Category: electronics – Page 41
Researchers use infrared light to wirelessly transmit power over 30 meters
We might be too close to wirelessly charging our mobile devices anywhere.
Researchers from Sejong University have developed a new system to transmit power over 30 meters using infrared light wirelessly. During laboratory tests, researchers demonstrated that the new system could transfer 400 mW of light power. For now, this amount of power is enough for charging sensors; however, further progress could mean enough high levels to charge mobile phones in various public places.
The research has been published in Optics Express.
In Optics Express, researchers describe a new wireless laser charging system that overcomes some of the challenges that have hindered previous attempts to develop safe and convenient on-the-go charging systems.
Please, Lego, let this engineer bring your computer brick to life
James Brown has brilliantly brought classic Lego computer bricks to life by outfitting them with a tiny OLED screen, processor, battery contacts and more.
Computer made from liquid crystals would ripple with calculations
Liquid crystals consist of rod-shaped molecules that slosh around like a fluid, and in those that are nematic the molecules are mostly parallel to each other. For devices like TV screens, the odd molecule that faces the wrong way has to be removed during the manufacturing process, but these defects are key for building a liquid crystal computer, says Kos.
In ordinary computers, information is stored as a series of bits, electronic versions of 1s and 0s. In Kos and Dunkel’s liquid crystal computer, the information would instead be translated into a series of defective orientations. A liquid crystal defect could encode a different value for every different degree of misalignment with other molecules.
Electric fields could then be used to manipulate the molecules to perform basic calculations, similar to how simple circuits called logic gates work in an ordinary computer. Calculations on the proposed computer would appear as ripples spreading through the liquid.
Team reports giant response of semiconductors to light
In an example of the adage “everything old is new again,” MIT engineers report a new discovery in semiconductors, well-known materials that have been the focus of intense study for over 100 years thanks to their many applications in electronic devices.
The team found that these important materials not only become much stiffer in response to light, but the effect is reversible when the light is turned off. The engineers also explain what is happening at the atomic scale, and show how the effect can be tuned by making the materials in a certain way—introducing specific defects—and using different colors and intensities of light.
“We’re excited about these results because we’ve uncovered a new scientific direction in an otherwise very well-trod field. In addition, we found that the phenomenon may be present in many other compounds,” says Rafael Jaramillo, the Thomas Lord Associate Professor of Materials Science and Engineering at MIT and leader of the team.