This year is the 50th anniversary of the integrated circuit! The IC is an important part of many electronic technologies we use today, from your iPod to your cell phone and even to your GPS. Learn about the light-sensitive chemically amplified photoresist, which allowed production of smaller and smaller pieces. Next we discover how the incredibly thin wafers, also integral to the IC, are made so flawlessly. And finally, we talk to CHF’s own Hyungsub Choi about the beginnings of the integrated circuit and why it’s still needed today. Chemical Agent: Chemically Amplified Photoresists.

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Show Clock

00:00 Opening Credits
00:31 Introduction
01:15 Chemical Agent: Chemically Amplified Photoresists
03:43 Mystery Solved! Crystal Puller
06:27 A conversation with Hyungsub Choi
10:46 Closing Credits

Credits

This show was written and researched by Chi Chan, Eleanor Goldberg, and Audra Wolfe.

Our theme music is composed by Dave Kaufman. Additional music from the PodSafe Music Network. Additional music includes  ”Big Dog,” by Emmett and “They Be Underwater,” by Dark Captain Light Captain.

This week’s image is of the Elmat Corporation’s crystal puller located in CHF’s Making Modernity exhibit.

We are marking the one year anniversary of Distillations this week! To celebrate we’re looking back at the year 2008 and its noteworthy occasions. First we learn about boron, whose 200th birthday was this year. Next up is the Nobel Prize. This year’s Prize in Chemistry was awarded to three men who discovered the green fluorescent protein. And finally we find out what you, our listeners, thought was the most important chemical moment of the 2008, according to our survey. Element of the Week: Boron.

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Show Clock

00:00 Opening Credits
00:31 Introduction
01:07 Element of the Week: Boron
03:20 2008 Nobel Prize in Chemistry
06:49 The Most Significant Chemical Moment of 2008
10:20 Closing Credits

Resources and References

Check out this Chemical Explorers video, all about your top pick for most important chemical moment of 2008.
For more information on boron, see the Los Alamos National Labs web site.
Also of interest is this January 2008 article in the New Scientist about boron nanotubes.
If you want to learn more about the 2008 Nobel Prize in Chemistry, or any other Nobel Prize, visit the Nobel Prize web site.

Credits

Special thanks go to Eleanor Goldberg and Chi Chan for researching the show.

Our theme music is composed by Dave Kaufman. Additional music from the PodSafe Music Network. Additional music is “Happy Birthday,” by Craymo and ”Green,” by Ambient Light.

This week’s photo is by Don White, courtesy of MIT. The image depicts the new catalyst that MIT researchers discovered this year which creates carbon-free electricity.

The first cars didn’t run on gas—they ran on electricity. Over a century later, the high cost of fuel has finally forced automakers to take the possibility of battery-powered cars seriously. On today’s show we look at three kinds of batteries that have been proposed as transportation solutions. We start with nickel hydride batteries, the key component of contemporary hybrid cars like Toyota’s Prius. Next, we look at the technology behind hydrogen fuel-cell vehicles. Producer Devin Browne wraps up the show with an exclusive visit to GM’s battery lab in Warren, Michigan, for a close-up look at the future of lithium-ion battery cars. Element of the Week: Nickel.

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Show Clock

00:00 Opening Credits
00:31 Introduction
01:13 Element of the Week: Nickel
03:08 Mystery Solved! Hydrogen fuel-cell cars
06:38 GM’s lithium-ion battery lab
11:13 Closing Credits

Resources and References

We learned about the Electrovan from “An Electrovan, Not an Edsel,” The New York Times 17 November 2002.
For information on fuel cells, we relied on G. Hoogers, Fuel Cell Technology Handbook (Boca Raton: CRC Press, 2003).
You can learn more about electric car batteries from this online article.
For information on the development of the Chevrolet Volt, visit the company’s official home page.

Credits

Special thanks go to Chi Chan for researching the show.

Our theme music is composed by Dave Kaufman. Additional music from the PodSafe Music Network and the Internet Archive. Additional music is “Fire and Ice,” by Briareus, “Delorian,” by The Atomica Project, “Moving Picture,” by JayDenton, “Preschool 2040,” by Podcast Troubadour, “Pure Imagination,” from the Willy Wonka Soundtrack, “At Sundown,” by Artie Shaw, and “allmyfriendslistentoelectro,” by DJ Scratchin’.

This week’s image is a publicity shot of the Chevrolet Volt, by GM.

Semiconductors are at the heart of countless electronic devices. Although we often think of Silicon Valley as being built on computer chips, the companies that make the chips often depend upon materials and equipment manufacturers who build the component parts. On today’s show we explore some of the unheralded companies that have made the Digital Revolution possible. CHF’s program manager for electronic materials, Hyungsub Choi, interviews Griff Resor, former chief technology officer at GCA and current president of Resor Associates, on the role of semiconductors components manufacturers. Senior producer Mia Lobel takes us on an audio tour of the Computer History Museum in Mountain View, California. Element of the Week: Silicon.

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Show Clock

00:00     Opening Credits
00:32     Introduction
01:20     Element of the Week: Silicon
02:46     Conversation with Griff Resor
06:26     Virtual Tour of the Computer History Museum
10:52     Quote: N. Bruce Hannay
11:05     Closing Credits

Credits

Special thanks to Hyungsub Choi for researching the show.

Our theme music is composed by Dave Kaufman. Additional music was provided by the Podsafe Music Network. The music for the Element of the Week is “Cyber War—Heart of Steel,” by Oddsprite. The music for the show identification is “Red Rings,” by Dilo. Underneath the quote of the week is Brian Amsterdam’s “Spiders.”

This week’s image is of the Wall of PCs at the Computer History Museum. Photo by Dag Spicer.