[Image above] Credit: ACerS
NANOMATERIALS
New method to steer electricity in atom-thin metal oxides
Researchers at the University of Minnesota Twin Cities used strain engineering to manipulate the direction of charge flow in ultrathin metal oxide films at room temperature using light.
ENERGY
Researchers shed light on photoelectricity generation
Researchers at the University of California, Riverside unveiled a powerful new imaging technique that exposes how cutting-edge materials used in solar panels and light sensors convert light into electricity. The specialized scanning method funnels light through the tip of an atomic force microscope.
Researchers map where solar energy delivers the biggest climate payoff
Using advanced computational modeling, researchers from Rutgers University, Harvard University, and Stony Brook University found that the climate benefits of solar power differ markedly throughout U.S. regions, pinpointing where clean energy investments return the greatest climate dividends.
Potential use of Wyoming’s trona deposits for underground hydrogen storage
University of Wyoming researchers investigated the geomechanical and geochemical changes in trona following hydrogen exposure, assessing its potential for underground hydrogen storage.
MANUFACTURING
Better electronics due to perfect timing
Empa researchers developed a process based on high-power impulse magnetron sputtering that can produce high-quality piezoelectric thin films with a performance equivalent to or even better compared to conventional methods.
Tiny copper clusters could lead to faster, energy-saving electronics
Arizona State University researchers used powerful laser pulses to excite neutral copper oxide clusters. They discovered that by carefully adjusting the balance of copper and oxygen atoms, they could influence how long these excited states last—and crucially, how magnetic the clusters become.
OTHER STORIES
Ultrasmall optical devices rewrite the rules of light manipulation
Massachusetts Institute of Technology researchers created tunable nanophotonic devices based on chromium sulfide bromide. The results were achieved at very cold temperatures: up to 132 kelvins (-222°F) at most.
First-ever images of atomic thermal vibrations
University of Maryland researchers captured the first-ever images of atomic thermal vibrations. Their innovative electron ptychography technique revealed elusive “moiré phasons,” a long-theorized phenomenon that governs heat, electronic behavior, and structural order at the atomic level.