editor's blog
Subscribe Now

A Paper Battery… Not

Today’s note comes from the Department of Not What It Sounds Like. It’s about a company called Paper Battery, which doesn’t make batteries, and, what it does make isn’t made out of paper. The burdens of old names that stick…

What they do make is a supercapacitor. We’ve talked about supercaps before; there’s nothing revolutionary in concept. The story with PBC (much less confusing company name as an acronym… but don’t confuse it with PCB) is about their form factor: thin (0.3 mm) and flat. They can be, for instance, added as a “layer” over a battery to provide a combined battery/supercap “bundle” that has much more stable voltage.

PBC_figure.png

Image courtesy Paper Battery Co.

The idea here is that such a flat component can be spread out in ways that use less space than explicit components that need their own plot of PCB. But the spatial efficiencies come with specific extra benefits, both electrical and thermal. As a layer or “wrap,” these supercaps can provide electromagnetic shielding; they can also act as head spreaders, helping wick away heat from hot spots that they might cover or underlie.

In the future, you could see multiple caps and voltages, paving the way for better DC/DC converters.

They say they have the technology sorted, but they’re optimizing for higher-volume manufacturing. In a few months they’ll make the decision to use either a contract manufacturer or to build a fab. If they roll their own, they say that it would be 12-16 months from now when they went live; they could get a contract guy going 3-4 months faster.

You can find more on their site.

Leave a Reply

featured blogs
Mar 20, 2023
Learn how to design security into high-bandwidth DDR memory interfaces and protect DRAM devices & data from memory-scraping attacks like Rowhammer & RAMbleed. The post Secure DDR DRAM Against Rowhammer, RAMBleed, and Cold-Boot Attacks appeared first on New Horizons...
Mar 20, 2023
Electronic design has evolved over the years to provide methods for optimizing power, space, and energy needs for the most demanding market applications in areas including hyperscale computing, consumer, 5G communications, automotive, mobile, aerospace, industrial, and health...
Mar 10, 2023
A proven guide to enable project managers to successfully take over ongoing projects and get the work done!...

featured video

First CXL 2.0 IP Interoperability Demo with Compliance Tests

Sponsored by Synopsys

In this video, Sr. R&D Engineer Rehan Iqbal, will guide you through Synopsys CXL IP passing compliance tests and demonstrating our seamless interoperability with Teladyne LeCroy Z516 Exerciser. This first-of-its-kind interoperability demo is a testament to Synopsys' commitment to delivering reliable IP solutions.

Learn more about Synopsys CXL here

featured chalk talk

Product Blocked by Supply Chain Woes? Digi XBee® RR to the Rescue!
Sponsored by Mouser Electronics and Digi
In this episode of Chalk Talk, Amelia Dalton and Quinn Jones from Digi investigate the benefits that the Digi XBee RR wireless modules can bring to your next design. We also take a closer look at the migration path from Digi XBee 3 to XBee RR, the design aspects you should keep in mind when moving from the Digi XBee 3 to the RR and how the Digi XBee Multi-programmer can help you get exactly the configuration you need in your next design.
Feb 1, 2023
6,378 views