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    Category Technology/Electronics

    Well-designed Substrates make Large Single Crystal Bi-/Tri-Layer Graphene Possible

    January 22, 2020, Categories  Physics, Technology/Electronics, Chemistry/Nanotechnology

    Figure 1. Preparation and characterization of Cu/Ni(111) foils.
    Preparation and characterization of Cu/Ni(111) foils. (a) Schematic of the preparation of the Cu/Ni(111) foils shows that Ni films are electroplated on both sides of a Cu(111) foil, which is followed by heating in a chemical vapor deposition chamber at 1050 oC for 5-7 hours to obtain the Cu/Ni(111) foil. By controlling the concentration of nickel (Ni), IBS researchers could obtain bilayer and trilayer graphene with the desired stacking order and large area. (b) A photograph of a piece of Cu/Ni(111) alloy foil (3 cm × 5 cm in size). (c) X-ray pattern taken from different regions across the whole sample (3 cm × 5 cm). (d) Electron backscatter diffraction map indicating the uniform (111) orientation of the prepared Cu foils.

    IBS researchers fabricate single crystal copper nickel alloy...

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    Billions of Quantum Entangled Electrons found in ‘Strange Metal’

    January 17, 2020, Categories  Physics, Technology/Electronics

    Former Rice University graduate student Xinwei Li in 2016 with the terahertz spectrometer he later used to measure entanglement in the conduction electrons flowing through a “strange metal” compound of ytterbium, rhodium and silicon. (Photo by Jeff Fitlow/Rice University)

    In a new study, U.S. and Austrian physicists have observed quantum entanglement among “billions of billions” of flowing electrons in a quantum critical material.

    The research, which appears this week in Science, examined the electronic and magnetic behavior of a “strange metal” compound of ytterbium, rhodium and silicon as it both neared and passed through a critical transition at the boundary between two well-studied quantum phases.

    The study at Rice University and Vienna University of Technology (TU Wien...

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    Toward Safer Disposal of PCBs

    January 17, 2020, Categories  Physics, Technology/Electronics, Environment/Geology

    Researchers have developed a new, safer method to dispose of printed circuit boards.
    Credit: junpiiiiiiiiiii/Shutterstock.com

    Printed circuit boards are vital components of modern electronics. However, once they have served their purpose, they are often burned or buried in landfills, polluting the air, soil and water. Most concerning are the brominated flame retardants added to printed circuit boards to keep them from catching fire. Now, researchers reporting in ACS Sustainable Chemistry & Engineering have developed a ball-milling method to break down these potentially harmful compounds, enabling safer disposal.

    Composed of 30% metallic and 70% nonmetallic particles, printed circuit boards support and connect all of the electrical components of a device...

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    Colloidal Quantum Dot Laser Diodes are just around the corner

    January 16, 2020, Categories  Physics, Technology/Electronics

    Colloidal quantum dots operationg in LED mode.
    Colloidal quantum dots operating in LED mode.

    Los Alamos scientists have incorporated meticulously engineered colloidal quantum dots into a new type of light emitting diodes (LEDs) containing an integrated optical resonator, which allows them to function as lasers. These novel, dual-function devices clear the path towards versatile, manufacturing-friendly laser diodes. The technology can potentially revolutionize numerous fields from photonics and optoelectronics to chemical sensing and medical diagnostics.

    “This latest breakthrough along with other recent advances in quantum dot chemistry and device engineering that we have achieved suggest that laser diodes assembled from solution may soon become a reality,” said Victor Klimov, head of the quantum dot group at Los Alamos Nationa...

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