Science Daily October 11, 2022 To save energy in computing by co-locating computation and memory elements in an integrated circuit manufacturing, a team of researchers in the US (University of Virginia, Washington State University, North Carolina State University, Sandia National Laboratory, Pennsylvania State University, Brown University, Oak Ridge National Laboratory) explained how to engineer and enhance the stability of ferroelectric hafnium oxides, which are compatible with mainstream semiconductors. They showed that the presence of the top electrode during thermal processing results in larger tensile biaxial stress magnitudes and concomitant increases in ferroelectric phase fraction and polarization response, whereas film chemistry, […]
A new method to enable efficient interactions between photons
Phys.org October 6, 2022 Photonics stands out as fundamental to realize the full potential of quantum technology. It provides a modular approach where the main challenges lie in the construction of high-quality building blocks and in the development of methods to interface the modules. In a review article an international team of researchers (France, UK, Canada, Germany, Denmark, South Korea) used the example of quantum dot devices to present the physics of deterministic photon–emitter interfaces, including the main photonic building blocks required to scale up, and discuss quantitative performance benchmarks. While their focus is on quantum dot devices, the presented […]
A new process to build 2D materials made possible by quantum calculations
Phys.org October 10, 2022 Ultra-thin 2D materials are frequently grown by exposing a hot metal surface to a specific gas, which results in the gas decomposing on the metal and forming the desired 2D material. Due to the hot temperatures involved, it is difficult to monitor the growth of 2D materials during the several intermediate steps involved before the 2D material is completed. An international team of researchers (Austria, UK) utilized helium atom scattering to discover and control the growth of novel 2D h-BN nanoporous phases during the CVD process. They found that prior to the formation of h-BN from […]
New technique to trap soundwaves and light on a chip in large-scale circuits
Phys.org October 10, 2022 The filtering, amplifying, and processing of optical signals is essential in the development of new telecommunication techniques, quantum optics and sensors. One pathway to do this effectively is by using Brillouin scattering. However, Brillouin scattering (SBS) in the emerging silicon nitride (Si3N4) photonic integration platform is currently out of reach because of the lack of acoustic guidance. An international team of researchers (the Netherlands, Switzerland) demonstrated advanced control of backward SBS in multilayer Si3N4 waveguides. By optimizing the separation between two Si3N4 layers, they unlocked acoustic waveguiding in this platform, potentially leading up to 15× higher […]
New tool helps researchers investigate clouds, rain, and climate change
Phys.org October 12, 2022 A team of researchers in the US (Pennsylvania State University, Argonne National Laboratory, NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies, New York, Texas A&M, College Station) developed the Earth Model Column Collaboratory (EMC2), an open-source ground-based lidar and radar instrument simulator and subcolumn generator, specifically designed for large-scale models, in particular climate models, but also applicable to high-resolution model output. It provides a flexible framework enabling direct comparison of model output with ground-based observations, including generation of subcolumns that may statistically represent finer model spatial resolutions and EMC2 large-scale models’ physical assumptions implemented in their cloud or […]
New weather prediction model produces more accurate typhoon intensity forecasts
Phys.org October 12, 2022 Researchers in China cycled and evaluated western North Pacific (WNP) typhoons of 2016 using Kalman filter (EnKF) combined with the Advanced Research Weather Research and Forecasting model (WRF). For all TC categories, the 6-h ensemble priors from the WRF/EnKF system had an appropriate amount of variance for TC tracks but had insufficient variance, they overestimated the intensity for weak storms but underestimated the intensity for strong storms. Comparison with the 5-d deterministic forecasts compared to the NCEP [US] and ECMWF [European] operational control forecasts showed that the WRF/EnKF forecasts generally had larger track errors than the […]
Physicists probe ‘astonishing’ morphing properties of honeycomb-like material
Science Daily October 12, 2022 A team of researchers in the US (University of Colorado, Georgia Institute of Technology, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, University of Kentucky) synthesized a quantum material which has the chemical formula Mn3Si2Te6 and has “honeycomb” structure because its manganese and tellurium atoms form a network of interlocking octahedra that look like the cells in a beehive. Under most circumstances, it behaved a lot like an insulator. When it was exposed to magnetic fields in a certain way, it suddenly morphed from rubber into metal in behavior. The team explained this behavior as an exotic quantum state […]
Scientists develop a new printable, wearable insect repellent
Phys.org October 11, 2022 With the help of a 3D printer, researchers in Germany encapsulated the active ingredient IR3535, designed to repel mosquitoes, and formed it into the desired shape, such as a ring, or a bracelet. The item can be worn, and it releases the agent for a long time. The basic idea is that the insect repellent continuously evaporates and forms a barrier for insects. Mosquito sprays containing IR3535 are very gentle on the skin and have been used all over the world for many years. The rate at which the insect repellent evaporates depends on many different […]
Study: ‘Exploring’ inventors thrive in workplaces with open communications
Phys.org October 12, 2022 Drawing upon the notion of boundaryless organizations and upon the information processing perspective of organizational design a team of researchers in the US (University of South Florida, University of Nebraska, University of Missouri) investigated the decompartmentalization of internal communication as a unique organizational context that moderates the relationship between R&D employees’ exploration behaviors and their individual inventive performance. They tested their hypotheses using a novel combination of survey and archival data. They found that R&D employees who explored more generated inventions that were more valuable only when in workplaces characterized by high communication decompartmentalization. Such workplaces […]
Topological materials become switchable
Phys.org October 10, 2022 An international team of researchers (Austria, the Netherlands, USA – Los Alamos National Laboratory, Rice University) used a special material made of cerium, bismuth, and palladium to demonstrate that it is possible to control topological properties and even make them disappear completely at a certain point to achieve stable, robust properties that can be selectively turn on and off. This control was made possible by the internal structure of the excitations, which are responsible for charge transport: They carry not only electric charge, but also a magnetic moment—and this makes it possible to switch them through […]