Lead halide perovskites, with high refractive index and excellent optoelectronic property, have been used in both constructing high-quality optical resonators/lasers and fabricating high-efficiency light-emitting devices for advanced displays. Lenticular printing provides an illusion of depth and shows varying images upon view angles, which is considered as a promising approach towards future stereoscopic displays. To realize lenticular-printing-based display, it is required to modulate the outcoupling direction of emission light rather than that of incident light. Ideally, the lenticular-lens-like structures would be…

KIT researchers develop printing process for inexpensive, three-dimensional thermoelectric generators Thermoelectric generators, TEGs for short, convert ambient heat into electrical power. They enable maintenance-free, environmentally friendly, and autonomous power supply of the continuously growing number of sensors and devices for the Internet of Things (IoT) and recovery of waste heat. Scientists of Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) have now developed three-dimensional component architectures based on novel, printable thermoelectric materials. This might be a milestone on the way towards use of…

Distinct ‘relaxation’ identified in foams Researchers from Tokyo Metropolitan University studied the dynamics of foams. When a drop of water was added to a foam raft, the bubbles rearranged themselves to reach a new stable state. The team found that bubble movement was qualitatively different depending on the range of bubble sizes present. Along with analogies with soft-jammed materials, these findings may inspire the design of new foam materials for industry. Foams are everywhere. Whether it’s soaps and detergents, meringues,…

Textiles can be coated with the biopolymer chitosan and thus made water-repellent by binding hydrophobic molecules. The good thing is that this can also replace toxic and petroleum-based substances that are currently used for textile finishing. In the last few years Fraunhofer IGB and partners in the HydroFichi project have researched how this can be done: A technology has been developed to provide fibers with the desired properties using biotechnological processes and chitosan. The manufacture of textiles is, even nowadays,…

Powerful X-rays watch solid state batteries charging and discharging Despite worldwide use of lithium batteries, the exact dynamics of their operation has remained elusive. X-rays have proven to be a powerful tool for peering inside of these batteries to see the changes that occur in real time. Using the ultrabright X-rays of the Advanced Photon Source (APS), a U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Science User Facility at the DOE’s Argonne National Laboratory, a research team recently observed the…

Secure human-robot collaboration thanks to radar A breakthrough in collaborative robotics is within reach thanks to a joint project coordinated by Fraunhofer IAF. In the project “RoKoRa – Safe Human-Robot Collaboration using High-Resolution Radars”, researchers have succeeded in developing an innovative radar technology. It is an enabling technology for functional safety in various robot systems and applications, including high-performance robots. With the goal of safe human-robot collaboration (HRC), the Fraunhofer Institute for Applied Solid State Physics IAF and six partners…

Researchers develop low-cost artificial robotic skin with high-performance, vision-guided sensing, opening the doors to large-scale tactile sensing technology. Modern-day robots are often required to interact with humans intelligently and efficiently, which can be enabled by providing them the ability to perceive touch. However, previous attempts at mimicking human skin have involved bulky and complex electronics, wiring, and a risk of damage. In a recent study, researchers from Japan sidestep these difficulties by constructing a 3D vision-guided artificial skin that enables…

A new generation of thermomagnetic generators Alloy film thickness and footprint influence electrical power — publication in Joule. Use of waste heat contributes largely to sustainable energy supply. Scientists of Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) and Tohoku University in Japan have now come much closer to their goal of converting waste heat into electrical power at small temperature differences. As reported in Joule, electrical power per footprint of thermomagnetic generators based on Heusler alloy films has been increased by a…

Scientists experimentally realize 2D Si-Ge alloys with tunable electronic properties, getting us closer to a breakthrough in modern electronics. Semiconducting 2D alloys could be key to overcoming the technical limitations of modern electronics. Although 2D Si-Ge alloys would have interesting properties for this purpose, they were only predicted theoretically. Now, scientists from Japan Advanced Institute of Science and Technology have realized the first experimental demonstration. They have also shown that the Si to Ge ratio can be adjusted to fine…

Carbon dioxide (CO2) is one of the major greenhouse gases causing global warming. If carbon dioxide could be converted into energy, it would be killing two birds with one stone in addressing the environmental issues. A joint research team led by City University of Hong Kong (CityU) has developed a new photocatalyst which can produce methane fuel (CH4) selectively and effectively from carbon dioxide using sunlight. According to their research, the quantity of methane produced was almost doubled in the…

Just as pressing a guitar string produces a higher pitch, sending laser light through a material can shift it to higher energies and higher frequencies. Scientists have discovered how to use this process to explore quantum materials in more detail. Topological insulators are one of the most puzzling quantum materials – a class of materials whose electrons cooperate in surprising ways to produce unexpected properties. The edges of a TI are electron superhighways where electrons flow with no loss, ignoring…

Scientists at Tokyo Institute of Technology (Tokyo Tech) produced and extensively characterized novel organic molecules with a long helical structure. Unlike previous helical molecules, these longer compounds exhibit special interactions between coils that could give rise to interesting optical and chemical properties with applications in light polarization, catalysis, and molecular springs. More often than not, organic molecules with unique 3D structures bear physicochemical properties that cannot be found in other types of compounds. Helicenes, chains of simple benzene rings that…

Rice, Los Alamos make low-cost, scalable photocathodes from halide perovskites Rice University engineers have discovered technology that could slash the cost of semiconductor electron sources, key components in devices ranging from night-vision goggles and low-light cameras to electron microscopes and particle accelerators. In an open-access Nature Communications paper, Rice researchers and collaborators at Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) describe the first process for making electron sources from halide perovskite thin films that efficiently convert light into free electrons. Manufacturers spend…

Researchers at Chemnitz University of Technology develop Ultra-wideband technology for precise indoor navigation even in complex buildings to market maturity The technology for navigation outside buildings is widely established and available. Until now, however, it has been a major technical hurdle to seamlessly continue navigation from outside inside buildings. That’s because while we are guided from Point A to Point B by GPS satellites outside. GPS-like positioning technology doesn’t exist inside buildings – until now. A team of researchers at…

New or subsequently soaked concrete components, screeds and plasters may only be coated with other materials when they have dried sufficiently. Otherwise, there is a risk that the coatings may flake off. The duration of the drying process depends on the level of moisture and the temperature and humidity on site. Material moisture meters which measure with electrical methods make it possible to assess the progress of the drying process quickly and easily. In the event of moisture damage, such…

The Fraunhofer Institute for Laser Technology ILT’s globally successful EHLA extreme high-speed laser material deposition process is not only turning heads. In the collaborative project EVEREST, the institute – along with three industrial partners – has developed process and system technology to efficiently repair and coat components and tested it on rollers. Now after successfully completing the project, the Aachen researchers want to establish the newly developed process chain in the industry. The goal is to coat long and large…