What do shells, solar panels and DVDs have in common? At the atomic scale they are 'amorphous', that is -- unlike crystals -- they are built from irregular arrangements of atoms.
Condensed Matter
Mar 24, 2010
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A team of researchers led by the University of Pittsburgh's Scott X. Mao has observed at atomic scale a previously unknown mechanism of shear-driven crystal to amorphously transform in silicon. The paper "In situ observation ...
Nanophysics
Sep 19, 2016
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226
(Phys.org) —Colorful, see-through solar cells invented at the University of Michigan could one day be used to make stained-glass windows, decorations and even shades that turn the sun's energy into electricity.
Energy & Green Tech
Mar 4, 2014
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Theoretical scientists have used topological mathematics and machine learning to identify a hidden relationship between nano-scale structures and thermal conductivity in amorphous silicon, a glassy form of the material with ...
Nanophysics
Jun 24, 2022
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A new study challenges the notion that the atomic structure of glass is indistinguishable from that of a liquid—at least for a certain kind of glass called "amorphous ice" that forms when water is cooled to very low temperatures.
Condensed Matter
Oct 3, 2017
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Using high-resolution imaging technology, University of Illinois researchers have answered a question that had confounded semiconductor researchers: Is amorphous silicon a glass? The answer? Yes – until hydrogen is added.
General Physics
Jun 14, 2011
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Researchers at the Helmholtz Center Berlin (HZB) have taken a leap forward towards a deeper understanding of an undesired effect in thin film solar cells based on amorphous silicon – one that has puzzled the scientific ...
General Physics
Feb 13, 2014
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We can't yet send holographic videos to Obi-Wan Kenobi on our droid, but A*STAR researchers have got us a little bit closer by creating holograms from an array of silicon structures that work throughout the visible spectrum.
Optics & Photonics
Aug 10, 2016
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Panasonic Corporation today announced that it has achieved a conversion efficiency of 25.6% (cell area: 143.7 cm²) in its HIT solar cells, a major increase over the previous world record for crystalline silicon-based solar ...
Energy & Green Tech
Apr 10, 2014
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Researchers from TU Delft in the Netherlands have shown how the energy yield of relatively cheap solar panels, made of amorphous silicon, can be considerably raised: from around 7 percent to 9 percent.
Energy & Green Tech
Jul 6, 2010
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