Category Physics

Solar cells operate by absorbing light first, then converting it into electricity. The most efficient cells needs to do this absorption within a very narrow region of the solar cell material. The narrower this region, the better the cell efficiency. The ability to strongly absorb light by these structures could pave the roadmap to higher cell efficiencies. Credit: University of Surrey

New ultra-thin, patterned graphene sheets will be essential in designing future technologies such as ‘smart wallpaper’ and internet-of-things applications Advanced Technology Institute uses moth-inspired ultrathin graphene sheets to capture light for use in energy production and to power smart sensors...

Has Boeing been exploring the printing of 3D printing of levitating objects? Yes, Boeing has patented technology to 3D print objects while levitating in space. PatentYogi has presented a video that explains what Boeing had in mind in their patent application, first filed in 2014.

PatentYogi has presented a video that explains what Boeing had in mind in their patent application, first filed in 2014. Multiple 3d printers are used to simultaneously print various features. The material has diamagnetic properties. PatentYogi said that when super-cooled, the printing material becomes a superconductor.

MOA: A nugget of the printing material is ejected into space; magnetic levitation holds it in place; further deposition begins...

Bimetallic superconducting loop and experimental setup for thermoelectric flux measurements.

In the 1970s, scientists made a theoretical breakthrough when they predicted that measurable thermoelectric magnetic flux would be generated in loops made of superconducting material. However, a major crisis developed when the experiments began to show paradoxical discrepancies with the theory by up to several orders of magnitude. The results of the experiments were also in disagreement with each other, leading some scientists to believe the theory was incomplete.

By taking advantage of the improvement in nanofabrication technologies over the last 30 years the team from the Department of Physics, led by Professor Victor Petrashov, was able to design and fabricate microscopic sized, bimetallic super...

Step by step towards the complete shell: Formation of a metal cluster from the atomic constituents to the compound. Credit: Dehnen Group, Philipps-Universität Marburg

First the nucleus, then the shell: Researchers from Marburg and Karlsruhe have studied stepwise formation of metal clusters, smallest fractions of metals in molecular form. The shell gradually forms around the inner atom rather than by later inclusion of the central atom. Knowledge of all development steps may allow for customized optoelectronic and magnetic properties.

To specifically synthesize chemical compounds, mechanisms responsible for their formation have to be known. “Purely inorganic compounds are a black box in this respect,” Florian Weigend of KIT and Stefanie Dehnen of Philipps-Universität Marburg explain...