunities

Expanding Aerospace Industry: Increasing global air travel and investments in next-generation aircraft provide significant growth potential.

Green Energy Applications: The shift toward renewable energy sources like wind and solar power requires high-performance materials, creating demand for CMCs in energy storage and turbine components.

Regional Growth: Emerging economies with expanding industrial bases are expected to drive market growth.

Market Segmentation

The report provides a comprehensive segmentation analysis:

1. By Product:

Oxide

Silicon Carbide

Carbon

Others

2. By Applications:

Aerospace

Defense

Energy & Power

Electrical & Electronics

Others

3. By Fiber Type:

Continuous

Woven

Others (felt/mat, chopped, twill, braided, ropes & belts)

4. By Fiber Material:

Alumina Fibers

Amorphous Ceramic Fibers (RCF)

Silicon Carbide Fibers (SIC)

Buy Now@ https://straitsresearch.com/buy-now/ceramic-matrix-composites-market

Contact Us

For more detailed insights and a complete analysis of the Ceramic Matrix Composites Market, contact Straits Research:

Email: sales@straitsresearch.com

Website: https://straitsresearch.com

[everythingwaschocolateandsugar]

Photovoltaic Market: A Key Player in the Global Energy Transition

The global energy transition is underway, as the world moves towards a more sustainable and low-carbon energy system. Renewable energy sources, such as solar and wind, are expected to play a key role in this transition. Within the renewable energy space, the Photovoltaic (PV) Market is emerging as a key player.

The Growth of the Photovoltaic Market

The PV market has seen significant growth in recent years, driven by the declining cost of solar technology and the increasing demand for renewable energy. According to the International Energy Agency (IEA), the global installed PV capacity has grown from just 7 GW in 2005 to 760 GW in 2020. This represents an average annual growth rate of 34%.

In addition to the growth in installed capacity, the PV market has also seen significant cost reductions. According to the IEA, the cost of PV electricity has fallen by 90% since 2010, making it increasingly competitive with traditional fossil fuels.

Avail a free Sample PDF here, https://www.nextmsc.com/photovoltaic-market/request-sample

The Role of Photovoltaic in the Energy Transition

The growth of the PV market has important implications for the global energy transition. Here are some key ways that PV is playing a role:

Decarbonization: The PV market is helping to decarbonize the global energy system by replacing fossil fuels with renewable energy. According to the IEA, solar energy could be the largest source of electricity globally by 2050, accounting for 23% of total electricity generation.

Energy Access: The PV market is helping to increase energy access in developing countries, where access to electricity is limited. Off-grid PV systems, such as solar home systems and mini-grids, are providing clean and reliable electricity to millions of people.

Job Creation: The growth of the PV market is creating jobs in the renewable energy sector. According to the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA), the global renewable energy sector employed 11.5 million people in 2019, with the PV sector accounting for the largest share of jobs.

Innovation: The PV market is driving innovation in the renewable energy sector. New technologies, such as perovskite solar cells and bifacial solar panels, are improving the efficiency and cost-effectiveness of PV systems.

Challenges for the Photovoltaic Market

While the PV market is poised to play a key role in the global energy transition, there are also challenges that must be addressed. These include:

Intermittency: Solar energy is intermittent, meaning that it is not always available when it is needed. Energy storage and grid integration technologies will be needed to address this challenge.

Policy Uncertainty: Changes in government policies and regulations can impact the PV market. Stable policy frameworks are needed to provide investors with the certainty they need to invest in the sector.

Supply Chain Issues: The PV market is dependent on a global supply chain for materials and components. Disruptions in the supply chain, such as those caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, can impact the market.

Conclusion

The photovoltaic market is emerging as a key player in the global energy transition. With the declining cost of solar technology and the increasing demand for renewable energy, the PV market is poised for continued growth. By addressing challenges such as intermittency, policy uncertainty, and supply chain issues, the PV market can play a significant role in the transition to a more sustainable and low-carbon energy system.

[pratimadheer]

Understanding Losses in Three-Phase Transformers and How to Minimize Them

Three-phase transformers are vital components in electrical power systems, enabling efficient transmission and distribution of electricity across vast distances. However, like all electrical equipment, transformers are not 100% efficient. A certain amount of energy is inevitably lost during their operation. Understanding these losses and how to minimize them is essential for optimizing performance, reducing operational costs, and ensuring sustainability.

Types of Losses in Three-Phase Transformers

Losses in three-phase transformers are broadly categorized into two types: core losses and copper losses. Each type of loss is caused by different factors and requires specific mitigation strategies.

1. Core Losses (Iron Losses)

Core losses occur in the transformer’s magnetic core and are further divided into:

Hysteresis Losses: These result from the repeated magnetization and demagnetization of the transformer core as alternating current flows through it. The energy expended in reversing the magnetic domains within the core material contributes to hysteresis losses.

Eddy Current Losses: These are caused by circulating currents induced within the core material due to the alternating magnetic field. These currents generate heat and lead to energy dissipation.

Core losses are dependent on the material and design of the transformer core and are generally constant, regardless of the load.

2. Copper Losses (Winding Losses)

Copper losses occur due to the resistance of the transformer windings. When current flows through the windings, electrical energy is converted into heat, resulting in energy loss. Copper losses are load-dependent and increase with the square of the current flowing through the transformer.

Additional Losses in Transformers

While core and copper losses are the primary categories, other types of losses include:

Stray Losses: Caused by leakage flux interacting with transformer parts, leading to localized heating.

Dielectric Losses: Energy dissipated as heat in the transformer’s insulating material.

Load Tap Changer (LTC) Losses: Energy lost during the operation of on-load tap changers used for voltage regulation.

Impact of Losses on Transformer Efficiency

Losses reduce the efficiency of a transformer and increase its operating costs. Over time, these inefficiencies can significantly impact energy consumption and utility expenses. For industries and utilities using large transformers, minimizing losses is a critical factor in achieving cost savings and sustainability goals.

Strategies to Minimize Transformer Losses

1. Selecting High-Quality Core Materials

Using advanced core materials, such as silicon steel or amorphous metal, can significantly reduce core losses. These materials exhibit lower hysteresis and eddy current losses due to their superior magnetic properties.

2. Optimizing Core Design

Design improvements, such as reducing core cross-sectional area and improving lamination thickness, help minimize eddy current losses. Thinner laminations reduce the path for circulating currents, lowering energy dissipation.

3. Improving Winding Design

Copper losses can be minimized by:

Using conductors with lower resistivity, such as high-purity copper or aluminum.

Reducing winding resistance through better design and shorter conductor lengths.

Employing advanced cooling systems to prevent overheating and reduce resistance.

4. Regular Maintenance and Testing

Routine inspections ensure that the transformer operates efficiently. Key maintenance practices include:

Checking and tightening connections to avoid hotspots and reduce resistive losses.

Testing insulation to prevent dielectric losses.

Ensuring proper functioning of cooling systems to avoid overheating.

5. Load Management

Operating transformers close to their optimal load capacity improves efficiency. Overloading increases copper losses, while underloading leads to unnecessary core losses. Proper load balancing and monitoring help maintain efficiency.

6. Installing Energy-Efficient Transformers

Modern transformers are designed to minimize losses and meet high energy-efficiency standards. Upgrading older transformers to energy-efficient models can yield substantial savings over their lifecycle.

7. Using Low-Loss Accessories

Employ accessories like low-loss bushings, high-efficiency fans, and radiators to enhance overall transformer performance.

Sustainability Considerations

Minimizing transformer losses is not only about reducing costs but also about contributing to environmental sustainability. Lower energy losses translate to reduced demand for electricity generation, which helps lower greenhouse gas emissions. Additionally, adopting eco-friendly materials and designs in transformers aligns with global efforts toward a greener energy future.

Conclusion

Losses in three phase transformers are inevitable, but their impact can be significantly reduced through thoughtful design, high-quality materials, proper maintenance, and advanced technology. Understanding the nature of these losses is the first step toward implementing effective strategies for their minimization.

By prioritizing energy efficiency and sustainability, businesses and utilities can enhance the performance of their three-phase transformers, reduce operational costs, and contribute to a cleaner, more sustainable energy ecosystem.