EurekAlert November 11, 2020 Inspired by a class of molecules previously used for biomedical imaging researchers in Canada developed two new organic compounds with emission peak at a wavelength of 840 nm. The OLED showed a quantum efficiency of 3.8%. The latter corresponds to the percentage of electrons circulating throughout the device, electrons which are then converted into useable light. The efficiency is more than three times higher than that of the best previously reported fluorescent OLEDs in this spectral range and approaches that achievable with the best platinum‐containing phosphorescent emitters. The device has possible applications in biomedicine, facial recognition, […]
Author Archives: Hema Viswanath
New tractor beam has potential to tame lightning
Phys.org November 11, 2020 Numerous experiments utilizing powerful pulsed lasers with peak-intensity above air photoionization and photo-dissociation have demonstrated excitation and confinement of plasma tracks in the wakes of laser field. An international team of researchers (Australia, USA – UCLA) developed and demonstrated an efficient approach for triggering, trapping, and guiding electrical discharges in air. It is based on the use of a low-power continuous-wave vortex beam that traps and transports light-absorbing particles in mid-air. They found a 30% decrease in discharge threshold mediated by optically trapped graphene microparticles with the use of a laser beam of a few hundred […]
New approach to circuit compression could deliver real-world quantum computers years ahead of schedule
EurekAlert November 12, 2020 “Quantum advantage” has been achieved in Noisy Intermediate-Scale Quantum (NISQ) devices in early proof-of-principle experiments. But the NISQ devices are still prone to lots of errors that accumulate during their operation. To negate the need for millions of physical qubits for a fault-tolerant computer researchers in Japan proposed the use of the ZX-calculus as an intermediate language for braided circuit compression in large-scale fault-tolerant quantum computers. According to the researchers by compressing quantum circuits, they could reduce the size of the quantum computer and its runtime, which in turn lessens the requirement for error protection…read more. […]
The next biometric identifier? 3D images of your finger veins
Technology.org November 10, 2020 Biometric methods based on finger veins, as compared to face and fingerprints, obviate privacy concerns and degradation due to wear, age, and obscuration. However, they are 2D and are fundamentally limited by conventional imaging and tissue-light scattering. A team of researchers in the US (SUNY Buffalo, industry) has developed a method of 3D finger vein biometric authentication based on photoacoustic tomography. Using a compact photoacoustic tomography setup and a novel recognition algorithm, they demonstrated the advantages of the 3D biometrics method. Tests of the method on people showed that it can correctly accept or reject an […]
Power-free system harnesses evaporation to keep items cool
MIT News November 11, 2020 A camel’s coat, or a person’s clothing, can help to reduce loss of moisture while at the same time allowing enough sweat evaporation to provide a cooling effect. Tests have showed that a shaved camel loses 50 percent more moisture than an unshaved one, under identical conditions. Researchers at MIT have developed a system with a two-layer material with the bottom layer, substituting for sweat glands. It consists of hydrogel, a gelatin-like substance that consists mostly of water, contained in a sponge-like matrix from which the water can easily evaporate. This is covered with an […]
Scientists uncover secrets to designing brain-like devices
Phys.org November 10, 2020 To create devices that mimic what occurs in our brain’s neurons and synapses, researchers need to overcome a fundamental molecular engineering challenge: how to design devices that exhibit controllable and energy-efficient transition between different resistive states triggered by incoming stimuli. A team of researchers in the US (University of Chicago, Argonne National Laboratory) investigated the defective cobaltites and unraveled the structural, electronic, and magnetic changes responsible for the metal-to-insulator transition (MIT) when oxygen vacancies are introduced in the material. They showed that cooperative structural distortions instead of local bonding changes are responsible for the MIT, described […]
Startling Case Study Finds Asymptomatic COVID-19 Carrier Who Shed Virus For 70 Days
Science Alert November 5, 2020 An international team of researchers (USA – NIH, Washington University, industry, UK) have observed long-term SARS-CoV-2 shedding up to 70 days, and genomic and subgenomic RNA up to 105 days past initial diagnosis from the upper respiratory tract of a female immunocompromised patient with chronic lymphocytic leukemia. Several weeks after a second convalescent plasma transfusion, SARS-CoV-2 RNA was no longer detected. They observed marked within-host genomic evolution of SARS-CoV-2, with continuous turnover of dominant viral variants. Their data indicate that certain immunocompromised patients may shed infectious virus for longer durations than previously recognized. They recommend […]
Sticky electrons: When repulsion turns into attraction
EurekAlert November 10, 2020 A few years ago, researchers in Austria were able to clarify mathematically where the boundary lies between the area that follows the known rules and the area where unusual effects play an important role. An international team of researchers (Austria, USA – Georgetown University, Italy, Germany) with the help of complex calculations on supercomputers, has explained exactly what happens when this boundary is crossed: the repulsion between the electrons is suddenly counteracted by an additional attractive force that enables completely counterintuitive effects. By decomposing local and uniform susceptibilities of the Hubbard model via their spectral representations, […]
Tiny device enables new record in super-fast quantum light detection
EurekAlert November 9, 2020 An international team of researchers (UK, France) has made a new miniaturized device by interfacing CMOS-compatible silicon and germanium-on-silicon nanophotonics with silicon-germanium integrated amplification electronics. The detector has a 3 dB bandwidth of 1.7 GHz, is shot noise limited to 9 GHz and has a miniaturized required footprint of 0.84 mm2. The detector can measure the continuous spectrum of squeezing from 100 MHz to 9 GHz of a broadband squeezed light source pumped with a continuous-wave laser. The research provides fast, multipurpose, homodyne detectors for continuous-variable quantum optics, and opens the way to full-stack integration of photonic quantum devices…read more. TECHNICAL ARTICLE
Top 10 Science and Technology Inventions for the Week of November 6, 2020
01. Breakthrough quantum-dot transistors create a flexible alternative to conventional electronics 02. DRIVE ReDIRECT: Program Seeks to Develop Countermeasures Against Chemical Threats 03. New technology allows cameras to capture colors invisible to the human eye 04. Physicists develop efficient modem for a future quantum internet 05. Researchers develop a high-power, portable terahertz laser 06. Researchers invent flexible and highly reliable sensor 07. An underwater navigation system powered by sound 08. World’s fastest open-source intrusion detection is here 09. Biodefense Headlines – 2 November 2020 10. Scientists in Japan Just Found a Detailed Record of Earth’s Last Magnetic Switcharoo And others… […]