Physorg January 15, 2018 In flat materials held at very low temperatures and subjected to extremely strong magnets electrons zipping around start to get locked into tight circular orbits of particular sizes and energies. A team of researchers in the US (City University of New York, NIST, University of Maryland) proposes using laser light to prod electrons into jumping between orbits of different energies. As a result, the interactions between the electrons change and lead to a different dance pattern. The intensity and frequency of the light alter the number of electrons in specific orbits, providing an easy way to […]
New center to develop next-generation computing technologies
Nanowerk January 15, 2018 Applications and Systems-driven Center for Energy-Efficient integrated Nano Technologies (ASCENT) led by the University of Notre Dame will pursue four areas of technology including three-dimensional integration of device technologies beyond a single planar layer (vertical CMOS); spin-based device concepts that combine processing and memory functions (beyond CMOS); heterogeneous integration of functionally diverse nano-components into integrated microsystems (heterogeneous integration fabric); and hardware accelerators for data intensive cognitive workloads (merged logic-memory fabric). ASCENT is funded by Semiconductor Research Corporation… read more.
New exotic phenomena seen in photonic crystals
MIT News January 11, 2018 A team of researchers in the US (MIT, Yale University) used a method that made these open systems accessible and found two specific kinds of effects that are distinctive topological signatures of non-Hermitian systems. One of these is a kind of band feature they refer to as a bulk Fermi arc, and the other is an unusual kind of changing polarization emitted by the photonic crystal used for the study. Most of the potential real-world applications for photonic crystals involve open systems, so the new observations made by this team could open new areas of […]
Pulses of light to encrypt data and protect security of cryptocurrencies
Physorg January 11, 2018 An international team of researchers (USA – University of Southern California, Mexico) report a new strategy to fabricate near-infrared frequency combs based on combining high-Q microcavities with monomolecular layers of highly nonlinear small molecules. The functionalized microcavities demonstrate high-efficiency parametric oscillation in the near-IR and generate primary frequency combs with 0.88-mW thresholds, improving optical parametric oscillation generation over nonfunctionalized devices by three orders of magnitude. This organic-inorganic approach enables otherwise unattainable performance and will inspire the next generation of integrated photonic device platforms… read more. Open Access TECHNICAL ARTICLE
Developing a secure, un-hackable net
Physorg January 11, 2018 A method of securely communicating between multiple quantum devices developed by researchers in the UK does not rely on assumptions, but instead it uses the quantum laws of physics to ensure security, which would need to be broken to hack the encryption. They report on a way of communicating securely between three or more quantum devices, irrespective of who built them. The method works by using the network’s structure to limit what an eavesdropper can learn. They used machine learning and causal inference to develop the test for the un-hackable communications system. This approach distributes secret […]
Engineers reinvent the inductor after two centuries
Nanotechweb January 15, 2018 An international team of researchers (USA – UC Santa Barbara, Japan, China) has made high-performance inductors from intercalated graphene that work in the 10-50 GHz range due to the mechanism of kinetic inductance rather than magnetic inductance. The new inductors, which have both small form-factors and high inductance values, of around 1-2 nanoHenry are a third smaller in terms of surface area than conventional devices but with the same performance. They might thus be used in ultra-compact wireless communication systems for applications in the IoT, sensing and energy storage/transfer. It also highlights a practical application for […]
Making the internet of things possible with a new breed of ‘memristors’
Science Daily January 10, 2018 Researchers in Finland have fabricated a new kind of ferroelectric tunnel junctions using organic hydro-carbon materials. The junctions work in low voltages of less than five volts and with a variety of electrode materials including silicon. They can retain data for more than 10 years without power and be manufactured in normal conditions. They can be made from the water or oxygen in the air and would reduce the amount of toxic heavy metal waste in electronics. They are working to integrate millions of tunnel junction memristors into a network on a one square centimetre […]
Surprising discovery could lead to better batteries
Science Daily January 12, 2018 When a lithium-ion battery supplies electricity, lithium ions flow into empty sites in the atomic lattice. It was assumed that the concentration of lithium would continuously increase in the lattice. By imaging reactions inside the electrodes in real time, an international team of researchers (USA – Brookhaven National Laboratory, University of Michigan, MIT, UC Berkeley, UK, China) has shown that, when the battery’s electrodes are made from nano-sized particles, the lithium concentration within local regions of nanoparticles go up, and then down. This discovery is a major step toward improving the battery life of consumer […]
High-temperature superconductivity gets agile (w/video)
Nanotechweb January 12, 2018 An international team of researchers (Japan, Australia) has synthesized of YBa2Cu3O x superconducting nanorods using solution chemistry. Initially, a mixture of fine-grained coprecipitated powder was obtained and subsequently converted to YBa2Cu3O x nanorods by heating to 1223 K in oxygen for 12 h. The nanorods are superconducting without the need for any further sintering or oxygenation, thereby providing an avenue for direct application to substrates at room temperature or direct use as formed nanorods. The research opens a route to designer superconductors, tailoring them for specific uses… read more. TECHNICAL ARTICLE
What sort of stream networks do scientific ideas flow along?
Physorg January 12, 2018 Researchers in Poland have shown that tracking the dependencies between co-authors reveals not only the paths along which scientific ideas flow, but also reconstructs the structure of scientific cooperation and detects emerging communities. Interestingly, the proposed method of analysis can be an effective tool to fight terrorists and even dishonest politicians… read more. TECHNICAL ARTICLE