At the heart of the technology is a micro-array consisting of thousands of microscopic spots of different sections of DNA deposited on a glass or silicon surface.

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Starting with two silicon wafers, Soitec machines coat the surface of one with silicon dioxide insulator and embed inside it a thin fault line of hydrogen atoms anywhere from 100 to 20, 000 nanometers below the surface, depending on customers' desired wafer thickness.

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If the atom in question is in a small particle on the surface of a piece of silicon, the result is what is known as a surface plasmon.

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All-optical switches use micromirrors, which were originally developed to bounce laser beams around the surface of a silicon chip.

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This will map for the first time iron, magnesium, aluminium and silicon over the moon's entire surface.

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To simplify (a lot) the tri-gate transistor allows power to flow over three surfaces of a tall and narrow silicon fin, rather than over a flat surface.

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Gallium nitride, or GaN, converts electrical impulses to light and is grown on the surface of wafers made from sapphire or silicon carbide.

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And on the surface, the reason why seems simple: Silicon Valley abounds in research, talent, investment and openness to new ideas.

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Microsoft's Surface Pro is this week's lucky slab of silicon to hit the bench.

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Instead, it will look like any silicon chip as found in computers but "with an open window on the surface that will allow chemicals to transfer in and to be sensed by the system, " explained Dr Pearce.

BBC: Scientists develop 'nose-on-a-chip'