Category Physics

A microlaser comprised of a cylinder of indium gallium arsenide phosphide (red) on silicon (blue) could enable integrated optical circuits. Credit: © 2016 A*STAR Data Storage Institute

Combining silicon with a light-producing semiconductor may help develop micrometer-scale lasers, shows Doris Keh-Ting Ng and her colleagues from A*STAR Data Storage Institute. Silicon has revolutionized the manufacture of electrical devices. Electronic engineers would like to further expand the functionality of these integrated circuits by enabling them to create, manipulate and detect light. These optoelectronic devices could speed up processing of digital information, and lead to micrometer-scale lasers, for use in barcode scanners for example.

The problem, however, is that silicon is not an efficient lig...

The structure of super-flexible LC device is created by ultra-thin plastic substrates bonded by polymer wall spacers.

Researchers at Tohoku University have developed a super flexible liquid crystal (LC) device, in which 2 ultra-thin plastic substrates are firmly bonded by polymer wall spacers. The team, led by Professor Hideo Fujikake and Associate Professor Takahiro Ishinabe of the School of Engineering, hopes the new organic materials will help make electronic displays and devices more flexible, increasing their portability and all round versatility. New usage concepts with flexibility and high quality display could offer endless possibilities in near-future information services.

Previous attempts to create a flexible display using an organic light-emitting diode (OLED) device with a th...

A nano-spacecraft such as ChipSat, which consists of solar cells and functional blocks in a printed circuit board, would face a high risk of damage from radiation and aging issues on a flight into deep space. Especially, most of functional blocks such as microcontroller, memories, sensors, and communication system are semiconductor-based chips. Credit: D.-I. Moon et al.

Self healing chips—healing after radiation damage—could have an impact on interstellar spacecraft, according to reports. Scientists at NASA and KAIST) have been pioneering development of “tiny spacecraft made from a single silicon chip that could slash interstellar exploration times.” Inverse described this breakthrough as “a transistor for silicon chips that can heal itself after radiation damage...

This foldable keyboard, created by Michigan State University engineer Nelson Sepulveda and his research team, operates by touch; no battery is needed. Sepulveda developed a new way to harvest energy from human motion using a pioneering device called a biocompatible ferroelectret nanogenerator, or FENG. Credit: Image courtesy of Michigan State University

The day of charging cellphones with finger swipes and powering Bluetooth headsets simply by walking is now much closer. Michigan State University engineering researchers have created a new way to harvest energy from human motion, using a film-like device that actually can be folded to create more power...