Category Physics

Self-healing Nanomaterials usable in Solar Panels and other Electronic devices

Electron microscopy images displaying the formation of the hole on the surface of the nanocrystal and its movement inwards. Credit: Bekenstein lab

The field of self-repairing materials is rapidly expanding, and what used to be science fiction might soon become reality, thanks to scientists who developed eco-friendly nanocrystal semiconductors capable of self-healing. Their findings describe the process, in which a group of materials called double perovskites display self-healing properties after being damaged by the radiation of an electron beam.

From the Terminator to Spiderman’s suit, self-repairing robots and devices abound in sci-fi movies. In reality, though, wear and tear reduce the effectiveness of electronic devices until they need to be replaced...

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A-list Candidate for Fault-Free Quantum Computing Delivers Surprise

An artist’s impression of a neutron striking a sample of superconducting uranium ditelluride in experiments at Oak Ridge National Laboratory. Crystals of uranium (dark gray) and tellurium (brown) are suspected of hosting spin-triplet superconductivity, a state marked by electron pairs with spins pointed in the same direction (blue). In neutron scattering experiments, incoming neutrons disrupt pairs by flipping one spin in the opposite direction (red), revealing telltale evidence of the pair’s quantum mechanical state. (Credit: Jill Hemman/ORNL)

Puzzling result forces physicists to rethink ‘spin-triplet’ superconductivity...

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Researchers offer Future 6G Network Concept

Credit: CC0 Public Domain

NIST and international researchers propose a “cognitive” 6G network—significantly enhancing the 5G network that encodes and transmits data with their meaning or semantics.

With commercial 5G rapidly deploying, researchers have begun to look at 6G. Its key technologies for mobile communication networks are expected to become available as early as 2023, with 6G networks emerging in 2030, according to Saad et al. Compared to 5G, the 6G network will increase data rates by over 100 times, to one terabyte per second or more, enabling the inclusion of edge intelligent devices and computing. To move large amounts of data to where and when it is needed, 6G networks will need to customize services to meet demands, transmit valued data, and interact with users.

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New Data-Decoding approach could lead to Faster, Smaller Digital Tech

Photo-illustration by Craig Chandler | University Communication
Evgeny Tsymbal “holds” a rendering of the atomic structure found in ruthenium oxide, a material whose properties could point the way to faster digital devices packed with more memory.

Most scientists would blanch at being labeled a spin doctor. But when it comes to Evgeny Tsymbal, Ding-Fu Shao and their colleagues, the lab coat fits.

The University of Nebraska–Lincoln physicists have charged to the forefront of spintronics, a next-gen class of data storage and processing poised to complement the digital electronics that have ruled the realm of high tech for decades.

Ahead of that future, though, loom nanoscale obstacles whose size belies their difficulty...

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