Category Physics

Embracing Variations: Physicists analyze noise in Lambda-type Quantum Memory

Embracing variations: UIUC physicists first to analyze noise in Lambda-type quantum memory
The quantum memory experiment Shinbrough and Lorenz are constructing. It is a cell designed to hold hot metallic vapor, an example of the Lambda-type optical quantum memories that the researchers analyzed. The photograph was taken while the cell was heating, showing molten barium at the bottom before it vaporizes. Photograph courtesy of Kai Shinbrough. Credit: The Grainger College of Engineering at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign

In the future, communications networks and computers will use information stored in objects governed by the microscopic laws of quantum mechanics. This capability can potentially underpin communication with greatly enhanced security and computers with unprecedented power...

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New Passive Device continuously Generates Electricity during the Day or Night

New passive device continuously generates electricity during the day or night
The new self-powered thermoelectric generator device uses an ultra-broadband solar absorber (UBSA) to capture sunlight, which heats the generator. Simultaneously, another component called a planar radiative cooling emitter (RCE) cools part of the device by releasing heat. Credit: Haoyuan Cai, Jimei University

Researchers have developed a new thermoelectric generator (TEG) that can continuously generate electricity using heat from the sun and a radiative element that releases heat into the air. Because it works during the day or night and in cloudy conditions, the new self-powered TEG could provide a reliable power source for small electronic devices such as outdoor sensors.

“Traditional power sources like batteries are limited in capacity and require regular replacement or rechargin...

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Quantum light source goes fully On-Chip, bringing Scalability to the Quantum Cloud

Quantum light source goes fully on-chip, bringing scalability to the quantum cloud
Artistic illustration of the chip-integrated quantum light source for the generation of entangled photons. Credit: Raktim Haldar/Michael Kues

An international team of researchers from Leibniz University Hannover (Germany), the University of Twente (Netherlands), and the start-up company QuiX Quantum has presented an entangled quantum light source fully integrated for the first time on a chip. The results of the study were published in the journal Nature Photonics.

“Our breakthrough allowed us to shrink the source size by a factor of more than 1,000, allowing reproducibility, stability over a longer time, scaling, and potentially mass-production. All these characteristics are required for real-world applications such as quantum processors,” says Prof. Dr...

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Researchers create more Efficient Perovskite Solar Cell

Researchers create more efficient perovskite solar cell
From left Leiwei Zeng, Zaiwei Wang and Hao Chen show off samples of triple-junction perovskite solar cells that boast record gains in efficiency. Credit: Tyler Irving, University of Toronto

A team of researchers from the University of Toronto has created a triple-junction perovskite solar cell with record efficiency by overcoming a key limitation of previous designs.

The prototype represents a significant advance in the development of low-cost alternatives to silicon-based solar cells, which are the current industry standard.

“In addition to lower manufacturing cost, perovskites offer us the ability to stack multiple layers of light-absorbing materials on top of each other, and even on top of traditional silicon cells,” says Professor Ted Sargent, who recently joined the departme...

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