News by Subject Technology & Engineering

Scientists at the Max Planck Institute for Polymer Research (MPI-P) led by Dr. Kamal Asadi have solved a four decade long challenge of producing very thin nylon films that can be used for instance in electronic memory components. The thin nylon films are several 100 times thinner than human hair and could thus be attractive for applications in bendable electronic devices or for electronics in clothing.

The 'Landau-level laser' is an exciting concept for an unusual radiation source. It has the potential to efficiently generate terahertz waves, which can be used to penetrate materials as well as for future data transmission. So far, however, nearly all attempts to make such a laser have failed. An international team has now taken an important step in the right direction: In the journal Nature Photonics, they describe a material that generates terahertz waves by simply applying an electric current.

Atomically thin materials developed by Stanford researchers could create heat-shields for cell phones or laptops that would protect people and temperature-sensitive components and make future electronic gadgets even more compact.

The quantum Hall effect (QHE), which was previously known for two-dimensional (2D) systems, was predicted to be possible for three-dimensional (3D) systems by Bertrand Halperin in 1987, but the theory was not proven until recently by researchers from the Singapore University of Technology and Design (SUTD) and their research collaborators from around the globe.

Newly discovered properties in the compound uranium ditelluride show that it could prove highly resistant to one of the nemeses of quantum computer development -- the difficulty with making such a computer's memory storage switches, called qubits, function long enough to finish a computation before losing the delicate physical relationship that allows them to operate as a group. This relationship, called quantum coherence, is hard to maintain because of disturbances from the surrounding world.

An innovative way to pattern metals has been discovered by scientists in the Department of Chemistry at the University of Warwick, which could make the next generation of solar panels more sustainable and cheaper.