Category Physics

Engineers have succeeded in fabricating topological LC circuits arranged in a honeycomb pattern where electromagnetic (EM) waves can propagate without backscattering even when pathways turn sharply. These circuits may be suitable for use as high-frequency electromagnetic waveguides, which would allow miniaturization and high integration in various electronics devices, such as mobile phones.

There has been a surge in searching for materials with topological properties, whose functions are not influenced even if the sample shapes are changed...

Progress in the development of highly reliable and sensitive diamond MEMS sensors. A NIMS-led research group succeeded in developing a high-quality diamond cantilever with among the highest quality (Q) factor values at room temperature ever achieved. The group also succeeded for the first time in the world in developing a single crystal diamond microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) sensor chip that can be actuated and sensed by electrical signals. These achievements may popularize research on diamond MEMS with significantly higher sensitivity and greater reliability than existing silicon MEMS.

MEMS sensors – in which microscopic cantilevers (projecting beams fixed at only one end) and electronic circuits are int...

Chloride-free electrolyte and organic cathode boosted energy density, stability. Researchers from the University of Houston and the Toyota Research Institute of America have discovered a promising new version of high-energy magnesium batteries, with potential applications ranging from electric vehicles to battery storage for renewable energy systems.

The battery, reported Dec. 21 in Joule, is the first reported to operate with limited electrolytes while using an organic electrode, a change the researchers said allows it to store and discharge far more energy than earlier magnesium batteries...

The Cold Atom Lab (CAL) is the first facility in orbit to produce clouds of “ultracold” atoms, which can reach a fraction of a degree above absolute zero: -459ºF (-273ºC), the absolute coldest temperature that matter can reach. Nothing in nature is known to hit the temperatures achieved in laboratories like CAL, which means the orbiting facility is regularly the coldest known spot in the universe.

NASA’s Cold Atom Laboratory on the International Space Station is regularly the coldest known spot in the universe...