#New optical chip lights up the race for quantum computer The microprocessor inside a computer is a single multipurpose chip that has revolutionized people's life,
Now, researchers from the University of Bristol in the UK and Nippon Telegraph and Telephone (NTT) in Japan, have pulled off the same feat for light in the quantum world by developing an optical chip that can process photons in an infinite number
"A whole field of research has essentially been put onto a single optical chip that is easily controlled.
"The team demonstrated the chip's unique capabilities by reprogramming it to rapidly perform a number of different experiments, each
it took seconds to re-programme the chip, and milliseconds for the chip to switch to the new experiment.
We carried out a year's worth of experiments in a matter of hours. What we're really excited about is using these chips to discover new science that we haven't even thought of yet."
"The device was made possible because the world's leading quantum photonics group teamed up with Nippon Telegraph and Telephone (NTT), the world's leading telecommunications company.
Drexel University researchers are testing an array of new combinations that may vastly expand the options available to create faster, smaller, more efficient energy storage, advanced electronics and wear-resistant materials.
is significant because it represents a new way of combining elemental materials to form the building blocks of energy storage technology--such as batteries, capacitors and supercapacitors,
"We see possible applications in thermoelectrics, batteries, catalysis, solar cells, electronic devices, structural composites and many other fields, enabling a new level of engineering on the atomic scale
#Sensor mimics bats to detect dangerous structural cracks An ultrasound sensor for detecting dangerous cracks in structures such as aircraft engines,
they act as an amplifier for a slight increase in calcium concentration, triggering a gunshot-like release of neurotransmitters from one neuron to another.
discovered synaptotagmin-1 and showed that it plays an important role as a calcium sensor and calcium-dependent trigger for neurotransmitter release."
and range from paper-based tools to expensive, sophisticated electronic devices. Our AAC device uses analogue signals in continuous form,
#Close to the point of more efficient chips More efficient chips based on plasmonics are a step closer to reality through better control of the directional excitation of plasmons in a gold grating.
This demonstration is a step toward the development of plasmonic chips, so called because they use plasmons--collective excitations of electrons in a conductor--rather than electrons to transfer
Such chips promise to be much faster and potentially more energy efficient than current electronic chips.
This could prove useful for developing ways to replace wires between chips with optical connectors,
which will greatly speed up chip-to-chip communication in integrated circuits based on plasmonics rather than electronics.
opening the way to plasmonic counterparts of electronic components.""Potentially, we hope to achieve logic gates, which underpin all processing circuits,
based on electrically driven plasmons,"says Dong g
#Artificial leaf harnesses sunlight for efficient fuel production Generating and storing renewable energy, such as solar or wind power, is a key barrier to a clean energy economy.
two electrodes--one photoanode and one photocathode--and a membrane. The photoanode uses sunlight to oxidize water molecules,
Semiconductors such as silicon or gallium arsenide absorb light efficiently and are used therefore in solar panels. However, these materials also oxidize
which showed that adding a nanometers-thick layer of titanium dioxide (Tio2)--a material found in white paint
and many toothpastes and sunscreens--onto the electrodes could prevent them from corroding while still allowing light
and improve the stability of a gallium arsenide-based photoelectrode. Another key advance is the use of active, inexpensive catalysts for fuel production.
or photons, using an artificially constructed atom, known as a semiconductor quantum dot. Thanks to the enhanced optical properties of this system and the technique used to make the measurements,
This excited the quantum dot and led to the emission of a stream of individual photons.
and manipulate,"said Michael Todhunter, Phd, who led the new study with Noel Jee, Phd,
and more secure way to communicate information between wearable electronic devices, providing an improved alternative to existing wireless communication systems,
An application of this technology would be a wireless sensor network for full-body health monitoring."
"In the future, people are going to be wearing more electronics, such as smart watches, fitness trackers and health monitors.
Mercier also serves as the co-director of the UC San diego Center for Wearable Sensors.
which uses the body as a vehicle to deliver magnetic energy between electronic devices. An advantage of this system is that magnetic fields are able to pass freely through biological tissues,
The wearable technology combines motion sensors and the measurement of electrical activity generated by muscles to interpret hand gestures,
notes Jafari who presented his research at the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 12th Annual Body Sensor Networks Conference this past June.
Jafari's system makes use of two distinct sensors. The first is an inertial sensor that responds to motion.
Consisting of an accelerometer and gyroscope, the sensor measures the accelerations and angular velocities of the hand and arm, Jafari notes.
This sensor plays a major role in discriminating different signs by capturing the user's hand orientations and hand and arm movements during a gesture.
However, a motion sensor alone wasn't enough, Jafari explains. Certain signs in American sign language are similar in terms of the gestures required to convey the word.
With these gestures the overall movement of the hand may be the same for two different signs
Jafari's system makes use of another type of sensor that measures muscle activity. Known as an electromyographic sensor (semg), this sensor non-invasively measures the electrical potential of muscle activities,
Jafari explains. It is used to distinguish various hand and finger movements based on different muscle activities.
working in tandem with the motion sensor to provide a more accurate interpretation of the gesture being signed,
In Jafari's system both inertial sensors and electromyographic sensors are placed on the right wrist of the user where they detect gestures
he says his team will look to incorporate all of these functions into one wearable device by combining the hardware and reducing the overall size of the required electronics.
"The combination of muscle activation detection with motion sensors is a new and exciting way of understanding human intent with other applications in addition to enhanced SLR systems,
#Ideal single-photon source developed With the help of a semiconductor quantum dot, physicists have developed a new type of light source that emits single photons.
However, quantum dots made of semiconductor materials are offering new hope. A quantum dot is a collection of a few hundred thousand atoms that can form itself into a semiconductor under certain conditions.
Single electrons can be captured in these quantum dots and locked into a very small area. An individual photon is emitted
Noise in the semiconductor A team of scientists led by Dr. Andreas Kuhlmann and Prof. Richard J. Warburton from the University of Basel have shown already in past publications that the indistinguishability of the photons is reduced by the fluctuating nuclear spin of the quantum dot atoms.
MD, Phd, chief of the Division of Infectious diseases & International Health at the University of Virginia led to the idea of applying an innovative cancer science technique to the study of infectious disease.
#Super-stretchable metallic conductors for flexible electronics Washington state University researchers have discovered how to stretch metal films used in flexible electronics to twice their size without breaking.
The discovery could lead to dramatic improvements and addresses one of the biggest challenges in flexible electronics, an industry still in its infancy with applications such as bendable batteries, robotic skins, wearable monitoring devices and sensors,
and manufacturing the tiny metal connections that go into flexible electronics. The metal has to undergo severe stretching
and periodically bonded it to a plastic layer commonly used in electronics, they were able to stretch the metal film to twice its original length.
"This is a quantum improvement in stretchable electronics and wearable devices,"said Panat. While Panat is excited about the work
scientists eventually hope to make very fast transistors, semiconductors, sensors and transparent electrodes using graphene.""This is an amazing material,
'"says Bart Ludbrook, first author on the PNAS paper and a former Phd researcher in Damascelli's group at UBC."
According to financial reports, the global market for graphene reached $9 million in 2014 with most sales in the semiconductor, electronics, battery, energy,
scientists eventually hope to make very fast transistors, semiconductors, sensors and transparent electrodes using graphene.""This is an amazing material,
'"says Bart Ludbrook, first author on the PNAS paper and a former Phd researcher in Damascelli's group at UBC."
According to financial reports, the global market for graphene reached $9 million in 2014 with most sales in the semiconductor, electronics, battery, energy,
#Nano-dunes with the ion beam Many semiconductor devices in modern technology--from integrated circuits to solar cells and LEDS--are based on nanostructures.
They direct a broad beam of noble gas ions onto a gallium arsenide wafer, which, for example, is used in producing high-speed and high-frequency transistors, photocells or light-emitting diodes."
"One could compare ion bombardment with sand blasting. This means that the ions mill off the surface of the target.
however, the ion beam destroys the crystal structure of the gallium arsenide and thus its semiconducting properties. Dr. Facsko's group at the HZDR's Ion beam Center therefore uses the opportunity to heat the sample during ion bombardment.
A further effect ensures that the nano-dunes on the semiconductor surface develop. The colliding ions
One purpose of this experiment was to show we could integrate bacterial catalysts with semiconductor technology.
One purpose of this experiment was to show we could integrate bacterial catalysts with semiconductor technology.
#First realization of an electric circuit with a magnetic insulator using spin waves Researchers at the University of Groningen, Utrecht University,
the Université de Bretagne Occidentale and the FOM Foundation have found that it is possible to make an electric circuit with a magnetic insulator.
Their discovery is interesting for the development of novel, energy-efficient electronic devices, particularly integrated circuits. A device based on spin waves could theoretically operate more efficiently than ordinary electronic circuits.
The results of their research will be published online in Nature Physics on Monday 14 september. In our current electronic equipment, information is transported via the motion of electrons.
In this scheme, the charge of the electron is used to transmit a signal. In a magnetic insulator, a spin wave is used instead.
Duine from Utrecht University have succeeded to use spin waves in an electric circuit by carefully designing the device geometry.
and hence enables the spin waves to be used in an electric circuit. The spin wave circuit that the researchers built,
Multiplexers are devices that enable separate streams of data to travel through a single medium.
As a result, many of the components for a terahertz wireless network--including multiplexers--have not yet been developed.
The multiplexer that Mittleman and his colleagues have been working on makes use of what's known as a leaky wave antenna.
In this case the antenna is made from two metal plates placed in parallel to form a waveguide.
One of the plates has a small slit in it. As terahertz waves travel down the waveguide, some of the radiation leaks out of the slit.
"On the other end, a receiver could be tuned to accept radiation at a particular angle,
A new generation of organic semiconductors may allow these kinds of flexible electronics to be manufactured at low cost,
what they are calling"an electron superhighway"in one of these materials--a low-cost blue dye called phthalocyanine--that promises to allow electrons to flow faster and farther in organic semiconductors Their discovery,
reported Sept. 14 in the journal Nature Communications, will aid in the hunt for alternatives to traditional silicon-based electronics.
Hills and Potholes Many of these types of flexible electronic devices will rely on thin films of organic materials that catch sunlight
Increasing the distance these excitons can diffuse--before they reach a juncture where they're broken apart to produce electrical current--is essential to improving the efficiency of organic semiconductors.
and Naveen Rawat G'15--opens a window to view how increasing"long-range order"in the organic semiconductor films is a key mechanism that allows excitons to migrate farther."
marking ACL for transport by the enzyme kinesin-1 to the neuron terminals. Once there
a reminder of nature's course that led to most of us. Once the egg is released from an ovary
marking ACL for transport by the enzyme kinesin-1 to the neuron terminals. Once there
Analyst firm Alite Group estimates that this vulnerability is adding up to $8 billion in incurred losses per year in the U s. Solutions have been proposed--such as integrated circuit cards and mobile wallets systems.
and magnetic credit card chip. The disposable credit card information was acquired from Shopsafe by registering several disposable credit card numbers with Bank of america.
Besides its potential use in information transfer, the metamaterial might also prove useful in data storage or for sensors that measure magnetic fields.
Very generally it could be used in spintronics, so in a promising future development in electronics for novel computer technology.
The measurements the researchers used to reveal the magnetic orientation of the nanomagnets, and therefore the properties of the metamaterial, can only be conducted exclusively at PSI.
Protein-based sensor could detect viral infection or kill cancer cells MIT biological engineers have developed a modular system of proteins that can detect a particular DNA sequence in a cell
and functional materials 3d printing is revolutionizing the production of lightweight structures, soft robots and flexible electronics,
including the electronics, a 3d printer must be able to seamlessly transition from a flexible material that moves with your joints for wearable applications,
to a rigid material that accommodates the electronic components. It would also need to be embed able to electrical circuitry using multiple inks of varying conductivity and resistivity,
and could pave the way for entirely 3d printed wearable devices, soft robots, and electronics. The research was led by Jennifer A. Lewis, the Hansjörg Wyss Professor of Biologically Inspired Engineering at the Harvard John A. Paulson School of engineering and Applied sciences (SEAS) and a Core Faculty member at the Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering
These structures may find potential application in flexible electronics, wearable devices, and soft robotics. They also printed reactive materials,
The record peak brilliance of the light source makes it an ultrasensitive detector for the infrared molecular finger print region,
These characteristics, in combination with its coherence, make the light source a compact and ultrasensitive molecular detector.
This is a crucial step in creating a new generation of foldable electronics--think a flat-screen television that can be rolled up for easy portability--and implantable medical devices.
flexibility and transparency--all three are needed for foldable electronics--wear out too quickly to be said practical
That means the materials aren't durable enough for consumer electronics or biomedical devices.""Metallic materials often exhibit high cycle fatigue,
or organ surfaces, suggest the nanomesh"might be implanted in the body as a pacemaker electrode,
#Permanent data storage with light The first all-optical permanent on-chip memory has been developed by scientists of Karlsruhe Institute of technology (KIT) and the universities of Münster, Oxford, and Exeter.
and Exeter University have developed now the first all-optical, nonvolatile on-chip memory.""Optical bits can be written at frequencies of up to a gigahertz.
Permanent all-optical on-chip memories might considerably increase future performance of computers and reduce their energy consumption.
The achievement was made possible by advanced single-photon detectors designed and made at NIST.""Only about 1 percent of photons make it all the way through 100 km of fiber,
"We never could have done this experiment without these new detectors, which can measure this incredibly weak signal."
The teleportation method is novel in that four of NIST's photon detectors were positioned to filter out specific quantum states.
The detectors rely on superconducting nanowires made of molybdenum silicide. They can record more than 80 percent of arriving photons,
Thanks to the efficient detectors, researchers successfully teleported the desired quantum state in 83 percent of the maximum possible successful transmissions, on average.
#Highly flexible and wearable tactile sensor for robotics, electronics and healthcare applications A team of scientists from the National University of Singapore (NUS) Faculty of engineering has developed a wearable liquid-based microfluidic tactile
sensor that is small, thin, highly flexible and durable. Simple and cost-effective to produce, this novel device is very suitable for applications such as soft robotics, wearable consumer electronics, smart medical prosthetic devices,
as well as real-time healthcare monitoring. Tactile sensors are data acquisition devices that detect and measure a diversity of properties arising from physical interaction
and translate the information acquired to be analysed by an interconnected intelligent system. Conventional tactile sensors that are available today are typically rigid and in solid-state form
restricting various natural body movements when used and may also be subjected to plastic deformation and failure when pressure is exerted,
Addressing the limitations of existing tactile sensors, a team of researchers led by Professor Lim Chwee Teck from NUS'Department of Biomedical engineering achieves a significant technological breakthrough by adopting a liquid-based pressure sensing method in the design of such sensors.
Novel liquid-based pressure sensing element The newly developed microfluidic tactile sensor is fabricated on a flexible substrate like silicone rubber,
and uses non-corrosive, nontoxic 2d nanomaterial suspension in liquid form, such as graphene oxide, as the pressure sensing element to recognise force-induced changes.
From idea to market The team's invention will further advance the applications of tactile sensors
"This liquid-based microfluidic tactile sensor, which is the first of its kind, addresses an existing gap in the market.
the sensor gives a better fit when monitoring natural body movements. Its small size, durability and ease of production further differentiate this novel device from conventional tactile sensors.
With the rapid advancement of healthcare and biomedical technologies as well as consumer electronics, we are optimistic about new possibilities to commercialise our invention,
"said Prof Lim. The NUS team has filed already a patent for its creation and is also keen to explore licensing partnerships in commercial development.
and the respondent answers"yes"or"no"by focusing on one of two flashing LED LIGHTS attached to the monitor,
and transmitted brain signals from a human to a rat, using electrodes inserted into animals'brains.
#A different type of 2-D semiconductor To the growing list of two-dimensional semiconductors, such as graphene, boron nitride,
which are covalent semiconductors, these 2d hybrid perovskites are ionic materials, which gives them special properties of their own.
and a unique structural relaxation not found in covalent semiconductor sheets.""We believe this is the first example of 2d atomically thin nanostructures made from ionic materials,
and characterization of atomically thin 2d hybrid perovskites and introduces a new family of 2d solution-processed semiconductors for nanoscale optoelectronic devices, such as field effect transistors and photodetectors."
"We've demonstrated a two-qubit logic gate--the central building block of a quantum computer--and, significantly, done it in silicon.
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.""This 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's Keio University--has done just that for the first time.
A key advantage of the UNSW approach is that they have reconfigured the'transistors'that are used to define the bits in existing silicon chips,
"The silicon chip in your smartphone 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.""We've 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'spin'of the electron,
"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 s
#Liquid cooling moves onto the chip for denser electronics Using microfluidic passages cut directly into the backsides of production field-programmable gate array (FPGA) devices,
Georgia Institute of technology researchers are putting liquid cooling right where it's needed the most--a few hundred microns away from where the transistors are operating.
and more powerful integrated electronic systems that would no longer require heat sinks or cooling fans on top of the integrated circuits.
the researchers have demonstrated a monolithically-cooled chip that can operate at temperatures more than 60 percent below those of similar air-cooled chips.
The cooling comes from simple deionized water flowing through microfluidic passages that replace the massive air-cooled heat sinks normally placed on the backs of chips."
and energy efficient,"said Muhannad Bakir, an associate professor and ON Semiconductor Junior Professor in the Georgia Tech School of Electrical and Computer engineering."
"We have eliminated the heat sink atop the silicon die by moving liquid cooling just a few hundred microns away from the transistors.
We believe that reliably integrating microfluidic cooling directly on the silicon will be a disruptive technology for a new generation of electronics."
"Supported by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), the research is believed to be the first example of liquid cooling directly on an operating high-performance CMOS chip.
Details of the research were presented on September 28 at the IEEE Custom Integrated circuits Conference in San jose,
Bakir and graduate student Thomas Sarvey removed the heat sink and heat-spreading materials from the backs of stock Altera FPGA chips.
"This may open the door to stacking multiple chips, potentially multiple FPGA chips or FPGA chips with other chips that are high in power consumption.
We are seeing a significant reduction in the temperature of these liquid-cooled chips.""The research team chose FPGAS for their test
because they provide a platform to test different circuit designs, and because FPGAS are common in many market segments,
including defense. However, the same technology could also be used to cool CPUS, GPUS and other devices such as power amplifiers,
Bakir said. In addition to improving overall cooling, the system could reduce hotspots in circuits by applying cooling much closer to the power source.
Eliminating the heat sink could allow more compact packaging of electronic devices --but only if electrical connection issues are addressed also.
fabricated high aspect ratio copper vias through the silicon columns, reducing the capacitance of the connections that would carry signals between chips in an array."
"The moment you start thinking about stacking the chips, you need to have copper vias to connect them,
"Future high-performance semiconductor electronics will be increasingly dominated by thermal budget and ability to remove heat. The embedded microfluidic channels provide an intriguing option to remove heat from future microelectronics systems."
"This research was supported by DARPA-MTO; the contents of the news release are the responsibility of the authors
Karnik says graphene nanopores could be useful as sensors--for instance, detecting ions of mercury, potassium, or fluoride in solution.
The possibility to use arbitrary metallic electrodes significantly simplifies the fabrication and operation of such novel storage devices s
The physicists fired fast electrons into the miniature accelerator module using a type of electron gun provided by the group of CFEL Professor Dwayne Miller, Director at the Max Planck Institute for the Structure and Dynamics
an organic compound found in plants, bacteria, algae and trees, to build more efficient and longer-lasting energy storage devices or supercapacitors.
and high-power electronics, such as wearable devices, portable power supplies and hybrid and electric vehicles.""Ultimately the goal of this research is to find ways to power current and future technology with efficiency
This can be used to produce more sustainable capacitor devices with higher power density and faster charging abilities compared to rechargeable batteries.
Lightweight and high-power density capacitors are of particular interest for the development of hybrid and electric vehicles.
#New graphene based inks for high-speed manufacturing of printed electronics A low-cost, high-speed method for printing graphene inks using a conventional roll-to-roll printing process,
including inexpensive printed electronics, intelligent packaging and disposable sensors. Developed by researchers at the University of Cambridge in collaboration with Cambridge-based technology company Novalia,
including printed electronics. Although numerous laboratory prototypes have been demonstrated around the world, widespread commercial use of graphene is yet to be realised."
""This method will allow us to put electronic systems into entirely unexpected shapes, "said Chris Jones of Novalia."
who could diversify into the electronics sector.""The UK, and the Cambridge area in particular, has always been strong in the printing sector,
In addition to cheaper printable electronics, this technology opens up potential application areas such as smart packaging and disposable sensors,
Light goes infinitely fast with new on-chip material Electrons are so 20th century. In the 21st century, photonic devices,
will enhance or even replace the electronic devices that are ubiquitous in our lives today. But there's a step needed before optical connections can be integrated into telecommunications systems and computers:
or manipulated but this metamaterial permits you to manipulate light from one chip to another, to squeeze,
A zero-index material that fits on a chip could have exciting applications, especially in the world of quantum computing."
It can couple to silicon waveguides to interface with standard integrated photonic components and chips."
""This on-chip metamaterial opens the door to exploring the physics of zero index and its applications in integrated optics,"said Mazur r
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