#Thermal'Invisibility Cloak'Could Keep People Cool A new thermal"invisibility cloak"that channels heat around whatever it is trying to hide may one day help keep people and satellites cool,
It could help protect sensitive electronic components on microchips such as mobile devices, high-power engines and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI SCANNERS from the heat,
he added say, by unfolding antennas. But the futuristic technology is still in its infancy,
In addition, they are"currently considering placing sensors on the cloak, such that the cloak can sense the temperature of the environment
The new distance record was set using advanced single-photon detectors made of superconducting wires of molybdenum silicide that were about 150 nanometers
"We never could have done this experiment without these new detectors, which can measure this incredibly weak signal."
"The detectors used in this new experiment could record more than 80 percent of arriving photons, according to the scientists.
In comparison, the previous record-holder had operated detectors that with about 75 percent efficiency at best. Moreover, the new experiment detected 10 times fewer stray photons than the previous record-holder.
The researchers now plan to develop even better single-photon detectors to push distances for quantum teleportation even farther,
which is devoted to building small electronic systems that do their jobs and then self-destruct. Although it might sound counterintuitive to build something that's going to disappear,
For example, sophisticated technologies (such as environmental sensors or communications tools) are used often on battlefields and then are left behind, where they can be scooped up by people who aren't authorized to use them,
Discarded electronics also pose a threat to the environment as they rust and decompose. But electronics that just disappear aren't saddled with these problems
DARPA officials said. VAPR researchers have developed already a few materials that can disappear into thin air,
Researchers also developed a glass material embedded with electronics that shatters into tiny particles after use."
#Braille Smartwatch Helps Blind People Communicate, Navigate, Read Ebooks There a new smartwatch soon to be coming to market,
but it designed for blind people, especially those who already know or are learning to read in Braille.
So far, the triggering of neurons has been compared pretty dumb to how existing biofeedback devices and many electronic systems work.
The implant has a set of electrodes leading to muscles on the weak side of the spine,
The technology is based on the error-related potential (Errp) measured non-invasively using electroencephalographic (EEG) electrode arrays.
as well as highly efficient photovoltaic cells (known as gallium arsenide photovoltaic cells) to convert that concentrated solar energy into electricity. Though concentrated solar thermal power
Its gallium arsenide photovoltaic cells though more efficient than standard PV cells, are not cheap. Add up construction costs and the costs of the fancy cooling system,
Equipped with stereoscopic cameras for depth perception, five thrusters for stability, GPS and pitch-and-roll sensors,
In order to walk, the patient wore a cap with electrodes that detected his brain signals. These electrical signals the same as those a doctor looks at when running an electroencephalogram (EEG) test were sent to a computer,
The electrolyte used for the battery positive electrode is made mostly from lithium iron phosphate, while the electrolytes used for the negative electrode include lithium titanate,
and lithium hexafluorophosphate. Those are all common ingredients used in Li-ion rechargeable batteries but the thickness of these electrodes are just 80 to 90 nanometers,
which allows a lot of light to pass through and makes these batteries almost completely transparent. But by changing the chemical makeup of the negative electrode,
the Japanese researchers have found a way to make these transparent batteries now recharge themselves in the presence of sunlight,
For example, if a display item has embedded an LED light pulsing a signal at a specific frequency,
The original mass sensor consists of a fluid-filled microchannel etched in a tiny silicon cantilever that vibrates inside a vacuum cavity.
They are also using the PLL approach to increase throughput by operating many cantilevers on a single chip m
way to improve methods for detecting polluting emissions using a sensor at the nanoscale. The paper was published in Nanotechnology.
The sensor was tested in conditions similar to ambient air since future devices developed from this method will need to operate in these conditions.
Copper oxide is a semiconductor and scientists use nanowires fabricated from it to search for potential application in the microelectronics industry.
But in gas sensing applications, copper oxide was much less widely investigated compared to other metal oxide materials.
A semiconductor can be made to experience dramatic changes in its electrical properties when a small amount of foreign atoms are made to attach to its surface at high temperatures.
the copper oxide nanowire was made part of an electric circuit. The researchers detected carbon monoxide indirectly, by measuring the change in the resulting circuit electrical resistance in presence of the gas.
The next step is to detect different gases at the same time by using multiple sensor devices, with each device utilizing a different type of nanoparticle.
nanowire gas sensors will be cheaper and potentially easier to mass produce. The main energy cost in operating this kind of a sensor will be the high temperatures necessary to facilitate the chemical reactions for ensuring certain electrical response.
In this study 350 degree centigrade was used. However, different nanowire-nanoparticle material configurations are currently being investigated in order to lower the operating temperature of this system."
On the upper right is a top view of a single palladium nanoparticle photographed with a transmission electron microscope (TEM)
way to improve methods for detecting polluting emissions using a sensor at the nanoscale. The paper was published in Nanotechnology.
The sensor was tested in conditions similar to ambient air since future devices developed from this method will need to operate in these conditions.
Copper oxide is a semiconductor and scientists use nanowires fabricated from it to search for potential application in the microelectronics industry.
But in gas sensing applications, copper oxide was much less widely investigated compared to other metal oxide materials.
A semiconductor can be made to experience dramatic changes in its electrical properties when a small amount of foreign atoms are made to attach to its surface at high temperatures.
the copper oxide nanowire was made part of an electric circuit. The researchers detected carbon monoxide indirectly, by measuring the change in the resulting circuit electrical resistance in presence of the gas.
The next step is to detect different gases at the same time by using multiple sensor devices, with each device utilizing a different type of nanoparticle.
nanowire gas sensors will be cheaper and potentially easier to mass produce. The main energy cost in operating this kind of a sensor will be the high temperatures necessary to facilitate the chemical reactions for ensuring certain electrical response.
In this study 350 degree centigrade was used. However, different nanowire-nanoparticle material configurations are currently being investigated in order to lower the operating temperature of this system."
and electrically active crystals in one direction unlocks exotic spintronic switching activityby breaking the symmetry of ultiferroiccrystals using a special compression cell,
The finding demonstrates that the stress of crystal deformation can impart a newfound degree of control over magnetic and electrical behavior in spintronic devices and sensors.
and power of lithium-ion batteries One big problem faced by electrodes in rechargeable batteries, as they go through repeated cycles of charging
creating an electrode made of nanoparticles with a solid shell, and a olkinside that can change size again and again without affecting the shell.
which use aluminum as the key material for the lithium-ion battery negative electrode, or anode, are reported in the journal Nature Communications, in a paper by MIT professor Ju Li and six others.
The use of nanoparticles with an aluminum yolk and a titanium dioxide shell has proven to be he high-rate champion among high-capacity anodes
As a result, previous attempts to develop an aluminum electrode for lithium-ion batteries had failed.
hat separates the aluminum from the liquid electrolytebetween the battery two electrodes. The shell does not expand
but the inside of the electrode remains clean with no buildup of the SEIS, proving the shell fully encloses the aluminum
The result is an electrode that gives more than three times the capacity of graphite (1. 2 Ah/g) at a normal charging rate
#Graphene nanoribbon finding could lead to faster, more efficient electronics Graphene, an atom-thick material with extraordinary properties, is a promising candidate for the next generation of dramatically faster, more energy-efficient electronics.
However, scientists have struggled to fabricate the material into ultra-narrow strips, called nanoribbons, that could enable the use of graphene in high-performance semiconductor electronics.
Now, University of Wisconsin-Madison engineers have discovered a way to grow graphene nanoribbons with desirable semiconducting properties directly on a conventional germanium semiconductor wafer.
This breakthrough could allow manufacturers to easily use graphene nanoribbons in hybrid integrated circuits which promise to significantly boost the performance of next-generation electronic devices.
This technology could also have specific uses in industrial and military applications, such as sensors that detect specific chemical and biological species
and photonic devices that manipulate light. In a paper published August 10, 2015 in the journal Nature Communications, Michael Arnold, an associate professor of materials science and engineering at UW-Madison, Phd student Robert Jacobberger,
and their collaborators describe their new approach to producing graphene nanoribbons. Importantly, their technique can easily be scaled for mass production
and is compatible with the prevailing infrastructure used in semiconductor processing. raphene nanoribbons that can be grown directly on the surface of a semiconductor like germanium are more compatible with planar processing that used in the semiconductor industry,
and so there would be less of a barrier to integrating these really excellent materials into electronics in the future,
the material most commonly found in today's computer chips. But to exploit graphene remarkable electronic properties in semiconductor applications where current must be switched on and off,
graphene nanoribbons need to be less than 10 nanometers wide, which is phenomenally narrow. In addition, the nanoribbons must have smooth
but this method only works on metal substrates and the resulting nanoribbons are thus far too short for use in electronics.
#Hundredfold improvement in temperature mapping reveals the stresses inside nanoscale transistors New nanoscale thermal imaging technique shows heat building up inside microprocessors,
A team of users and staff working at the Molecular Foundry have created a thermal imaging technique that can eehow temperature changes from point to point inside the smallest electronic circuits.
Fan-cooled heat sink on a microprocessor. Plasmon energy expansion thermometry, inset, uses a beam of electrons to track where heat is produced
modern microelectronic circuits contain billions of nanometer scale transistors, each generating tiny amounts of heat that collectively can compromise the performance of the device.
and to realize the next generation microprocessors. Electrons passing through a sample excite collective charge oscillations called plasmons.
which are directly related to the local temperature within an integrated circuit or transistor. Based on these principles
#Black phosphorus surges ahead of graphene A Korean team of scientists tune black phosphorus's band gap to form a superior conductor,
allowing for the application to be produced mass for electronic and optoelectronics devices. The research team operating out of Pohang University of Science and Technology (POSTECH),
affiliated with the Institute for Basic Science (IBS) Center for Artificial Low Dimensional Electronic systems (CALDES), reported a tunable band gap in black phosphorus (BP),
This research outcome potentially allows for great flexibility in the design and optimization of electronic and optoelectronic devices like solar panels and telecommunication lasers.
This amalgamation makes it a terrifically attractive material to apply to scientific developments in a wide variety of fields, such as electronics, aerospace and sports.
graphene has no band gap. Stepping stones to a Unique State A material band gap is fundamental to determining its electrical conductivity.
Imagine two river crossings, one with tightly-packed stepping-stones, and the other with large gaps between stones.
A band gap is much the same; the smaller the gap the more efficiently the current can move across the material and the stronger the current.
Graphene has a band gap of zero in its natural state, however, and so acts like a conductor;
the semiconductor potential can be realized because the conductivity can be shut off, even at low temperatures. This obviously dilutes its appeal as a semiconductor,
as shutting off conductivity is a vital part of a semiconductor function. Birth of a Revolution Phosphorus is the fifteenth element in the periodic table
and lends its name to an entire class of compounds. Indeed it could be considered an archetype of chemistry itself.
Like graphene, BP is a semiconductor and also cheap to mass produce. The one big difference between the two is BP natural band gap
allowing the material to switch its electrical current on and off. The research team tested on few layers of BP called phosphorene
which is required what we to tune the size of the band gap. This process of transferring electrons is known as doping
which tuned the band gap allowing the valence and conductive bands to move closer together, effectively lowering the band gap
and drastically altering it to a value between 0. 0 0. 6 Electron volt (ev) from its original intrinsic value of 0. 35 ev.
It more efficient in its natural state than black phosphorus but it difficult to open its band gap;
therefore we tuned BP band gap to resemble the natural state of graphene, a unique state of matter that is different from conventional semiconductors.
and very soon it could potentially be applied to several sectors including engineering where electrical engineers can adjust the band gap
#Butterfly wings help break the status quo in gas sensing The unique properties found in the stunning iridescent wings of a tropical blue butterfly could hold the key to developing new highly selective gas detection sensors.
has replicated the surface chemistry found in the iridescent scales of the Morpho butterfly to create an innovative gas sensor.
The ground-breaking findings could help inspire new designs for sensors that could be used in a range of sectors,
The research, published in the highly respected scientific journal, Nature Communications on September 1st, describes how the composition of gases in different environments can be detected by measuring small colour changes of the innovative bio-inspired sensor.
which we can advance sensor and detector technology rapidly. Tiny treelike nanostructures in the scales of Morpho wings are known to be responsible for the butterfly brilliant iridescence.
This selective response to vapour molecules is the key to this bio-inspired gas sensor.
and Air force Research Laboratory, produced these new kind of colorimetric sensors that favourably compete with conventional gas sensor arrays in simplicity, stability,
At present, reliable and cost-effective sensors for detection of small but meaningful gas leaks in a multitude of industrial processes remain an unmet environmental, health,
The research team believe this highly selective colorimetric sensor could represent a significant advancement in gas leak detection performance in the future.
and fabricated a new kind of gas sensor based on these principles. hese new sensors not only selectively detect separate gases
Our next goal is to make these sensors in a cost-effective manner to offer new attractive sensing solutions in the marketplace.
ur research into these bio-inspired sensors demonstrates the huge value in applying the scientific learnings from the biological world to develop technologies for real world applications. d
The scientists also predict that using high-end electronics and control of the viscosity gradient of the liquid could further optimize the system.
The paper is titled"Highly sensitive and selective sensor chips with graphene oxide linking layer"."Valentyn Volkov is the co-lead author, a visiting professor from the University of Southern Denmark.
New GO based biosensor chips exploit the phenomenon of surface plasmon resonance (SPR. Surface plasmons are electromagnetic waves propagating along a metal-dielectric interface (e g.,
These sensors can detect biomolecule adsorption even at a few trillionth of a gram per millimeter square.
Nevertheless, the most distinctive feature of such sensors is an ability to isualizemolecular interactions in real time.
With SPR sensors we just need to estimate the interaction between the drug and targets on the sensing surface,
Most commercial SPR sensor chips comprise a thin glass plate covered by gold layer with thiol
The biosensing sensitivity depends on the properties of chip surface. Higher binding capacity for biomolecules increases the signal levels and accuracy of analysis. The last several years
and patented a novel type of SPR sensor chips with the linking layer, made of GO, a material with more attractive optical and chemical properties than pristine graphene.
Scientists conducted a series of experiments with the GO chip the commercially available chip with carboxymethylated dextran (CMD) layer and the chip covered by monolayer graphene.
Experiments showed that the proposed GO chip has three times higher sensitivity than the CMD chip and 3. 7 times than the chip with pristine graphene.
These results mean, that the new chip needs much less molecules for detecting a compound
and can be used for analysis of chemical reactions with small drug molecules. An important advantage of the new GO based sensor chips is their simplicity
and low-cost fabrication compared to sensor chips that are already commercially available. ur invention will help in drug development against viral and cancer diseases.
We are expecting that pharmaceutical industry will express a strong demand for our technology Stebunov said. he sensor can also find applications in food quality control, toxin screening,
the sensor can significantly shorten a time for a clinical diagnostic, researcher added. However, the developed chip should go through a clinical trial for medical applications
#Crucial hurdle overcome in quantum computing: quantum logic gate in silicon built for the first time A team of Australian engineers has built a quantum logic gate in silicon for the first time,
making calculations between two qubits of information possible and thereby clearing the final hurdle to making silicon quantum computers a reality.
The significant advance, by a team at the University of New south wales (UNSW) in Sydney appears today in the international journal Nature. hat we have is a game changer,
Scientia Professor and Director of the Australian National Fabrication Facility at UNSW. ee demonstrated a two-qubit logic gate the central building block of a quantum computer and,
Because we use essentially the same device technology as existing computer chips, we believe it will be much easier to manufacture a full-scale processor chip than for any of the leading designs,
which rely on more exotic technologies. his makes the building of a quantum computer much more feasible,
and thereby create a logic gate using silicon. But the UNSW team working with Professor Kohei M. Itoh of Japan Keio University has done just that for the first time.
or tablet already has around one billion transistors on it, with each transistor less than 100 billionths of a metre in size, said Dr Menno Veldhorst,
a UNSW Research Fellow and the lead author of the Nature paper. ee morphed those silicon transistors into quantum bits by ensuring that each has only one electron associated with it.
We then store the binary code of 0 or 1 on the pinof the electron, which is associated with the electron tiny magnetic field,
"He said that a key next step for the project is to identify the right industry partners to work with to manufacture the full-scale quantum processor chip.
the development of new, lighter and stronger materials spanning consumer electronics to aircraft; and faster information searching through large databases e
The sensor does need not to be activated chemically and is rapid-acting within five minutes-enabling the targeted antibodies to be detected easily, even in complex clinical samples such as blood serum."
This led us to the idea to exploit similar structures such as the lithium-ion batteries
the ions migrate from one electrode to the other and intercalate into the electrode. The team of scientists around Dasgupta has produced now a lithium-ion accumulator, in
which one electrode is made of maghemite, a ferromagnetic iron oxide(?-Fe2o3), and the other electrode consists of pure lithium metal.
Experiments revealed that lithium ion intercalation in maghemite reduces its magnetization at room temperature. By the specific control of the lithium ions,
i e. by charging and discharging the accumulator, magnetization of maghemite can be controlled. Similar to conventional lithium-ion accumulators, this effect can be repeated.
The scientists hope to find a process to produce a magnetic switch that works according to the same principle as an electric transistor:
Germanium is a semiconductor, and this method provides a straightforward way to make semiconducting nanoscale circuits from graphene, a form of carbon only one atom thick.
"Some researchers have wanted to make transistors out of carbon nanotubes, but the problem is that they grow in all sorts of directions,
This high mobility makes the material an ideal candidate for faster, more energy-efficient electronics. However, the semiconductor industry wants to make circuits start
and stop electrons at will via bandgaps, as they do in computer chips. As a semimetal, graphene naturally has no bandgaps,
making it a challenge for widespread industry adoption. Until now. To confirm these findings, UW researchers went to Argonne staff scientists Brian Kiraly and Nathan Guisinger at the Center for Nanoscale Materials,
a DOE Office of Science User Facility located at Argonne.""We have some very unique capabilities here at the Center for Nanoscale Materials,
"said Guisinger.""Not only are designed our facilities to work with all different sorts of materials from metals to oxides,
"For use in electronic devices, the semiconductor industry is interested primarily in three faces of a germanium crystal.
It is the first time that a single detector has been able to monitor the spectral range from visible light to infrared radiation and right through to terahertz radiation.
The HZDR scientists are already using the new graphene detector for the exact synchronization of laser systems.
A tiny flake of graphene on silicon carbide and a futuristic-looking antenna and there it is the new graphene detector.
Like no other single detector system which has gone before, this comparatively simple and inexpensive construct can cover the enormous spectral range from visible light all the way to terahertz radiation."
"In contrast to other semiconductors like silicon or gallium arsenide, graphene can pick up light with a very large range of photon energies and convert it into electric signals.
We only needed a broadband antenna and the right substrate to create the ideal conditions,
"explained Dr. Stephan Winnerl, physicist at the Institute of Ion beam Physics and Materials Research at the HZDR.
had developed the precursor to the graphene detector. In his present position as a postdoc at the University of Maryland
the graphene flake and antenna assembly absorbs the rays, thereby transferring the energy of the photons to the electrons in the graphene.
These"hot electrons"increase the electrical resistance of the detector and generate rapid electric signals. The detector can register incident light in just 40 picoseconds these are billionths of a second.
Wide spectral range achieved through silicon carbide substratethe choice of substrate has now proved a pivotal step in improving the little light trap."
"Semiconductor substrates used in the past have absorbed always some wavelengths but silicon carbide remains passive in the spectral range,
Then there is also an antenna which acts like a funnel and captures long-wave infrared and terahertz radiation.
This optical universal detector is already being used at the HZDR for the exact synchronization of the two free-electron lasers at the ELBE Center for High-power Radiation Sources with other lasers.
So the scientists are using the graphene detector like a stopwatch. It tells them when the laser pulses reach their goal,
and the large bandwidth helps to prevent a change of detector from being a potential source of error.
obviating the need for the expensive and time-consuming nitrogen or helium cooling processes with other detectors.
The external antenna on the detector captures long-wave infrared and terahertz radiation and funnels it to a graphene flake
It is the first time that a single detector has been able to monitor the spectral range from visible light to infrared radiation and right through to terahertz radiation.
The HZDR scientists are already using the new graphene detector for the exact synchronization of laser systems.
A tiny flake of graphene on silicon carbide and a futuristic-looking antenna and there it is the new graphene detector.
Like no other single detector system which has gone before, this comparatively simple and inexpensive construct can cover the enormous spectral range from visible light all the way to terahertz radiation."
"In contrast to other semiconductors like silicon or gallium arsenide, graphene can pick up light with a very large range of photon energies and convert it into electric signals.
We only needed a broadband antenna and the right substrate to create the ideal conditions,
"explained Dr. Stephan Winnerl, physicist at the Institute of Ion beam Physics and Materials Research at the HZDR.
had developed the precursor to the graphene detector. In his present position as a postdoc at the University of Maryland
the graphene flake and antenna assembly absorbs the rays, thereby transferring the energy of the photons to the electrons in the graphene.
These"hot electrons"increase the electrical resistance of the detector and generate rapid electric signals. The detector can register incident light in just 40 picoseconds these are billionths of a second.
Wide spectral range achieved through silicon carbide substrate The choice of substrate has now proved a pivotal step in improving the little light trap."
"Semiconductor substrates used in the past have absorbed always some wavelengths but silicon carbide remains passive in the spectral range,
Then there is also an antenna which acts like a funnel and captures long-wave infrared and terahertz radiation.
This optical universal detector is already being used at the HZDR for the exact synchronization of the two free-electron lasers at the ELBE Center for High-power Radiation Sources with other lasers.
So the scientists are using the graphene detector like a stopwatch. It tells them when the laser pulses reach their goal,
and the large bandwidth helps to prevent a change of detector from being a potential source of error.
obviating the need for the expensive and time-consuming nitrogen or helium cooling processes with other detectors c
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