Engineering planning for energy storage chips

Why do we need reliable on-chip energy and power sources?

With the general trend of miniaturization of electronic devices especially for the Internet of Things (IoT) and implantable medical applications, there is a growing demand for reliable on-chip energy and power sources.

What are on-chip energy-storage devices?

On-chip energy-storage devices play an important role in powering wireless environmental sensors and micro-electromechanical systems [ 1, 2 ]. Starting from the 1980s, on-chip energy-storage devices, including micro-batteries and supercapacitors, have been applied to power the real-time clock on a chip [ 3 ].

What are the applications of energy storage technology?

These applications and the need to store energy harvested by triboelectric and piezoelectric generators (e.g., from muscle movements), as well as solar panels, wind power generators, heat sources, and moving machinery, call for considerable improvement and diversification of energy storage technology.

Why do we need high-energy density energy storage materials?

From mobile devices to the power grid, the needs for high-energy density or high-power density energy storage materials continue to grow. Materials that have at least one dimension on the nanometer scale offer opportunities for enhanced energy storage, although there are also challenges relating to, for example, stability and manufacturing.

What is the in-transistor energy-storage chip model?

To answer this question, Mai, Yan and colleagues designed an in-transistor energy-storage chip model (Mai–Yan model), as shown in Fig. 1. Interestingly, the charge-storage capability is amplified by a parameter in transistors, named the gate voltage.

Can flexible MSCs be used as energy storage devices?

In conclusion, connecting flexible MSCs as energy storage devices with energy harvest devices can continuously supply energy for small integrated systems for a long time regardless of the external conditions. This can further improve the possibility of practical application of wearable electronic devices.