Category Physics

Wireless Receiver Blocks Interference for Better Mobile Device Performance

A cellphone has a blue shield which blocks red interference.
Caption: A new receiver can block up to four times more interference than some similar devices.
Credits:Image: MIT News; iStock

The growing prevalence of high-speed wireless communication devices, from 5G mobile phones to sensors for autonomous vehicles, is leading to increasingly crowded airwaves. This makes the ability to block interfering signals that can hamper device performance an even more important — and more challenging — problem.

With these and other emerging applications in mind, MIT researchers demonstrated a new millimeter-wave multiple-input-multiple-output (MIMO) wireless receiver architecture that can handle stronger spatial interference than previous designs. MIMO systems have multiple antennas, enabling them to transmit and receive signals from different directions...

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A Possible World Record: Studying Thin Films Under Extreme Temperatures with Reflectometry

A possible world record: Studying thin films under extreme temperatures with reflectometry
Schematic of the Ni/Cu catalytic alloy-mediated EG synthesis on 3C–SiC on silicon. Credit: RSC Advances (2024). DOI: 10.1039/D3RA08289J

A team of researchers from ANSTO and University of Technology Sydney have set a record by conducting thin film experiments at 1,100 degrees Celsius, using the Spatz reflectometer equipped with a vacuum furnace.

The unique combination of neutron reflectometry with high temperature apparatus enables atomic-scale insights into thin film growth and diffusion processes. This is of relevance to a wide range of thin film technology and devices which undergo a range of processing and heat treatment conditions to optimize performance.

The UTS group, led by Francesca Iacopi and Aiswarya Pradeepkumar, has been studying the growth of thin carbon sheets (...

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Researchers ‘Crack the Code’ for Quelling Electromagnetic Interference

FAU Center for Connected Autonomy and Artificial Intelligence highlighted in 'Nature Reviews'
Equipped with a breakthrough algorithmic solution, researchers have “cracked the code” on interference when machines need to talk with each other—and people. Credit: Alex Dolce, Florida Atlantic University

Florida Atlantic Center for Connected Autonomy and Artificial Intelligence (CA-AI.fau.edu) researchers have “cracked the code” on interference when machines need to talk with each other—and people.

Electromagnetic waves make wireless connectivity possible but create a lot of unwanted chatter. Referred to as “electromagnetic interference,” this noisy byproduct of wireless communications poses formidable challenges in modern day dense IoT and AI robotic environments...

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Researchers Create New Class of Materials called ‘Glassy Gels’

gloved hands are stretching a thin sheet of clear material over a nail; the material is stretching over the sharp nail without breaking
Image credit: Meixiang Wang.

Researchers have created a new class of materials called “glassy gels” that are very hard and difficult to break despite containing more than 50% liquid. Coupled with the fact that glassy gels are simple to produce, the material holds promise for a variety of applications.

Gels and glassy polymers are classes of materials that have historically been viewed as distinct from one another. Glassy polymers are hard, stiff and often brittle. They’re used to make things like water bottles or airplane windows. Gels – such as contact lenses – contain liquid and are soft and stretchy.

“We’ve created a class of materials that we’ve termed glassy gels, which are as hard as glassy polymers, but – if you apply enough force – can stretch up to five times t...

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