Category Technology/Electronics

Conceptual picture of the new exotic quantum states that have been generated in Innsbruck. The generation of quantum entanglement in a string of 20 single atoms is shown. Entanglement between neighboring atom pairs (blue), atom triplets (pink), atom quadruplets (red) and quintuplets (yellow) was observed, before the system became too complex to characterize with existing techniques. Credit: IQOQI Innsbruck/Harald Ritsch

Largest entangled quantum register of individually controllable systems to date. A research team is now presenting the largest entangled quantum register of individually controllable systems to date, consisting of a total of 20 quantum bits. The physicists are pushing experimental and theoretical methods to the limits of what is currently possible.

Some of the new quantum t...

Mathew Boban, Graduate Student Research Assistant, Materials Science and Engineering, pours hexadecane oil onto a glass slide with a superomniphobic coating. The petroleum based, highly viscous lubricant slide easily off the slide, opening up applications like self-cleaning windows, ink jet printers and microfluidic devices. Image credit: Robert Coelius, Michigan Engineering

In an advance that could grime-proof phone screens, countertops, camera lenses and countless other everyday items, a materials science researcher at the University of Michigan has demonstrated a smooth, durable, clear coating that swiftly sheds water, oils, alcohols and, yes, peanut butter.

Called “omniphobic” in materials science parlance, the new coating repels just about every known liquid...

This is a sample of the 3-D printed acoustic metamaterial. Credit: Qiming Wang

Researchers develop 3D printed acoustic metamaterials that can be switched on and off remotely using a magnetic field. Researchers have been pushing the capabilities of materials by carefully designing precise structures that exhibit abnormal properties that can control acoustic or optical waves. However, these metamaterials are constructed in fixed geometries, meaning their unique abilities are always fixed. Now, new 3D printed metamaterial developed by a team led by University of Southern California researchers can be remotely switched between active control and passive states.

USC Viterbi School of Engineering Assistant Professor Qiming Wang and Ph.D...

This is a schematic of the first-ever plasmomechanical oscillator (PMO), developed by NIST researchers. The orange-white ovals represent the localized plasmon oscillations. The cantilever, containing the gold cuboid nanoparticle, lies dead center. The series of white curves represents the electrical field applied to the cantilever. Data at right indicates that the device can lock onto and greatly amplify weak signals that oscillate at frequencies close to those of the PMO. Credit: B. Roxworthy/NIST

Researchers have for the first time created a plasmomechanical oscillator, a nanometer-scale device that is no bigger than a red blood cell but has myriad technological applications...