Only a few people stood by the open casket, with just a handful attending the funeral. There were so few attendees that you could count them on two hands. Two guys stood in a nearby parking lot, seeming eager to say their goodbyes. As the last person left the cemetery, they emerged from their car.
NYU Abu Dhabi researchers have unveiled a novel 2D material improving optical modulation for advanced systems and communications.
Responding to the increasing demand for efficient, tunable optical materials capable of precise light modulation to create greater bandwidth in communication networks and advanced optical systems, a team of researchers at NYU Abu Dhabi’s Photonics Research Lab (PRL) has developed a novel, two-dimensional (2D) material capable of manipulating light with exceptional precision and minimal loss.
Tunable optical materials (TOMs) are revolutionizing modern optoelectronics, electronic devices that detect, generate, and control light. In integrated photonics circuits, precise control over the optical properties of materials is crucial for unlocking groundbreaking and diverse applications in light manipulation. Two-dimensional materials like Transition Metal Dichalcogenides (TMDs) and graphene exhibit remarkable optical responses to external stimuli. However, achieving distinctive modulation across a short-wave infrared (SWIR) region while maintaining precise phase control at low signal loss within a compact footprint has been a persistent challenge.
A new electrical power converter design developed by Kobe University offers significantly improved efficiency at a reduced cost and lower maintenance. This direct current voltage boost converter is set to make a substantial impact on the development of electric and electronic components in various sectors, including power generation, healthcare, mobility, and information technology.
Devices that harvest energy from sunlight or vibrations, or power medical devices or hydrogen-fueled cars have one key component in common. This so-called “boost converter” converts low-voltage direct current input into high-voltage direct current output. Because it is such a ubiquitous and key component, it is desirable that it uses as few parts as possible for reduced maintenance and cost and at the same time that it operates at the highest possible efficiency without generating electromagnetic noise or heat. The main working principle of boost converters is to quickly change between two states in a circuit, one that stores energy and another that releases it. The faster the switching is, the smaller the components can be and therefore the whole device can be downsized. However, this also increases the electromagnetic noise and heat production, which deteriorates the performance of the power converter.
The team of Kobe University power electronics researcher Mishima Tomokazu made significant progress in developing a new direct current power conversion circuit. They managed to combine high-frequency switching (about 10 times higher than before) with a technique that reduces electromagnetic noise and power losses due to heat dissipation, called “soft switching,” while also reducing the number of components and, therefore, keeping cost and complexity low.
Resolve specializes in detecting “soft” X-rays, a form of light with energies 5,000 times greater than visible light. This allows it to pierce through the veil and observe the universe’s most violent and energetic phenomena: supermassive black holes, sprawling galaxy clusters, and the fiery aftermath of supernovae.
However, these 36 pixels are far from ordinary. They function as a “microcalorimeter spectrometer,” explains Brian Williams, NASA’s XRISM project scientist. Each pixel acts like a miniature thermometer, meticulously measuring the temperature change caused by an incoming X-ray. This seemingly simple act reveals a wealth of information.
A new type of memory has been demonstrated running at an astounding 600C for over 60 hours. Non-volatile ferroelectric diode (ferrodiode) memory devices can offer outstanding heat resistance and other properties that should enable cutting-edge data and extreme environment computing, claim researchers from the University of Pennsylvania in a Nature Electronics article, A scalable ferroelectronic non-volatile memory operating at 600°C.
Ferrodiode memory devices use a 45-nanometer thin layer of a synthesized AIScN (l0.68Sc0.32N) because of its ability to retain electrical states “after an external electric field is removed,” among “other desirable properties.” Ferrodiode memory has been tested running at 600 degrees Celsius for more than 60 hours while operating at less than 15 volts.
Tesla is rolling out the new Autopark for vehicles with ultrasonic sensors, and surprisingly they get some new visuals.
Hvidovre Hospital has the world’s first prototype of a sensor capable of detecting errors in MRI scans using laser light and gas. The new sensor, developed by a young researcher at the University of Copenhagen and Hvidovre Hospital, can thereby do what is impossible for current electrical sensors—and hopefully pave the way for MRI scans that are better, cheaper and faster.
The double-cone ignition scheme is a novel approach with the potential to achieve a high gain fusion with a relatively smaller drive laser energy. To optimize the colliding process of the plasma jets formed by the CHCl/CD shells embedded in the gold cones, an x-ray streak camera was used to capture the spontaneous x-ray emission from the CHCl and CD plasma jets. High-density plasma jets with a velocity of 220 ± 25 km/s are observed to collide and stagnate, forming an isochoric plasma with sharp ends. During the head-on colliding process, the self-emission intensity nonlinearly increases because of the rapid increase in the density and temperature of the plasma jets. The CD colliding plasma exhibited stronger self-emission due to its faster implosion process. These experimental findings effectively agree with the two-dimensional fluid simulations.
Experts have been busy working on producing advanced materials for modern electronic devices to meet this escalating demand.
Now, a significant milestone in this endeavor has been achieved by a team of researchers at the Georgia Institute of Technology, who have successfully engineered the world’s first functional semiconductor using graphene.
Touch screens are just displays with the array of sensors that make them work. Now, a new display can work as a touch screen without any additional sensors.
