Category Technology/Electronics

Semiconductors reach the Quantum World

The “map” of the electrons: This graph, obtained with the SX-ARPES method, shows bright bands representing the states that electrons occupy in energy/momentum space. The band in the semiconductor gallium nitride (GaN) is clearly separated from the superconducting states (encircled in light blue dashes) in the niobium nitride (NbN). This means that the decisive electrons in the two materials do not interfere with each other. Credit: Paul Scherrer Institute/Tianlun Yu

Quantum effects in superconductors could give semiconductor technology a new twist...

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Magnetic ‘hedgehogs’ could Store Big Data in a Small Space

Magnetic patterns that are similar to a hedgehog’s spikes could lead to more efficient — and larger-scale — data storage, a new study has found.
Image credit: Getty Images

New study reveals a zoo of magnetic patterns at the atomic scale. Atomic-scale magnetic patterns resembling a hedgehog’s spikes could result in hard disks with massively larger capacities than today’s devices, a new study suggests. The finding could help data centers keep up with the exponentially increasing demand for video and cloud data storage.

In a study published today in the journal Science, researchers at The Ohio State University used a magnetic microscope to visualize the patterns, formed in thin films of an unusual magnetic material, manganese germanide...

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A New Untethered and Insect-Sized Aerial Vehicle

Credit: Ozaki et al.

Researchers at Toyota Central R&D Labs have recently created an insect-scale aerial robot with flapping wings, powered using wireless radiofrequency technology. This robot, presented in a paper published in Nature Electronics, is based on a radiofrequency power receiver with a remarkable power-to-weight density of 4,900 W kg-1.

“Small drones typically have a very limited operating time due to their power source,” Takashi Ozaki, one of the researchers who carried out the study, told TechXplore. “The purpose of our recent research was to overcome this limitation. Currently, no-contact power supply using electromagnetic waves has been put to practical use in various products, but it was unknown how far it could be applied to small flying robots.”

The main object...

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Analog Computers now just One Step from Digital

Researchers in the lab of Xuan “Silvia” Zhang at the McKelvey School of Engineering have designed a new kind of circuit, which brings the flexibility of neural networks to bear on an emerging technology: PIM computing. The circuit has the potential to increase PIM computing’s performance by orders of magnitude beyond its current theoretical capabilities. (Image: Shutterstock)

Engineers have reached a theoretical limit for efficiently converting analog data into digital bits in an emerging computer technology. The digital design of our everyday computers is good for reading email and gaming, but today’s problem-solving computers are working with vast amounts of data...

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