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    Category Technology/Electronics

    Researchers Engineer a Tougher Fiber

    February 24, 2019, Categories  Physics, Technology/Electronics, Chemistry/Nanotechnology

    NC State University researchers created fibers consisting of a gallium metal core surrounded by an elastic polymer sheath. When placed under stress, the fiber has the strength of the metal core. But when the metal breaks, the fiber doesn’t fail – the polymer sheath absorbs the strain between the breaks in the metal and transfers the stress back to the metal core.
    Credit: Michael Dickey, NC State University

    North Carolina State University researchers have developed a fiber that combines the elasticity of rubber with the strength of a metal, resulting in a tougher material that could be incorporated into soft robotics, packaging materials or next-generation textiles.

    “A good way of explaining the material is to think of rubber bands and metal wires,” says Michael Dickey, correspondin...

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    Quantum Dots can Spit out Clone-like Photons

    February 23, 2019, Categories  Physics, Technology/Electronics

    Scanning Transmission Electron Microscope image (STEM) of single perovskite quantum dots. New study shows that single perovskite quantum dots could be a fundamental building block for quantum-photonic technologies for computing or communications.
    Credit: Image courtesy of the authors

    Researchers have produced coherent single photon emitters, a key component for future quantum computers and communications systems. The study, which involves using a family of materials known as perovskites to make light-emitting particles called quantum dots, appears today in the journal Science. The paper is by MIT graduate student in chemistry Hendrik Utzat, professor of chemistry Moungi Bawendi, and nine others at MIT and at ETH in Zurich, Switzerland.

    The ability to produce individual photons with...

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    Dose of Vitamin C helps Gold Nanowires Grow

    February 22, 2019, Categories  Physics, Technology/Electronics, Chemistry/Nanotechnology

    Gold nanowires grown in the Rice University lab of chemist Eugene Zubarev promise to provide tunable plasmonic properties for optical and electronic applications. The wires can be controllably grown from nanorods, or reduced.
    Credit: Zubarev Research Group/Rice University

    Scientists discover a method to turn stubby gold nanorods into gold nanowires of impressive length. The metal wires could be valuable for sensing, diagnostic, imaging and therapeutic applications. A boost of vitamin C helped Rice University scientists turn small gold nanorods into fine gold nanowires.

    Common, mild ascorbic acid is the not-so-secret sauce that helped the Rice lab of chemist Eugene Zubarev grow pure batches of nanowires from stumpy nanorods without the drawbacks of previous techniques.

    “There’s n...

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    Breakthrough in the Search for Graphene-based Electronics

    February 20, 2019, Categories  Physics, Technology/Electronics, Chemistry/Nanotechnology

    Danish researchers just solved one of the biggest challenges of making effective nano electronics based on graphene: to carve out graphene to nanoscale dimensions without ruining the electrical properties. This allows them to achieve electrical currents orders of magnitude higher than previously achieved for such structures. The work shows that the quantum transport properties needed for future electronics can survive scaling down to 10 nanometer dimensions.
    Credit: Otto Moesgaard

    A team of researchers from Denmark has solved one of the biggest challenges in making effective nanoelectronics based on graphene. For 15 years, scientists have tried to exploit the “miracle material” graphene to produce nanoscale electronics...

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