Miniscule ribbons of graphene are highly sought-after building blocks for semiconductor devices because of their predicted electronic properties. But making these nanostructures has remained a challenge. Now, a team of researchers from China and Japan have devised a new method to make the structures in the lab. Their findings appear in the current issue of Applied Physics Letters.
Seeing fruit “turn bad and going to waste” inspired a team of researchers in China to explore using atmospheric pressure nonequilibrium plasma -- already widely used for medical purposes -- as a novel solution to extend the shelf life of fruit and other perishable foods. Now they report in Physics of Plasmas about their computational study of how air plasma interacts with bacterial biofilms on an apple’s surface suggests that plasma technology could be used to decontaminate food in the future.
Researchers have nearly doubled the continuous output power of a type of laser, called a terahertz quantum cascade laser, with potential applications in medical imaging, airport security and more. Increasing the continuous output power of these lasers is an important step toward increasing the range of practical applications. The researchers report their results in the journal AIP Advances.
James Kakalios, a successful book author and accomplished physicist at the University of Minnesota Twin Cities, is the winner of the 2016 Andrew Gemant Award, an annual prize recognizing significant contributions to the cultural, artistic or humanistic dimension of physics, the American Institute of Physics (AIP) announced today.
When scaling down robots to the micrometer scale for tiny tasks such as incising tissue and puncturing retinal veins, minimalism is key. To make smaller, simpler microrobots, researchers at Drexel University have developed a fabrication method which utilizes the minimum geometric requirements for fluid motion -- consisting of just two conjoined microparticles coated with bits of magnetic debris.
While many techniques can be used for 3-D printing with metals, most rely on computer-controlled melting or sintering of a metal alloy powder by a laser or electron beam. The mechanical properties of parts produced by this method have been well studied, but not enough attention has focused on their electrical properties. In Applied Physics Letters, researchers in Australia report creating a resonant microwave cavity that they 3-D printed via an aluminum-silicon alloy.
Travelers frequently report experiencing a significantly slower jet lag recovery after an eastward vs. westward flight. While some are quick to dismiss this complaint as being “all in their head,” new research suggests it may be caused by the oscillation of a certain type of brain cells.
In a novel approach to industrial applications of THz technology, a team of German researchers began from the principle that thicknesses of multilayered paint coatings can be measured using time-of-flight measurements of ultrashort THz pulses. The model they developed obtained a new level of precision in measuring individual coating layers. Their report appears in the current issue of Applied Physics Letters.
Scalpels that never need washing. Airplane wings that de-ice themselves. Windshields that readily repel raindrops. While the appeal of a self-cleaning, hydrophobic surface may be apparent, the extremely fragile nature of the nanostructures that give rise to the water-shedding surfaces greatly limit the durability and use of such objects. To remedy this, researchers at Duke University in Durham, North Carolina and the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, Canada, are investigating the mechanisms of self-propulsion that occur when two droplets come together, catapulting themselves and any potential contaminants off the surface of interest.
A research team at Clarkson University reports an interesting conclusion that could have major impacts on the future of nano-manufacturing. Their analysis for a model of the process of random sequential adsorption (RSA) shows that even a small imprecision in the position of the lattice landing sites can dramatically affect the density of the permanently formed deposit.
The instrument likely to set the future mass standard for the U.S. takes its first full measurements
Shanghai Jiao Tong University researchers have learned more about the role of droplet size impact in aircraft icing to improved safety.
A team of Chinese researchers use computer simulations to provide new answers to a long-standing dispute in the field of material and chemical physics field regarding how water droplets freeze.
The flexible photovoltaics, made by researchers in South Korea, could power wearable electronics.
A group of Canadian/U.K. researchers mimicked the compression of a traditional French coffee-making press to characterize the dewatering properties of natural fiber suspensions.
In the framework of research motivated by the Challenger disaster a team of researchers have pursued all possible mechanisms of igniting explosions of liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen mixtures in similar situations. Their analysis revealed new mechanisms, which, in turn, required seeking a deeper understanding of the way hydrogen droplets burn within these mixtures.
Between 2000 and 2001, California experienced the biggest electricity crisis in the U.S. since World War II. Exactly how it happened, however, is complex. New research now reveals insights into the market dynamics at play, potentially helping regulators standardize the market and prevent future crises.
Researchers at the Paul Scherrer Institute’s Swiss Light Source in Villigen, Switzerland, have developed a new design for X-ray spectrometers that eschews a commonly utilized component to lowers overall production costs and increase the efficiency of x-ray flux, which may lead to faster acquisition times for sample imaging and increased efficiency for the system. This is essential for biological samples which may be damaged by continued x-ray exposure.
In 2013, Serbia announced its goal of having 27 percent of the country's power be generated from renewable sources by 2020. Hitting that target will require building additional clean energy facilities, but figuring out what type of project -- solar, wind, hydropower or other renewable sources -- to support can be a daunting task for investors. Now, a team of researchers is trying to simplify the decision.
Life in the nano lane just got faster in terms of knowledge of fundamental mechanisms working at the nanoscale -- where processes are driven by a dance of particles such as atoms and ions one-billionth of a meter. Advancing nanoscale understanding, a team of researchers has developed a visualization technique based on in situ transmission electron microscopy that offers novel and powerful functionality. It directly correlates the atomic-scale structure with physical and chemical properties.
A group of scientists from Hong Kong University of Science and Technology; the University of California, Santa Barbara; Sandia National Laboratories and Harvard University were able to fabricate tiny lasers directly on silicon -- a huge breakthrough for the semiconductor industry and well beyond. For more than 30 years, the crystal lattice of silicon and of typical laser materials could not match up, making it impossible to integrate the two materials -- until now.
The key to needed improvements in the quest for better batteries and fuels cells likely lies in the nanoscale, a realm so tiny that the movement of a few atoms or molecules can shift the landscape. A team of American and Chinese researchers has built a new window into this world to help scientists better understand how batteries really work. They describe their nanoscale probe in the Journal of Applied Physics.
A transatlantic team of researchers explain the creation of a simulation model that can help scientists mathematically correct for any errors related to a sphere's roughness this week in Applied Physics Letters, from AIP Publishing.
Researchers have developed an apparatus to meet the growing need for measuring ice as it changes in response to external forces, a process ice scientists call “deformational behaviors.’’ These forces occur on Earth in glacial ice as it flows due to gravity, and in space as icy satellite bodies respond to tidal forces from their parent bodies. Their report on their device -- called a cryogenic deformation apparatus -- appears in Review of Scientific Instruments.
While the evidence behind this age-related weakening of the circadian rhythm has been established in medical literature, the mechanisms behind it, and the connectivity structure of the neurons, have remained elusive. To better understand these neuronal and hormonal mechanisms and help develop potential treatments, researchers have conducted experimental analyses of the SCN’s connections, with the goal of determining its degree of heterogeneity. They discuss their work in this week’s CHAOS.
While it's possible to study explosives, sans explosives, new techniques involving high-speed, high-fidelity imaging with optical filtering and signal processing techniques have recently made setting off explosives and capturing the data in real-time a reasonable alternative to developing a new simulation. Researchers report their findings this week in the journal Review of Scientific Instruments.
The thirst for electronics is unlikely to cease and almost every appliance or device requires a suite of electronics that transfer, convert and control power. Now, researchers have taken an important step toward that technology with a new way to dope single crystals of diamonds, a crucial process for building electronic devices. Researchers describe their work in this week’s Journal of Applied Physics.
To identify molecules on Earth or in outer space, scientists typically record the spectrum of light absorbed -- each molecule has its own unique spectrum. CH5+, consists of a central carbon atom with five hydrogen atoms constantly moving around it, which makes it difficult to interpret its spectrum. In The Journal of Chemical Physics, Queen’s University researchers in Canada report comparing, for the first time at a detailed level, experimental v. theory for CH5+.
For the first time, two mathematicians at Canada’s University of Waterloo have created a 3-D simulation of the mass transport capabilities of mode-2 waves. Such models will help define how mode-2 waves can carry materials that are either beneficial (such as phytoplankton and other food sources) or detrimental (such as crude oil and other contaminants) between ecosystems. The simulation is described this week in Physics of Fluids.
Now researchers from the United Kingdom, in collaboration with industry partners from Germany, have built a tabletop instrument that can perform measurements that were only previously possible at large national magnet labs. The measurements will help in the development of next generation electronic devices employing 2-D materials.
To bring Brillouin spectroscopy to biological samples -- such as a chicken breast, or a patient’s potentially cancerous tumor -- researchers at the University of Maryland and Harvard Medical School have recently developed a new virtually imaged phased array-based Brillouin spectrometer. They describe their new interferometer configuration this week in Applied Physics Letters.
Combining superhydrophobic surfaces with Leidenfrost levitation—picture a water droplet hovering over a hot surface rather than making physical contact with it—has been explored extensively for the past decade by researchers hoping to uncover the holy grail of water-repellent surfaces. In a new twist, a group of South Korean researchers report an anomalous water droplet-bouncing phenomenon generated by Leidenfrost levitation on nanotextured surfaces in Applied Physics Letters.
If you place a houseplant next to a sunny window, you may notice the leaves bending toward the light. Plants don’t have brains, so the vast majority of movement is controlled by the interaction of light and fluid within plant cells. Researchers have published a paper in APL Photonics that highlights examples of optofluidics in plants. Optofluidics combine optical systems, which respond to and control light, with microfluidic systems, which move fluids through small channels.
There is broad scientific interest in understanding the origin of the catalytic power of enzymes on a molecular level. While hypotheses have been put forward using experimental and computational approaches, they must be examined critically. In the Journal of Chemical Physics, researchers present a critical review of the dynamical concept—time-dependent coupling between protein conformational motions and chemical reactions—that explores all reasonable definitions of what does and does not qualify as a dynamical effect.
Researchers from in South Korea have found that a structure with a twisted, helical shape and an elliptical cross section — inspired by the stem of a daffodil — can reduce drag and eliminate side-force fluctuations. The researchers describe their findings this week in Physics of Fluids.
In the world of particle accelerators, laser wakefield devices are small, but mighty upstarts. The machines can accelerate electrons to near the speed of light using a fraction of the distance required by conventional particle accelerators. However, the electrons are not all uniformly accelerated and beams with a mix of faster and slower particles are less practical. Now researchers have proposed a new way to minimize the energy spread of electrons in laser wakefield accelerators.
Researchers at the Indian Institute of Technology’s Advanced Technology Development Center in Kharagpur, West Bengal have conducted lubrication theory-based analyses to explore the hydrodynamic effects of improving flow rate in pre-existing peristaltic hardware relying on an external electric field.
More, faster, better, cheaper. These are the demands of our device-happy and data-centered world. Meeting these demands requires technologies for processing and storing information. Now, a significant obstacle to the development of next-generation device technologies appears to have been overcome, according to a research team in Asia. Specializing in the emerging field of semiconductor spintronics, the team has become the first to report growing iron-doped ferromagnetic semiconductors working at room temperature — a longstanding physical constraint.
Major international meeting on the science of sound this month will cover acoustics in many forms: presidential genuflection, therapeutic microbubbles, human habitats, dolphin clicks, and more
Since lasers were invented more than 50 years ago, they have transformed a diverse swath of technology -- from CD players to surgical instruments. Now researchers from France and Hungary have invented a way to print lasers that’s so cheap, easy and efficient they believe the core of the laser could be disposed of after each use. The team reports its findings in the Journal of Applied Physics.
University of Minnesota researchers reveal new turbulence physics that explains why jet noise is so loud.
Chronic brain diseases such as epilepsy involve disturbances of the brain’s electrical activity. Finding new and better ways to correct them is the dream of millions of patients, their physicians and researchers.
To cut down on the environmental waste and provide storage for rural communities, researchers at Kyung Hee University in Seoul have proposed a model for recycling unspent lithium ion batteries into energy storage units for solar-powered LED lamps. Boucar Diouf, a professor in the Department of Information Display at Kyung Hee University in Seoul, describes the logistics of his recycling and repurposing program this week in the Journal of Renewable and Sustainable Energy, from AIP Publishing.
A group of researchers at McGill University in Montreal has recently developed a portable, paper-based electrochemical platform with multiplexing and telemedicine capabilities that may enable low-cost, point-of-care diagnosis of HIV and HCV co-infections within serum samples.
If you go out after a rain, you may notice spider webs glistening with water droplets. The soggy webs resemble human-made meshes for fog collection: They both have thin fibers that collect water from droplets in the air. Now researchers have developed a model to predict whether a falling droplet will stick to a thin fiber, and how much water residue will remain on the fiber, discussing their findings in this week’s Physics of Fluids.
Thanks to millions of years’ accumulation of the wind-deposited, highly-porous sediment from which China’s Loess plateau takes its name, the region has been called the most erosion-prone on Earth. However, despite the prominent geomorphic role gravity erosion plays on the slopes, the process isn’t well understood due to the complexity of soil failure occurrence and behavior, Researchers at Dalian University of Technology present their findings in this week’s Review of Scientific Instruments.
In the Journal of Applied Physics, from AIP Publishing, the researchers describe experiments whose results exhibited “significant deviations” from those of the Critical State Model. They revealed unexpected new behavior favorable to practical applications, including the possibility of using TFMs in myriad new ways.
Optical activity is well known to occur within materials that differ from their mirror image. But what happens if this symmetry is broken by the direction of illumination rather than the material itself? Curiosity about this has led to the discovery of a new type of optical activity. Breaking the symmetry of metamaterials with reflected light will enable novel applications because it causes optical activity of unprecedented magnitude—far exceeding previously known specular optical activity.
While electrocaloric materials have been investigated as a method of on-demand microclimate control, there’s a catch – the external field needs to remain active, which is energy-consuming and heats the material. However, researchers have developed a unique blend of ferroelectric polymers which can hold absorbed heat after the external field has been switched off – a system which could be adapted for a variety of small-scale systems. They describe their hybrid dielectric material in Applied Physics Letters.
To better estimate the state of charge in lithium ion phosphate batteries, researchers at Southwest Jiaotong University in Chengdu, China, have recently developed an algorithm that can separately measure the charging and discharging states of the battery. This allows it to function amidst initial inaccurate values and errors in measuring current, as well as distinguish between the performance of each battery in the series.
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