[Image above] Credit: ACerS
NANOMATERIALS
A better way to model subtle atomic patterns
Massachusetts Institute of Technology researchers created a machine learning model to accurately model the behavior of metals, regardless of the complexity of their chemical arrangement. This method could be adapted to other types of materials, such as semiconductors.
Template to close the reproducibility gap in 2D materials research
A group of experts from academia, industry, and funding bodies proposed a template for researchers to record experimental methods in far more depth than is usually required for academic papers in order to capture the trials and tribulations of working with 2D materials.
ENERGY
How many ways can we measure energy justice? More than 2,000
A team of social scientists from Boston University, the University of Rhode Island, and the University of Delaware is working to understand, document, and amplify the experiences of two New England communities that have recently adopted offshore wind projects. Their findings are laying the foundation for a more equitable clean energy future in the region.
Researchers find ‘trap’ hindering performance of hybrid perovskites
Cornell University researchers showed that certain conjugated organic molecules, which have long been thought to enhance electrical conductivity in layered perovskites, can instead trap charge carriers and dramatically reduce conductivity.
MANUFACTURING
New plasma trick could unlock smaller, more powerful computer chips
Researchers at Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory found that the energy needed to knock a sulfur atom loose from a molybdenum disulfide transistor drops from about 30 electron volts on an untreated surface to about 14 or 10 electron volts when the surface is coated with oxygen or fluorine, respectively. Reducing the sulfur-removal threshold gives manufacturers a workable energy range where the top layer comes off cleanly and the rest of the material stays intact.
OTHER STORIES
Insights about memory formation in disordered solids under random deformation
Researchers led by Tata Institute of Fundamental Research Hyderabad showed that solid materials without a long-range structure can encode memories even when the applied deformations are completely random rather than perfectly periodic, challenging the conventional understanding of memory formation in disordered solids.
Researchers propose new way to detect altermagnets
University at Buffalo physicists proposed a theoretical technique that would measure how a suspected altermagnet disturbs a tiny magnetic defect in a nearby diamond. The way the defect’s magnetic signal relaxes could provide evidence of altermagnetism in the candidate material.