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    Category Technology/Electronics

    The Thinnest Photodetector in the World

    November 9, 2016, Categories  Physics, Technology/Electronics, Chemistry/Nanotechnology

    (top) Devices with one-layer and seven-layer MoS2 were built on top of a silicon base and compared. Dielectric constants responsible for the difference in electrostatic potentials are shown in parenthesis. (bottom) The device with one-layer MoS2 (inside the violet box) showed better performance in converting light to electric current than the seven-layer device (inside the pink box).

    (top) Devices with one-layer and seven-layer MoS2 were built on top of a silicon base and compared. Dielectric constants responsible for the difference in electrostatic potentials are shown in parenthesis. (bottom) The device with one-layer MoS2 (inside the violet box) showed better performance in converting light to electric current than the seven-layer device (inside the pink box).

    The Center for Integrated Nanostructure Physics, within the Institute for Basic Science (IBS) has developed the world’s thinnest photodetector, that is a device that converts light into an electric current. With a thickness of just 1.3nm – 10X smaller than the current standard silicon diodes – this device could be used in the Internet of Things IoT, smart devices, wearable electronics and photoelectronics.

    In ...

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    Computers made of Genetic Material? Researchers Conduct Electricity using DNA-based Nanowires

    November 9, 2016, Categories  Physics, Technology/Electronics, Biology/Biotechnology

    Scientists at Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf conducted electricity through DNA-based nanowires by placing gold-plated nanoparticles on them. In this way it could become possible to develop circuits based on genetic material. Credit: Image courtesy of Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf

    Scientists at Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf conducted electricity through DNA-based nanowires by placing gold-plated nanoparticles on them. In this way it could become possible to develop circuits based on genetic material. Credit: Image courtesy of Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf

    Tinier than the AIDS virus—that is currently the circumference of the smallest transistors. The industry has shrunk the central elements of their computer chips to 14nm in the last 60 years. Conventional methods, however, are hitting physical boundaries. Researchers around the world are looking for alternatives. One method could be the self-organization of complex components from molecules and atoms...

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    Close to Absolute Zero, Electrons exhibit their Quantum Nature

    November 8, 2016, Categories  Physics, Technology/Electronics

    Keeping a close eye on everything: Christian Ast checks the connections of the scanning tunneling microscope (top). Researchers in the Nanoscale Science Department conduct their experiments in this instrument at lowest temperatures of a fifteen thousandth of a degree above absolute zero. The principle is always the same (bottom): A tunneling current (illustrated by the transparent bar) flows between an ultrafine tip and the sample, providing information about the properties of the sample. At these low temperatures the tunneling current reveals all of its quantum properties.

    Keeping a close eye on everything: Christian Ast checks the connections of the scanning tunneling microscope (top). Researchers in the Nanoscale Science Department conduct their experiments in this instrument at lowest temperatures of a fifteen thousandth of a degree above absolute zero. The principle is always the same (bottom): A tunneling current (illustrated by the transparent bar) flows between an ultrafine tip and the sample, providing information about the properties of the sample. At these low temperatures the tunneling current reveals all of its quantum properties. Credit: Tom Pingel (top), MPI for Solid State Research (bottom)

    What would happen if an electric current no longer flowed, but trickled instead? This was the question investigated by researchers working with Christian ...

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    Major Advance in Solar Cells made from Cheap, Easy-to-use Perovskite

    November 8, 2016, Categories  Physics, Technology/Electronics, Chemistry/Nanotechnology

    Major advance in solar cells made from cheap, easy-to-use perovskite

    This first version of a new layered perovskite solar cell already achieves an efficiency of more than 20 percent, rivaling many commercial solar cells. Flexible and easy to make, it can produce more than half a volt of electricity. Credit: Onur Ergen, UC Berkeley

    Solar cells made from an inexpensive and increasingly popular material called perovskite can more efficiently turn sunlight into electricity using a new technique to sandwich 2 types of perovskite into a single photovoltaic cell. Perovskite solar cells are made of a mix of organic molecules and inorganic elements that together capture light and convert it into electricity, just like today’s more common silicon-based solar cells...

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