Category Technology/Electronics

Polarised Raman spectroscopy results for TIPS pentacene sample. Comparison of measured (top) polarised Raman data with the best fitting simulated results (bottom). The intensities of the 1374 cm−1 and 1576 cm−1 modes measured with tilts of both 0° and 30° around the -axis are considered. In each plot the normalised intensity of the Raman peak is plotted against the polariser angle (θP) and analyser angle (θA).

New technology could revolutionize printed electronics by enabling high quality semiconducting molecular crystals to be directly spray-deposited on any surface. University of Surrey and National Physical Laboratory’s research allows to convert organic semiconducting inks into isolated crystals through a scalable process, suitable for a wide range of molecules...

A femtosecond X-ray pulse from an X-ray free electron laser intersecting a droplet that contains photosystem II crystals, the protein extracted and crystallized from cyanobacteria. Credit: SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory

The living machinery of photosynthesis is still not fully understood. One of its molecular mysteries involves how a protein complex, photosystem II, harvests energy from sunlight and uses it to split water into hydrogen and oxygen. This process generates the oxygen in the air that we all breathe. New X-ray methods at the DOE SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory have captured the highest resolution room-temperature images of this protein complex, which allows scientists to closely watch how water is split during photosynthesis at ambient temperature...

Thermoelectric paint being applied to an alumina hemisphere. The paint provides closer contact with the heat-emitting surface than conventional planar thermoelectric devices do. Credit: Park et al. ©2016 Nature Communications

Paint these days is becoming much more than it used to be. Already researchers have developed photovoltaic paint, which can be used to make “paint-on solar cells” that capture the sun’s energy and turn it into electricity. Now in a new study, researchers have created thermoelectric paint, which captures waste heat from hot painted surfaces and converts it into electrical energy.

“I expect that the thermoelectric painting technique can be applied to waste heat recovery from large-scale heat source surfaces, such as buildings, cars, and ship vessels,” said Jae Sung Son...

An artistic representation of the data showing the breaking of spatial inversion and rotational symmetries in the pseudogap region of superconducting materials — evidence that the pseudogap is a distinct phase of matter. Rings of light reflected from a superconductor reveal the broken symmetries. Credit: Hsieh Lab/Caltech

One of the greatest mysteries of experimental physics is how high-temperature superconducting materials work. They still operate at chilly temperatures < -135C or 138K, but higher than 0K. They can be used to make superefficient power cables, medical MRIs, particle accelerators, and other devices. Cracking the mystery of how these materials actually work could lead to superconducting devices that operate at room temperatures—and could revolutionize laptops and phones etc...