Nanowerk December 27, 2017 The transport of paramagnetic FeCl4 ions in a liquid electrolyte (including [Bmim]FeCl4) demonstrated by researchers in Japan, was magnetically controlled to operate a typical electrochemical device; an Electric Double Layer Transistor (EDLT), a type of transistor that uses an EDL at a semiconductor/electrolyte interface to tune the electronic carrier density of the semiconductor. The device was successfully switched by a magnetic field, although the switching ratio was smaller than in conventional EDLTs that are controlled by an electric field. The research has the potential to realize innovative applications that have not been possible using conventional approaches. […]
Atomically thin perovskites boost for future electronics
Physorg.com December 27, 2017 High-κ dielectric materials may be the key for developing electronic devices of the future. Researchers in Japan created high-performance dielectric nanofilms using 2-D perovskite nanosheets (Ca2Nam−3NbmO3m+1; m = 3–6) as building blocks. It exhibited an unprecedented capacitance density of approximately 203 μF cm-2, which is about three orders of magnitude greater than that of currently available ceramic condensers, opening a route to ultra-scaled high-density capacitors. The research provides a strategy for achieving 2-D high-κ dielectrics/ferroelectrics for use in ultra-scaled electronics and post-graphene technology. Read more. TECHNICAL ARTICLE Credit: National Institute for Materials Science
Special Report: Top Tech 2018
IEEE Spectrum January 3, 2018 Here are some of the technologies you’ll be reading about this year. Read more
Deep Learning: A Critical Appraisal
Arxiv January 2, 2018 Although deep learning has historical roots going back decades, neither the term “deep learning” nor the approach was popular just over five years ago. Against a background of considerable progress in areas such as speech recognition, image recognition, and game playing, and considerable enthusiasm in the popular press, the author presents ten concerns for deep learning, and suggests that deep learning must be supplemented by other techniques if we are to reach artificial general intelligence. Read more . Open Access TECHNICAL ARTICLE
Top 10 Science & Technology Innovations for the Week of December 15, 2017
Ocean of Things Aims to Expand Maritime Awareness across Open Seas A transistor of graphene nanoribbons Researchers make solid ground toward better lithium-ion battery interfaces ‘Magnetoelectric’ material shows promise as memory for electronics Single-photon detector can count to 4 Quantum simulators wield control over more than 50 qubits, setting new record Teaching life a new trick: Bacteria make boron-carbon bonds Fully screen-printed monoPoly silicon solar cell technology Creating surfaces that repel water and control its flow Images of 2017 in physics
Ocean of Things Aims to Expand Maritime Awareness across Open Seas
Source: DARPA, December 6, 2017 DARPA’s Ocean of Things program seeks to enable persistent maritime situational awareness over large ocean areas by deploying thousands of small, low-cost floats that could form a distributed sensor network. Each smart float would contain a suite of commercially available sensors to collect environmental data—such as ocean temperature, sea state, and location—as well as activity data about commercial vessels, aircraft, and even maritime mammals moving through the area. The floats would transmit data periodically via satellite to a cloud network for storage and real-time analysis. The technical challenge lies in two key areas: float development […]
A transistor of graphene nanoribbons
Source: Science Daily, November 29, 2017 Graphene becomes a semiconductor in the form of nanoribbons which has a sufficiently large energy or band gap in which no electron states can exist: it can be turned on and off — and thus may become a key component of nanotransistors. However, graphene ribbons with irregular edges may not exhibit the desired electrical properties. An international team of researchers (USA – UC Berkeley, Switzerland) succeeded in growing ribbons exactly nine atoms wide with a regular armchair edge from precursor molecules. After several process steps, they formed the desired nanoribbons of about one nanometer […]
Researchers make solid ground toward better lithium-ion battery interfaces
Source: Science Daily, December 12, 2017 There are two important interfaces in solid state batteries, at the cathode-electrolyte junction and electrolyte-anode junction. Either could be dictating the performance limits of a full battery. The interfaces that we are only a few atomic layers thick. Researchers at Sandia National Laboratory engineered the interface down to the nanometer or even subnanometer level to study and improve the interfaces between different materials. The underlying goal of the work is to make solid-state batteries more efficient and to improve the interfaces between different materials … read more. TECHNICAL ARTICLE
Quantum simulators wield control over more than 50 qubits, setting new record
Source: Science Daily, November 29, 2017 Two independent teams of researchers in the US (University of Maryland, NIST) and (Harvard University, MIT) have used more than 50 interacting atomic qubits to mimic magnetic quantum matter. UMD-NIST team deployed ytterbium ions trapped in place by gold-coated and razor-sharp electrodes and Harvard-MIT team used rubidium atoms confined by an array of laser beams. In this experiment there are over a quadrillion possible magnet configurations, and this number doubles with each additional magnet. Quantum simulations are believed to be one of the first useful applications of quantum computers. After perfecting these quantum simulators, […]
‘Magnetoelectric’ material shows promise as memory for electronics
Source: Science Daily, November 29, 2017 Devices tend to store information through electric fields or through magnetic fields. In the future, our electronics could benefit from the best of each method. Switching one functionality of a magnetoelectric material induces a change in the other, referred to as cross-coupling. To better understand cross-coupling, an international team if researchers (USA – University of Wisconsin, Temple University, Argonne National Laboratory, Northern Illinois University, Italy, UK, Luxembourg, Switzerland) describe their unique process for making a high-quality magnetoelectric material and exactly how and why it works… read more. Open Access TECHNICAL ARTICLE