Electrical Materials
MXene: A new family of 2D metal carbides and nitrides
August 24, 2011 12:38 pm | News | CommentsWhile searching for new materials for electrical energy storage, a team of Drexel University materials scientists transformed 3D titanium-aluminum carbides into new family of 2D compounds with unique properties that may lead to groundbreaking advances in energy storage technology.
Nitrogen charges up graphene
August 23, 2011 6:41 am | News | CommentsA team of scientists working at Brookhaven National Laboratory’s particle accelerator have recently shown, for the first time, that it is possible to electrically dope graphene with the direct substitution of individual nitrogen atoms for carbon atoms.
Nano bundles pack a powerful punch
August 22, 2011 1:20 pm | News | CommentsRice University researchers have created a solid-state, nanotube-based supercapacitor that promises to combine the best qualities of high-energy batteries and fast-charging capacitors in a device suitable for extreme environments.
Quantum optical link sets new time records
August 17, 2011 7:06 am | News | CommentsTwo clouds of atoms placed in separate glass containers can entangle when illuminated with laser light, but photon emission halts the process in a fraction of a second. A research team in Denmark has found a solution, maintaining entanglement for more than an hour and raising hopes for quantum communication.
Wanted: 2011's Top Technologies
August 15, 2011 6:12 am | Blogs | CommentsThe editors of R&D Magazine have opened the nominations for the 2012 R&D 100 Awards competition, which will celebrate the 50th anniversary of the awards. If your organization introduced a new product this year, or is planning to, you can begin the entry process now.
On thinnest wire, electrons get stuck in traffic
August 12, 2011 5:16 am | News | CommentsThe thinnest wire in the world, made from pure gold, is being examined by physicists in Germany. It features exceptional electrical conductivity, but because the wire is just one atom wide the electrons begin to behave like cars in a traffic jam.
Photovoltaic LCDs let phones charge themselves
August 9, 2011 11:59 am | by Matthew Chin and Wileen Wong Kromhout | News | CommentsEngineers at the University of California, Los Angeles have created a new type of liquid-crystal display called a polarizing organic photovoltaic. It could potentially boost the function of these types of display by allowing them to harvest energy.
Polymer light-emitting device can be stretched like rubber
August 8, 2011 8:53 am | News | CommentsEngineers at the University of California, Los Angeles have demonstrated for the first time an intrinsically stretchable polymer light-emitting device. They developed a simple process to fabricate the transparent devices using single-walled carbon nanotube polymer composite electrodes.
Unexpected delay detected at ultrafast speed
August 5, 2011 7:56 am | News | CommentsMolecules that suddenly transform into new structures when stimulated by photons or electrons play key roles in many chemical and biological processes. But their inner workings remain mysterious because the charge-transfer dynamics happen too quickly for detection by typical instruments. A new ultrafast laser spectroscopy method deeveloped at RIKEN in Japan is able to track these changes, uncovering a remarkable phenomenon.
Indium-free transparent, flexible electrodes are based on graphene
August 3, 2011 6:23 am | News | CommentsFlexible, see-through video screens are a sought-after development in display technology, and if researchers at Rice University are successful, the solution to this goal is an electrode based on graphene. Their demonstration unit has shown considerable reliability, and avoids the use of rare elements as in indium-based coatings.
Metamaterial controls and magnifies light as if it were electricity
August 3, 2011 5:12 am | News | CommentsElectrical engineers at Duke University have developed a material that allows them to manipulate light in much the same way that electronics manipulate flowing electrons. Their innovation relies on the use of a metamaterial, and the advance could help speed a transition from devices based on electrical components to those based on optical components.
Physicists make new find of magnetic skyrmions
August 1, 2011 8:06 am | News | CommentsSkyrmions are cycloidal spin structures of exceptional stability named after the theoretical physicist, Tony Skyrme, who first discovered them. Researchers in Germany have now found for the first time a regular lattice of these skyrmions on the surface of atomically-thin metal film. They are also different than any previously found skyrmions.
Flux qubit tunes in to superconductor noise
July 29, 2011 9:06 am | News | CommentsThe signal levels on prototype superconducting circuits, used as a basis for developing quantum computer, are so low that ambient noise causes interference. An international research team has for the first time successfully measured this noise spectrum by inventing a new circuit.
Engineers invent easy on, easy off nanowire electronics
July 28, 2011 12:51 pm | by Louis Bergeron | News | CommentsElectronic circuitry composed of nanowires can now be fitted to a surface of almost any shape on an object made of virtually any material. The new approach used by Stanford researchers relies on the particular way that silicon and nickel interact with water.
Creative thinking leads to thermopower efficiency clues
July 28, 2011 12:43 pm | by Paul Preuss | News | CommentsTechnologies that convert temperature differences directly into electricity without wasteful intervening steps is promising, but efficiencies are limited. By turning the tables on current research and attempting to create magnetic fields instead of electric fields in prototype devices, Berkeley researchers found some unusual phenomena.
mPhase completes second battery prototype for automotive use
July 27, 2011 1:02 pm | News | CommentsWorking together with a European automobile manufacturer, mPhase has produced a refined product with increased functionality over prior examples and a 20% reduction in size, using MEMS processing and microfluidics technologies.
Rare coupling of magnetic and electric properties in a single material
July 25, 2011 5:38 am | News | CommentsResearchers at the U.S. Department of Energy's Brookhaven National Laboratory have observed a new way that magnetic and electric properties can coexist in a special class of metals. These materials, known as multiferroics, could serve as the basis for the next generation of faster and energy-efficient logic, memory, and sensing technology.
Researchers show that carbon nanotubes are electrochromic
July 19, 2011 12:23 pm | News | CommentsAccording to work by materials scientists in Japan, the optical properties of carbon nanotubes can be altered by changing the density of electrons in the tube. Visible color change is achieved by applying a voltage of at least 2 V across tube when suspended in an electrolyte solution.
Study determines the cooling effect of solar panels
July 19, 2011 7:04 am | by Ioana Patringenaru | News | CommentsIt stands to reason that the photovoltaic panels on a rooftop are not only converting sunlight to electricity, they are keeping the building cooler by intercepting the solar rays. Until recent research, however, just how much of a cooling benefit they can provide was not known.
Elusive charge properties of plasmons quantified
July 19, 2011 4:56 am | News | CommentsThe collective oscillations of electrical charge on the surfaces of metals, or surface plasmons, interest scientists for their potential to control light on the nanoscale. Scientists in Japan have recently developed a technique for imaging the electrical charge separation sites of individual plasmonic nanoparticles, a task that has been difficult at such minute dimensions.
New way to fabricate ferroelectric nanostructures
July 18, 2011 5:51 am | by John Toon | News | CommentsUsing a technique known as thermochemical nanolithography (TCNL), researchers have developed a new way to fabricate nanometer-scale ferroelectric structures directly on flexible plastic substrates that would be unable to withstand the processing temperatures normally required to create such nanostructures.
Graphite plus water may equal great energy storage
July 15, 2011 8:46 am | News | CommentsAccording to new research from a university in Australia, the combination of two ordinary materials – graphite and water – could produce energy storage systems that perform on par with lithium ion batteries, but recharge in a matter of seconds and have an almost indefinite lifespan.
A manganite changes its stripes
July 15, 2011 8:15 am | News | CommentsManganites that exhibit colossal magnetoresistance and well-known high-temperature superconductors are among the materials that show their stripes—regions where electrical charges concentrate. Until now, only static stripes have been seen. At the Advanced Light Source’s beamline 12.0.1, scientists have discovered a manganite whose stripes form or fall apart depending on the temperature, simultaneously giving rise to colossal changes in electrical conductivity.
World-record 25-tesla 'split magnet' makes its debut
July 13, 2011 10:43 am | News | CommentsA $2.5 million magnet that generates 500,000 times the force of the Earth’s magnetic field has recently debuted at Florida State University’s magnetics lab. The “split” design overcomes the structural limitations associated with resistive magnets. Four large elliptical ports allow researchers to access the magnet’s core without disrupting the magnetic field.
Engineers build a nanoscale device for brain-inspired computing
July 13, 2011 6:01 am | by Andrew Myers | News | CommentsResearchers at the Stanford School of Engineering have made a nanoelectronic synapse that might drive a new class of microchips that can learn, adapt, and make probability-based decisions in complex environments. The device emulates synaptic plasticity using phase-change material, and makes a leap past two-state transistors by demonstrating the ability to convey at least 100 values from each synapse.
