Eurekalert January 8, 2019 An international team of researchers (USA – Harvard University, Howard University, China) has demonstrated a ‘photonic molecule’ with two distinct energy levels using coupled lithium niobate microring resonators and control it by external microwave excitation. They showed that the frequency and phase of light can be precisely controlled by programmed microwave signals and on-demand optical storage and retrieval by reconfiguring the photonic molecule into a bright–dark mode pair. These results open doors to applications in microwave signal processing, quantum photonic gates in the frequency domain and exploring concepts in optical computing and topological physics…read more. TECHNICAL […]
Overtones can provide faster data communication
Phys.org January 10, 2019 An international team of researchers (Sweden, Portugal) demonstrated how to play and strengthen overtones at the nano level. The researchers have produced spintronic oscillators that strengthen spin wave signals in several steps. When they increased the drive current, the signal showed a sharp jump in frequency: first, from the fundamental frequency of 9 GHz to 14 GHz and then a second jump to 20 GHz. While the wavelength of the fundamental tone is about 500 nanometres, the wavelength of the demonstrated third overtone is as short as 74 nanometres. Future studies on smaller oscillators should be […]
New technique offers rapid assessment of radiation exposure
Eurekalert January 9, 2019 Researchers at the North Carolina State University have developed a new technique which relies on testing crystalline insulators found in everything from thumb drives to smartphones. Because the technique is high-throughput, accurate and precise, it can adequately assess an individual’s exposure in about an hour. The insulator should be removed from its electronic device, cleaned and placed in a thermally stimulated luminescence reader, which collects spectra relating to the number of electrons found in the flaws inherent to the sample’s crystalline structure. That spectral data is then fed into a custom algorithm that calculates the sample’s […]
Lotus leaf inspires scientists to create world’s first self-cleaning metals
Nanowerk January 7, 2019 Taking their ideas from defense mechanisms found in plants such as the lotus leaf an international team of researchers (Italy, France, Germany, Spain, UK) has developed the first fluid-repellent, antibacterial, metal surface. Using high-power laser cutting devices they created microscopic ‘spikes’ and ‘ridges’ in sheet metal, causing liquids to ‘bounce off’ the rough micro-topography that mimics the surface of the lotus leaf. The process is useful for medical cutting tools, sterile surfaces, dishwashers, or even saucepans…read more.
Invention promises airport security screening without queues
Australian National University December 14, 2018 Researchers in Australia have developed a proof-of-concept prototype device made with metasurfaces that can control the direction of electromagnetic waves to perform highly advanced sensing functions. It is arbitrarily tunable so that it can direct electromagnetic waves towards any direction or control multiple beams to perform different functions at the same time. It can sense the entire environment surrounding it with unprecedented precision. Future cameras could identify hazardous devices or dangerous chemicals in people’s carry-on baggage when they walk through an airport. Other applications could include smaller and safer sensors for driverless vehicles…read more. […]
The future of work still requires people—so stop investing in them at your own peril
MIT Technology Report January 4, 2019 The World Development Report 2019 says advanced economies have shed industrial jobs, but the rise of the industrial sector in East Asia has more than compensated for this loss, meaning overall numbers haven’t changed. Jobs are relocating, not disappearing. According to the report in countries with the lowest human capital investments today, our analysis suggests that the workforce of the future will only be one-third to one-half as productive as it could be if people enjoyed full health and received a high-quality education…read more.
Future of planet-cooling tech: Study creates roadmap for geoengineering research
Science Daily January 8, 2019 A team of researchers in the US (Cornell University, Caltech, PNNL) established a roadmap for responsible exploration of geoengineering. They focus on the idea of stratospheric aerosol geoengineering mimicking the eruption of a volcano. They highlight two important observations, while field experiments may eventually be needed to reduce some of the uncertainties, they expect that the next phase of research will continue to be primarily model-based, and they anticipate a clear separation in scale and character between small-scale experimental research to resolve specific process uncertainties and global-scale activities…read more. TECHNICAL ARTICLE
Five emerging cyber-threats to worry about in 2019
MIT Technology Review January 4, 2019 According to experts in the field we going to see more mega-breaches and ransomware attacks in 2019. Besides planning to deal with established risks, like threats to web-connected consumer devices and critical infrastructure, cyber-defenders should be paying attention to new threats, too. Here are some that should be on watch lists: Exploiting AI-generated fake video and audio, Poisoning AI defenses, hacking smart contracts, Breaking encryption using quantum computers, Attacking from the computing cloud. A recent report by NAS from a group of US quantum experts urges organizations to start adopting new and forthcoming kinds of […]
Excitons pave the way to more efficient electronics
Nanowerk January 4, 2019 An international team of researchers (Switzerland, Japan) combined tungsten diselenide with molybdenum diselenide to reveal new properties with an array of possible high-tech. By using a laser to generate light beams and slightly shifting the positions of the two 2D materials to create a moiré pattern, they were able to use excitons to change and regulate the polarization, wavelength and intensity of light. By manipulating the “valley,” of the exiciton, it can be leveraged to code and process information at a nanoscopic level. Linking several devices that incorporate this technology would give us a new way […]
Controllable fast, tiny magnetic bits
Phys.org January 4, 2019 Researchers at MIT present an analytical theory to describe three-dimensional magnetic textures in perpendicularly magnetized magnetic multilayers that arise in the presence of magnetostatic interactions and the Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interaction (DMI). They demonstrated that domain walls in multilayers develop a complex twisted structure, which persists even for films with strong DMI. The origin of this twist is surface-volume stray field interactions that manifest as a depth-dependent effective field whose form mimics the DMI effective field. They found that the wall twist has a minor impact on the equilibrium skyrmion or domain size but can significantly affect current-driven […]