Category Physics

In this artist’s conception of the Nebraska experiment, the white orbs represent two laser pulses, with plasma waves in their wakes. The waves interfere with one another after the laser pulses cross, and electrons ride the wakefield waves to higher energy.
Credit: Extreme Light Laboratory, University of Nebraska-Lincoln

Force of light boosts electrons close to speed of light. In a recent experiment at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, plasma electrons in the paths of intense laser light pulses were almost instantly accelerated close to the speed of light.

Physics professor Donald Umstadter, who led the research, said the new application might aptly be called an “optical rocket” because of the tremendous amount of force that light exerted in the experiment...

Diagram of a six-stage cooling cycle for magnetic shape-memory alloys developed by researchers at the TU Darmstadt and the HZDR. Illustration: Alexey Karpenkov

A novel technology could provide a solution for cooling processes: refrigeration using magnetic materials in magnetic fields. Researchers have developed the idea of a cooling cycle based on the ‘magnetic memory’ of special alloys.

As a result of climate change, population growth, and rising expectations regarding quality of life, energy requirements for cooling processes are growing much faster worldwide than for heating. Another problem that besets today’s refrigeration systems is that most coolants cause environmental and health damage...

This schematic of a neural network shows the assignment of rotational spectra (red bars at left) by an algorithm (center) to identify the structure of a molecule in the gas phase (right). (Image by Argonne National Laboratory.)

Scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Argonne National Laboratory have begun to use neural networks to identify the structural signatures of molecular gases, potentially providing new and more accurate sensing techniques for researchers, the defense industry and drug manufacturers.

This breakthrough work has been recognized as a finalist for a 2018 R&D 100 award. R&D 100 awards, called the “Oscars of Innovation,” are given out by R&D Magazine to the most significant innovations developed in a given year.

Neural networks – so named because they operate ...

An experimental transistor using silicon oxide for the base, carbide for the 2D material and aluminum oxide for the encapsulating material
Credit: Zahra Hemmat

Sandwiching 2D materials used in nanoelectronic devices between their 3D silicon bases and an ultrathin layer of aluminum oxide can significantly reduce the risk of component failure due to overheating, according to a new study published in the journal of Advanced Materials led by researchers at the University of Illinois at Chicago College of Engineering.

Many of today’s silicon-based electronic components contain 2D materials such as graphene...