Phys.org August 30, 2023 To date research on metasurfaces has mainly focused on the full control of electromagnetic characteristics, including polarization, phase, amplitude, and even frequencies. Consequently, versatile possibilities of electromagnetic wave control have been achieved, yielding practical optical components such as metalenses, beam-steerers, metaholograms, and sensors. Researchers in South Korea focused on integrating the metasurfaces with other standard optical components for commercialization with miniaturization trends of optical devices. In this review they described and classified metasurface-integrated optical components, and subsequently discussed their promising applications with metasurface-integrated optical platforms including those of augmented/virtual reality, light detection and ranging, and sensors. […]
New quantum device generates single photons and encodes information
Science Daily August 24, 2023 Quantum light emitters capable of generating single photons with circular polarization and non-classical statistics could enable non-reciprocal single-photon devices and deterministic spin–photon interfaces for quantum networks. The emission of chiral quantum light relies on the application of intense external magnetic fields, electrical/optical injection of spin-polarized carriers/excitons or coupling with complex photonic metastructures. An international team of researchers (USA – Los Alamos National Laboratory, Switzerland) stacked a single-molecule-thick layer of tungsten diselenide semiconductor onto a thicker layer of nickel phosphorus trisulfide magnetic semiconductor and created a series of nanometer-scale indentations on the thin stack of materials. […]
Pros and cons of ChatGPT plugin, Code Interpreter, in education, biology, health
Science Daily August 25, 2023 A team of researchers in the US (University of West Virginia, South Dakota University, Arizona State University) have found limitations for its use by scientists who work with biological data utilizing computational methods to prioritize targeted treatment for cancer and genetic disorders. According to them bioinformatics tasks often require execution of third-party packages, access to annotation knowledgebase, and handling large datasets. Code Interpreter’s exclusive support for Python, no installation option for additional packages, inability to utilize external resources, and limited storage capacity could pose obstacles to its wide adoption in bioinformatics applications. To address these […]
Researchers demonstrate high-fidelity transmission of information via novel electronic-optical system
Phys.org August 29, 2023 Free-space optical information transfer through diffusive media is critical in many applications but remains challenging due to random, unknown perturbations in the optical path. Researchers at UCLA demonstrated an optical diffractive decoder with electronic encoding to accurately transfer the optical information of interest through unknown random phase diffusers along the optical path. The model comprised a convolutional neural network-based electronic encoder and successive passive diffractive layers that were jointly optimized. After their joint training using deep learning, their hybrid model could transfer optical information through unknown phase diffusers, demonstrating generalization to new random diffusers. The model […]
Researchers take aim at weather forecasters’ biggest blind spot
Phys.org August 29, 2023 A team of researchers in the US (Stevens Institute of Technology, NOAA) evaluated spatiotemporal variability of deterministic and probabilistic precipitation nowcasting models’ performance over the greater New York City area. They assessed five deterministic and two probabilistic nowcasting methods using Multi-Radar Multi-Sensor data from 2014 to 2022. Three lead times of 2, 4 and 6 h were considered. LINDA-P had the best average Pearson’s correlation of 0.87 at the first step and 0.47 at the last one and the longest 80 min average decorrelation times. Its Mean Absolute Error (MAE) was four times lower in winter […]
Scientists continue to push the boundaries of imaging techniques and reveal the mysterious world of molecules
Nanowerk August 29, 2023 Researchers in Czech Republic have experimentally confirmed the correctness of a decades-old theory that assumed a non-uniform distribution of electron density in aromatic molecules, a phenomenon that significantly affects the physicochemical properties of molecules and their interactions. They presented the resolution of the π-hole on a single molecule which supports the theoretical prediction of its existence. Experimental measurements supported by theoretical calculations showed the importance of π-holes in the process of adsorption of molecules on solid-state surfaces. According to the researchers better knowledge of the distribution of the electron charge will help the scientific community to […]
A simpler way to connect quantum computers
Science Daily August 30, 2023 Recently, there has been significant interest in rare earth ions, in particular Er3+ for its telecom band optical transition that allows long-distance transmission in optical fibres. However, the development of repeater nodes based on rare earth ions has been hampered by optical spectral diffusion, precluding indistinguishable single-photon generation. Researchers at Princeton University implanted Er3+ into CaWO4 to realize significantly reduced optical spectral diffusion. For shallow implanted ions coupled to nanophotonic cavities with large Purcell factor, they observed single-scan optical linewidths of 150 kHz and long-term spectral diffusion of 63 kHz, both close to the Purcell-enhanced radiative linewidth […]
Thin-film batteries rechargeable in just one minute
Science Daily August 29, 2023 The power capability of Li-ion batteries has become increasingly limiting for the electrification of transport on land and in the air. The specific power of Li-ion batteries is restricted due to the required cathode thickness of a few tens of micrometers. Researchers in Switzerland have developed a design of monolithically stacked thin-film cells that had the potential to increase the power ten-fold. They demonstrated an experimental proof-of-concept consisting of two monolithically stacked thin-film cells. Each cell consisted of a silicon anode, a solid-oxide electrolyte, and a lithium cobalt oxide cathode. The battery could be cycled […]
Tiny magnetic beads produce an optical signal that could be used to quickly detect pathogens
MIT News August 25, 2023 Researchers at MIT have identified a new optical signature in a widely used class of magnetic beads, which could be used to quickly detect contaminants in a variety of diagnostic tests. They used Dynabeads coated with anti-Salmonella to bind and identify Salmonella enterica. Dynabeads presented signature peaks at 1000 and 1600 1/cm from aliphatic and aromatic C-C stretching of polystyrene, and 1350 1/cm and 1600 1/cm from amide, alpha-helix, and beta-sheet of antibody coatings of the Fe2O3 core, confirming with electron dispersive X-ray imaging. The Raman signature could be measured in dry and liquid samples. […]
Top 10 Science and Technology Inventions for the Week of August 25, 2023
01. Researchers improve the performance of semiconductors using novel 2D metal 02. Scientists design novel nonlinear circuit to harvest clean power using graphene 03. Scientists develop fermionic quantum processor 04. Scientists trap light inside a magnet 05. Team develops way to integrate electro-optic modulator device on end faces of a single-mode optical fiber jumper 06. ‘Topological gardening’ to achieve unexpected spin transport 07. Move over lithium-ion: Zinc-air batteries a cheaper and safer alternative 08. Nano-thin ‘liquid-like’ coatings may pave the way for a ‘self-cleaning’ world 09. Microscopic transformations of electrocatalyst surfaces 10. Research group detects a quantum entanglement wave for […]