Eurekalert August 15, 2018 An international team of researchers (Germany, Sweden, France, Czech Republic) theoretically explored the dynamics of skyrmions and antiskyrmions in ultrathin ferromagnetic films and showed that current-induced spin–orbit torques can lead to trochoidal motion and skyrmion–antiskyrmion pair generation, which occurs only for either the skyrmion or antiskyrmion, depending on the symmetry of the underlying Dzyaloshinskii–Moriya interaction. They developed algorithms which predict how spin–orbit torques can control the type of motion and the possibility to generate skyrmion lattices by antiskyrmion seeding. By increasing the amount of energy transferred to the system from the applied currents, they found that […]
Nanoparticles Take Solar Desalination to New Heights
IEEE Spectrum August 10, 2018 Researchers in China have demonstrated that by dispersing tellurium nanoparticles into water, the water evaporation rate is improved by a factor of three under solar radiation. This makes it possible to increase the water temperature from 29 degrees to 85 degrees Celsius within 100 seconds. The Te nanoparticles perform like a plasmonic nanoparticle when it is smaller than 120 nanometers and then as a high-index all-dielectric nanoparticle when those nanoparticles are larger than 120 nm as they have a wide size distribution (from 10 to 300 nm). This enhanced absorption can cover the whole solar […]
Novel approach to coherent control of a three-level quantum system
Science Daily August 8, 2018 Researchers in Switzerland combined a quantum system with a mechanical oscillator employing electrons trapped in nitrogen-vacancy centers and embedded these spins in single-crystalline mechanical resonators made from diamond. The nitrogen-vacancy spins possess three eigenstates, which can be described as “up,” “down” and “zero.” The researchers showed complete quantum control over such a three-level system, in a way not possible before. They showed that if the three eigenstates are coupled to each other the coherence time can be significantly extended. Research could have application in quantum sensing or quantum information processing… read more. Open Access TECHNICAL […]
Novel optics for ultrafast cameras creates new possibilities for imaging
MIT News August 13, 2018 Researchers at MIT exploited time as an extra dimension in the optical design and demonstrated that by folding large spaces in time using time-resolved cavities, one can enable new camera capabilities without losing the targeted information. They demonstrated lens tube compression by an order of magnitude, together with ultrafast multi-zoom imaging and ultrafast multispectral imaging by time-folding the optical path at different regions of the imaging optics. They expect this technique to have a broad impact on time-resolved imaging and depth-sensing optics… read more. TECHNICAL ARTICLE
Opto-thermoplasmonic patterning of 2D materials
Nanowerk August 14, 2018 To overcome problems associated with laser processing of high-quality micro- and nanopatterns of diverse two-dimensional (2D) materials, researchers at UT Austin have developed an all-optical lithographic technique called optothermoplasmonic nanolithography (OTNL) to achieve high-throughput, versatile, and maskless patterning of different atomic layers. Taking graphene and molybdenum disulfide they have shown that both thermal oxidation and sublimation in the light-directed temperature field can lead to direct etching of the atomic layers. They demonstrated that by steering the laser beams programmable patterning of 2D materials into complex and large-scale nanostructures is possible. The method can be applied to […]
PhD student develops spinning heat shield for future spacecraft
Phys.org August 9, 2018 Researchers in the UK have developed a flexible, foldable heat shield that is shaped like a skirt and spins like a sycamore seed. The material is lightweight strong and has high temperature tolerance. The shield is stitched along a special pattern that allows it to spin up during flight, inducing centrifugal force. Planets with atmospheres, such as Earth and Mars, allow spacecraft to utilize aerodynamic drag to slow down and the prototype’s design uses this to enable atmospheric entry. The prototype is lightweight and flexible enough for use on smaller satellites… read more.
Scientists reduced the weight of optics for satellite observation by 100 times
Eurekalert August 8, 2018 Researchers in Russia have created an optical element for reconstructing images taken with diffractive optics on a satellite. It weighs only 5 grams and replaces a complex and massive system of lenses and mirrors similar to the one that is used in telephoto lenses with a focal length of 300 mm and a weight of 500 grams. They proposed to compensate for distortions with the use of digital processing. The computational reconstruction developed by them includes colour correction of the image and elimination of chromatic blurring using convolutional neural networks (CNN). The compact system is particularly […]
World’s densest, totally silent solid-state drive
Phys.org August 9, 2018 Intel’s newest solid-state drive, the Intel SSD DC P4500, is about the size of a 12-inch ruler and can store 32 terabytes. It is built on Intel 3-D NAND technology, which stacks memory cells atop each other in multiple extremely thin layers, instead of just one. Memory cells in the P4500 are stacked 64 layers deep. In data centers, the no-moving-parts ruler-shaped SSDs can be lined up 32 side-by-side, to hold up to a petabyte in a single server slot. Compared with a traditional SSD, the “ruler” requires half the airflow to keep cool. And compared […]
Top 10 Science and Technology Innovations for the Week of August 10, 2018
01. Memristor based equation solver could cut energy used by 100 times for longer lasting smartphones 02. Quantum dot floating gates improve light-erasable memories 03. Physicists Tied Laser Beams into Knots 04. Switchable plasmonic routers controlled by external magnetic fields by using magneto-plasmonic waveguides 05. The ultimate combination: A 3D-printed optical deep learning network 06. Nanotube ‘rebar’ makes graphene twice as tough 07. Algorithms Help Power Grids Survive GPS Spoofs 08. Artificial intelligence can predict your personality … simply by tracking your eyes 09. The Defense Department has produced the first tools for catching deepfakes 10. Analysis Chronicles Changes in […]
Algorithms Help Power Grids Survive GPS Spoofs
IEEE Spectrum August 7, 2018 Phasor measurement units (PMUs) used to monitor and the control of power systems are vulnerable to GPS spoofing attacks. A team of researchers in the US (Clemson University, UC Santa Barbara) proposes a distributed real-time wide-area oscillation estimation approach that is robust to GPS spoofing on PMUs and their associated phasor data concentrators. The approach checks update consistency with histories and across distributed nodes and can tolerate up to one third of compromised nodes. It can be implemented in a completely decentralized architecture and in a completely asynchronous way. They have confirmed the effectiveness of […]