Electronics

An electrifying matter—two studies announce new electronic states of matter

By Lisa McDonald / March 6, 2020

Classic physics teaches there are four states of matter, but better understanding of matter’s more exotic properties has led to identification of additional states. New studies suggest the possibility of two new electronic states of matter.

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Video: Flip phones are making a comeback, but this time glass is involved

By April Gocha / February 26, 2020

Flip phones seem to be making a comeback—Samsung recently debuted its latest device in a slate of foldable phones currently on the market. But the electronics giant’s new model is the first to feature a foldable glass display—or does it?

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Integrated energy management looks to graduate smart homes to the next level

By April Gocha / February 11, 2020

At the recent Consumer Electronics Show in early January 2020, new devices and solutions centered around smart home technologies—but will new solutions for energy management lead to the next evolution of smart homes?

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The best of both worlds—ferroelectric crystals exhibit both high transparency and piezoelectricity

By Lisa McDonald / February 7, 2020

Previous attempts to increase transparency of ferroelectric crystals have decreased piezoelectricity. An international team of scientists led by The Pennsylvania State University and Xi’an Jiaotong University now shows that selective engineering of domain walls can improve both properties.

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Ferroelectric focus at the Electronic Materials and Applications Conference

By Eileen De Guire / January 31, 2020

The 11th annual Electronic Materials and Applications Conference (EMA 2020) took place in Orlando on Jan. 22–24, 2020. Ferroelectricity was a big topic of discussion this year, in addition to various properties of complex oxides.

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Video: Incandescent light bulbs—the fading stalwarts of U.S. lighting

By Lisa McDonald / January 15, 2020

Since 2007, more energy-efficient lighting has been replacing incandescent light bulbs in preparation of federal standards set to become effective this year. The Trump administration rejected these standards last month, but incandescent bulbs still are on their way out.

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Quantifying potential—researchers close in on hafnia-based nonvolatile memory

By Lisa McDonald / January 3, 2020

Hafnium oxide-based ferroelectrics are promising materials for nonvolatile memory devices, as they are compatible with modern semiconductor technologies. Researchers led by the Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology came up with a unique method to better characterize these materials.

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A hundred years of ferroelectricity, plus more inside January/February 2020 ACerS Bulletin

By Lisa McDonald / December 26, 2019

The January/February 2020 issue of the ACerS Bulletin—featuring the history and industry impact of ferroelectric materials—is now available online. Plus—NSF CAREER Ceramics Program decadal overview.

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Video: Uncovering the dark side of e-waste recycling

By Lisa McDonald / December 11, 2019

The Basel Action Network is a nonprofit organization dedicated to preventing pollution dumping in developing countries. Learn what it is doing to prevent recyclers from exporting electronics overseas and find out how its e-waste sting operation in 2015 revealed a shocking betrayal.

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Varistors: Armor for your circuits

By Jonathon Foreman / October 15, 2019

As armor protects the wearer from weapons, varistors protect electrical circuits from high voltage and high currents. Learn about some of the current research being conducted to improve varistor production and performance, published in two ACerS journals.

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