Emerging technologies normally have large unrealised practical applications. They reflect revolutionary advancement in various fields, ranging from robotics and artificial intelligence to nanotechnology and cognitive science.
In particular, the electronics industry plays a key role in signal processing, information processing and telecommunications. It includes electrical circuits with elements such as sensors, diodes, transistors and integrated circuits. It covers complex electronic instruments and systems like modern laptops and smartphones.
Major emerging new technology in electronics
Flexible Display
A flexible display is an electronic viewing display that is versatile in design and more common in most electronic devices than the standard flat screen. Most manufacturers of consumer electronics are interested in flexible displays as they are using this technology on smartphones and tablets. Flexible substrates for OLEDs (whether metal, glass or plastic) are among the most promising electronic visual displays to be bent. Metal and glass panels in flexible OLEDs are very thin, light, long-lasting and almost shatter-resistant.
Most consumer electronics have become increasingly interested in the last few years such as LG unveiled the first version of a rollable 65-inch 4 K OLED display at the CES 2018. The television unrolls at the touch of a button and then retracts from view if not necessary. Samsung also launched a new foldable smartphone in September 2019, which can be used as both a tablet and as a smartphone.
Foldable tools of the current generation have many drawbacks and are too costly. But it is clear that flexible displays are becoming very different, which may lead to significant innovations throughout the technology industry.
Memristor
In 1971, American electrical engineer Leon Chua introduced the concept of memristors. A memristor is a nonlinear electric component with two terminals which relates to the electrical charge and the magnetic flux connection. Every electronic circuit is composed of passive components such as inductors, condensers and resistors. There is a fourth part called a memristor. These are semiconductors that are used to build storage devices that consume low power. A memristor controls the current flow in a circuit while recalling the amount of charge that has passed through it previously.
A memristor regulates the current flow in a circuit while remembering the amount of charge that has previously flowed through it. Memristors are non-volatile, high-speed storage components. Patents for memristors include signal processing systems, brain-computer interfaces, computational reconfiguration, programmable logic and neural networks. These instruments can be used in the future to implement digital logic with the involvement of the NAND Gate.
Electronic Skin and Tongue
The stretchable, versatile and self-healing materials which can imitate animal or human skin features are called electronic skin. There are a large number of materials that respond to pressure and heat changes and are able to measure information through physical interaction. These materials can open new doors for applications like prosthetics, soft robotics, health surveillance and artificial intelligence. The potential prototypes of new electronic skins will include materials that are highly mechanical, sensor-efficient, recyclable and self-healing.
On the other hand, an electronic tongue measures and compares tastes. It comprises numerous sensors, each of which has a different range of reactions to detect organic and inorganic compounds. Electronic tongues are used in various fields from the food and drink market to the pharmaceutical industry. It also helps to benchmark and track target items.
3D Biometrics
The use of biometric information is growing, particularly in banking, forensics and public safety areas. Many biometrically recognised images are two-dimensional.
The use of biometric information is increasing year-by-year, especially in fields related to banking, forensics, and public security. Most of the biometric recognition uses two-dimensional images. Recently, biometric applications such as 3D face, 3D palmprint 3D fingerprint, and 3D ear recognition have been treated with 3D techniques. Robust biometrics will be widely applied whether for human-computer interaction or for improved safety.
Electronic Nose
An electronic nose identifies certain odour components and analyses its chemical composition. It contains a chemical detection mechanism, including a range of electronic sensors and artificial intelligence devices to recognise patterns. These devices have been around for over two decades but were usually expensive and voluminous. Researchers are trying to reduce the cost, size and sensitivity of these instruments.
Research facilities, manufacturing departments and quality control laboratories use electronic nose instruments for various purposes, such as contamination detection, spoilage and adulteration.
Molecular Electronics
The primary building block for electronic circuits is basically molecular electronics. With these technologies, much smaller electronic circuits (at the Nano scales) can be produced, now possible using traditional semiconductors such as silicon. In such instruments, quantum mechanics control the movement of the electron.
Although entire circuits consisting exclusively of molecule components are very far from being realised, today’s transformation seems inevitable due to the increasing demand of computing power and limits in its lithography. Scientists are currently working on intriguing molecules to establish reproducible and consistent interaction between the molecular segments and the electrode’s bulk content.
Nanoelectromechanical System
The nanoelectromechanical device combines electronic elements of nano-size with mechanical machines for the development of physical and chemical sensors. They constitute the next logical miniature phase from so-called microelectromechanical systems. These amazing technologies open the way to different applications, from ultra-high-frequency resonators to biological and chemical sensors.
Spintronics
Spintronics (or spin electronics) Spintronics refer to the electron’s internal spin and its magnetic moment in a solid-state system. It is very different from traditional electronics: electron spins are used to increase the degree of freedom along with charge status. Spintronic devices can be used to store and transmit data effectively. Such systems are especially important in the neuromorphic and quantum computing fields. The technology is also used in the medical field (for cancer identification) and has a huge potential in digital electronics.
E-textiles
Electronic textiles (or smart clothing) are the fabrics that allow digital components such as batteries and light electronics (including computers) to be incorporated into them. A variety of uses such as interior design technologies rely upon the incorporation of electronics in fabrics. This type of technology is considered ground-breaking because it can do many things traditional fabrics cannot do, including energy conduction, communication, transformation and growth.
For health monitoring, military tracking and pilot monitoring, future applications can be developed for smart clothing. This system will support everyone from personal and portable physiological surveillance, communications, heating, and illumination.
Digital Scent Technology
There has been extensive research in the area of olfactory technology, allowing the sensing, transfer and reception of devices (or electronic necks) that provide scented media such as audio, video and web pages. Smell-O-Vision was invented in the late 1950s as the first odour release device. During the projection of a film, it was able to emit odour to enhance viewers ‘ experience. Several research facilities have since developed similar devices. One was created in 1999 by iSmell. It consisted of a 128-smell cartouche that could produce different mixed odours. Nevertheless, the product was never commercially released due to various limitations.
A wearable fragrance system can be operated via smartphones and PCs was introduced at CEATEC 2016. It still has many obstacles to overcome, including the timing and delivery of scents, and the health risks associated with synthetic odours.