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    Category Technology/Electronics

    New Ferroelectric Material could give Robots Muscles

    July 4, 2023, Categories  Physics, Technology/Electronics

    Actuation of ferroelectric polymers driven by Joule heating
    Actuation of ferroelectric polymers driven by Joule heating.  Credit: Qing Wang. All Rights Reserved.

    A new type of ferroelectric polymer that is exceptionally good at converting electrical energy into mechanical strain holds promise as a high-performance motion controller or “actuator” with great potential for applications in medical devices, advanced robotics, and precision positioning systems, according to a team of international researchers led by Penn State.

    Mechanical strain, how a material changes shape when force is applied, is an important property for an actuator, which is any material that will change or deform when an external force such as electrical energy is applied...

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    Corporate Collaboration bolster Quantum Encryption

    June 28, 2023, Categories  Physics, Technology/Electronics

    encrypted
    Credit: CC0 Public Domain

    Toshiba Europe and global telecommunications corporation Orange say they have achieved a significant advance in securing network communications from ever-more powerful computer attacks.

    Security experts have been warning that a new generation of quantum computers is likely only a few years away from attaining the ability to crack today’s stringent public key encryption codes.

    Some experts say quantum computers will be strong enough to crack the widely adopted RSA-2048 encryption standard for secure online transactions within about 15 years. The Cloud Security Alliance had a more dire—and precise—prediction: Encryption safeguards will be overtaken by April 14, 2030...

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    ‘Toggle Switch’ Can Help Quantum Computers Cut Through the Noise

    June 27, 2023, Categories  Physics, Technology/Electronics

    A blue-tinged drawing shows a schematic of the two qubits and resonator above a white rectangle, which represents the SQUID device that controls the connections and relationships among the qubits and resonator elements.
    This photo shows the central working region of the device. In the lower section, the three large rectangles (light blue) represent the two quantum bits, or qubits, at right and left and the resonator in the center. In the upper, magnified section, driving microwaves through the antenna (large dark-blue rectangle at bottom) induces a magnetic field in the SQUID loop (smaller white square at center, whose sides are about 20 micrometers long). The magnetic field activates the toggle switch. The microwaves’ frequency and magnitude determine the switch’s position and strength of connection among the qubits and resonator.
    Credit: R. Simmonds/NIST

    The novel device could lead to more versatile quantum processors with clearer outputs...

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    New Type of Computer Memory could greatly Reduce Energy use and Improve Performance

    June 26, 2023, Categories  Physics, Technology/Electronics

    New type of computer memory could greatly reduce energy use and improve performance
    Cross-sectional TEM images and energy-dispersive x-ray measurements from high-angle annular dark-field scanning TEM for different thin films. (A) Pure HfOx deposited at 400°C. Clear crystallites are visible in the film; red arrows indicate some of the grain boundaries. (B) Pure HfOx deposited at 30°C. While these films are not polycrystalline like pure HfOx deposited at 400°C, neither are they as uniform as the composite films presented in (C). (C) The thin films which resulted in stable electrical performance are amorphous or nanocrystalline. Some pillar-like structures can be discerned, indicated by red arrows. The addition of Ba to the films clearly leads to material uniformity by suppressing crystallization...
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