Quantum Dots form Ordered Material

Electron microscope images showing two of the ordered structures formed in the experiments. Atoms inside the quantum dots are resolved by the microscope and it can be seen that they are aligned throughout adjacent dots. A model of the device used for the measurement of the electronic properties is shown in the bottom right. The superlattice lies between two electrodes while an ionic gel on top (gate electrode) is used to accumulate carriers in the active material.
Electron microscope images showing two of the ordered structures formed in the experiments. Atoms inside the quantum dots are resolved by the microscope and it can be seen that they are aligned throughout adjacent dots. A model of the device used for the measurement of the electronic properties is shown in the bottom right. The superlattice lies between two electrodes while an ionic gel on top (gate electrode) is used to accumulate carriers in the active material. | Illustration Jacopo Pinna

Finding paves the way for new generation of opto-electronic applications. Quantum dots are clusters of some 1,000 atoms which act as one large ‘super-atom’. It is possible to accurately design the electronic properties of these dots just by changing their size...

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‘Stripped, Pulsating Core of a Massive Star’ Spotted for the First Time

stars
Credit: Pixabay/CC0 Public Domain

A trio of researchers from Friedrich-Alexander University Erlangen-Nuremberg, Universität Innsbruck and the University of Geneva, respectively, has discovered a “stripped, pulsating core of a massive star” for the first time. In their paper published in the journal Nature Astronomy, Andreas Irrgang, Norbert Przybilla and Georges Meynet, describe the unique object and the work that they did in verifying its makeup.

Stellar cores, as their name suggests, are the innermost parts of stars. Most often, such cores are covered by what space scientists call their “opaque envelope.” Theory has suggested that such cores can appear without their envelope if conditions arise that lead to its removal. But until now, this had never been observed.

In their pap...

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Scientists discover Anti-Inflammatory molecules that Decline in the Aging Brain

The brain is comprised of lipids or fats, but the role of these molecules in health and disease remains unknown. The newly identified class of lipids, called SGDGs, decrease with aging, which suggests they may play a role in brain aging.
Credit: Salk Institute

The molecules, called SGDGs, may lead to new ways to treat age-related neurological diseases. Aging involves complicated plot twists and a large cast of characters: inflammation, stress, metabolism changes, and many others. Now, a team of Salk Institute and UC San Diego scientists reveal another factor implicated in the aging process — a class of lipids called SGDGs (3-sulfogalactosyl diacylglycerols) that decline in the brain with age and may have anti-inflammatory effects.

The research, published in Nature Chemical Biology on...

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Breakthrough in Optical Information Transmission

© MPI for the Science of Light): Xinglin Zeng and Birgit Stiller in their lab at the Max Planck Institute for the Science of Light.

Sound waves that propagate only in one direction break the light transmission reciprocity. Scientists at the Max Planck Institute for the Science of Light have managed for the first time to create a unidirectional device that significantly increases the quality of a special class of transmitted signals in optical communications: optical vortices. By transmitting selective optical vortex modes exclusively unidirectionally, the developed device largely reduces detrimental backscattering to a minimum...

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