Category Technology/Electronics

Terahertz wireless links to spaceborne satellites could make gigabit-per-second connection speeds available to anyone anytime, anywhere on the face of the earth, on the ground or in flight.

A Terahertz (THz) transmitter capable of transmitting digital data at a rate >100 gigabits (= 0.1 terabit) per second over a single channel using the 300-GHz band has been developed. This technology enables data rates 10X or more, faster than that offered by the fifth-generation mobile networks (5G), expected to appear around 2020. The THz band is a new and vast frequency resource expected to be used for future ultrahigh-speed wireless communications.

The research group has developed a transmitter that achieves a communication speed of 10Gb/s using the frequency range from 290 – 315 GHz...

Professor Ebrahim Karimi, a member of uOttawa’s Department of Physics and holder of the Canada Research Chair in Structured Light, and doctoral student Frédéric Bouchard observe the setup they used to clone the photons that transmit information, called qudits.

As we saw during the 2016 US election, protecting traditional computer systems from hackers is not a perfect science. University of Ottawa have uncovered clues that could help administrators protect quantum computing networks from external attacks. “Our team has built the first high-dimensional quantum cloning machine capable of performing quantum hacking to intercept a secure quantum message,” said University of Ottawa Department of Physics professor Ebrahim Karimi, who holds the Canada Research Chair in Structured Light...

An artist’s rendition (appearing on the cover of the journal Advanced Functional Materials) of the charge carrier “traps” created by the addition of certain molecules to polymer semiconductor materials. Credit: Image courtesy of University of California – Santa Barbara

In what could be called a classic “Eureka” moment, UC Santa Barbara materials researchers have discovered a simple yet effective method for mastering the electrical properties of polymer semiconductors. The elegant technique allows for the efficient design and manufacture of organic circuitry (the type found in flexible displays and solar cells, for instance) of varying complexity while using the same semiconductor material throughout...

1. A near-perfect broadband absorber that’s thin, flexible and transparent in visible light. Credit: UC San Diego Jacobs School of Engineering
2. SEM images of a nanotube array: side view (left) and top view (right). Credit: UC San Diego Jacobs School of Engineering

Transparent window coatings that keep buildings and cars cool on sunny days. Devices that could more than triple solar cell efficiencies. Thin, lightweight shields that block thermal detection. These are potential applications for a thin, flexible, light-absorbing material developed by engineers at the University of California San Diego...