Team presents new path to long-term data storage based on atomic-scale defects. With the development of the internet, social media or cloud computing, the amount of data created worldwide on a daily basis is sky-rocketing. This calls for new technologies which could provide higher storage densities combined with secure long-term data archiving far beyond the capabilities of traditional data storage devices. An international research team led by the Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf (HZDR) now proposes a new concept of long-term data storage…
Smart textiles are making remote hugs tangible. Smart textiles are making virtual reality more immersive and enabling wearers to experience the sensation of physical touch. An ultrathin film that can transmit touch sensations is able to turn textiles into a virtual second skin. For seriously ill children in hospital isolation wards, this new technology offers them the chance to feel the physical closeness of their parents during computer-simulated visits and to experience again the feeling of being held, hugged or…
Bio-based raw materials and new types of rubber. Synthetic rubber is indispensable today, especially for car tires and technical rubber goods. Until now, the raw materials for its production have largely been obtained from fossil sources. Under the leadership of the Fraunhofer Institute for Applied Polymer Research IAP, four Fraunhofer Institutes are now developing alternative, bio-based raw material sources for synthetic rubber, which will enable completely new types of rubber for car tires. The three-year project is being funded by…
Focusing a tailored laser beam through transparent glass can create a tiny spot inside the material. Researchers at Tohoku University have reported on a way to use this small spot to improve laser material processing, boosting processing resolution. Their findings were published in the journal Optics Letters on March 1,2024. Laser machining, like drilling and cutting, is vital in industries such as automotive, semiconductors, and medicine. Ultra-short pulse laser sources, with pulse widths from picoseconds to femtoseconds, enable precise processing…
Fraunhofer IWS Transfers Laser-based Sound Analysis of Surfaces into Industrial Practice with “LAwave”. Sound waves can reveal surface properties. Parameters such as surface or coating quality of components can be analyzed nondestructively using lasers and sensors. In research and some industrial laboratories, this laser-induced surface wave spectroscopy has already become an established measurement technology. With “LAwave”, the Fraunhofer Institute for Material and Beam Technology IWS in Dresden will present the second generation of a user-friendly measuring device at the International…
…from Saxony for material characterization of printed electronics. How efficient are new materials? Does changing the properties lead to better conductivity? The Fraunhofer Institute for Photonic Microsystems IPMS develops and manufactures silicon substrates for this purpose. This enables the fundamental electrical characterization of materials such as a novel graphene emulsion. Customized designs enable the optimal measurement of semiconductors and conductors. OFET substrates from Fraunhofer IPMS as wafer. (c) Sebastian Lassak / Fraunhofer IPMS Organic semiconductors are key components in organic…
Stanford materials engineers have 3D printed tens of thousands of hard-to-manufacture nanoparticles long predicted to yield promising new materials that change form in an instant. In nanomaterials, shape is destiny. That is, the geometry of the particle in the material defines the physical characteristics of the resulting material. “A crystal made of nano-ball bearings will arrange themselves differently than a crystal made of nano-dice and these arrangements will produce very different physical properties,” said Wendy Gu, an assistant professor of…
By capturing a rare glimpse into three-dimensional crack formation in brittle solids, EPFL researchers have found that complex cracks require more energy to advance than simple ones; a discovery that could improve materials testing and development. The last time you dropped a favorite mug or sat on your glasses, you may have been too preoccupied to take much notice of the intricate pattern of cracks that appeared in the broken object. But capturing the formation of such patterns is the…
Using only a single electron microscope image, researchers at TU Graz can determine the type and exact position of so-called guest atoms in high-tech materials. They also come closer to solving the mystery of the blue colour of aquamarine. In addition to their main components, the properties of crystalline and nanoporous materials often depend crucially on guest atoms or ions that are embedded in the tiny pores of their lattice structure. This applies to high-tech materials used in sensor or…
Shining new light on electron behavior using 2-photon photoemission spectroscopy. Understanding electron behavior and surface structure of triphenylene thin film molecules deposited on graphite substrates under light irradiation. Organic electronics is a field that has garnered significant interest in academic and industrial circles due to its potential applications in OLEDs and organic solar cells, offering advantages such as lightweight design, flexibility, and cost-efficiency. These devices are made by depositing a thin film of organic molecules onto a substrate that acts…
Leafhoppers, a common backyard insect, secrete and coat themselves in tiny mysterious particles that could provide both the inspiration and the instructions for next-generation technology, according to a new study led by Penn State researchers. In a first, the team precisely replicated the complex geometry of these particles, called brochosomes, and elucidated a better understanding of how they absorb both visible and ultraviolet light. This could allow the development of bioinspired optical materials with possible applications ranging from invisible cloaking…
Imaging being able to wear your smartphone on your wrist, not as a watch, but literally as a flexible band that surrounds around your arm. How about clothes that charge your gadgets just by wearing them? Recently, a collaborative team led by Professor Jin Kon Kim and Dr. Keon-Woo Kim of Pohang University of Science and Technology (POSTECH), Professor Taesung Kim and M.S./Ph.D. student Hyunho Seok of Sungkyunkwan University (SKKU), and Professor Hong Chul Moon of University of Seoul (UOS)…
Synthetic biologists’ hack blood-glucose reaction to create chemotherapy detector. Rice University synthetic biologists have found a way to piggyback on the glucose monitoring technology used in automated insulin dosing systems and make it universally applicable for the monitoring and dosing of virtually any drug. In a recently published study in Nature Communications, researchers in the lab of Caroline Ajo-Franklin demonstrated the technique by modifying a blood-glucose sensor to detect the anticancer drug afimoxifene , an estrogen inhibitor that patient’s bodies…
In our rapidly industrialized world, the quest for sustainable materials has never been more urgent. Plastics, ubiquitous in daily life, pose significant environmental challenges, primarily due to their fossil fuel origins and problematic disposal. Now, a study led by Jeremy Luterbacher’s team at EPFL unveils a pioneering approach to producing high-performance plastics from renewable resources. The research, published in Nature Sustainability, introduces a novel method for creating polyamides – a class of plastics known for their strength and durability, the…
Materials that are incredibly thin, only a few atoms thick, exhibit unique properties that make them appealing for energy storage, catalysis and water purification. Researchers at Linköping University, Sweden, have now developed a method that enables the synthesis of hundreds of new 2D materials. Their study has been published in the journal Science. Since the discovery of graphene, the field of research in extremely thin materials, so-called 2D materials, has increased exponentially. The reason is that 2D materials have a…
3D-printed microscopic particles, so small that to the naked eye they look like dust, have applications in drug and vaccine delivery, microelectronics, microfluidics, and abrasives for intricate manufacturing. However, the need for precise coordination between light delivery, stage movement, and resin properties makes scalable fabrication of such custom microscale particles challenging. Now, researchers at Stanford University have introduced a more efficient processing technique that can print up to 1 million highly detailed and customizable microscale particles a day. “We can now create much…
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