A Monash University-led research team has discovered that a structure comprising an ultra-thin topological insulator sandwiched between two 2D ferromagnetic insulators becomes a large-bandgap quantum anomalous Hall insulator.

Such a heterostructure provides an avenue towards viable ultralow energy future electronics, or even topological photovoltaics.

Topological Insulator: The Filling in the Sandwich

In the researchers’ new heterostructure, a ferromagnetic material forms the ‘bread’ of the sandwich, while a topological insulator (ie, a material displaying nontrivial topology) ...

NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope has directly photographed evidence of a Jupiter-like protoplanet for...

Reviving ‘awake neurons’ could be the solution to their sleepiness. The lethargy that many Alzheimer’s patients experience is caused not by a lack of sleep, but rather by the degeneration of a type of neuron that keeps us awake, according to a study that also confirms the tau protein is behind that neurodegeneration.

The study’s findings contradict the common notion that Alzheimer’s patients sleep during the day to make up for a bad night of sleep and point toward potential therapies to help these patients feel more awake.

The data came fro...

Producing low-cost metal-oxide thin films with high electronic quality for solar water splitting is not an easy task. Especially since quality improvements of the upper metal oxide thin films need thermal processing at high temperatures, which would melt the underlying glass substrate. Now, a team has solved this dilemma: A high intensity and rapid light pulse directly heats the semiconducting metal-oxide thin film, allowing it to reach the optimal temperature without damaging the substrate.

Solar energy can directly drive electrochemical reactions at the surface of photoelectrodes...