[Images above] Credit: NIST
NANOMATERIALS
Quantum materials cut closer than ever
Technical University of Denmark and Graphene Flagship researchers developed a new method using electron beam lithography that patterns nanomaterials with less than 10-nanometer precision.
Scientists explore scaling nanocages for practical applications
Researchers at Stony Brook University and Brookhaven National Laboratory took a step forward in scaling up silica nanocages. Instead of depositing the nanocages on single crystals of ruthenium, the team deposited them on thin films of ruthenium.
Graphene valleytronics: Paving the way to small-sized room-temp quantum computers
Researchers from the Indian Institute of Technology Bombay, India, and Max-Born Institut, Germany, achieved a breakthrough in the field of valleytronics. They presented a way to perform valley operations in monolayer or pristine graphene, which was assumed to be impossible due to graphene’s symmetrical structure.
ENERGY
Time to shine: Scientists reveal how chlorine stabilizes next-gen solar cells
Researchers led by Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology Graduate University imaged atoms at the surface of the light-absorbing layer in metal-halide perovskites to show how power-boosting, stability-enhancing chlorine is incorporated into the perovskite.
Solar cells with 30-year lifetimes for power-generating windows
Researchers led by University of Michigan showed that a new transparency-friendly solar cell design could marry high efficiencies with 30-year estimated lifetimes. Their success came from adding a layer of zinc oxide on the sun-facing side of the glass and a layer of a carbon-based material called IC-SAM as a buffer.
ENVIRONMENT
Low-carbon bricks developed using C&D waste for energy-efficient walling envelopes
Researchers at the Indian Institute of Science Bangalore developed a technology to produce energy-efficient walling materials using construction and demolition waste and alkali-activated binders.
OTHER STORIES
Just by changing its shape, scientists show they can alter material properties
Researchers at Argonne National Laboratory saw a new kind of wave pattern emerge in a thin film of titania when its shape was confined. If they can better understand what gave rise to the increase in conductivity, they could potentially find ways to control electrical or optical properties and harness this information for quantum information processing.
Physicists engineer ferroelectricity in boron nitride
Massachusetts Institute of Technology physicists and colleagues showed that when two single sheets of boron nitride are stacked parallel to each other, the material becomes ferroelectric. The new material works via a mechanism that is completely different from existing ferroelectric materials.
A simple way to get complex semiconductors to assemble themselves
Researchers grew 2D layers of perovskites interleaved with thin layers of other materials that assemble themselves. The assembly takes place in vials where the chemical ingredients for the layers tumble around in water, along with barbell-shaped molecules that direct the action. Each end of a barbell carries a template for growing one type of layer.