The tech industry is playing down fears of widespread raw materials shortages as a result of the war in Ukraine, after reports that chipmakers would face a severe crunch. Russia and Ukraine are key suppliers of neon, a gas used in the lasers that etch microscopic patterns on to tiny slivers of silicon. At the Institute of Microelectronics in Barcelona, research around electronic chips is in full swing. Here, there is no large-scale production, but a laboratory for innovation and the design of chips and microprocessors that will be used for the innovations of tomorrow. IMAGES AND SOUNDBITES