Podcasts · Business

The Hardware Podcast with Fexingo: Chips, Devices, and Electronics Engineering Conversations

Fexingo

230 episodes

Lucas and Luna sit down at a lab bench cluttered with oscilloscopes and prototype boards to talk about the engineering decisions that shape the chips powering modern life. Each episode takes one piece of hardware — a new RISC-V core, a GaN power amplifier, a MEMS accelerometer — and examines its design trade-offs, yield challenges, and market positioning. They discuss why Intel’s 20A node matters for foundry customers, how TSMC’s CoWoS packaging affects AI accelerator supply, and what the CHIPS Act subsidies mean for domestic fab construction. Lucas brings the component-level knowledge (threshold voltages, die sizes, lithography steps); Luna pushes on the system-level implications (thermal constraints, software compatibility, supply chain risk). The listener is someone who reads datasheets for fun, follows EDA tool announcements, or needs to decide between an FPGA and an ASIC for their next product. No hot takes on Apple’s latest chip — just a careful look at what the die shot reveals and whether the architecture will trickle down to mid-range devices. Can a country really onshore advanced semiconductor manufacturing in a decade? How do you test a chip with billions of transistors? And what does the shift to chiplets mean for the engineer designing a PCB today? #SemiconductorIndustry #ChipDesign #HardwareEngineering #Electronics #TSMC #Intel #RISCV #GaN #MEMS #EDA #ASIC #FPGA #CHIPSAct #DieShot #EngineeringConversations #Technology #FexingoBusiness #BusinessPodcast Keep every episode free: buymeacoffee.com/fexingo

Episodes page 2 of 5

  1. Why Your Car Needs A Computer On The Dashboard

    · 8:33 · S4 E180

    Modern vehicles now contain more processing power than the Apollo moon missions, but this hardware leap comes with a hidden cost: thermal management. We look at how automakers are redesigning cabin electronics to…

  2. How Thermal Paste Is Changing Battery Safety

    · 8:58 · S4 E179

    Battery thermal management is moving beyond simple heat dissipation into active safety and longevity. We examine how phase-change materials and gap-fillers are replacing traditional silicon-based pastes in electric…

  3. How Silicon Photonic Modulators Are Rewiring Data Centers

    · 9:10 · S4 E178

    In this episode, we look at the specific engineering shift from copper interconnects to silicon photonics inside hyperscale data centers. Lucas and Luna break down why Intel’s I-Macros and TeraPHY modulators are…

  4. How MEMS Gyroscopes Stabilize Your Drone Flight

    · 9:29 · S4 E177

    We dig into the micro-electromechanical systems that keep drones level and smartphones upright. Lucas breaks down how vibrating tuning forks sense rotation, while Luna explores why this tiny hardware matters for…

  5. Why Your Phone Camera Is Losing The Resolution War

    · 8:21 · S4 E176

    We dig into the physics of why smartphone camera megapixel counts have plateaued while sensor sizes shrink, and how companies like Samsung and Sony are using computational photography to fake it. Lucas and Luna break…

  6. How Tiny Heaters Solve The Cold Start Problem In Cars

    · 9:42 · S4 E175

    We explore the surprising engineering behind PTC heaters and how they are reshaping electric vehicle efficiency. By focusing on a specific material property, we explain why traditional resistive heating is being…

  7. How Chip-Scale Inertial Sensors Are Killing GPS Dependency

    · 13 min · S4 E174

    Most people think their phone needs satellites to know where they are. It doesn't anymore. This episode explores the rapid commercialization of chip-scale atomic gyroscopes and high-performance MEMS inertial…

  8. How Chip-Scale Radar Is Shrinking Autonomous Systems

    · 9:36 · S4 E173

    We explore how millimeter-wave radar has evolved from bulky automotive safety gear into a pocket-sized sensor for drones, robots, and smart homes. Lucas and Luna break down the engineering leap that allowed Texas…

  9. How Chip-Scale Timing Chips Are Shrinking GPS Alternatives

    · 6:45 · S4 E172

    In this episode of The Hardware Podcast, Lucas and Luna zero in on the unsung hero of precision navigation: the chip-scale atomic clock. While GPS has long been the default for location, its signals can be jammed,…

  10. How Chip-Scale Raman Spectrometers Are Shrinking Chemical Analysis

    · 6:37 · S4 E171

    Lucas and Luna explore the revolution happening inside Raman spectrometers. Traditional benchtop Raman systems have been the gold standard for chemical identification for decades, but they are large, expensive, and…

  11. How Chip-Scale Spectrometers Are Shrinking Space Exploration

    · 10 min · S4 E170

    In this episode, Lucas and Luna explore how chip-scale spectrometers are revolutionizing space exploration. They dive into the technology behind these miniaturized instruments, from MEMS-based designs to photonic…

  12. How Chip-Scale Switch Arrays Are Shrinking Data Centers

    · 9:56 · S4 E169

    In this episode, Lucas and Luna explore the quiet revolution in data center networking: chip-scale optical switch arrays. These tiny silicon photonic devices can reroute light beams in nanoseconds, replacing bulky,…

  13. How Chip-Scale Sensors Are Shrinking Chemical Analysis

    · 6:18 · S4 E168

    In this episode of The Hardware Podcast, Lucas and Luna explore how chip-scale electrochemical sensors are shrinking chemical analysis, from portable health diagnostics to on-the-spot food safety checks. They dive into…

  14. How Chip-Scale Cryocoolers Are Shrinking Quantum Labs

    · 9:15 · S4 E167

    In this episode of The Hardware Podcast, Lucas and Luna explore the quiet revolution happening inside quantum computers: the chip-scale cryocooler. While most attention goes to qubits, the real bottleneck is the…

  15. How Chip-Scale Atomic Clocks Are Shrinking Timekeeping

    · 12 min · S4 E166

    In this episode of The Hardware Podcast, Lucas and Luna explore how chip-scale atomic clocks are shrinking timekeeping from room-sized instruments to tiny chips, enabling precise timing in GPS-denied environments,…

  16. How Chip-Scale Atomic Clocks Are Shrinking Timekeeping

    · 8:25 · S4 E165

    In this episode of The Hardware Podcast, Lucas and Luna explore how chip-scale atomic clocks are shrinking precision timekeeping to the size of a matchstick. They trace the journey from room-sized cesium beam standards…

  17. Chip-Scale Vacuum Pumps Are Shrinking the Physics Lab

    · 8:20 · S4 E164

    In this episode of The Hardware Podcast, Lucas and Luna explore how chip-scale vacuum pumps are turning the giant vacuum systems of physics labs into millimeter-scale devices. They start with a surprising anchor: a new…

  18. How Chip-Scale Optical Frequency Combs Are Shrinking Precision Measurement

    · 11 min · S4 E163

    In this episode of The Hardware Podcast, Lucas and Luna explore the latest breakthrough in chip-scale technology: optical frequency combs. These tiny devices, no larger than a coin, are revolutionizing precision…

  19. How Chip-Scale Galvos Are Shrinking Laser Scanners

    · 9:31 · S4 E162

    In this episode of The Hardware Podcast, Lucas and Luna explore how chip-scale galvanometer mirrors are making laser scanning systems dramatically smaller, faster, and cheaper. They trace the technology from…

  20. How MEMS Microphones Are Shrinking the Science of Sound

    · 12 min · S4 E161

    In this episode, Lucas and Luna explore how chip-scale MEMS microphones, originally developed for smartphones and smart speakers, are now enabling a new generation of portable acoustic sensors. They dive into the…

  21. How Chip-Scale Pulsed Lasers Are Shrinking Ultrafast Science

    · 8:33 · S4 E160

    In Episode 160 of The Hardware Podcast, Lucas and Luna explore how chip-scale pulsed lasers are bringing ultrafast science out of the lab and into portable devices. They trace the journey from bulky tabletop laser…

  22. How Chip-Scale Lasers Are Shrinking Medical Diagnostics

    · 10 min · S4 E159

    In this episode of The Hardware Podcast, Lucas and Luna dive into the world of chip-scale external cavity diode lasers and how they're transforming medical diagnostics. They focus on a breakthrough from a research team…

  23. Chip-Scale Microfluidics Are Shrinking the Lab

    · 11 min · S4 E158

    In this episode, Lucas and Luna dive into the world of chip-scale microfluidics — the technology that puts entire laboratories on a fingernail-sized chip. They explore how these devices manipulate tiny volumes of…

  24. How Chip-Scale Atomic Magnetometers Are Shrinking Brain Scanners

    · 10 min · S4 E157

    In this episode of The Hardware Podcast, Lucas and Luna dive into the latest breakthrough in chip-scale magnetometry: a portable magnetoencephalography (MEG) system that can map brain activity without a superconducting…

  25. How Chip-Scale Spectrometers Are Shrinking Food Safety Testing

    · 10 min · S4 E156

    From farm to fork, food safety testing has always been a slow, lab-bound process. But a new generation of chip-scale spectrometers is changing that. In this episode, Lucas and Luna explore how a tiny near-infrared…

  26. How Chip-Scale Force Sensors Are Making Robots Feel

    · 11 min · S4 E155

    In episode 155 of The Hardware Podcast, Lucas and Luna explore the surprisingly tactile world of chip-scale force sensors—the tiny silicon devices that let robots, surgical tools, and even smartphones feel pressure,…

  27. How Chip-Scale Magnetometers Are Shrinking Navigation

    · 9:23 · S4 E154

    In this episode, Lucas and Luna explore the latest breakthrough in chip-scale magnetometers: a sensor small enough to fit on a fingertip that can detect minute changes in Earth's magnetic field. They dive into a…

  28. How Chip-Scale Particle Detectors Are Shrinking Physics Instruments

    · 12 min · S4 E153

    Particle detectors once filled warehouse-sized rooms at CERN and Fermilab. Now chip-scale versions are putting the same physics on a silicon die, opening doors for portable radiation monitoring, medical imaging, and…

  29. Chip-Scale Terahertz Imaging for Security and Medicine

    · 9:48 · S4 E152

    In this episode of The Hardware Podcast, Lucas and Luna explore how terahertz imaging is finally leaving the lab and shrinking onto a chip. They break down the physics of the 'terahertz gap,' the progress in…

  30. How Chip-Scale Ion Traps Are Shrinking Quantum Computers

    · 9:15 · S4 E151

    Quantum computers are famous for filling rooms with cryogenic hardware and intricate laser tables. But a quieter revolution is taking place at the chip level: ion traps, the precise electromagnetic cages that hold…

  31. How Chip-Scale Dew Point Sensors Predict the Weather

    · 12 min · S3 E150

    In this special 150th episode of The Hardware Podcast, Lucas and Luna explore the microscopic world of chip-scale dew point sensors. They trace the journey from traditional chilled mirror hygrometers—the size of a…

  32. How Chip-Scale Liquid Lenses Autofocus in Milliseconds

    · 11 min · S3 E149

    In this episode of The Hardware Podcast, Lucas and Luna explore the tiny liquid lenses now autofocusing smartphone cameras in a few milliseconds. They break down the physics of electrowetting, why the automotive…

  33. How Chip-Scale NMR Spectrometers Are Shrinking Molecular Analysis

    · 8:58 · S3 E148

    On this episode of The Hardware Podcast, Lucas and Luna explore the emerging world of chip-scale nuclear magnetic resonance, or NMR, spectrometers. These tiny devices, built using CMOS technology and microfluidic…

  34. Chip-Scale Electron Spin Resonance for Portable Sensing

    · 7:32 · S3 E147

    In this episode of The Hardware Podcast, Lucas and Luna dive into chip-scale electron spin resonance, the technology behind a handheld spectrometer that can identify materials and detect free radicals. They explore how…

  35. How Chip-Scale Millimeter-Wave Radars Are Sensing the World

    · 11 min · S3 E146

    Lucas and Luna explore the quiet revolution happening inside millimeter-wave radar chips. From automotive safety systems that see through fog and rain to smart-home devices that detect presence without cameras, these…

  36. How Chip-Scale Optical Phased Arrays Steer Light Without Moving Parts

    · 9:24 · S3 E145

    Lucas and Luna dive into optical phased arrays, the chip-scale technology that steers laser light electronically with no moving parts. They trace how this tech, once confined to military radar, is now enabling…

  37. How Chip-Scale Atomic Clocks Are Shrinking Timekeeping

    · 6:14 · S3 E144

    In this episode of The Hardware Podcast, Lucas and Luna dive into the world of chip-scale atomic clocks — tiny devices that keep time with atomic precision, now small enough to fit in your phone. They explore how these…

  38. How Chip-Scale Vacuum Pumps Enable Portable Mass Spectrometry

    · 9:23 · S3 E143

    Lucas and Luna explore the leap from lab-bound mass spectrometers to portable devices powered by chip-scale vacuum pumps. They dive into the engineering challenge of maintaining a vacuum on a chip—from MEMS-based pump…

  39. How On-Chip Silicon Photonics Are Shrinking Data Centers

    · 9:50 · S3 E142

    Episode 142 of The Hardware Podcast dives into silicon photonics—the technology replacing copper wires with light inside data centers. Lucas and Luna break down why we're hitting a bandwidth wall, how companies like…

  40. How Chips Are Putting Antennas on Silicon for Next-Gen Wireless

    · 8:54 · S3 E141

    Over the last five years, engineers have figured out how to etch antennas directly onto silicon chips, eliminating the need for external antenna components in millimeter-wave systems. This episode explores the physics…

  41. How Neuromorphic Chips Mimic the Human Brain

    · 6:06 · S3 E140

    Neuromorphic computing is shifting from research labs to real-world applications. This episode explores how chips like Intel's Loihi 2 use spiking neural networks to process information in an event-driven, low-power…

  42. How Chip-Scale LiDAR Is Shrinking Autonomous Sensors

    · 7:15 · S3 E139

    Traditional spinning lidar is bulky and expensive. This episode explores how chip-scale lidar—integrating laser, scanner, and receiver onto a silicon photonics chip—could bring autonomous sensors to mass-market cars,…

  43. The Chip That Measures Your Glucose Every Five Minutes

    · 5:46 · S3 E138

    In this episode, we dive into the chip inside Dexcom's G7 continuous glucose monitor — a coin-sized electrochemical sensor that measures glucose every five minutes for ten days. We explore how the chip miniaturizes a…

  44. How Chip-Scale Spectrometers Are Putting a Lab in Your Pocket

    · 5:07 · S3 E137

    Traditional spectrometers are bulky lab instruments. But recent advances in MEMS technology have shrunk them to a single chip. In this episode, Lucas and Luna explore the NeoSpectra chip from Si-Ware Systems—a complete…

  45. How MEMS Microphones Became the Standard for Mobile Audio

    · 7:30 · S3 E136

    In this episode of The Hardware Podcast, Lucas and Luna dive into the tiny silicon chips that have replaced the electret condenser microphones in nearly every smartphone, smart speaker, and hearing aid on the market.…

  46. How Chip-Scale Optical Gyroscopes Navigate Without GPS

    · 6:38 · S3 E135

    In this episode of The Hardware Podcast, hosts Lucas and Luna explore the cutting-edge world of chip-scale optical gyroscopes—tiny sensors that can detect rotation with precision rivaling bulky fiber-optic gyros, all…

  47. How On-Chip MRAM Is Merging Memory and Storage

    · 8:16 · S3 E134

    On-chip MRAM is emerging as a game-changing embedded memory technology that combines the speed of SRAM with the non-volatility of Flash. In this episode, Lucas and Luna explore how magnetoresistive RAM is being…

  48. How On-Chip Photonic Processors Are Accelerating AI Inference

    · 7:54 · S3 E133

    Episode 133 dives into the emerging technology of on-chip photonic computing for artificial intelligence. Lucas and Luna explore how startups like Lightmatter and established players like IBM are integrating lasers,…

  49. How Diamond NV Centers Are Shrinking Quantum Magnetometers onto a Chip

    · 9:23 · S3 E132

    On-chip diamond nitrogen-vacancy centers are bringing quantum-grade magnetic field sensitivity to millimeter-scale sensors. Lucas and Luna explore a recent MIT breakthrough that integrates NV centers directly into a…

  50. On-Chip Microtransformers Shrink Isolated Power

    · 6:31 · S3 E131

    Lucas and Luna explore how microtransformers integrated directly onto silicon are revolutionizing isolated power conversion. They discuss recent research from the University of Twente demonstrating a 5-kilovolt…

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