Category Physics

This graphic illustrates how a flat-screen Fresnel zone wireless power transfer system could charge smart devices in your living room. Credit: Duke University

A flat-screen panel that resembles a TV on your living room wall could one day remotely charge any device within its line of sight. Engineers at the University of Washington, Duke University and Intellectual Ventures’ Invention Science Fund (ISF) show that the technology already exists to build such a system—it’s only a matter of taking the time to design it. “There is an enormous demand for alternatives to today’s clunky charging pads and cumbersome cables, which restrict the mobility of a smart phone or a tablet...

Compact sensor providing room-temperature operation of monolithic surface-active lasers and detectors integrated on the same chip. The differentiation between emitter and detector is eliminated, which enables mutual commutation. Proof-of-principle gas measurements with a limit of detection below 400 ppm are demonstrated. This concept enables a crucial miniaturization of sensing devices.

In technological gas detection there are a whole host of methods available including infrared lasers, passing a laser beam through the gas to an adjacent separate detector, which measures the degree of light attenuation it causes...

Chemists at Goethe University have now developed a new catalyst for the activation of hydrogen by introducing boron atoms into a common organic molecule. Credit: GU

Boron compounds extend range of possible chemical synthesis applications. Hydrogen (H2) is a valuable raw material which as a result of sophisticated catalysts is becoming more important. Applications range from food and fertilizer manufacture to crude oil cracking to an energy source in fuel cells. A challenge lies in splitting the strong H-H bond under mild conditions. Chemists at Goethe University have developed a new catalyst for activation of H2 by introducing boron atoms into a common organic molecule. The process requires only an electron source in addition and should therefore be usable on a broad scale in future.

The h...

Strange electron orbits form on the surface of a crystal in this image created using a theoretical data model. These orbits correspond to the electrons being in different ‘valleys’ of states, yielding new insights into an area of research called ‘vallytronics,’ which seeks alternative ways to manipulate electrons for future electronic applications. Credit: Ali Yazdani, Department of Physics, Princeton University

For the first time, an experiment has directly imaged electron orbits in a high-magnetic field, illuminating an unusual collective behavior in electrons and suggesting new ways of manipulating the charged particles. The study, conducted by researchers at Princeton University and the University of Texas-Austin was published Oct. 21, in the journal Science...