Category Technology/Electronics

Plexcitons travel for 20,000 nanometers, a length which is on the order of the width of human hair. Graphic by Joel Yuen-Zhou

Scientists at UC SD, MIT and HarvardU have engineered “topological plexcitons,” energy-carrying particles that could help make possible the design of new kinds of solar cells and miniaturized optical circuitry. Within the Lilliputian world of solid state physics, light and matter interact in strange ways, exchanging energy back and forth between them.

“When light and matter interact, they exchange energy,” explained Assistant/Prof. Joel Yuen-Zhou. “Energy can flow back and forth between light in a metal (so called plasmon) and light in a molecule (so called exciton)...

An ORNL-led research team used neutrons (depicted as spheres) to determine the magnetic structure (seen as blue arrows) of an osmium-based material. X-rays (seen as purple waves) revealed the presence of a strong spin orbit effect (illustrated in red). Credit: ORNL/Jill Hemman

An elusive massless particle could exist in a magnetic crystal structure, revealed by neutron and X-ray research. The team studied a material containing the dense element osmium and documented 2 conditions required for the presence of Weyl fermions -predicted in 1929 and observed experimentally in 2015. Researchers are looking for other materials that could host them to harness their unique properties in spintronics and advanced computing applications such as quantum computers.

“Once you have a material that hosts th...

A new disposable battery that folds like an origami ninja star could power biosensors and other small devices for use in challenging field conditions. Credit: Jonathan Cohen/Binghamton University

A new disposable battery that folds like an origami ninja star could power biosensors and other small devices for use in challenging field conditions. Seokheun “Sean” Choi, assistant professor of computer and electrical engineering at Binghamton University, along with 2 of his students, developed the device, a microbial fuel cell that runs on the bacteria available in a few drops of dirty water.

Choi previously developed a paper-based origami battery. The first design, shaped like a matchbook, stacked 4 modules together. The ninja star version, which measures about 2...

Fig.1: Crystal structure of (Ga,Mn)As. Mn ions substituted for Ga have a magnetic moment, and the magnetic moment of each Mn ion aligns along the same direction when (Ga,Mn)As becomes a ferromagnet. Credit: Seigo Souma

A research group at Tohoku University’s WPI-AIMR has succeeded in finding the origin and the mechanism of ferromagnetism in Mn-doped GaAs. The discovery is significant as it will accelerate the development of the spintronic element. GaAs, like silicon, is a well-known semiconductor commonly used in high-speed electronic devices and laser diodes.

When manganese (Mn) atoms are doped into a GaAs crystal ((Ga,Mn)As), the crystal exhibits characteristics and properties of both the semiconductor and magnet...