In the future, ultrahigh-speed spintronics will require ultrafast coherent magnetization reversal within a picosecond — one-trillionth of a second. Spintronics centers on an electron’s spin and magnetic moment in solid-state devices. While this may eventually be achieved via irradiation with a nearly monocyclic terahertz pulse, the small change of magnetization, or modulation, it generates has […]
Looking Back and Forward: A Decadelong Quest for a Transformative Transistor
Smartphones contain billions of tiny switches called transistors that allow us to take care of myriad tasks beyond making calls — sending texts, navigating neighborhoods, snapping selfies and Googling names. These switches involve an electrically conducting channel whose conductivity can be changed by a gate terminal, which is separated from the channel by a dielectric […]
Magnetoresistance Ratio Enhancement in Heusler-Based Alloy Opens the Door to Highly Sensitive Magnetic Field Sensors
Magnetic field sensors can enhance applications that require efficient electric energy management. Improving magnetic field sensors below the picoTesla range could enable a technique to measure brain activity at room temperature with millisecond resolution — called magnetic encephalography — without superconducting quantum interference device (SQUID) technology, which requires cryogenic temperatures to work. A group of […]
A New Brain-Inspired Architecture Could Improve How Computers Handle Data and Advance AI
IBM researchers are developing a new computer architecture, better equipped to handle increased data loads from artificial intelligence. Their designs draw on concepts from the human brain and significantly outperform conventional computers in comparative studies. They report on their recent findings in the Journal of Applied Physics, from AIP Publishing. Today’s computers are built on the […]
The Future Of Wireless Communications Is Terahertz
Electrical and optical engineers in Australia have designed a novel platform that could tailor telecommunication and optical transmissions. Collaborating scientists from the University of New South Wales in Sydney and Canberra, the University of Adelaide, the University of South Australia and the Australian National University experimentally demonstrated their system using a new transmission wavelength with […]
New Oxide And Semiconductor Combination Builds New Device Potential
Insulating oxides are oxygen containing compounds that do not conduct electricity, but can sometimes form conductive interfaces when they’re layered together precisely. The conducting electrons at the interface form a two-dimensional electron gas (2DEG) which boasts exotic quantum properties that make the system potentially useful in electronics and photonics applications. Researchers at Yale University have […]
Deep-Depletion: A New Concept For MOSFETs
Silicon has provided enormous benefits to the power electronics industry. But performance of silicon-based power electronics is nearing maximum capacity. Enter wide bandgap (WBG) semiconductors. Seen as significantly more energy-efficient, they have emerged as leading contenders in developing field-effect transistors (FETs) for next-generation power electronics. Such FET technology would benefit everything from power-grid distribution of […]
Enhancing The Sensing Capabilities Of Diamonds With Quantum Properties
Pure diamond consists of carbon atoms in a perfect crystal lattice. But remove a few carbons and swap some others for nitrogen, and you get a diamond with special quantum-sensing properties. These properties are useful for quantum information applications and sensing magnetic fields, and as a platform for probing the mysteries of quantum physics. When […]
How to 3-D Print Your Own Sonic Tractor Beam
After demonstrating the first acoustically driven tractor beam platform, researchers develop a simpler, cheaper version using 3-D printable parts and open-source electronic components for the maker community. Last year Asier Marzo, then a doctoral student at the Public University of Navarre, helped develop the first single-sided acoustic tractor beam that is, the first realization […]
Artificial Muscles Show More Flex
Artificial muscles made significant gains when a literal twist in the development approach uncovered the tensile or stretchy abilities of polymer fibers once they were twisted and coiled into a spring-like geometry. In a similar manner to the powerful climbing tendrils of cucumber plants, the unique geometry gives the coil a flexing motion when fiber […]