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    Category Technology/Electronics

    Search for Sterile Neutrinos: It’s all about a Bend in the Curve

    April 13, 2021, Categories  Physics, Technology/Electronics

    The results of the KATRIN experiment rule out a light sterile neutrino with a mass between 3 and 30 electronvolt. A neutrino within this range would have revealed itself by a bend in the orange line, e.g. as shown here at 10 electronvolt under the final value of 18.6 kiloelectronvolt. (Green line: Spectrum of a virtual light sterile neutrino with a mass of 10 eV; blue line: spectrum of the classical, active neutrino; orange line: combined spectrum. (Plot: KATRIN collaboration)

    KATRIN experiment succeeds in strongly narrowing the search elusive particles. There are many questions surrounding the elementary particle neutrino, in particular regarding its mass...

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    Discovery Could Help Lengthen Lifespan of Electronic Devices

    April 12, 2021, Categories  Physics, Technology/Electronics

    The research could lead to electronics being designed with better endurance. Researchers have made a significant discovery in the field of materials science, for the first time providing a full picture of how fatigue in ferroelectric materials occurs.

    Ferroelectric materials are used in many devices, including memories, capacitors, actuators and sensors. These devices are commonly used in both consumer and industrial instruments, such as computers, medical ultrasound equipment and underwater sonars.

    Over time, ferroelectric materials are subjected to repeated mechanical and electrical loading, leading to a progressive decrease in their functionality, ultimately resulting in failure. This process is referred to as ‘ferroelectric fatigue’.

    It is a main cause of the failure of a...

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    A Breakthrough that Enables Practical Semiconductor Spintronics

    April 9, 2021, Categories  Physics, Technology/Electronics

    Illustration of the nanostructure.
    In the opto-spintronic nanostructure, an electron spin polarisation degree greater than 90% is achieved at room temperature in a quantum dot, via remote defect-enabled spin filtering through an adjacent layer of gallium nitrogen arsenide (GaNAs). When such a spin polarised electron recombines, it emits chiral light. The spin state of the electron determines whether the electromagnetic field of the light will rotate clockwise or anticlockwise around the direction of travel. Yuqing Huang

    It may be possible in the future to use information technology where electron spin is used to store, process and transfer information in quantum computers. It has long been the goal of scientists to be able to use spin-based quantum information technology at room temperature...

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    A New, Positive Approach could be the Key to Next-Generation, Transparent Electronics

    April 7, 2021, Categories  Technology/Electronics

    The optical transparency of the new materials could enable futuristic, flexible, transparent electronics . Click for full-resolution version (available for publication). Credit: RMIT University.

    Such see-through devices could potentially be integrated in glass, in flexible displays and in smart contact lenses, bringing to life futuristic devices that seem like the product of science fiction. For several decades, researchers have sought a new class of electronics based on semiconducting oxides, whose optical transparency could enable these fully-transparent electronics.

    Oxide-based devices could also find use in powerelectronics and communication technology, reducing the carbon footprint of our utility networks.

    A RMIT-led team has now introduced ultrathin beta-tellurite to the tw...

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