Category Technology/Electronics

Network of conducting and insulating rivers as seen in a metal-oxide in the middle of a phase transition. Credit: A.S. Mueller

Physicists have for the first time succeeded in directly visualising on small scales how a material abruptly changes its state from conducting to insulating at low temperatures. Researchers provide evidence for a 60-year-old theory that explains this phenomenon and pave the way for more energy efficient technologies. Materials that conduct electricity at high temperature but are insulating at lower temperatures have been known for decades. However, until recently it was not possible to directly measure how such phase transitions proceed on small length scales...

Spatiotemporal optical vortices, or STOVs (thin, gray ringlike objects), are newly described three-dimensional light structures that strongly resemble smoke rings. Unlike other laser vortices, STOVs are time dynamic, which means that they travel along with the central laser pulse. Compared to other laser vortices, STOVs could prove more broadly useful for engineering applications. Credit: Howard Milchberg

3-D ring structures made by high-intensity lasers could aid the design of powerful microscopes and more efficient telecommunication lines...

To direct-write the logo of the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory, scientists started with a gray-scale image. They used the electron beam of an aberration-corrected scanning transmission electron microscope to induce palladium from a solution to deposit as nanocrystals. Image credit: Oak Ridge National Laboratory, U.S. Dept. of Energy

A scanning transmission electron microscope (STEM) has been harnessed for the first time to directly write tiny patterns in metallic “ink,” forming features in liquid that are finer than half the width of a human hair. The automated process is controlled by weaving a STEM instrument’s electron beam through a liquid-filled cell to spur deposition of metal onto a silicon microchip...

This three-dimensional representation of the outer surface (left) and the entire vascular system (right) of the branch-stem attachment of the dragon tree shows which tissues inside the plant are displaced in a loaded state (yellow) in comparison to an unloaded state (red). Credit: Image courtesy of Albert-Ludwigs-Universität Freiburg

A team has laid the groundwork for designing technical fiber-reinforced lightweight ramifications modeled on branch-stem attachments. With the help of high-resolution MRI techniques, the scientists succeeded in observing how the tissue of a living dragon tree is displaced when subjected to a load...