Dutch and Canadian researchers have developed a light-controlled switch that possesses the ability to tune its trigger threshold. This switch allows information to be encoded directly into the material, making it suitable for integration into soft electronics and applications in robotics. The results of this work were presented in the journal Science Advances.
Historically, the first mechanical thermal relays appeared about two centuries ago. They functioned based on a plate made of two metals with different coefficients of thermal expansion: upon overheating, the plate would bend, causing a mechanical opening of the electrical contact. Scientists working under the guidance of Dan Tsin Liu from the Eindhoven University of Technology improved this mechanism by creating a switch with an adjustable trigger threshold.
A film of liquid crystalline acrylate polymer, modified with azobenzene additives, was used as the basis. Two metallic contacts were applied to this film with an intermediate gap. The size of this gap changes depending on the temperature: as the temperature increases, the structure of the liquid crystalline polymer loses its order, and the gap narrows. Liu's colleagues supplemented the circuit with a second heating element; by supplying increasing power to it, they could reduce the gap until the main circuit closed.
The size of the gap can also be controlled using light. Initially, most of the azobenzene fragments are in the trans-form. Exposure to ultraviolet radiation causes some of these fragments to transition to the cis-form, which leads to a decrease in the order of the liquid crystalline structure. As a result, the polymer film contracts, reducing the distance between the contacts. Reverse irradiation with blue light returns the azobenzene to the trans-form, restoring the order of the structure and increasing the gap.
Since the transition between cis- and trans-forms may be incomplete, experiments showed that the proportion of the cis-isomer, and consequently the gap size, is determined by the time and intensity of the UV radiation. By varying pulses of UV and blue light, the researchers managed to change the proportion of the cis-isomer and the distance between the contacts, which led to a change in the trigger threshold—the minimum power required to switch the device.
The authors specifically noted that the information about the threshold is stored not in electronic memory, but directly in the material itself, although this memory is not permanent and fades after about ten hours in complete darkness. To demonstrate the switch's capabilities, Liu's team first used it for binary classification, gradually 'training' the device to assign input signals to two classes by changing the threshold using light pulses. Next, five such switches were combined into a system that controlled the fingers of a robotic hand. Each finger had an individual trigger threshold set, determining the power required for its bending, allowing various gestures to be reproduced individually or in combination.
Unlike standard thermal relays, where the trigger threshold is fixed by design, the new device allows this threshold to be repeatedly changed using light, after which it can be used without further adjustment until the information stored in the material disappears. Furthermore, the ability to easily integrate the switch into soft electronics opens up broad prospects for its use in robotics.
India's dream of semiconductor manufacturing was interrupted in 1989. However, by 2026, this initiative is gaining momentum through the realization of policy intentions at the manufacturing site level. Currently, 12 approved manufacturing projects worth 1.64 lakh crore rupees are being implemented in India, alongside support under the Semicon 2.0 program amounting to 1.27 lakh crore rupees.
Before the establishment of TSMC, which later transformed the global semiconductor industry, India engaged in semiconductor manufacturing for three years. What was lost in India was not technical capability, but process continuity. The Council of Ministers of India approved the creation of Semiconductor Complex Limited (SCL) in 1976, and chip production of 5-micron size began in 1984, just three years before the creation of TSMC.
India was not lagging behind the start of the semiconductor race. The problem lay in the interruption of the pace of building a globally competitive commercial ecosystem for large-scale semiconductor production. A catastrophic fire in 1989 destroyed the main SCL production line in Mohali. Although the enterprise resumed operations in 1997 and continues to participate in strategic applications, this interruption lasted 37 years.
Unlike previous years when government programs often remained mere ambitious statements, there is now a shift from plans to actual production. As of mid-2026, the Indian government has approved 12 semiconductor manufacturing projects worth approximately 1.64 lakh crore rupees. On February 28, 2026, Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the Micron facility in Sanand, which began commercial production, delivering the first memory modules produced in India to Dell Technologies. A month later, Kaynes Semicon transitioned from laying the foundation to commercial production in just 14 months, and on July 4, CG Semi joined them, making Sanand the busiest chip cluster in India.
On July 15, the Council of Ministers approved the Semicon 2.0 program with a budget of 1.27500 lakh crore rupees, continuing the development of Phase I projects. The key breakthrough is not the size of the subsidies, but the order of their application. Under the semiconductor manufacturing schemes, India provides central fiscal support of 50% of the project cost, supplemented by regional incentives. Importantly, this support is provided on a pari-passu basis, meaning government aid follows the actual project expenditure and does not obligate investors to bear the entire financial risk until construction is complete.
According to MeitY Secretary C. Krishna, this is likely the most generous industrial policy ever implemented in India. The realization that semiconductor manufacturing cannot be built relying solely on private capital, which assumes all risk until the end, has been crucial. The administrative apparatus, represented by leaders such as C. Krishna and Additional Secretary Amitesh Kumar Sinha (CEO India Semiconductor Mission), is transforming policy into physical projects.
The Semicon 2.0 program expands ambitions across six strategic areas, covering not only fabrication plants but also design, equipment, materials, and domestic supply chains. For Indian entrepreneurs, this means a quiet revolution. The government is now co-investing equity capital with venture capital in chip design startups, planning to exit these projects as they scale up and reinvest the proceeds into deep technology research, tools, and materials. As of mid-2026, MeitY confirmed the approval of 24 semiconductor design companies for fiscal support.
India has chosen to start with mature technology nodes (from 28 nm to 110 nm), which aligns with sound industrial logic. Chips in this range remain critical for the automotive industry, power management, industrial electronics, defense platforms, and telecommunication infrastructure. This gives India a realistic path to mastering core manufacturing disciplines: process control, yield, reliability, and unit economics. As Krishna stated, for a country building manufacturing capacity from scratch, success using established technologies is more sensible than immediately taking high-risk bets on the most advanced nodes.
The next 18 months will be a serious test. The Tata Electronics plant worth 91,000 crore rupees in Dholera, being built with participation from Taiwan's PSMC, could fundamentally change the perception of India's potential, moving the country from assembly and packaging to commercial wafer production. However, success is determined not by laying the foundation or completing construction, but by repeatability, yield, and consistent orders from customers.
Five key tasks lie before India: ensuring high yield rates, deepening the supply chain for specialized chemicals and equipment, building manufacturing talent, winning customer trust, and maintaining cycle continuity, as global markets are subject to sharp fluctuations and geopolitical shocks.
Under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, India's semiconductor ambitions have entered a qualitatively new phase. The real test is whether the country's institutions can withstand the harsh decade required to sustain the functioning of the entire ecosystem. India's story is the story of a nation that started earlier than many, lost commercial momentum, and is now regaining it, step by step.
Most business leaders recognize the importance of artificial intelligence, but only a smaller portion of them has managed to make it truly useful. The gap between these groups is not related to ambition or budget, but most often to understanding which problem should be assigned to an AI agent first, and which solutions should remain under human control.
This question became the central theme of Nikila Gudipati's presentation, Head of Client Engineering at Google Cloud, at the closing event of MSME Sparks 2026. The event itself was significant because MSME Sparks 2026, YourStory's flagship event dedicated to Indian SMEs, spent four virtual days analyzing factors transforming the growth of these enterprises, including digital transformation, access to capital, and the role of AI in daily operations. The final event took place on June 26th at ITC Gardenia in Bengaluru and was the only in-person meeting of the week, gathering founders, industry leaders, and ecosystem participants to conclude discussions started during the virtual sessions.
In her presentation titled 'Smarter Solutions with AI,' Nikila Gudipati focused on the week's technological topic. She began with a statistic that clearly defined the problem: 'On average, a typical company works with 254 business applications.' Since the data is distributed across dozens of isolated tools, the problem is not just inefficiency, but also the so-called 'switching tax'—the constant mental and operational burden associated with switching between applications to gain a single holistic view of the business. Gudipati argued that Gemini Enterprise is designed to eliminate this tax by acting as a central hub for creating, publishing, and managing AI agents across all organizational workflows.
Two live demonstration examples vividly illustrated the practical application of this technology. In the first example, a contract lifecycle management agent was asked to identify expiring client agreements. Within a single dialogue, it extracted data from CRM and compliance systems, identified accounts with the highest revenue risk, and drafted a renewal letter, allowing for the scheduling or complete automation of subsequent actions. Gudipati emphasized: 'It's not just about asking questions based on prompts; it's actually the ability to act on your behalf so you can focus on more strategic and important things for your business.'
In the second demo, an agent tracked the situation of a retail operations director who was trying to understand the reason for low efficiency in one store. Using point-of-sale records, inventory data, and employee information, the agent diagnosed three main causes, including low customer satisfaction and high staff turnover, and then suggested scheduling a meeting with the store manager after pre-loading the relevant data. Examples of this scale demonstrate investment firms using multi-agent systems to help analysts research five times more companies, or large manufacturers reducing HR query resolution almost to automation while halving defect resolution time.
For SMEs attending the event and looking for an entry point, Gudipati advised starting with reversible and low-stakes solutions. She asked: 'Which of these reversible solutions can you delegate to an agent so you can refocus on the critical and strategic aspects of your role?'
Regarding security, which often remains an unspoken concern in any AI discussion, her answer was direct: 'The key difference with Gemini Enterprise is security. It's the most boring thing. It's the least fantastical thing companies worry about, but it is actually our biggest advantage.' Gemini Enterprise offers a 30-day free trial, available directly through Google Search, which is a low-risk, reversible starting point that accurately reflects the logic Gudipati advocated throughout the session.
