Category Technology/Electronics

The microscopic ribbons lie criss-crossed on the gold substrate. Credit: EMPA

Transistors based on carbon nanostructures: what sounds like a futuristic dream could be reality in just a few years’ time. Scientists have now produced nanotransistors from graphene ribbons that are only a few atoms wide. Graphene ribbons have special electrical properties that make them promising candidates for the nanoelectronics of the future: While graphene is a conductive material, it can become a semiconductor in the form of nanoribbons. This means that it has a sufficiently large energy or band gap in which no electron states can exist: it can be turned on and off – and thus may become a key component of nanotransistors.

The smallest details in the atomic structure of these graphene bands, however, have m...

Schematic illustration of a hybrid information network with two quantum nodes composed by a cold cloud of Rubidium (left red cloud) and a doped crystal with Praseodymium ions (right white cube). Credit: ICFO/Scixel

Researchers report the first demonstration of an elementary link of a hybrid quantum information network, using a cold atomic cloud and a doped crystal as quantum nodes as well as single telecom photons as information carriers. The study demonstrates the communication and transmission of quantum information between 2 completely different types of quantum nodes placed in different labs.

Recent research suggests that this quantum network revolution might be just around the corner...

Structure of the hollow Eu(III)-benzoate nanotubes. a) SEM image; scale bar = 400 nm. b) TEM image; scale bar = 100 nm. A magnified image is given in Figure S2 in the Supporting Information. c) PXRD data. (‘) indicates signals corresponding to the lamellar substructure. Black curve = experiment pattern obtained from the hybrid material. Blue curve = simulated pattern with the structure model presented in (d). Blue = Eu; red = oxygen; dark gray = carbon; light gray = hydrogen; yellow = cell edges of monoclinic Eu2O3.

University of Konstanz has developed a method for synthesising Europium (II) oxide nanoparticles – a ferromagnetic semiconductor that is relevant for data storage and data transport...

Composition of the solid sodium battery. © Empa

Initial prototype of a solid sodium battery with the potential to store extra energy created. Phones, laptops, electric cars – batteries are everywhere. And to meet the expectations of today’s consumers, these batteries are increasingly light, more powerful and designed to last longer. Researchers from Empa, the Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Science and Technology, and the University of Geneva (UNIGE), Switzerland, have devised a new battery prototype: known as “all-solid-state,” this battery has the potential to store more energy while maintaining high safety and reliability levels. Furthermore, the battery is based on sodium, a cheap alternative to lithium.

For a battery to work, it must have the following 3 key components: an a...