carbon nanotube tagged posts

An Innovative Twist on Quantum Bits: Tubular Nanomaterial of Carbon makes Ideal Home for Spinning Quantum Bits

Artistic rendering of chemically modified carbon nanotube hosting a spinning electron as qubit.
Artistic rendering of chemically modified carbon nanotube hosting a spinning electron as qubit. (Image by Argonne National Laboratory.)

Scientists find that a tubular nanomaterial of carbon makes for ideal host to keep quantum bits spinning in place for use in quantum information technologies.

Scientists are vigorously competing to transform the counterintuitive discoveries about the quantum realm from a century past into technologies of the future. The building block in these technologies is the quantum bit, or qubit. Several different kinds are under development, including ones that use defects within the symmetrical structures of diamond and silicon. They may one day transform computing, accelerate drug discovery, generate unhackable networks and more.

Working with researchers...

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No Batteries Required: Energy-harvesting Yarns generate Electricity

Coiled carbon nanotube yarns, created at the University of Texas at Dallas and imaged here with a scanning electron microscope, generate electrical energy when stretched or twisted. Credit: University of Texas at Dallas

Coiled carbon nanotube yarns, created at the University of Texas at Dallas and imaged here with a scanning electron microscope, generate electrical energy when stretched or twisted. Credit: University of Texas at Dallas

An international team led by scientists at The University of Texas at Dallas and Hanyang University in South Korea has developed high-tech yarns that generate electricity when they are stretched or twisted. In a study published in the Aug. 25 issue of the journal Science, researchers describe “twistron” yarns and their possible applications, such as harvesting energy from the motion of ocean waves or from temperature fluctuations. When sewn into a shirt, these yarns served as a self-powered breathing monitor.

“The easiest way to think of twistron harvesters is, you have a p...

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Engineer Unveils new spin on Future of Transistors with Novel Design

All-carbon spin logic gate. Figure 1 Magnetoresistive GNR unzipped from carbon nanotube and controlled by two parallel CNTs on an insulating material above a metallic gate. As all voltages are held constant, all currents are unidirectional. The magnitudes and relative directions of the input CNT control currents ICTRL determine the magnetic fields B and GNR edge magnetization, and thus the magnitude of the output current IGNR.

All-carbon spin logic gate.  Magnetoresistive GNR unzipped from carbon nanotube and controlled by two parallel CNTs on an insulating material above a metallic gate. As all voltages are held constant, all currents are unidirectional. The magnitudes and relative directions of the input CNT control currents ICTRL determine the magnetic fields B and GNR edge magnetization, and thus the magnitude of the output current IGNR.

All-carbon spin logic gate. Magnetoresistive GNR unzipped from carbon nanotube and controlled by two parallel CNTs on an insulating material above a metallic gate. As all voltages are held constant, all currents are unidirectional. The magnitudes and relative directions of the input CNT control currents ICTRLdetermine the magnetic fields B and GNR edge magnetization, and ...

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Nano System operates with Interacting Electrons, but No Electric Current

NEMS heat engine

In the proposed system, a carbon nanotube is suspended between two leads, below a tip electrode, and above a gate. The pair of leads and the tip are two separate electron reservoirs with different temperatures. Electrons can tunnel between the nanotube and the reservoirs. Although electron exchange between the two reservoirs is prevented, electron-electron interaction couples the two reservoirs, allowing for a heat flow. Credit: A. Vikström et al. ©2016 American Physical Society

Illustrating the unusual way things work on the nanoscale, scientists have designed a new nanoelectromechanical system (NEMS) that produces mechanical motion due to the interactions between electrons—yet unlike similar systems, this system does not require any electric current...

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