Put the inventor of the light-emitting diode and the maker of the world’s fastest transistor together in a research laboratory and what kinds of bright ideas might surface? One answer is a light-emitting transistor that could revolutionize the electronics industry.
Professors Nick Holonyak Jr. and Milton Feng at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign have uncovered a light-emitting transistor that could make the transistor the fundamental element in optoelectronics as well as in elec
In the future, your cell phone calls and television pictures could become a lot clearer thanks to tiny antennas thousands of times smaller than the width of a human hair. At least that’s the speculation of a University of Southern California researcher who has been investigating nanotube transistors.
The USC scientist, Bart Kosko, Ph.D., a professor in the school’s Electrical Engineering Department, led a study that has demonstrated for the first time that minuscule antennas, in t
Dutch research has demonstrated that there are no technical barriers to wind energy generating a significant part of the electricity supply. With the appropriate technical measures, possible problems in the electricity grid can be taken care of properly.
Researcher Han Slootweg developed simulation models, which demonstrate how wind energy affects the behaviour of electricity grids in concrete situations. These simulation models can also be used to establish the precise nature and size of a
Wind power is the most rapidly growing form of energy in the world today. European wind power accounts for the greatest share, with Denmark, Germany, and Spain as leading countries. In Denmark, for example, wind power provides roughly 12 percent of production of electricity. In Sweden, too, wind power has increased, although to a more limited extent. Between 1996 and 2003 the number of plants doubled from 300 to 631, while annual production trebled from 0.15 to about 0.5 TWh. However, wind accounts f
As notebook computers become thinner and lighter, the ever-present bulky power adapters used for line current approach the weight of the laptops, but smaller and lighter adapters may be on the way, thanks to piezoelectric technology, according to a Penn State electrical engineer.
“Electromagnetic transformers are shrinking slightly, but there are theoretical limitations in reducing the general size,” says Dr. Kenji Uchino, professor of electrical engineering. “A piezoelectric motor and tran
USC nanotube device uses ’Stochastic Resonance’ to enhance subthreshold signals
Paradoxical as it seems, a team of University of Southern California researchers has built a signal detector that only works when noise is added.
The device uses a novel kind of transistor made from carbon nanotubes. The principal investigator, Professor Bart Kosko of the USC department of electrical engineering, claims that the series of experiments reported in the December issue of the American
Department of Energy-funded researchers have decoded and analyzed the genome of a bacterium with the potential to bioremediate radioactive metals and generate electricity. In an article published in the December 12th issue of Science, researchers at The Institute for Genomic Research (TIGR) and the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, report that Geobacter sulfurreducens possesses extraordinary capabilities to transport electrons and “reduce” metal ions as part of its energy-generating metabolism.
For the first time, an international research program involving the Department of the Interior’s U.S. Geological Survey has proven that it is technically feasible to produce gas from gas hydrates. Gas hydrates are a naturally occurring “ice-like” combination of natural gas and water that have the potential to be a significant new source of energy from the world’s oceans and polar regions.
Today at a symposium in Japan, the successful results of the first modern, fully integrated p
As utility companies search for ways to avoid blackouts, like the one that shut down the northeastern corner of the United States last summer, one idea comes from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Researchers from the College of Engineering have designed a system where a small network of local generators can reliably disconnect from the rest of the power supply, enabling locations where electricity is critical to stay in operation.
Most buildings receive their electrical power
In this PhD thesis, Eugenio Gubía proposed a solution for the problems of electric motors run from power converters. Controlling motors and electric generators by means of power converters has negative effects with the presence of overtvoltages and high-frequency currents throughout the installation. These effects accelerate the ageing process of the motors and, moreover, can provoke faults in the correct operating of the control circuits.
Thus, in his PhD, Mr Gubia has developed a generic m
The recently created “Photovoltaics Technology Research Advisory Council” will meet for the first time on 4 December 2003 in Brussels. The initiative of the European Commission involves 18 members representing all the major players in this technology.
Europe is now the world’s second largest manufacturer of photovoltaics, accounting for more than 24% of overall production, behind Japan (44%) and ahead of the USA (22%). Current forecasts show large potential for solar electricity produc
New research from the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) suggests that next-generation, high-temperature superconductor (HTS) wire can withstand more mechanical strain than originally thought. As a result, superconductor power cables employing this future wire may be used for transmission grid applications. Projected to become available in three to four years, the advanced superconductor wire (known in the industry as second generation HTS wire) is expected to cost less than the HT
Alistair Lees spends much of his research time hoping to see the light.
Using tools that improve by several orders of magnitude on the accuracy of microscopes and stopwatches, Lees is working at the molecular level to explore the effect of light on chemical systems. The field is called photochemistry and Lees’ efforts could help to find less-expensive ways to produce gasoline, make the environment cleaner and safer, and enhance the quality of microcircuitry and the equipment tha
Breakthrough proves possible to use biology to create electronics
Scientists at the Technion–Israel Institute of Technology have harnessed the power of DNA to create a self-assembling nanoscale transistor, the building block of electronics. The research, published in the Nov. 21, 2003 issue of Science, is a crucial step in the development of nanoscale devices.
Erez Braun, lead scientist on the project and associate professor in the Faculty Physics at the Technion, says scien
Researchers achieve breakthrough in development of ultraviolet light-emitting diodes
Researchers at Sandia National Laboratories developing ultraviolet (UV) light-emitting diodes (LEDs) recently demonstrated two deep UV semiconductor optical devices that set records for wavelength/power output. One emits at a wavelength of 290 nanometers (nm) and produces 1.3 milliwatts of output power, and the other emits at a wavelength of 275 nm and produces 0.4 milliwatts of power.
“Emis
FATRONIK technological centre has designed and installed a micro-wind generator at the Aubixa Euskal Girotze boarding centre (San Pedro neighbourhood, Elgoibar). Since the end of October the 2.5 kW micro-wind generator has been producing energy which is initially planned to power the boarding centre’s four refrigerators, the control room, the data-reception sensors and the PCs. Moreover, four 120 kW photovoltaic plates have been incorporated into the micro-wind generator, thus generating a hybrid sys
Feedback
