Articles tagged with Silicon
University of Michigan engineers create thin-layer, conducting, highly aligned film for high-performance plastic electronics by designing semiconducting polymers with natural twist and flexible arms. This breakthrough enables faster charge carrier mobility and could lead to cheaper, greener electronics.
Researchers combine the electronic properties of molybdenite and graphene to develop a flash memory prototype that stores data even in absence of electricity. The material offers great potential for efficient data storage due to its unique 'energy band' and high sensitivity to charge.
Researchers from KIT and the University of Toronto have successfully manufactured highly efficient light-emitting diodes using silicon nanocrystals. The SiLEDs can produce light in various colors and have a surprising long-term stability, making them an attractive alternative to existing LEDs.
Researchers at MIT have developed a new passivation process that can protect silicon surfaces at room temperature, reducing energy costs and enabling the production of more efficient solar cells. This breakthrough has the potential to replace traditional silicon nitride coatings, which are currently expensive and finicky.
Researchers at USC have created a new lithium-ion battery design that uses silicon nanoparticles to improve capacity and recharge more quickly. The batteries hold three times as much energy as comparable graphite-based designs and can recharge within 10 minutes.
Lab-on-a-chip technologies use micro-fabrication techniques to integrate various laboratory functions onto microchips. Researchers have demonstrated the ability to heat nanoliter volume droplets individually and in an array using VLSI silicon-based devices, enabling biochemical reactions and DNA melting detection.
Recent AGU journal publications highlight the impact of Io's volcanism on Jupiter's magnetosphere and project substantial increases in U.S. water demand due to climate warming, with irrigation and air conditioning driving demands, posing sustainability concerns.
Researchers at Aalto University have demonstrated improved light absorption and surface passivation on highly absorbing silicon nanostructures using atomic layer coating. This breakthrough advances the development of high-efficiency solar cells, which can potentially increase efficiency to new levels.
Scientists at the University at Buffalo have created a new method to produce hydrogen using silicon particles and water. This reaction produces hydrogen nearly instantaneously without requiring light, heat or electricity, offering a potential source of energy for fuel cells.
NREL's Silicon Photovoltaic Wafer Screening System uses thermal stress to identify weak wafers that are prone to breaking during manufacturing. The system can be retrofitted into assembly lines and has already shown potential for reducing production costs and increasing efficiency.
Researchers have successfully developed the world's first peel-and-stick thin-film solar cells, vastly expanding the potential applications of solar technology. The breakthrough allows for flexible and decal-like solar panels that can be attached to various surfaces without losing efficiency.
Researchers create compact, affordable terahertz scanning technology using CMOS technology, enabling applications in homeland security, wireless communications, healthcare, and touchless gaming. The new chips generate powerful signals that can penetrate various materials without ionizing damage.
Researchers at MIT develop the smallest indium gallium arsenide transistor, promising to replace silicon in computing devices. The tiny transistor performs well despite being just 22 nanometers in length.
Researchers at Princeton University have developed a simple and economic way to nearly triple the efficiency of organic solar cells using a nanostructured metal film called PlaCSH. The new technology also shows promise for increasing the efficiency of conventional inorganic solar collectors like silicon panels.
Researchers have created a new type of transistor called the '4-D' transistor, made from indium-gallium-arsenide material. The three nanowires in the device allow for faster and more efficient operation, enabling the development of lighter laptops with reduced heat generation.
Researchers at Lund University have developed a new method for manufacturing semiconductors, which could make production thousands of times quicker and cheaper. The technology uses freely suspended nanoparticles of gold to grow structures, eliminating the need for expensive semiconductor wafers.
Graphene crystals offer unprecedented stiffness, electrical and thermal properties due to their two-dimensional atomic structure. Researchers are now able to study the bonding characteristics of individual impurities in graphene, enabling them to optimize materials for specific applications.
The graphene-paved roadmap outlines the material's potential for transforming various industries, including electronics and medicine. With its unique properties, graphene is expected to play a crucial role in developing new technologies such as flexible devices, rollable e-paper, and high-speed wireless communications.
Researchers at IMUT have developed a method to analyze nanoscale deformation fields of a crack-tip, mapping pure shear strain at the atomic scale. The study provides new insights into fracture mechanics, paving the way for further research on dynamic crack-tips and various materials.
Researchers from KIT, Louvain, and Berlin develop a rapid and cheap method to produce 3D photonic crystals in silicon. The SPRIE method uses established technologies and innovative self-organization techniques.
Researchers at Rice University have designed transparent, two-terminal, three-dimensional computer memories using silicon oxide and graphene. The devices show promise for electronics and sophisticated heads-up displays, with a working yield of about 80 percent.
Researchers have developed biodegradable electronics that can dissolve in water or bodily fluids, opening new design paradigms for medical implants, environmental monitors and consumer devices. The technology harnesses techniques for making tiny electronic systems out of ultrathin sheets of silicon, which can completely dissolve in a f...
A research team created the first working quantum bit based on a single atom in silicon, representing a major advancement towards ultra-powerful quantum computers. The breakthrough enables the manipulation of data on an electron's spin to form a quantum bit, a fundamental unit of data for quantum computing.
Researchers develop new silicon resonator for ultra-stable laser, enabling narrower optical absorption lines and better optical atomic clocks. The stability of the laser is critical for these applications.
Researchers at Vanderbilt University have developed a way to combine the photosynthetic protein from spinach with silicon to produce substantially more electrical current. The new design produces current levels nearly 1,000 times higher than previous biohybrid solar cells and has the potential to power small devices.
Researchers have developed a method to make flexible lithium-ion battery components from discarded silicon, which can prolong their usefulness. The new material is made by creating nanowires from high-value but hard-to-recycle silicon and then encasing them in an electrically conducting copper and ion-conducting polymer electrolyte.
Researchers at Stanford University School of Medicine and Intel Corp. developed a grid-like array of short pieces of disease-associated proteins on silicon chips to identify patients with lupus. The technology has the potential to improve diagnoses, assess therapies, and design more-effective drugs.
Researchers have developed a new laser design that shrinks on-chip lasers to 2 micrometers in height, significantly reducing size and increasing performance. This breakthrough could enable faster data transfer rates and more efficient energy use in high-speed computers.
Researchers at Rice University and Lockheed Martin have developed a process to create multiple high-performance anodes from a single silicon wafer for lithium-ion batteries. The new method uses electrochemical etching to extract the sponge-like structure, which can store more than four times its weight in lithium.
Researchers at Columbia Engineering demonstrate graphene's remarkable optical nonlinear behavior, enabling broad applications in optical interconnects and low-power photonic integrated circuits. The graphene-silicon hybrid device achieves radio frequency generation with a resonant quality factor more than 50 times lower than what other...
Researchers created first artificial molecules whose chirality can be rapidly switched from right-handed to left-handed orientation using a beam of light. This discovery holds huge possibilities for terahertz technologies, including biomedical research and ultrahigh-speed communications.
JILA researchers discovered that removing the gold coating on atomic force microscope (AFM) probes improves force measurements in liquid, reducing the error range by 10 times. This breakthrough enables precise measurement of fast processes like protein folding and unfolding.
A team of Stanford engineers has made breakthroughs in carbon nanotube circuits, providing a ten-times improvement in energy efficiency over silicon. They have overcome major barriers, including alignment and metallic contamination, using a unique imperfection-immune design paradigm.
Researchers have successfully transferred gallium nitride LEDs from silicon to copper substrates, reducing the quantum confined stark effect and increasing light output. The new substrate design eliminates absorptive materials, electrode shading, and improves crystal orientation, leading to enhanced efficiency and crack-free structures.
Researchers develop unique technology that keeps devices working in the presence of ionizing radiation, suitable for space applications and control systems, and overcome current radiation-resistant technologies' drawbacks. The new logic gates perform logical operations and can be used to build circuits such as adders and multiplexers.
Researchers have discovered a way to manipulate and measure quantum processes in solid-state systems using highly purified silicon. This breakthrough could enable the creation of practical quantum computers, which would revolutionize computing capabilities.
Researchers at Stanford and Penn have developed an invisible photodetector that uses plasmonic cloaking to detect light. The device features silicon nanowires covered by a thin gold cap, which cancels out reflected light through destructive interference, rendering the device invisible.
Researchers at University College London have developed a new silicon oxide-based 'Resistive RAM' memory chip that can operate in ambient conditions, offering significantly greater memory storage and reduced energy consumption. The chip promises to be much faster than current technology, with potential applications beyond memory storage.
A team of physicists has developed a new design for nano-billiards that eliminates the effect of small bumps on electron paths, enabling more predictable electronic devices. By removing impurities and defects, researchers have created stable billiard tables at the nanoscale, paving the way for improved nanoscale electronics.
Researchers developed a magnetically actuated peel test technique to measure adhesion strength between thin films in microelectronic devices, photovoltaic cells and MEMS. The fixtureless and non-contact method helps ensure long-term reliability and resistance to thermal and mechanical stresses.
Researchers have developed transparent, flexible memory chips with high radiation resistance and stability. These '3-D' chips can pack extra gigabytes of data while taking up less space, making them suitable for next-generation flash-competitive memory.
Researchers at Tel Aviv University have created protein-based transistors using organic materials found in the human body, offering a biodegradable alternative to traditional silicon-based technology. The transistors are self-assembling and can be tailored for unique properties such as conductivity, memory storage, and fluorescence.
Berkeley Lab scientists create thinnest possible films of gold-silicon eutectic alloys and observe peculiar patterns of circles surrounded by blisters. The team finds that thinner gold layers lead to faster reaction rates and the formation of perfect squares in the center of the circular denuded zones.
Researchers at Stanford University have created tiny hollow spheres of photovoltaic nanocrystalline-silicon that harness physics to trap light, improving the performance of thin solar films. The nanoshells significantly increase light absorption over a broader spectrum of light.
A new study reveals graphene's ability to enhance conductivity while retaining wetting characteristics, making it a promising coating for various applications. The research found that gold, copper, and silicon get just as wet when clad by a single layer of graphene as they would without.
Researchers at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and Rice University discovered that a single layer of graphene enables near-perfect wetting transparency. The extreme thinness of graphene allows it to be transparent to water, with contact angles varying from 77 to 86 degrees on different surfaces.
Researchers have observed a new class of electron interactions that play a major role in the orbital nature of electrons in nanostructures. By tuning a specific effect, they eliminated spin-spin interactions while preserving orbital-orbital interactions. This discovery opens doors to new quantum electronic schemes.
Scientists have discovered how to build doughnuts with Lego blocks using a novel material with internal nanostructure made of two chemically discordant polymers. The discovery sheds light on the self-assembly of these materials, which could lead to breakthroughs in data storage, nanoelectronics, and pattern creation.
The article discusses the discovery of missing mid-Cenozoic sediments in the Lomonosov Ridge drilling, the variation in the Intertropical Convergence Zone's (ITCZ) position with global climate changes, and the decoupling of taxonomic and ecological severities of major mass extinctions. The ITCZ's position was more southward than today ...
A new technique developed by MIT researchers allows for the production of complex shapes on microchips, enabling further leaps in computational power. By combining interference patterns and photochromic materials, the technique can produce features one-eighth the size of traditional photolithography.
Researchers at Purdue University have created a new type of transistor with a 3-D structure, potentially leading to faster, lighter laptops. The transistors contain nanowires made from indium-gallium-arsenide and have the potential to conduct electrons five times faster than silicon.
Researchers have successfully created a molybdenite microchip, demonstrating its potential as an alternative to silicon. The chip is smaller, more efficient, and flexible than traditional silicon-based electronics.
Researchers create square arrays of highly reproductive three-dimensional silicon oxide nanodots in seconds, opening the door for biosensors and genomics applications. They used atmospheric pressure plasma-enhanced chemical vapour deposition to achieve precise ordering of nanodots on an array.
Researchers have integrated a highly efficient piezoelectric material into a silicon microelectromechanical system, enabling significant advances in sensing, imaging, and energy harvesting. The new material, PMN-PT, delivers two to four times more movement with stronger force than rival materials, while using only 3 volts.
Researchers created a multilayered silicon structure with air-trapping features that improve water repellency, also absorbing light in the infrared range. This biologically-inspired surface has potential uses in electro-optical devices and chemical sensors.
Researchers at Northwestern University have created an electrode that allows lithium-ion batteries to hold a charge up to 10 times greater than current technology. The new technology can also charge 10 times faster, paving the way for more efficient and smaller batteries for electric cars.
Researchers at the University of Illinois have developed a technique to integrate compound semiconductor nanowires on silicon wafers, enabling high-performance solar cells. The approach uses densely packed arrays of tiny strands of III-V semiconductor that grow up vertically from the silicon wafer.
Graphene's unique properties, including fast electron mobility and high mechanical strength, make it suitable for fast analog electronics. Researchers are working to improve synthetic graphene quality and study its behavior in technology conditions.
A team of professors has received $1.5 million to study a groundbreaking idea that could revolutionize the electronics industry by reducing power consumption and increasing computing speed. The approach involves encoding information using collective states formed by charge-density waves, which can help reduce energy needs per computation.
Researchers have designed a new conducting polymer that enables the use of silicon as a next-generation lithium-ion battery anode, storing eight times more energy than current designs. The material maintains its capacity after over a year of testing, with potential applications in electric cars and consumer electronics.