Components, circuits, PCBs, embedded systems, and DIY electronics
As semiconductor scaling pushes into the angstrom era, Directed Self-Assembly (DSA) of block copolymers has emerged as a vital complement to EUV lithography, delivering pattern rectification, reduced defects, and sub-10nm precision. With major 2025-2026 research from University of Chicago, IMEC, MIT, and new industry roadmaps highlighting 300mm pilot lines and high-Ï materials, DSA is transitioning rapidly from lab to fab.
Intel Foundry has announced a major breakthrough with the world's thinnest gallium nitride (GaN) chiplet, featuring a silicon base of just 19 micrometers and monolithic integration of power transistors with digital logic circuits. Revealed in early April 2026 and presented at IEDM 2025, this ultra-thin technology promises transformative gains in power density, efficiency, and thermal performance for AI data centers, high-performance computing, and wireless systems.
AMD has announced the Ryzen 9 9950X3D2 Dual Edition, the first desktop processor to feature 3D V-Cache on both chiplets for a massive 208MB total cache. Launching April 22, 2026, this 16-core Zen 5 CPU targets creators and developers with improved latency and performance in demanding workloads.
Arm Holdings has announced its first production silicon chip, the AGI CPU, marking a major pivot after 35 years of licensing IP only. The 136-core Neoverse V3-based processor, revealed on March 24, 2026, with Meta as the primary customer, is optimized for data center AI inference and expected to drive $15 billion in annual revenue within five years.
Qualcomm's Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 brings the fastest mobile CPU yet with major AI upgrades and efficiency claims, powering devices like the Galaxy S26 series, but real-world thermal throttling raises questions about sustained performance.