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    Wonder Material? Novel Nanotube structure Strengthens Thin Films for Flexible Electronics

    April 23, 2017, Categories  Technology/Electronics, Chemistry/Nanotechnology, Physics

    Scanning Electron Microscope Images of architectured carbon nanotube (CNT) textile made at Illinois. Colored schematic shows the architecture of self-weaved CNTs, and the inset shows a high resolution SEM of the inter-diffusion of CNT among the different patches due to capillary splicing. Credit: University of Illinois

    Scanning Electron Microscope Images of architectured carbon nanotube (CNT) textile made at Illinois. Colored schematic shows the architecture of self-weaved CNTs, and the inset shows a high resolution SEM of the inter-diffusion of CNT among the different patches due to capillary splicing. Credit: University of Illinois

    Reflecting the structure of composites found in nature and the ancient world, researchers at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign have synthesized thin carbon nanotube (CNT) textiles that exhibit both high electrical conductivity and a level of toughness that is about 50X higher than copper films, currently used in electronics...

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    Graphene ‘Copy Machine’ may produce Cheap Semiconductor Wafers

    April 20, 2017, Categories  Physics, Technology/Electronics, Chemistry/Nanotechnology

    (Left to right): Postdoc Kyusang Lee, Professor Jeehwan Kim (sitting), and graduate students Samuel Cruz and Yunjo Kim. Credit: Jose-Luis Olivares/MIT

    (Left to right): Postdoc Kyusang Lee, Professor Jeehwan Kim (sitting), and graduate students Samuel Cruz and Yunjo Kim. Credit: Jose-Luis Olivares/MIT

    A new technique may vastly reduce the overall cost of wafer technology and enable devices made from more exotic, higher-performing semiconductor materials than conventional silicon. The new method uses graphene as a sort of ‘copy machine’ to transfer intricate crystalline patterns from an underlying semiconductor wafer to a top layer of identical material. In 2016, annual global semiconductor sales reached their highest-ever point, at $339 billion worldwide. In that same year, the semiconductor industry spent about $7...

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    Spray-on Memory could enable bendable Digital Storage

    April 3, 2017, Categories  Physics, Technology/Electronics

    Spray-on memory could enable bendable digital storage

    Duke University researchers have developed a new ‘spray-on’ digital memory (upper left) that could be used to build programmable electronic devices on flexible materials like paper, plastic or fabric. To demonstrate a simple application of their device, they used their memory to program different patterns of four LED lights in a simple circuit. Credit: Matthew Catenacci ==

    USB flash drives are already common accessories in offices and college campuses. But thanks to the rise in printable electronics, digital storage devices like these may soon be everywhere—including on our groceries, pill bottles and even clothing...

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    Research leads to a Golden Discovery for Wearable Technology

    March 17, 2017, Categories  Physics, Technology/Electronics, Chemistry/Nanotechnology

    An example of a gold foil peeled from single crystal silicon. Credit: Reprinted with permission from Naveen Mahenderkar et al., Science [355]:[1203] (2017)

    An example of a gold foil peeled from single crystal silicon.
    Credit: Reprinted with permission from Naveen Mahenderkar et al., Science [355]:[1203] (2017)

    Some day, your smartphone might completely conform to your wrist, and when it does, it might be covered in pure gold, thanks to researchers at Missouri University of Science and Technology. They have developed a way to “grow” thin layers of gold on single crystal wafers of silicon, remove the gold foils, and use them as substrates on which to grow other electronic materials. This could revolutionize wearable or “flexible” technology research, greatly improving versatility of electronics in the future.

    Most research into wearable technology has been done using polymer substrates, or substrates made up of multiple crystals...

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