Category Technology/Electronics

A 2D Perspective: Stacking Materials to realize a Low Power Consuming Future

Scientists have designed a 2D material-based multi-stacked structure comprising tungsten disulfide (WS2) layer sandwiched between hexagonal boron nitride (hBN) layers that displays long-range interaction between successive WS2 layers with potential for reducing circuit design complexity and power consumption.

2D materials have been popular among materials scientists owing to their lucrative electronic properties, allowing their applications in photovoltaics, semiconductors, and water purification. In particular, the relative physical and chemical stability of 2D materials allow them to be “stacked” and “integrated” with each other...

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New Electronic Chip delivers Smarter, Light-powered AI

An electronic chip on a coloured background
The prototype technology brings together imaging, processing, machine learning and memory in one electronic chip, powered by light.

Prototype tech shrinks AI to deliver brain-like functionality in one powerful device.

Researchers have developed artificial intelligence technology that brings together imaging, processing, machine learning and memory in one electronic chip, powered by light.

The prototype shrinks artificial intelligence technology by imitating the way that the human brain processes visual information. The nanoscale advance combines the core software needed to drive artificial intelligence with image-capturing hardware in a single electronic device.

With further development, the light-driven prototype could enable smarter and smaller autonomous technologies like d...

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Simple Method to produce High-Performing Lithium Selenium Batteries

Fig. 1
Schematic illustration of the procedures for synthesising cobalt single atoms/nitrogen-doped hollow porous carbon (CoSA-HC) particles.

Rechargeable lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) are considered the best hope for next-generation battery technology, thanks to their long-life cycle, high specific power and energy density. However, they have not met the ever-increasing demands of emerging technologies such as electric vehicles. Li-Se battery technology is increasingly considered a real alternative to LIBs because of its high theoretical volume capacity and much higher conductivity.

In the first study of its kind, published by the Nature Communications journal, engineers from Surrey’s Advanced Technology Institute (ATI), in collaboration with the team at University Technology of Sydney det...

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New Family of Quasiparticles in Graphene-based Materials

Illustration of BrownZak fermions
Graphene/National Graphene Institute/Manchester group discovers new family of quasiparticles in graphene-based materials

Findings to help achieve Holy Grail of 2D materials – superfast electronic devices. A group of researchers led by Sir Andre Geim and Dr Alexey Berdyugin at The University of Manchester have discovered and characterised a new family of quasiparticles named ‘Brown-Zak fermions’ in graphene-based superlattices.

The team achieved this breakthrough by aligning the atomic lattice of a graphene layer to that of an insulating boron nitride sheet, dramatically changing the properties of the graphene sheet.

The study follows years of successive advances in graphene-boron nitride superlattices which allowed the observation of a fractal pattern known as the Hofstadter’s bu...

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