Chemistry paves the way for Improved Electronic Materials

A thin layer of indium nitride on silicon carbide
A thin layer of indium nitride on silicon carbide, created using the molecule developed by researchers at Linköping University, Sweden. (Image: Magnus Johansson/Linköping University)

Indium nitride is a promising material for use in electronics, but difficult to manufacture. Scientists at Linköping University, Sweden, have developed a new molecule that can be used to create high-quality indium nitride, making it possible to use it in, for example, high-frequency electronics.

The bandwidth we currently use for wireless data transfer will soon be full. If we are to continue transmitting ever-increasing amounts of data, the available bandwidth must be increased by bringing further frequencies into use. Indium nitride may be part of the solution.
“Since electrons move through indium n...

Read More

Physicists Just Quantum Teleported Information Between Particles of Matter

main article image
A semiconductor chip for quantum processing (University of Rochester/J. Adam Fenster)

By making use of the ‘spooky’ laws behind quantum entanglement physicists think have found a way to make information leap between a pair of electrons separated by distance.

Teleporting fundamental states between photons – massless particles of light – is quickly becoming old news, a trick we are still learning to exploit in computing and encrypted communications technology.

But what the latest research has achieved is quantum teleportation between particles of matter – electrons –something that could help connect quantum computing with the more traditional electronic kind.

“We provide evidence for ‘entanglement swapping,’ in which we create entanglement between two electrons even thou...

Read More

One-time Treatment Generates New Neurons, Eliminates Parkinson’s disease in mice

Left: mouse astrocytes (green) before reprogramming; Right: neurons (red) induced from mouse astrocytes after reprogramming with PTB antisense oligonucleotide treatment.

Researchers have discovered that a single treatment to inhibit a gene called PTB in mice converts native astrocytes, brain support cells, into neurons that produce the neurotransmitter dopamine. As a result, the mice’s Parkinson’s disease symptoms disappear.

Xiang-Dong Fu, PhD, has never been more excited about something in his entire career. He has long studied the basic biology of RNA, a genetic cousin of DNA, and the proteins that bind it. But a single discovery has launched Fu into a completely new field: neuroscience.

For decades, Fu and his team at University of California San Diego School of Medicine studied a pr...

Read More

Amorphous Boron Nitride shows excellent Insulating Properties for Next Generation of Electronics

a) Remote ICP-CVD system with borazine mass flow controller (MFC) for precise control of borazine flow. The a-BN films were grown on Si substrates at 400 °C. Credit: UNIST, SAIT, University of Cambridge, Catalan Institute of Nanoscience and Nanotechnology
b) Side view of images of a -BN sample grown on a Si substrate at T= 673K. Atomic species are shown in different colours: Si (yellow), Blue (N), Pink 3 (B). Credit: UNIST, SAIT, University of Cambridge, Catalan Institute of Nanoscience and Nanotechnology

In the ongoing process of miniaturization of logic and memory devices in electronic circuits, reducing the dimensions of interconnects—metal wires that link different components on a chip—is crucial to guarantee fast response of the device and improve its performance...

Read More