How Hot Electrons Get Cool

2022-04-20T13:29:56-06:00
04/20
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Thermalizing nanowires

It’s a hot summer day. You desperately want something cold to drink, but unfortunately, your bottle of root beer has been sitting in a hot car all day. You put it into a bucket full of ice to cool it down. But it’s taking forever! How, you wonder, could you speed the process up? The same question is important for understanding how electronic devices work, and how we can make them work better by controlling the temperature of the electrons that power them. Read on to find out what a bottle of root beer in a cooler full of ice and a nanowire in a vat of liquid helium have in common!

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How Hot Electrons Get Cool2022-04-20T13:29:56-06:00

Strike Up the Band (Structure)

2021-07-14T10:27:00-06:00
11/05
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Building a better computer
by Peter Dowben, Jocelyn Bosley

Scientists are working to develop electronic devices that store and process information by manipulating a property of electrons called spin—a research area aptly known as spintronics. The semiconductors we are developing will not only be faster and cheaper than those used in conventional devices, but will also have more functionality.

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Strike Up the Band (Structure)2021-07-14T10:27:00-06:00

Heat Flow and Quantum Oscillators

2021-07-14T10:28:06-06:00
11/05
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Good vibrations

Materials that are absolutely perfect—in other words, materials that contain no defect of any kind—are usually not very interesting. Imagine being married to a saint: you would quickly be bored out of your mind! Defects and impurities can considerably change many properties of materials in ways that allow a wide range of applications.

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Heat Flow and Quantum Oscillators2021-07-14T10:28:06-06:00

CHASING THE MYSTERIOUS AND ELUSIVE LIGHT HOLE

2021-07-14T10:29:14-06:00
11/05
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Secrets of semiconductors

Semiconductors are materials with properties intermediate between metals and non-conducting insulators, defined by the amount of energy needed to make an electron conductive in the material. The non-conducting electrons occupy a continuum of energy states, but two of these states (the “heavy hole” and “light hole”) are nearly identical in energy. The heavy hole is easy to observe and study, but the light hole eludes most observers.

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CHASING THE MYSTERIOUS AND ELUSIVE LIGHT HOLE2021-07-14T10:29:14-06:00

The future of solar energy is . . . an inkjet printer?!

2021-07-14T10:38:58-06:00
11/05
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Printable perovskites

To increase our use of solar energy, we need to create more efficient, stable, and cost-effective solar cells. What if we could use an inkjet printer to fabricate them? A new type of solar cell uses a class of materials called perovskites, which have a special crystal structure that interacts with light in a way that produces an electric voltage. We've developed a method to produce perovskite thin films using an inket printer, which in the future could pave the way to manufacture solar cells that are surprisingly simple and cheap.

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The future of solar energy is . . . an inkjet printer?!2021-07-14T10:38:58-06:00

Bioelectricity, Reimagined

2021-07-14T10:51:40-06:00
01/23
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Electric Eel Inspires New Power Source

The electric eel's ability to generate incredibly large amounts of electric power from within its body has fascinated scientists for centuries. In fact, some of the world’s first batteries were inspired by studies of this amazing animal. Now, scientists have developed a new eel-inspired energy source that may one day be used to power electronics implanted within the human body.

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Bioelectricity, Reimagined2021-07-14T10:51:40-06:00
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