Phys.org January 10, 2018 Recently unidirectional spin Hall magnetoresistance was reported in a conventional metal bilayer material system. A team of researchers in the US (University of Minnesota, Pennsylvania State University) demonstrated the existence of such magnetoresistance in the topological insulator-ferromagnet bilayers and showed that the adoption of topological insulators, compared to heavy metals, doubles the magnetoresistance performance at 150 Kelvin (-123.15 Celsius). The research could improve the future of low-power computing and memory for the semiconductor industry, including brain-like computing and chips for robots and 3D magnetic memory…read more. Open Access TECHNICAL ARTICLE
Category Archives: Materials science
Thermoelectric power generation at room temperature: Coming soon?
Physorg.com December 27, 2017 Researchers in Japan combined silicon with ytterbium to create ytterbium silicide which is a good electrical conductor, non-toxic and has valence fluctuation that makes it a good TE material at low temperatures. The Yb atoms in YbSi2 occupy crystal planes and the Si atoms form hexagonal sheets between those planes blocking the conduction of heat through the material keeping the thermal conductivity down. They have achieved high power factor of 2.2 mWm-1K-2 at room temperature. The research could help unlock the benefits of TE in everyday technology. Read more. TECHNICAL ARTICLE
‘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
Creating surfaces that repel water and control its flow
Science Daily, December 13, 2017 To gain better control over the flow of water on superhydrophobic materials, scientists have been etching paths into coatings for the liquid to follow. And although water will take the designated path, it can leave behind a wet trail as the rolling droplets have a different contact angle at the front and back. An international team of researchers (China, US – UMass Amherst) has developed a technique to make the tracks hydrophobic which is critical for keeping water droplets’ spherical shape and minimizing the difference in the front and back contact angles. Testing showed that […]