http://phys.org/ en-us Phys.org internet news portal provides the latest news on science including: Physics, Nanotechnology, Life Sciences, Space Science, Earth Science, Environment, Health and Medicine. New technologies that exploit quantum behavior for computing and other applications are closer than ever to being realized due to recent advances, according to a review article published this week in the journal Science. http://phys.org/news281956662.html Physics Fri, 08 Mar 2013 09:18:02 EST news281956662 AIST researchers have developed an instrument for X-ray absorption fine structure (XAFS) spectroscopy equipped with a superconducting detector. With the instrument, the researchers have realized, for the first time, local structure analysis of nitrogen (N) dopants (impurity atoms at a very low concentration), which were introduced by ion plantation in silicon carbide (SiC), a wide-gap semiconductor, and are necessary for SiC to be a n-type semiconductor. http://phys.org/news281004867.html Physics Mon, 25 Feb 2013 08:54:45 EST news281004867 (Phys.org)—Scientists have designed a new multijunction solar cell that, in simulations, can achieve an efficiency of 51.8%. This high performance exceeds the current goal of 50% efficiency in multijunction solar cell research as well as the current world record of 43.5% for a 3-junction solar cell. http://phys.org/news280405035.html Nanotechnology Wed, 20 Feb 2013 10:00:01 EST news280405035 Researchers have discovered a new way of emitting photons one at a time. They have constructed semiconductor nanowires with "quantum dots" of unprecedented quality - a discovery with implications for the future of quantum computing. http://phys.org/news280568836.html Physics Wed, 20 Feb 2013 07:47:23 EST news280568836 LANL researchers and collaborators have made the first demonstration of rapidly switching on and off "slow light" in specially designed metamate­rials at room temperature. Metamaterials are assemblies of multiple individual elements fashioned from conventional microscopic materials arranged in periodic patterns. This work opens the possibility to design novel chip-scale, ultrafast devices for applications in terahertz wireless communications and all-optical computing. http://phys.org/news279878136.html Physics Tue, 12 Feb 2013 07:55:58 EST news279878136 (Phys.org)—High-performance infrared cameras are crucial for civilian and military applications such as night-vision goggles and search-and-rescue operations. Existing cameras usually fall into one of two types: active cameras, which use an invisible infrared source to illuminate the scene, usually in the near or short-wavelength infrared; and passive cameras, which detect the thermal radiation given off by a warm object, typically in the mid- or long-wavelength infrared, without the need for any illumination. Both camera types have advantages and disadvantages in the field. http://phys.org/news277556735.html Physics Wed, 16 Jan 2013 11:05:41 EST news277556735 (Phys.org)—Acidity (pH) and its changes play an important role in many physiological processes, including protein folding, and can act as indicators of cancer. In the journal Angewandte Chemie, American researchers have now introduced an unconventional pH sensor that makes it possible to monitor changes in pH values in living cells over longer periods of time, with previously unobtainable spatial resolution. This is possible through the combination of fluorescent nanocrystals with mobile molecular "arms" that can fold or unfold depending on the pH of their environment. http://phys.org/news274691571.html Nanotechnology Fri, 14 Dec 2012 07:13:06 EST news274691571 For the first time, a silicon-based optical fiber with solar-cell capabilities has been developed that has been shown to be scalable to many meters in length. The research opens the door to the possibility of weaving together solar-cell silicon wires to create flexible, curved, or twisted solar fabrics. The findings by an international team of chemists, physicists, and engineers, led by John Badding, a professor of chemistry at Penn State University, will be posted by the journal Advanced Materials in an early online edition on 6 December 2012 and will be published on a future date in the journal's print edition. http://phys.org/news273948565.html Chemistry Thu, 06 Dec 2012 06:00:01 EST news273948565 Researchers at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev (BGU) have developed a radically new design for a concentrator solar cell that, when irradiated from the side, generates solar conversion efficiencies which rival, and may eventually surpass, the most ultra-efficient photovoltaics. http://phys.org/news271566207.html Technology Thu, 08 Nov 2012 03:03:37 EST news271566207 IBM scientists have demonstrated a new approach to carbon nanotechnology that opens up the path for commercial fabrication of dramatically smaller, faster and more powerful computer chips. For the first time, more than ten thousand working transistors made of nano-sized tubes of carbon have been precisely placed and tested in a single chip using standard semiconductor processes. These carbon devices are poised to replace and outperform silicon technology allowing further miniaturization of computing components and leading the way for future microelectronics. http://phys.org/news270719800.html Nanotechnology Mon, 29 Oct 2012 08:57:10 EST news270719800 Diatoms, tiny marine life forms that have been around since the dinosaurs, could finally make biofuel production from algae truly cost-effective – because they can simultaneously produce other valuable products such as semiconductors, biomedical products and even health foods. http://phys.org/news267106526.html Biology Mon, 17 Sep 2012 13:15:32 EST news267106526 (Phys.org)—Read heads in hard drives, lasers in DVD players, transistors on computer chips, and many other components all contain ultrathin films of metal or semiconductor materials. Stresses arise in thin films during their manufacture. These influence the optical and magnetic properties of the components, but also cause defects in crystal lattices, and in the end, lead to component failure. As researchers in the department of Eric Mittemeijer at the Max Planck Institute for Intelligent Systems in Stuttgart have now established, enormous stresses in the films are created by a quantum-mechanical mechanism that has been unknown until now, based on an effect by the name of quantum confinement. This effect can cause stresses equivalent to one thousand times standard atmospheric pressure, dependent of thickness. Knowledge of this could be helpful in controlling the optical and mechanical properties of thin-film systems and increase their mechanical stability. Additionally, very sensitive sensors might also be developed on the basis of this knowledge. http://phys.org/news266754395.html Nanotechnology Thu, 13 Sep 2012 11:27:20 EST news266754395 Single particles of light, also known as photons, have been produced and implemented into a quantum key distribution (QKD) link, paving the way for unbreakable communication networks. http://phys.org/news263210959.html Physics Fri, 03 Aug 2012 11:09:28 EST news263210959 Fujitsu Laboratories today announced that it has successfully developed the world's first single-chip transceiver using gallium nitride (GaN) high electron mobility transistor (HEMT) technology that features an output of 6.3 W and that operates at a frequency of 10 GHz. http://phys.org/news259403161.html Technology Wed, 20 Jun 2012 09:26:39 EST news259403161 (Phys.org) -- Light-emitting diodes at infrared wavelengths are the magic behind such things as night vision and optical communications, including the streaming data that comes through Netflix. Cornell researchers have advanced the process of making such LEDs cheaper and easier to fabricate, which could lead to ultra-thin LEDs painted onto silicon to replace computer wiring with light waves. http://phys.org/news255849814.html Nanotechnology Thu, 10 May 2012 06:23:45 EST news255849814 Red, green, and blue lasers have become small and cheap enough to find their way into products ranging from BluRay DVD players to fancy pens, but each color is made with different semiconductor materials and by elaborate crystal growth processes. A new prototype technology demonstrates all three of those colors coming from one material. That could open the door to making products, such as high-performance digital displays, that employ a variety of laser colors all at once. http://phys.org/news254905138.html Nanotechnology Sun, 29 Apr 2012 13:00:07 EST news254905138 (PhysOrg.com) -- To improve the electronic devices that keep our modern, hyper-connected world organized, scientists are on the hunt for new semiconductor materials, which control the flow of electricity that powers smart phones and other electronic devices. http://phys.org/news240575800.html Physics Tue, 15 Nov 2011 10:36:48 EST news240575800 (PhysOrg.com) -- When it comes to fabricating stretchable, transparent electronics, finding a material to make transistors from has been a significant challenge for researchers. They've explored a variety of conventional semiconductor materials, including molecules, polymers, and metals, but these materials tend to have intrinsically poor optical and mechanical properties. These drawbacks make it difficult to realize a transistor that can maintain its optical and electrical performance under a high strain. In a new study, researchers have fabricated a stretchable, transparent graphene-based transistor and found that, due to graphene’s excellent optical, mechanical, and electrical properties, the transistor overcomes some of the problems faced by transistors made of conventional semiconductor materials. http://phys.org/news238846545.html Nanotechnology Wed, 26 Oct 2011 11:50:01 EST news238846545 Northwestern University scientists have developed new materials that can detect hard radiation, a very difficult thing to do. The method could lead to a handheld device for detecting nuclear weapons and materials, such as a "nuclear bomb in a suitcase" scenario. http://phys.org/news235048308.html Physics Mon, 12 Sep 2011 12:12:04 EST news235048308 Researchers with the U.S. Department of Energy's Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) have created a graphene and tin nanoscale composite material for high-capacity energy storage in renewable lithium ion batteries. By encapsulating tin between sheets of graphene, the researchers constructed a new, lightweight "sandwich" structure that should bolster battery performance. http://phys.org/news231002452.html Nanotechnology Wed, 27 Jul 2011 16:21:09 EST news231002452 A new laser device created at the University of Central Florida could make high-speed computing faster and more reliable, opening the door to a new age of the Internet. http://phys.org/news219403239.html Physics Tue, 15 Mar 2011 10:20:59 EST news219403239 The household demand for increased internet bandwidth has grown tremendously because of the popularity of data-intensive internet activities such as movie streaming. Conventional copper telephone lines struggle to meet this demand, and modern optical fiber networks connecting the homes of consumers to the network backbone are becoming necessary. Jing Zhang and co-workers at the ASTAR Institute of Microelectronics have now demonstrated a network scheme that considerably reduces the cost of fiber-optic installations and could make them more attractive for consumer use. http://phys.org/news217767874.html Physics Thu, 24 Feb 2011 11:04:45 EST news217767874 As the fastest growing energy technology in the world, solar energy continues to account for more and more of the world’s energy supply. Currently, most commercial photovoltaic power comes from bulk semiconductor materials. But in the past few years, scientists have been investigating how semiconductor nanostructures can increase the efficiency of solar cells and the newer field of solar fuels. http://phys.org/news200890025.html Nanotechnology Fri, 13 Aug 2010 03:47:27 EST news200890025 (PhysOrg.com) -- Demonstration of precision DNA-based nanoassembly method for making light-emitting particle clusters could lead to advances in solar cells, optoelectronics, and biosensors http://phys.org/news199374470.html Nanotechnology Mon, 26 Jul 2010 14:48:05 EST news199374470 In an advance that sounds almost Zen, researchers at the National Institute of Standards and Technology and JILA, a joint institute of NIST and the University of Colorado at Boulder, have demonstrated a new type of pulsed laser that excels at not producing light. The new device generates sustained streams of "dark pulses" -- repeated dips in light intensity -- which is the opposite of the bright bursts in a typical pulsed laser. http://phys.org/news195320545.html Physics Wed, 09 Jun 2010 16:42:43 EST news195320545 Fujitsu today announced the development of an amplifier based on gallium-nitride (GaN) high electron mobility transistor (HEMT) technology, which features an output of 12.9W - more than twice the output of previous amplifiers and presently featuring the world's highest amplification output - when operating in the wide band range of the C-band, X-band, and Ku-band radio frequency spectrums between 6GHz-18GHz. http://phys.org/news194267657.html Technology Fri, 28 May 2010 12:29:12 EST news194267657 (PhysOrg.com) -- When people at cocktail parties used to ask Charles Schmuttenmaer what he did, he would say he was a chemistry professor who worked on transient-photo conductivity in gallium arsenide. "At that point they would generally ask me to pass the chips," the Yale chemist says with a laugh. http://phys.org/news192461612.html Chemistry Fri, 07 May 2010 14:33:59 EST news192461612 (PhysOrg.com) -- Transistors, the cornerstone of electronics, are lossy and therefore consume energy. Swiss esearchers from the ETH Zurich and EPF Lausanne have developed transistors targeting high switching speeds and higher output powers. The devices can be used more efficiently as conventional transistors, so as to reduce energy consumption and CO2 emissions. http://phys.org/news191005008.html Technology Tue, 20 Apr 2010 18:30:01 EST news191005008 Thanks to two technologies developed by Professor Benoit Marsan and his team at the Universite du Quebec a Montreal (UQAM) Chemistry Department, the scientific and commercial future of solar cells could be totally transformed. Professor Marsan has come up with solutions for two problems that, for the last twenty years, have been hampering the development of efficient and affordable solar cells. http://phys.org/news189784618.html Nanotechnology Tue, 06 Apr 2010 14:57:29 EST news189784618 (PhysOrg.com) -- Light-emitting diodes, which employ semiconductors to produce artificial light, could reduce electricity consumption and lighten the impact of greenhouse gas emissions. However, moving this technology beyond traffic signals and laser pointers to illumination for office buildings and homes -- the single largest use of electricity -- requires materials that emit bright, white light cheaply and efficiently. White light is the mix of all the colors, or wavelengths, in the visible spectrum. http://phys.org/news189757035.html Nanotechnology Tue, 06 Apr 2010 07:17:28 EST news189757035