Topological insulator (TI), a promising quantum and semiconductor material, has gapless surface state and narrow bulk band gap. Firstly, the properties, classifications and compounds of TI are introduced. Secondly, the preparation and doping of TI are assessed. Some results are listed. (1) Although various preparation methods are used to improve the crystal quality of the TI, it cannot reach the industrialization. Fermi level regulation still faces challenges; (2) The carrier type and lattice of TI are affected by non-magnetic impurities. The most promising property is the superconductivity at low temperature; (3) Magnetic impurities can destroy the time-reversal symmetry of the TI surface, which opens the band gap on the TI surface resulting in some novel physical effects such as quantum anomalous Hall effect (QAHE). Thirdly, this paper summarizes various applications of TI including photodetector, magnetic device, field-effect transistor (FET), laser, and so on. Furthermore, many of their parameters are compared based on TI and some common materials. It is found that TI-based devices exhibit excellent performance, but some parameters such as signal to noise ratio (S/N) are still lower than other materials. Finally, its advantages, challenges and future prospects are discussed. Overall, this paper provides an opportunity to improve crystal quality, doping regulation and application of TI.

With the advancement of Moore’s Law reaching its limits, advanced packaging technologies represented by Flip Chip (FC), Wafer-Level Packaging (WLP), System in Package (SiP), and 3D packaging have received significant attention. While advanced packaging has made breakthroughs in achieving high performance, miniaturization, and low cost, the smaller thermal space and higher power density have created complex physical fields such as electricity, heat, and stress. The packaging interconnects responsible for electrical transmission are prone to serious reliability issues, leading to the device’s failure. Therefore, conducting multi-field coupling research on the reliability of advanced packaging interconnects is necessary. The development of packaging and the characteristics of advanced packaging are reviewed. The reliability issues of advanced packaging under thermal, electrical, and electromagnetic fields are discussed, as well as the methods and current research of multi-field coupling in advanced packaging. Finally, the prospect of the multi-field coupling reliability of advanced packaging is summarized to provide references for the reliability research of advanced packaging.

A series of thermoelectric responsive shape memory hydro-epoxy (H-EP) composites filled with different contents of graphene were developed and characterized. Compared with traditional actuation materials, these novel shape memory composites exhibit attractive properties, such as light weight, large deformation, good processability and high response speed, making them good candidates for actuator materials. The effect of graphene content on the shape memory composites was studied in terms of mechanical, dynamic mechanical analysis (DMA), electrical properties, and thermoelectric responsive shape memory test. The results show that when graphene content was 2 wt %, the bend strength of the composite improved by about 47% with a storage modulus larger than other composites. The shape recovery ratio of the composites was about 100%, and the shape recovery speed increased with the increment of graphene content, applied voltage, and temperature. Due to the excellent actuation performance, the graphene/hydro-epoxy composite has potential applications in the actuator in the future.

WTe₂ as a candidate of transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDs) exhibits many excellent properties, such as non-saturable large magnetoresistance (MR). Firstly, the crystal structure and characteristics of WTe₂ are introduced, followed by a summary of the synthesis methods. Its thermodynamic properties are highlighted due to the insufficient research. Finally, a comprehensive analysis and discussion are introduced to interpret the advantages, challenges, and future prospects. Some results are shown as follows. (1) The chiral anomaly, pressure-induced conductivity, and non-saturable large MR are all unique properties of WTe₂ that attract wide attention, but it is also a promising thermoelectric material that holds anisotropic ultra-low thermal conductivity (0.46 W·m⁻¹·K⁻¹). WTe₂ is expected to have the lowest thermal conductivity, owing to the heavy atom mass and low Debye temperature. (2) The synthesis methods influence the properties significantly. Although large-scale few-layer WTe₂ in high quality can be obtained by many methods, the preparation has not yet been industrialized, which limits its applications. (3) The thermodynamic properties of WTe₂ are influenced by temperature, scale, and lattice orientations. However, the in-plane anisotropy cannot be observed in the experiment, as the intrinsic property is suppressed by defects and boundary scattering. Overall, this work provides an opportunity to develop the applications of WTe₂.

Magnetically sensitive shape memory poly(styrene-b-butadiene-b-styrene) copolymer (SBS)/liner low density polyethylene (LLDPE) composites filled with various contents of Fe₃O₄ nanoparticles were prepared. The influence of the Fe₃O₄ nanoparticles content on the thermal properties, mechanical properties, fracture morphology, magnetic behavior, and shape memory effect of SBS/LLDPE/Fe₃O₄ composites was systematically studied in this paper. The results indicated that homogeneously dispersed Fe₃O₄ nanoparticles ensured the uniform heat generation and transfer in the alternating magnetic field, and endowed the SBS/LLDPE/Fe₃O₄ composites with an excellent magnetically responsive shape memory effect. When the shape memory composites were in the alternating magnetic field (f = 60 kHz, H = 21.21 kA·m⁻¹), the best shape recovery ratio reached 99%, the shape retention ratio reached 99.4%, and the shape recovery speed increased significantly with the increment of Fe₃O₄ nanoparticles. It is anticipated that tagging products with this novel shape memory composite is helpful for the purpose of an intravascular delivery system in Micro-Electro-Mechanical System (MEMS) devices.

With the rapid development of 5G, artificial intelligence (AI), and high-performance computing (HPC), there is a huge increase in the data exchanged between the processor and memory. However, the “storage wall” caused by the von Neumann architecture severely limits the computational performance of the system. To efficiently process such large amounts of data and break up the “storage wall”, it is necessary to develop processing-in-memory (PIM) technology. Chiplet combines processor cores and memory chips with advanced packaging technologies, such as 2.5D, 3 dimensions (3D), and fan-out packaging. This improves the quality and bandwidth of signal transmission and alleviates the “storage wall” problem. This paper reviews the Chiplet packaging technology that has achieved the function of PIM in recent years and analyzes some of its application results. First, the research status and development direction of PIM are presented and summarized. Second, the Chiplet packaging technologies that can realize the function of PIM are introduced, which are divided into 2.5D, 3D packaging, and fan-out packaging according to their physical form. Further, the form and characteristics of their implementation of PIM are summarized. Finally, this paper is concluded, and the future development of Chiplet in the field of PIM is discussed.