EurekAlert July 9, 2020 When spintronic devices are used for storing data, the number of stable states sets an upper limit on memory capacity. Researchers in Israel have shown that relatively simple structures can support exponential number of magnetic states – much greater than previously thought. They studied structures that are magnetic thin films patterned in the form of N crossing ellipses which have two to the power of 2N magnetization states. The researchers demonstrated switching between the states by generating spin currents. The finding may pave the way to multi-level magnetic memory with extremely large number of states per […]
New biomaterial could shield against harmful radiation
Phys.org July 8, 2020 Melanins are a family of heterogeneous biopolymers found ubiquitously across plant, animal, bacterial, and fungal kingdoms where they act variously as pigments and as radiation protection agents. An international team of researchers (USA – Northwestern, UC San Diego, University of Akron, Belgium) synthesized ” selenomelanin” enriching melanin with selenium instead of sulfur to provide better protection against X-rays as selenium is an essential micronutrient that plays an important role in cancer prevention. Results demonstrated that selenomelanin offers superior protection from radiation, it is easy to synthesize. Selenomelanin can be biosynthesized, with appropriate nutrients can produce selenomelanin […]
New process enables lithium mining in Germany
Tech Xplore July 7, 2020 Considerable quantities of the element lithium are deeply hidden in rock formations below the Upper Rhine Trench: dissolved in salty thermal water reservoirs. Chile, Argentina, and Australia account for more than 80 percent of global production. Researchers in Germany have developed an environmentally friendly process to extract lithium from the existing infrastructure of geothermal plants, through which up to two billion liters of thermal water flow every year. There can be up to 200 milligrams per liter. The process involves filtering out the lithium ions from the thermal water and concentrated until lithium can be […]
Physics team observes extremely fast electronic changes in real time in a special material class
Phys.org July 7, 2020 Topologically protected Weyl semimetal phase in the transition metal dichalcogenide Td-WTe2 can be controlled and, ultimately, destroyed upon the coherent excitation of an interlayer shear mode. An international team of researchers (Germany, China) provide direct experimental evidence that the shear mode acts on the electronic states near the phase-defining Weyl points. They observed a periodic reduction in the spin splitting of bands. Comparison with higher-frequency coherent phonon modes finally proved the shear mode-selectivity of the observed changes in the electronic structure. findings reveal direct experimental insights into electronic processes that are of vital importance for a […]
Porous graphene ribbons doped with nitrogen for electronics and quantum computing
Science Daily July 8, 2020 High concentration of nitrogen atoms in the crystal lattice causes graphene ribbons to magnetize when subjected to a magnetic field. An international team of researchers (Switzerland, UK) expect these porous, nitrogen-doped graphene ribbons to display extraordinary magnetic properties. They have produced porous graphene ribbons in which specific carbon atoms in the crystal lattice are replaced with nitrogen atoms. They demonstrated that these new graphene ribbons were no longer electrical conductors, like pure graphene, but behaved as semiconductors. According to the researchers the doped graphene ribbons could be of interest for applications in quantum computing…read more. […]
Scaling up the quantum chip
MIT News July 8, 2020 A team of researchers in the US (MIT, Sandia National Laboratory) have developed a process to manufacture and integrate “artificial atoms,” with photonic circuitry, producing the largest quantum chip of its type. They used a hybrid approach, in which carefully selected “quantum micro chiplets” containing multiple diamond-based qubits are placed on an aluminum nitride photonic integrated circuit. They built a 128-qubit system. The artificial atoms in the chiplets consist of color centers in diamonds. The team filled the spaces with germanium and silicon. Each center functions as an atom-like emitter whose spin states can form […]
Scientists create new device to light up the way for quantum technologies
Phys.org July 7, 2020 An international team of researchers (Ireland, UK) report theoretical statistics of 1- and 2-qubit (bipartite) systems, namely, photon antibunching and entanglement, of near-field excited quantum emitters. The sub-diffraction focusing of a plasmonic waveguide is shown to generate enough power over a sufficiently small region to strongly drive quantum emitters. This enables ultrafast single-photon emission as well as creates entangled states between two emitters when performing a controlled-NOT operation. The use of a movable plasmonic waveguide, in lieu of stationary nanostructures, allows high-speed rasterization between sets of qubits and enables spatially flexible data storage and quantum information […]
Shining light into the dark: New discovery makes microscopic imaging possible in dark conditions
Phys.org July 9, 2020 Chemiluminescence and fluorescence have revolutionized the study of chemical and biological processes. Technically simple solution of converting chemical energy into light energy only at specific sites defined by a clean, easy-to-deliver focused light stimulus is not yet a viable option. Researchers in Australia have developed a method where the light shines on an opaque substrate, while the other side of the sample in contact with the specimen does not have any exposure to the external light at all. The brief light exposure activates the chemicals and makes the sample glow in the dark. The technique addresses […]
Thermophones offer new route to radically simplify array design, research shows
Science Daily July 2, 2020 When a medium is rapidly heated and cooled, heat transfers to its surroundings as sound. A controllable source of this sound is realized through joule heating of thin, conductive films by an alternating current. Researchers in the UK show that arrays of these sources generate sound unique to this mechanism. From the sound alone, they spatially resolved current flow by varying the film geometry and electrical phase. Electrical coupling between sources creates its own distinctive sound that depends on the current flow direction, making it unusually sensitive to the interactions of multiple currents sharing the […]
Top 10 Science and Technology Inventions for the Week of July 3, 2020
01. A completely new plasmonic chip for ultrafast data transmission using light 02. Cartwheeling light reveals new optical phenomenon 03. Light from inside the tunnel 04. Multifunctional nanofiber protects against explosions, extreme temps 05. Nanoelectromechanical switches based reconfigurable computing 06. A path to new nanofluidic devices applying spintronics technology 07. The lightest shielding material in the world 08. Study reveals magnetic process that can lead to more energy-efficient memory in computers 09. Extensive review of spin-gapless semiconductors: Next-generation spintronics candidates 10. Scientists Have Demonstrated Quantum Entanglement on a Tiny Satellite Orbiting Earth And others… Being exceptional in higher dimensions Computing […]