Phys.org June 9, 2022 Until now, molecular switching has only been possible when the molecules are extremely cold. Researchers in Australia have developed a semiempirical microscopic model of spin crossover materials (SCO) materials combining crystal field theory with elastic intermolecular interactions. The model reproduces the key experimental results including thermally induced phase transitions, light-induced spin-state trapping (LIESST), and reverse-LIESST. They reproduced and explained the experimentally observed relationship between the critical temperature of the thermal transition. They proposed strategies to design SCO materials with higher TLIESST. The most dramatic increases came from increasing the cooperativity of the spin-state transition by increasing […]
Tag Archives: S&T Australia
The way of water: Making advanced electronics with H2O
Science Daily May 16, 2022 The next generation of photovoltaics, semiconductors and LEDs could be made using perovskites. The presence of moisture can lead to defects in the materials, causing them to fall apart more quickly when they’re being used in a device. Researchers in Australia found a simple way to control the growth of phase-pure perovskite crystals by harnessing water as a positive factor by changing the ratio of water to solvent during the early stages of the process, they could choose to grow different types of perovskite crystals, with structures to suit various purposes. They identified that the […]
Single-photon source paves the way for practical quantum encryption
Phys.org March 23, 2022 Researchers in Australia have developed an on-demand way to generate photons with high purity in a scalable and portable system that operates at room temperature. They combined hexagonal boron nitride with a hemispherical solid immersion lens, which increases the source’s efficiency by a factor of six. They incorporated the single-photon source into a fully portable device that can perform QKD. They demonstrated that it could produce over ten million single photons per second at room temperature. The streamlined device is easier to use and much smaller than traditional optical table setups allowing the system to be […]
A new record for laser stability across atmospheric distances
Phys.org January 24, 2022 The propagation of laser through turbulent atmosphere is affected by wind and minor equipment vibrations. Researchers in Australia used a host of features to keep the beam stable, including temperature controls, noise reduction and automatic adjustments to the devices holding the equipment. The test involved sending a beam from a building to a site 1.2 kilometers away. The target consisted of a mirror to bounce the laser beam back to a device near the source of the laser. The beam was held in place for approximately five minutes. Once a long-distance means of sending laser signals […]
Novel biosensors set to revolutionize brain-controlled robotics
Science Daily December 22, 2021 Researchers in Australia have detected the EEG signals with high sensitivity using epitaxial graphene (EG) grown on silicon carbide on silicon. The dry and non-invasive approach exhibited a markedly improved skin contact impedance when benchmarked to commercial dry electrodes, as well as superior robustness, allowing prolonged and repeated use also in a highly saline environment. They observed a new phenomenon of surface conditioning of the EG electrodes. The prolonged contact of the EG with the skin electrolytes functionalize the grain boundaries of the graphene, leading to the formation of a thin surface film of water […]
New copper surface eliminates bacteria in just two minutes
Phys.org December 13, 2021 The ions released from the metal’s surface are toxic to bacterial cells. But this process is slow when standard copper is used. Researchers in Australia used a special copper mold casting process to make the alloy, arranging copper and manganese atoms into specific formations. The manganese atoms were then removed from the alloy using dealloying leaving pure copper full of tiny microscale and nanoscale cavities in its surface. The resulting copper is composed of comb-like microscale cavities and within each tooth of the comb structure are much smaller nanoscale cavities; it has a massive active surface […]
Engineers make critical advance in quantum computer design
Phys.org August 13, 2021 Advancing from the current few-qubit devices to silicon quantum processors with upward of a million qubits, as required for fault-tolerant operation, presents several unique challenges, one of the most demanding being the ability to deliver microwave signals for large-scale qubit control. Researchers in Australia have demonstrated a potential solution to this problem by using a three-dimensional dielectric resonator to broadcast a global microwave signal across a quantum nanoelectronic circuit. The technique uses only a single microwave source and can deliver control signals to millions of qubits simultaneously. They have shown that the global field can be […]