Category Technology/Electronics

Sandia National Laboratories postdoctoral appointee Polina Vabishchevich, left, and Senior Scientist Igal Brener made a metamaterial that mixes two lasers to produce 11 colors ranging from the near infrared, through the colors of the rainbow, to ultraviolet. Credit: Photo by Randy Montoya

First nanostructured material for broad mixing of light waves. A multicolor laser pointer you can use to change the color of the laser with a button click – similar to a multicolor ballpoint pen – is one step closer to reality thanks to a new tiny synthetic material made at Sandia National Laboratories...

a) This is a photograph of the spherical colloidal crystals containing 0.20 wt% carbon black (CB). The size of the fine silica particles ranges from 200 to 300 nm, and 11 different sizes were used. b) This is a picture of a weevil drawn using spherical colloidal crystals prepared using monodispersed silica particles with various particle sizes and CB. The surroundings of the weevils are drawn with spherical colloidal crystals that do not contain CB and change with the color of the background. Credit: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

Researchers at Nagoya University develop a composite material that, by adjusting its composition and exposing it to different types of light, can mimic animals’ changes in color...

A low-cost sensor made from semiconducting plastic could be used to diagnose or monitor a wide range of health conditions, such as surgical complications or neurodegenerative diseases. Credit: KAUST

An international team of researchers have developed a low-cost sensor made from semiconducting plastic that can be used to diagnose or monitor a wide range of health conditions, such as surgical complications or neurodegenerative diseases. The sensor can measure the amount of critical metabolites, such as lactate or glucose, that are present in sweat, tears, saliva or blood, and, when incorporated into a diagnostic device, could allow health conditions to be monitored quickly, cheaply and accurately...

Strong lowering of ionization energy of metallic clusters by organic ligands without changing shell filling. Nature Communications, 2018; 9 (1) DOI: 10.1038/s41467-018-04799-0

Virginia Commonwealth University researchers have discovered a novel strategy for creating superatoms – combinations of atoms that can mimic the properties of more than one group of elements of the periodic table. These superatoms could be used to create new materials, including more efficient batteries and better semiconductors; a core component of microchips, transistors and most computerized devices.

Batteries and semiconductors rely on the movement of charges from one group of atoms to another. During this process, electrons are transferred from donor atoms to acceptor atoms...