Category Physics

Engineers from Duke University and the Institut de Physique de Nice in France have developed a new method to identify objects using microwaves that improves accuracy while reducing the associated computing time and power requirements.

The system could provide a boost to object identification and speed in fields where both are critical, such as autonomous vehicles, security screening and motion sensing.

The new machine-learning approach cuts out the middleman, skipping the step of creating an image for analysis by a human and instead analyzes the pure data directly...

For the first time, physicists have successfully converted electrical signals into photons and radiated them in specific directions using a low-footprint optical antenna that is only 800 nanometers in size.

Directional antennas convert electrical signals to radio waves and emit them in a particular direction, allowing increased performance and reduced interference. This principle, which is useful in radio wave technology, could also be interesting for miniaturised light sources...

Transmorphic epitaxial growth of AlN nucleation layers on SiC substrates for high-breakdown thin GaN transistors. A new method to fit together layers of semiconductors as thin as a few nanometres has resulted in not only a scientific discovery but also a new type of transistor for high-power electronic devices. The result, published in Applied Physics Letters, has aroused huge interest.

The achievement is the result of a close collaboration between scientists at Linköping University and SweGaN, a spin-off company from materials science research at LiU...

Photonic crystals are predicted to be one of the wonders of the 21st century. In the 20th century, new understanding of the electronic band structure-the physics that determines when a solid conducts or insulates-revolutionized the world. That same physics, when applied to photonic crystals, allows us to control light in a similar manner to how we control electrons. If photonic crystals live up to their promise, all-optical transistors that consume little power and enable even more powerful computers could become a reality.

But, that destination isn’t in sight yet. The problem is one of control...