Notes by Akshat Jiwan Sharma

25 Nov 2025 I thank SEMI for organising an informative online session on atomic layer deposition inviting speakers from Beneq— the biggest ALD company in the world today having presence in Asia,EU and Americas.  Since its experimental demonstration in the 60s in the soviet union atomic layer deposition technique has been developed to cover almost all of the elements of the periodic table barring noble gasses.  ALD today is a critical process in microelectronics for growth of high k dielectric films as well as in barriers and protective layers enabling 3D structures on chip. ALD has found applications in fields beyond microelectronics & has become indispensable in optics,energy and filtration industries.  It was insightful to learn about some of the challenges in ALD which include maintaining vacuum ,precursor flow precision , temperature control and of course precursor synthesis which are usually complex organometallic compounds. Yet despite these challenges thickness...

A Celebration of India's Electronic Component Manufacturing Scheme milestones: Pairing policy incentives with turbulent Innovation 17 Nov 2025 After the incredible success of semicon India this September, India cellular and electronics association organised a lunch celebrating the success of Electronic components and manufacturing scheme at the Taj in New Delhi.  Minister for Electronics & IT Ashwini Vaishnaw, was joined by Minister of State for Electronics & IT Jitin Prasad , Secretary S Krishnan, Secretary Sushil Pal and various industry leaders who are helping to build a semiconductor manufacturing ecosystem in India. It was a unique opportunity for me to observe the collective decision making that goes into developing policies shaping the industry. Through exchange of ideas the policy makers have mapped in great detail the components that need to be in place for the initiative to succeed. The list was quite comprehensive including PCBs, oscillators, lith...

Electromagnetic wave propagation inside electron sheaths in a capacitive discharge plasma  ABSTRACT While the influence of plasma frequency on the propagation of electromagnetic (EM) waves has been extensively studied, the potential role of Lorentz force in perturbing free electrons in plasma sheath and thereby facilitating transmission of electromagnetic waves as per maxwell laws has received comparatively little attention. An oscillating EM wave at a frequency above the plasma frequency interacts with free electrons in the sheaths leading to generation of conduction currents. The frequency of oscillation of these conduction currents is equal to the applied wave frequency.  Although the primary EM wave propagates only a limited distance due to attenuation and geometric spreading, these free electrons carry the currents through the volume of the plasma making them detectable by probes placed deeper within the plasma body. This mechanism is similar to propagation of EM waves ...

7 Nov 2025 It was a great honor to participate in an online discussion organised by FT on the future of flight with technology leaders from Safran, Airbus,GE,and ONERA. As one of the biggest consumers of fossil fuels airlines have faced intense scrutiny that has led to several initiatives aimed at decarbonizing their operations. While electric flights are being explored as a possibility Hydrogen remains by far the most promising substitute for fossil fuels. Challenges remain around increasing its volumetric energy density through compression but that can be achieved through current compression technology. Given that hydrogen's energy density is about 3 times that of current fossil fuels a switch to hydrogen would cut the fuel use by a third enabling not just cost savings but also weight reduction. That is if green hydrogen could be produced reliably at scale. Engines are at the heart of any aircraft and I learnt from the speakers just how much effort is spent on the design of engin...

Construction industry has been trying to decarbonise but what materials can actually help it do that? It's a tough question.  Both concrete and steel almost seem indispensable.  Replacing steel is incredibly difficult in the construction industry.Some efforts have been made in substituting bamboo for steel.  Bamboo seems to offer a solution but bonding with concrete is a concern as many studies show & its true that hurdles remain even after a good bonding is achieved.  https://www.linkedin.com/posts/inbar-official_bamboo-reinforced-concrete-yes-or-no-bamboo-activity-7392199106464579584-c-W8?utm_source=share&utm_medium=member_android&rcm=ACoAAFNUr14BhT_6QYbNwdSgEVLcmX2XizbONxk But alternatives exist. One such proven technology is Mechanically stabalised earth in which soil is stabalised with horizontal grids to improve it's shear strength through friction.  Soil already has excellent compressive strength and by minimising its failure in shear it can ...

Research has been promising but skepticism remains due to the variable nature of lignocellulosic materials raising concerns about the reproducibility of carbon. Are plant based materials inherently unique in their chemical makeup that makes process control difficult? Many seem to believe so.  In lignocellulosic derived carbons what matters is the fraction of lignin,hemicellulose and cellulose in the mix. Different fractions will alter the composition of derived carbon / nanosheets slightly.  For example if a 130 day old peapod has higher lignin content it will have different characteristics than a 100 day old peapod.  So yes the results will be variable but they are not that hard to predict.  Example: Carbons derived from mature wheat straw (after crop is harvested) would have similar properties because wheat stops growing after a certain period. No more lignin or cellulose is deposited in the cell walls.  Same for jute ,coconut husk,flax  or sugarcane baga...