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May 18 | News
The
first purely silicon oxide-based “resistive RAM” memory chip that can
operate in ambient conditions has been developed by researchers in the
U.K., and it needs just a thousandth of the energy of Flash-based chips.
Unlike other attempts to develop similar silicon-oxide chips, this
invention does not require a vacuum to operate.
May 18 | News
With
the advent of the solid-state transistor and semi-conductor-based flat
panel display technology, the vacuum tube has virtually disappeared from
consumer electronics. But a team of researchers in Korea and at NASA’s
Ames Research Center have combined the best traits of both technologies
to create a vacuum channel transistor just 150 nm long.
May 14 | News
There's
nothing worse than a shonky pool table with an unseen groove or bump
that sends your shot off course. A new study has found that the same
goes at the nano-scale, where the "billiard balls" are tiny electrons
moving across a "table" made of the semiconductor gallium arsenide.
May 11 | News
A
French-American collaboration has developed a new combination of
polymers that makes it possible to design ultra-thin films capable of
self-organization with a 5-nm resolution. These hybrid copolymers are
based on sugars and oil-based macromolecules. Previous attempts using
nothing but oil-based molecules were limited to 20 nm in thickness.
May 10 | News
After
studies involving advanced simulations of nanoscale magnetic and
materials phenomena, a team of scientists in Germany have proposed
making use of magnetic moments in chains of iron atoms to allow
information to be transported on the nanoscale in a fast and
energy-efficient manner. The scheme, demonstrated in experiments, would
work over a wide temperature range, remaining largely unaffected by
external magnetic fields.
May 9 | News
A
detailed description of development of the first practical device that
mimics the process of photosynthesis has recently been published in an
American Chemical Society journal. Unlike earlier devices, which used
costly ingredients, the new device is made from inexpensive materials
and employs low-cost engineering and manufacturing processes.
May 9 | News
Gallium
nitride, a semiconductor material found in bright lights since the
1990s, is used in wireless applications because of its high efficiency
and high voltage operation. However, it’s difficult to remove heat from
GaN electronics, which limits applications and markets. Researchers at
the University of California, Riverside, have made a material from
graphene that does the job, and it looks a lot like a patterned quilt.
May 9 | News
White-light
quantum dots made from cadmium selenide can convert blue light produced
by a light-emitting diode into a warm white light similar to that
generated by an incandescent bulb. But their performance has been poor
until recent development breakthroughs have improved efficiency from
just 3% originally to as high as 45%.
May 7 | News
The
performance of magnetic storage devices is limited by the way magnetic
domains interact when in close proximity. Researchers in the U.K. have
demonstrated that a honeycomb pattern of nano-sized magnets in a
material known as spin ice introduces competition between neighboring
magnets, and reduces the problems caused by these interactions by
two-thirds.
May 3 | News
By
using diamond-tipped tools to apply pressure, a team led by Johns
Hopkins engineers has discovered some previously unknown electrical
properties of a common memory material, a mix of germanium, antimony,
and tellurium called GST. The discovery should make GST more useful for
electronics developers by allowing memory formats that retain data more
quickly, last longer, and allow far more capacity.
