Toward optical chips
Boston MA (SPX) Sep 26, 2014 -
Chips that use light, rather than electricity, to move data would consume much less power - and energy efficiency is a growing concern as chips' transistor counts rise.
Of the three chief components of optical circuits - light emitters, modulators, and detectors - emitters are the toughest to build. One promising light source for optical chips is molybdenum disulfide (MoS2), which has exce ...
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Graphene imperfections key to creating hypersensitive 'electronic nose'
Chicago IL (SPX) Sep 26, 2014 -
Researchers have discovered a way to create a highly sensitive chemical sensor based on the crystalline flaws in graphene sheets. The imperfections have unique electronic properties that the researchers were able to exploit to increase sensitivity to absorbed gas molecules by 300 times.
The study is available online in advance of print in Nature Communications.
Amin Salehi- Khojin, a ...
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World's smallest reference material is big plus for nanotechnology
Washington DC (SPX) Sep 26, 2014 -
If it's true that good things come in small packages, then the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) can now make anyone working with nanoparticles very happy. NIST recently issued Reference Material (RM) 8027, the smallest known reference material ever created for validating measurements of these man-made, ultrafine particles between 1 and 100 nanometers (billionths of a meter) ...
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Putting the squeeze on quantum information
Toronto, Canada (SPX) Sep 26, 2014 -
CIFAR researchers have shown that information stored in quantum bits can be exponentially compressed without losing information. The achievement is an important proof of principle, and could be useful for efficient quantum communications and information storage.
Compression is vital for modern digital communication. It helps movies to stream quickly over the Internet, music to fit into dig ...
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Natural gas usage will have little effect on CO2 emissions
Irvine CA (SPX) Sep 26, 2014 -
Abundant supplies of natural gas will do little to reduce harmful U.S. emissions causing climate change, according to researchers at UC Irvine, Stanford University, and the nonprofit organization Near Zero. They found that inexpensive gas boosts electricity consumption and hinders expansion of cleaner energy sources, such as wind and solar.
The study results, which appear in the journal En ...
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Solar cell compound probed under pressure
Washington DC (SPX) Sep 26, 2014 -
Gallium arsenide, GaAs, a semiconductor composed of gallium and arsenic is well known to have physical properties that promise practical applications. In the form of nanowires and nanoparticles, it has particular potential for use in the manufacture of solar cells and optoelectronics in many of the same applications that silicon is commonly used.
But the natural semiconducting ability of G ...
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Engineers show light can play seesaw at the nanoscale
Minneapolis MN (SPX) Sep 26, 2014 -
University of Minnesota electrical engineering researchers have developed a unique nanoscale device that for the first time demonstrates mechanical transportation of light. The discovery could have major implications for creating faster and more efficient optical devices for computation and communication.
The research paper by University of Minnesota electrical and computer engineering ass ...
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