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Memristors achieve stable resistance values tied to fundamental constants of nature

Researchers at Forschungszentrum Jülich, together with international collaborators, have demonstrated for the first time that memristors—novel nanoscale switching devices—can provide stable resistance values directly linked to fundamental constants of nature. This paves the way for electrical units such as electrical resistance to be traced back far more simply and directly than it has been possible to date. By contrast, conventional, quantum-based measurement technology is so demanding that it can only be carried out in a few specialized laboratories worldwide.

The paper is published in the journal Nature Nanotechnology.

Since 2019, all base units of the International System of Units (SI)—including the meter, second, and kilogram—have been based on fundamental natural constants. For example, the kilogram, which was once based on the “prototype kilogram,” is now linked to Planck’s constant h. A meter is defined by the speed of light, and a second by the oscillation of the cesium atom.

Safer lithium-ion battery design prevents thermal runaway that can cause fires

Conventional lithium-ion batteries are known to present a fire risk, and can even cause explosions in certain cases. The widespread usage of lithium-ion batteries, in everything from electric vehicles to electric toothbrushes, makes lithium-ion battery fire risk mitigation a major priority. There is a great need for lithium-ion battery designs that balance long cycle life, high voltage, and safety.

The arises when lithium-ion batteries undergo some kind of physical damage, are overcharged or even when they have manufacturing defects. This causes thermal runaway when anions—or negatively charged ions—break their bonds with lithium and release heat. Conventional lithium-ion batteries can undergo a temperature change of over 500°C when this occurs.

However, researchers in China have now found a way to drastically reduce the heat released when lithium-ion batteries are damaged. Their study, published in Nature Energy, details the new design and the experimental results of nail penetration tests, in which the temperature rise was only around 3.5°C.

Teen builds advanced robotic hand from LEGO parts

A talented teenager from the UK has built a four-fingered robotic hand from standard Lego parts that performs almost as well as research-grade robotic hands. The anthropomorphic device can grasp, move and hold objects with remarkable versatility and human-like adaptability.

Jared Lepora, a 16-year-old student at Bristol Grammar School, began working on the hand a couple of years ago with his father, who works at the University of Bristol. Called the Educational SoftHand-A, it is made entirely of LEGO MINDSTORMS components and is designed to mimic the shape and function of the human hand. The only non-LEGO parts are the cords that act as tendons.

The hand’s four (an index, middle, pinkie and opposing thumb) and twelve joints (three on each finger) are driven by two motors that control two sets of tendons. One tendon opens the hand while the other closes it, similar to the push-pull system of our own muscles.

Bubble wrap bursts enable power-free acoustic testing

Non-destructive testing allows engineers to evaluate the integrity of structures such as pipelines, tanks, bridges, and machinery without dismantling them. Conventional approaches rely on loudspeakers, lasers, or electric sparks. While effective, these systems can be difficult or dangerous to use in flammable or confined areas and require considerable power to function effectively.

Now, a new study from Japan, available online in Measurement, shows how a common packaging material can replace power-hungry devices in non-destructive testing. The team, led by Professor Naoki Hosoya, along with Shuichi Yahagi from Tokyo City University, Toshiki Shimizu and Seiya Inadera from the Shibaura Institute of Technology, and Itsuro Kajiwara of Hokkaido University, found a simple way to test pipes for hidden flaws by using bubble wrap.

The researchers discovered that the sharp crack of a bubble burst can be a viable substitute for the expensive, energy-dependent tools usually employed in non-destructive testing. The researchers claim the method can detect objects inside a pipe within a 2% error margin, without requiring electricity or heavy equipment.

Beyond electronics: Optical system performs feature extraction with unprecedented low latency

Many modern artificial intelligence (AI) applications, such as surgical robotics and real-time financial trading, depend on the ability to quickly extract key features from streams of raw data. This process is currently bottlenecked by traditional digital processors. The physical limits of conventional electronics prevent the reduction in latency and the gains in throughput required in emerging data-intensive services.

The answer to this might lie in harnessing the power of light. Optical computing—or using light to perform demanding computations—has the potential to greatly accelerate feature extraction. In particular, optical diffraction operators, which are plate-like structures that perform calculations as light propagates through them, are highly promising due to their and capacity for parallel processing.

However, pushing these systems to operating speeds beyond 10 GHz in practice remains a technical challenge. This is mainly due to the difficulty of maintaining the stable, coherent light needed for optical computations.

Laser can transform complex semiconductor properties in single-step process

A research team has successfully developed a new technology that converts the conductivity properties of semiconductors with just one laser process.

The research team successfully converted (TiO2), which conventionally works based on electrons, into a hole-based semiconductor. The Laser-Induced Oxidation and Doping Integration (LODI) technology developed by the research team can simultaneously execute oxidation and doping with just one , and it is noted as a novel conversion technology that can drastically streamline the traditional complex process.

The study is published in the journal Small. The team was led by Professor Hyukjun Kwon from the Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, Daegu Gyeongbuk Institute of Science and Technology.

All-solid-state battery researchers reveal key insights into degradation mechanisms

Researchers from UNIST, Seoul National University (SNU), and POSTECH have made a significant breakthrough in understanding the degradation mechanisms of all-solid-state batteries (ASSBs), a promising technology for next-generation electric vehicles and large-scale energy storage.

Jointly led by Professor Donghyuk Kim at UNIST’s School of Energy and Chemical Engineering, Professor Sung-Kyun Jung at SNU’s School of Transdisciplinary Innovations, and Professor Jihyun Hong from POSTECH, their study reveals that interfacial chemical reactions play a critical role in structural damage and performance decline in sulfide-based ASSBs. The findings are published in Nature Communications.

Unlike that rely on flammable liquid electrolytes, ASSBs use non-flammable solid electrolytes, offering enhanced safety and higher energy density. However, challenges such as interface instability and microstructural deterioration have impeded their commercialization. Until now, the detailed understanding of how these phenomena occur has remained limited.

Unified memristor-ferroelectric memory developed for energy-efficient training of AI systems

Over the past decades, electronics engineers have developed a wide range of memory devices that can safely and efficiently store increasing amounts of data. However, the different types of devices developed to date come with their own trade-offs, which pose limits on their overall performance and restrict their possible applications.

Researchers at Université Grenoble Alpes (CEA-Leti, CEA List), Université de Bordeaux (CNRS) and Université Paris-Saclay (CNRS) recently developed a new memory device that combines two complementary components typically used individually, known as memristors and ferroelectric capacitors (FeCAPs). This unified memristor-ferroelectric memory, presented in a paper published in Nature Electronics, could be particularly promising for running artificial intelligence (AI) systems that autonomously learn to make increasingly accurate predictions.

“The ‘ideal’ memory would be high-density, non-volatile, capable of non-destructive readout, and offer virtually infinite endurance,” Elisa Vianello, senior author of the paper, told Tech Xplore.

Electric signals reveal magnetic spin waves, hinting at faster computing

Today’s computers store information in magnetic hard drives, keeping files safe even when the device is powered off. But to run programs and process information, computers rely on electricity. Each calculation requires a transfer of information between the electric and magnetic systems. This back-and-forth is a major bottleneck in the speed of modern computing.

Devices that integrate magnetic components directly into computing logic would remove this limitation and allow computers to perform faster and more efficiently.

A new theoretical study led by University of Delaware engineers reveals that magnons, a type of magnetic spin wave, can produce detectable electric signals. The findings, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, highlight potential ways to control and manipulate magnons with electric fields and suggest a path toward integrating electric and magnetic components to enable next-generation computing technologies.

Topological insulator maintains quantum spin Hall effect at higher temperatures

Topological insulators could form the basis for revolutionary electronic components. However, as they generally only function at very low temperatures, their practical application has been severely limited to date. Researchers at the University of Würzburg have now developed a topological insulator that also works at higher temperatures. Their results are published in Science Advances.

A topological insulator can be imagined as a material that is a perfect insulator on the inside—it does not conduct electricity there. At its edges, however, it behaves like an almost lossless “electron highway.” Electrons can move along these paths with almost no loss.

To deepen the analogy: these highways have separate lanes for electrons with different “spins”—a kind of intrinsic angular momentum. Electrons with “spin-up” move in one direction, electrons with “spin-down” in the opposite direction. This strict traffic regulation prevents collisions and thus . The phenomenon behind this is known as the quantum spin Hall effect (QSHE)—an effect that was also first experimentally proven at the University of Würzburg.

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