Laser Phone Charging...

A new laser system can wirelessly recharge phones from across the room(Credit: Mark Stone/University of Washington)

Topics: Applied Physics, Electrical Engineering, Electronics, Laser

We've cut the cord for communication, thanks to Bluetooth and Wi-Fi, but charging our little pocket supercomputers still takes a tether. Judging by the range of wireless charging technologies in the works, that might not be the case for much longer. A team from the University of Washington has demonstrated how lasers could be used to charge a device from across the room.

The team mounted a power cell on the back of a smartphone and hit it with a narrow laser beam in the near-infrared part of the spectrum. From a distance of 4.3 m (14 ft), the laser was able to deliver 2 W of power to a 97-sq cm (15-sq in) area, charging the phone about as quickly as a regular old USB cable.

The laser emitter is designed to automatically sense when a phone is ready to be charged, while the smartphone was programmed to send out high-frequency "chirps" inaudible to the human ear that tells the emitter where it is.

"This acoustic localization system ensures that the emitter can detect when a user has set the smartphone on the charging surface, which can be an ordinary location like a table across the room," says Vikram Iyer, co-author on a study describing the device.

Laser system wirelessly charges phones from across the room, Michael Irving, New Atlas

Electrodeposition...

(a) Schematic depicting the experimental setup and different stages of the electrodeposition process. SEM images of (b) Ni nanoparticles (left image is a zoomed in image of the wire), (c) a Ni layer in tilt-view from the middle of the array. (d) Top-view SEM images show progressive Ni deposition over time with reductive deposition. Courtesy: Nano Letters DOI: 10.1021/acs.nanolett.7b01950

Topics: Electrical Engineering, Electronics, Nanotechnology, Semiconductor Technology

Electrodeposition can be used to construct novel functional nanowire structures hitherto impossible. This is the new finding from researchers at Harvard University in the US who have deposited conformal layers of various materials onto high-aspect-ratio silicon and micro- and nanowire arrays of different diameters, pitch, aspect ratios, shapes, resistivity and orientation. The structures produced could find use in a wide range of technology applications in chemistry, physics and medicine as well as in energy conversion and storage, sensing and bioelectronics.

Being able to construct ever more complex nanostructures has allowed researchers to study many fundamental physics and chemistry phenomena, and to develop applications for use in a variety of different fields. For example, some 1D nanostructures can be used to manipulate light–matter interactions in novel sensing and light harvesting devices. Nanoelectronics devices based on 1D silicon nanowires can also be employed in bioelectronics and drug-delivery devices.

Further developing the architecture and compositions of such structures with metal-based and polymeric materials could lead to even more sophisticated applications. Electrodeposition could come into its own here since it has proved itself to be an efficient way to deposit films of different materials on flat materials. To date, however, it had never been used to modify nanowire structures with uniform shells or to prepare multiple coaxial shell layers.

Electrodeposition on silicon produces novel nanowire architectures, Belle Dumé
Nanotechweb.org

Components and Cornstarch...

Credit: American Chemical Society

Topics: Chemistry, Green Tech, Electronics, Nanotechnology

I of course have several nerd shirts. One I bought from my company spells out "I play with chips" using elements of the Periodic Table. The list of elements conform with literally substances used in most electronic devices: Iodine (I⁵³), Phosphorous (P¹⁵), Lanthanum (La⁵⁷), Yttrium (Y³⁹), Tungsten (W⁷⁴), Iodine (I⁵³), Thorium (Th⁹⁰), Carbon (C⁶), Hydrogen (H¹), Iodine (I⁵³), Phosphorous (P¹⁵), Sulfur (S¹⁶). I believe it was contracted to at least my company, but a simple logo change on the left sleeve could disseminate it. I don't see it anywhere else on the Internet.

I put the links to the safety data sheets on them above because with usage there is the discarding, the throwing away in trashcans that end up in landfills that like radioactive elements and plastics, have VERY long shelf lives hazardous to human health. I'm sure cornstarch is probably a lot less harsh. The shirt is still a good conversation starter.

As consumers upgrade their gadgets at an increasing pace, the amount of electronic waste we generate continues to mount. To help combat this environmental problem, researchers have modified a degradable bioplastic derived from corn starch or other natural sources for use in more eco-friendly electronic components. They report their development in ACS' journal Industrial & Engineering Chemistry Research.

Abstract

Nano metal–organic frameworks (ZIF-8) particles were synthesized, and poly(lactic acid) (PLA)/ZIF-8 nanocomposite films were prepared by solution-blending and film-casting methods. The addition of nano ZIF-8 particles improved the mechanical properties and had an impact on the crystallization of PLA. The electrical properties of the PLA/ZIF-8 nanocomposites were found to be dependent on the frequency and the ZIF-8 content. The prepared PLA/ZIF-8 films had good transparency even as the content of the nano ZIF-8 particles reached 3 wt %. Compared with 21.5% of pure PLA, the limited oxygen index value of the nanocomposite film containing 1 wt % ZIF-8 reached 26.0%. Therefore, it is proposed that the prepared nanocomposites can be used as the substrates and dielectric to make disposable electronics. The char residues after burning were studied in detail by scanning electron microscopy and Raman and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopies, and the flame retardant mechanism was also discussed.

Phys.org: Degradable electronic components created from cornstarch

Related Link

National Center for Biotechnology Information: Environmental Health Perspectives
Hazardous Waste: Electronics, Lead, and Landfills, Valerie J. Brown

DDR...

Image Source: Quora

Topics: Electrical Engineering, Electronics, Semiconductor Technology

Info link: Double Data Rate, Wikipedia

The new, higher-speed DDR4 DRAM generation gained significant marketshare in 2016, representing 45% of total DRAM sales. Previously, DDR3 DRAM, including low-power versions used in tablets, smartphones, and notebook PCs, accounted for 84% of total DRAM sales in 2014 and 76% in 2015, but in 2016, DDR4 price premiums evaporated and prices fell to nearly the same ASP as DDR3 DRAMs. A growing number of microprocessors, like Intel’s newest 14nm x86 Core processors, now contain DDR4 controllers and interfaces. As a result, IC Insights expects DDR4 to become the dominant DRAM generation in 2017 with 58% marketshare versus 39% for DDR3.

The Joint Electron Devices Engineering Council (JEDEC) officially launched the fourth generation of DDR in 2012. In 2014, DDR4 memories first began appearing on the market in DRAM modules for powerful servers and a small number of high-end desktop computers, which had souped-up motherboards or the “extreme” versions of Intel’s 22nm Haswell-E processors for high-performance gaming software and PC enthusiasts, but volume sales remained low until 2015, when data centers and Internet companies began loading up servers with the new-generation memories to increase performance and lower power consumption. In 2016, DDR4 memories quickly spread into more data center servers, mainframes, and high-end PCs, accounting for about 45% of total DRAM sales versus 20% in 2015. In 2017, DDR4 will move into more notebook PCs, high-end tablets, and smartphones and is expected to hold a 58% share of DRAM sales.

Solid State Technology:
DDR4 set to account for largest share of DRAM market by architecture

Skyrmions...

Illustration of how a synapse based on skyrmions would work. The skyrmions are shown as red dots on the presynaptic (left) side of the device. The postsynaptic side is the right half of the device. The skyrmions move from left to right across the device. (Courtesy: Nanotechnology)

Topics: Electronics, Neuromorphic Devices, Particle Physics, Spintronics

Simulations suggest that magnetic skyrmions could form the basis of ultra-low-power-consumption devices that mimic the memory and learning functions of neural synapses.

Despite advances in computer power, there are still tasks that are best done by biological brains. Efforts to emulate the way the brain is wired have led to work on "artificial synapses" as connections for use in "neuromorphic" computers that try to emulate the functionality of a biological brain. Researchers in China have now demonstrated that the skyrmion – a type of magnetic quasiparticle – could be used to create energy-efficient synaptic devices.

New challenges are not always best met with old tools, and as challenges go, emulating synaptic connections in a scalable system – the human brain contains hundreds of trillions of synapses – is no mean feat. Synapses do more than connect neurons, they weigh how well neurons are connected through signal spiking and modulation processes that are thought to be the basis of human learning and cognition. While some progress in the development of synaptic devices has been made using phase-change memories, Ag-Si memories and resistive memories, studies of magnetic skyrmions suggest they may be a promising alternative.

Skyrmions are particle-like regions within a field where all of the field vectors point either towards or away from a single point in space. They were originally proposed in the 1950s by British physicist Tony Skyrme to explain aspects of particle physics. Researchers have since discovered that some collective excitations of electron spins in solids behave much like skyrmions, and the first observation of a magnetic skyrmion lattice was reported in 2009. These solid-state skyrmions could be potentially useful in next-generation electronics and spintronics.

Physics World: Magnetic skyrmions could help make low-energy artificial 'brains'
Anna Demming is editor of nanotechweb.org

Staircase Avalanche Photodiode...

Fig. 1

Conceptual band diagrams of a staircase APD unbiased (top) and under reverse bias (bottom). The arrows below the valance band indicate that holes do not impact ionize.

Citation: Appl. Phys. Lett. 108, 081101 (2016); http://dx.doi.org/10.1063/1.4942370

Topics: Electronics, Photonics, Semiconductor Technology, Quantum Mechanics

An avalanche photodiode is a semiconductor-based photodetector (photodiode) which is operated with a relatively high reverse voltage (typically tens or even hundreds of volts), sometimes just below breakdown. In this regime, carriers (electrons and holes) excited by absorbed photons are strongly accelerated in the strong internal electric field, so that they can generate secondary carriers, as it also occurs in photomultipliers. The avalanche process, which may take place over a distance of only a few micrometers, for example, effectively amplifies the photocurrent by a significant factor. Therefore, avalanche photodiodes can be used for very sensitive detectors, which need less electronic signal amplification and are thus less susceptible to electronic noise. However, the avalanche process itself is subject to quantum noise and amplification noise, which can offset the mentioned advantage. The excess noise is quantified with the excess noise factor F, which is the factor by which the electronic noise power is increased compared with that of an ideal photodetector. *

* Encyclopedia of Laser Physics and Technology: Avalanche Photodiodes

Abstract

Over 30 years ago, Capasso and co-workers [IEEE Trans. Electron Devices 30, 381 (1982)] proposed the staircase avalanche photodetector (APD) as a solid-state analog of the photomultiplier tube. In this structure, electron multiplication occurs deterministically at steps in the conduction band profile, which function as the dynodes of a photomultiplier tube, leading to low excess multiplication noise. Unlike traditional APDs, the origin of staircase gain is band engineering rather than large applied electric fields. Unfortunately, the materials available at the time, principally AlxGa1−xAs/GaAs, did not offer sufficiently large conduction band offsets and energy separations between the direct and indirect valleys to realize the full potential of the staircase gain mechanism. Here, we report a true staircase APD operation using alloys of a rather underexplored material,AlxIn1−xAsySb1−y, lattice-matched to GaSb. Single step “staircase” devices exhibited a constant gain of ∼2×, over a broad range of applied bias, operating temperature, and excitation wavelengths/intensities, consistent with Monte Carlo calculations.

Applied Physics Letters: AlInAsSb/GaSb staircase avalanche photodiode
Min Ren, Scott Maddox, Yaojia Chen1, Madison Woodson1, Joe C. Campbell1 and Seth Bank

Current From Noise...

In this electron micrograph of the energy-harvesting device, the lower quantum dot is the red blob at the top of the red triangle. The upper quantum dot is the blue blob at the tip of the blue triangle. The image shows an area that is about 2 μm wide. (Courtesy: F Hartmann et al.)

Topics: Coupled Quantum Dots, Electronics, Quantum Mechanics, Thermodynamics

Two quantum dots have been used to generate an electrical current from voltage noise. The device was created by physicists in Germany, who say that it could lead to the development of systems that convert waste heat into useful energy.

Electronic devices generate large amounts of excess heat that must be dissipated. Instead of simply discarding this energy, using it to do useful work could revolutionize the electronics industry, and make it possible to create more efficient devices. Indeed, for more than a decade, physicists have been thinking up ways to convert this heat into electrical currents that can do work, such as power electronic devices.

Now, Lukas Worschech and colleagues at the University of Würzburg in Germany have verified experimentally that random voltage fluctuations can be rectified to drive a direct current. The experiment uses voltage noise to mimic the hot and cold spots of waste heat, and is therefore not a direct demonstration of waste heat being converted into work. However, team member Fabian Hartmann explains that it shows that small voltage fluctuations can drive a current: "A device derived from our sample might be able to provide the necessary power to drive autonomous and self-powered systems."

Physics World: Physicists generate electrical currents from noise,
Katherine Kornei

Diamond Nanosheets...

Topics: Consumer Electronics, Economy, Electrical Engineering, Jobs, Nanotechnology, Materials Science

TECHNOLOGY REVIEW: Diamond films are among the most extraordinary materials on the planet. They are strong, transparent and they conduct heat well. They are biologically inert but can also be chemically functionalised by attaching molecules to their surface. What’s more, when doped, they become semiconductors and so can be used in electronic circuits.

So it’s no wonder that materials scientists are licking their lips at the prospect of incorporating this wonder material into more or less any device they can think of.

But there’s a problem. Diamond films have to be grown at high temperatures in an atmosphere of pure hydrogen, which is not compatible with the way other microdevices are made, such as silicon chips.

So a useful trick would be to have a way to make diamonds films in one place and then transfer them to another so that they can be placed onto chips and other devices.

Today, Venkatesh Seshan at the Kavli Institute of Nanoscience in The Netherlands and a few pals, say they have perfected a way to grow diamond films on a quartz substrate, separate the films and then pick them up and place them somewhere else.

The team begin by placing nanodiamond seed crystals on the quartz surface and heating it to over 500 degrees C in a hydrogen plasma atmosphere. The seeds then grow, creating a crystalline diamond surface up to 180 nanometres thick.

Physics arXiv: Pick-up and drop transfer of diamond nanosheets
V. Seshan, J.O. Island, R. van Leeuwen, W.J. Venstra, B.H. Schneider, S.D. Janssens, K. Haenen, E.J.R. Sudhölter, L.C.P.M. de Smet, H.S.J. van der Zant, G.A. Steele, A. Castellanos-Gomez

He Did Not Faint...

Intel Science Talent Search first-place winner Michael Hofmann Winer’s research could have an impact on the electronics of the future. (Photo by Chris Ayers/Intel)

Topics: Education, Electronics, Intel, High School, Phonons, Physics, Superconductors

Michael Hofmann Winer is a physics phenom who has won awards and studied how fundamental quasi-particles of sound, called phonons, interact with electrons. His research could potentially be applied to complex electronic materials, such as superconductors.

But first he needs to finish his senior year at Montgomery Blair High School in Silver Spring, Md.

The 18-year-old’s work during two summer internships at the University of Maryland, College Park, flashed into the national spotlight last week, when he was honored as one of the country’s most-promising young science students — one of three top medalists in the prestigious Intel Science Talent Search competition.

“I think I’m as happy as I’ve ever been,” the Montgomery County student said after he won a $150,000 first-place prize for innovation, based on work he did in collaboration with U-Md. physics professor Victor Galitski and graduate student Justin Wilson.

Winer credited the math, science and computer science magnet program at Montgomery Blair as a difference-maker, too, as well as teacher James R. Schafer, whom he called “one of the best teachers in the universe.”

Schafer, in turn, said Winer is “certainly one of the best students I’ve ever taught.” Schafer said Winer’s talent goes beyond his “incredible” intellect.

I saw this on my Twitter feed, re-tweeted it and shared it also here. Michael alluded to almost fainting as the fact he won the award was announced, and the glare of the cameras on him almost got the best of him. I choked a little when he gave credit to his high school physics teacher (as a group, we rarely get any props). Montgomery Blair High School can be by some dismissed as a "ringer" for the award - 32 Intel finalist since 1999 - equates to two a year. But, as Dean Kamen (inventor of the Segway) states below:

Happy Saint Patrick's Day, by the way! Don't forget to wear something green.

Washington Post:
Maryland physics phenom ‘tried not to faint’ upon winning national award,
Donna St. George
DEKA Research: About Dean Kamen
Related Site: USFirst.org

Children's Home....

Established in 1847, the Children's Home provides a range of services and programs giving hope and healing to abused and neglected children in the Hudson River Region. The Children's Home served 397 children and their family members last year. The Home provides a full range of residential services including campus-based care, community-based group homes and boarding homes, and independent living apartments. It also provides regular foster care and intensive therapeutic foster homes.

Throughout our 167 year history, the underlying mission of the Children’s Home of Poughkeepsie has remained the same: The Home is dedicated to providing a safe and nurturing environment that improves lives and empowers at-risk children and families in the Hudson Valley and surrounding communities.

I did this presentation on Saturday, 22 March at the behest of the local Alpha Kappa Alpha alumni chapter. I have done such presentations before. I was more than happy to do it.

It was a focused audience of three young women and five young men. They participated well, and at least a few of them said they were going to purchase electronics snap kits from "The Shack." I came away encouraged and inspired by the curiosity of these young people in spite of their challenging circumstances. Especially in an era of error and pseudoscience propagated as alternate "truth" more outreach like this is needed: these are the "meek who will inherit the earth" and will need the tools to manage it.

Physics teachers: all the links in the embed are active, including those in the pictures of slides 8 and 12. If you want the Power Point version with all the "bells and whistles" of this embed, email: physics4thecool@gmail.com. Please attribute the source. My reference to Korea on slide 4 was a quote from "The Smartest Kids in the World and How They Got That Way," by Amanda Ripley and not meant to be derisive: the Korean children spend 16 hours a day in school M-F and 8 hours on Saturday. They are brilliant via focus and immersion.

I used parts from Electronics 101 and Electronics 303 kits purchased from Radio Shack. Apparently, Radio Shack only carries the Electronics 101 snap kit. I'd try their service number for the more advanced Electronics 303. However, Amazon carries comparable manipulatives: SC-100,  SC-300 and SC-750. Good luck.

STEM Presentation by Reginald L. Goodwin

Decoding Photons...

This NIST device, 1.5 by 3 centimeters in outer dimensions, is a prototype receiver for laser communications enabling much higher data rates than conventional systems. Superconducting detectors in the center of the small square chip register the timing and position of single particles of light.
Credit: Verma and Tomlin/NIST
high resolution image

It's not quite Star Trek communications—yet. But long-distance communications in space may be easier now that researchers at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) have designed a clever detector array that can extract more information than usual from single particles of light.

Described in a new paper,* the NIST/JPL array-on-a-chip easily identifies the position of the exact detector in a multi-detector system that absorbs an incoming infrared light particle, or photon. That's the norm for digital photography cameras, of course, but a significant improvement in these astonishingly sensitive detectors that can register a single photon. The new device also records the signal timing, as these particular single-photon detectors have always done.

The technology could be useful in optical communications in space. Lasers can transmit only very low light levels across vast distances, so signals need to contain as much information as possible.

One solution is "pulse position modulation" in which a photon is transmitted at different times and positions to encode more than the usual one bit of information. If a light source transmitted photons slightly to the left/right and up/down, for instance, then the new NIST/JPL detector array circuit could decipher the two bits of information encoded in the spatial position of the photon. Additional bits of information could be encoded by using the arrival time of the photon.

NIST:
Clever NIST/JPL Technology Decodes More Information from Single Photons, Laura Ost

Permittivity Measurements...

FIG. 2.
SEM micrographs of the KTN thin films deposited on (a) MgO and (b) LaAlO3.
Citation: J. Appl. Phys. 115, 024103 (2014); http://dx.doi.org/10.1063/1.4858388

ABSTRACT

The dielectric properties of a KTa0.65Nb0.35O3 ferroelectric composition for a submicronic thin layer were measured in the microwave domain using different electromagnetic characterization methods. Complementary experimental techniques (broadband methods versus resonant techniques, waveguide versus transmission line) and complementary data processing procedures (quasi-static theoretical approaches versus full-wave analysis) were selected to investigate the best way to characterize ferroelectric thin films. The measured data obtained from the cylindrical resonant cavity method, the experimental method that showed the least sources of uncertainty, were taken as reference values for comparisons with results obtained using broadband techniques. The error analysis on the methods used is discussed with regard to the respective domains of validity for each method; this enabled us to identify the best experimental approach for obtaining an accurate determination of the microwave dielectric properties of ferroelectric thin layers.

© 2014 AIP Publishing LLC

Scitation:
Intercomparison of permittivity measurement techniques for ferroelectric thin layers

NEMS Transistor...

An Oscillating Graphene Drum. Source: Link below

Researchers at Columbia University in the US have built the smallest frequency-modulated (FM) radio transmitter ever. Based on a graphene nanomechanical system (NEMS), the device oscillates at a frequency of 100 MHz. It could find use in a variety of applications, including sensing tiny masses and on-chip signal processing. It also represents an important first step towards the development of advanced wireless technology and the design of ultrathin mobile phones, says team co-leader James Hone.

"Our device is much smaller than any other radio-signal source ever made and, importantly, can be put on the same chip that is used for data processing," he explains.

Graphene is a sheet of carbon atoms arranged in a honeycomb-like lattice that is just one atom thick. Since its discovery in 2004, this "wonder material" has continued to amaze scientists with its growing list of unique electronic and mechanical properties, which include high electrical conductivity and exceptional strength. Indeed, some researchers believe that graphene might even replace silicon as the electronic industry's material of choice in the future.

Physics World: Nanomechanical FM transistor is smallest yet

Quantum Dot Chains...

FIG. 2.
(a) 5×5 μm 2 AFM topography image of QDC sample C. The chains are aligned along the [1¯10] crystallographic direction; (b) 1×1 μm 2 AFM image of the same sample; statistical distribution with Gaussian fits of the (c) QD height; (d) distance between QDs, d in , within the chains (peak-to-peak) measured along [1¯10] direction; and (e) distance between neighboring chains, d bc , measured peak-to-peak; (f) hall bar structure used for electrical characterization with a channel width of 25  μm.

ABSTRACT

Detailed experimental and theoretical studies of lateral electron transport in a system of quantum dot chains demonstrate the complicated character of the conductance within the chain structure due to the interaction of conduction channels with different dimensionalities. The one-dimensional character of states in the wetting layer results in an anisotropic mobility, while the presence of the zero-dimensional states of the quantum dots leads to enhanced hopping conductance, which affects the low-temperature mobility and demonstrates an anisotropy in the conductance. These phenomena were probed by considering a one-dimensional model of hopping along with band filling effects. Differences between the model and the experimental results indicate that this system does not obey the simple one-dimensional Mott's law of hopping and deserves further experimental and theoretical considerations.

Journal of Applied Physics: Electron Transport in Quantum Dot Chains

Optical Electronics...

Optical connections are slowly replacing wires as a means of shuffling bits in between systems—there are already plans afoot to have different components within a single system communicate via an optical connection. But, so far at least, all the processing of those bits is taking place using electrons.

Yesterday's edition of Science includes a demonstration of an all-optical transistor that can be switched between its on and off states using a single photon. Although it's an impressive demonstration of physics, the work also indicates that we're likely to stick with electrons for a while, given that the transistor required two lasers and a cloud of a cold atomic gas.

The work relied on a cold gas of cesium atoms. These atoms have an extremely convenient property: two closely separated ground states, each with a corresponding excited state. All of these states are separated by an energy that corresponds to a specific wavelength of light, so using a laser of that wavelength allows you to shift the system into a different state.

Ars Technica: Optical transistor switches states by trapping a single photon

Millikan...and me

The Millikan oil drop experiment, published in final form in 1913, demonstrated that charge comes in discrete chunks and was a bridge between classical electromagnetism and modern quantum physics.

I didn't know that the value and how he'd reached that value was controversial at the time. I post this not just because of the historic significance, but that I taught at Manor High School with Gary Millikan, I believe he described Dr. Millikan as a "great-grand uncle," and himself as a black sheep: he teaches world geography, I taught physics. It was when I taught this module I quizzed Gary, and discovered his remarkable ancestry.

APS: Landmarks–Millikan Measures the Electron’s Charge

On US Manufacturing...

EdgenRootsdotcom

I work, and have always worked in the semiconductor industry most of my adult life directly, or directly attached-at-the-hip to a manufacturing facility.

In my post on the 10 American Industries That May Never Recover, they omitted manufacturing.

The facilities (wafer fabrication facilities, colloquially "fabs") are defined primarily by the real estate they print die on - 100mm (4"), 200mm (8") or the current standard 300mm (12"). Plans are to build a 450mm facility in the US (18" - a large pizza). Each of the former still exists, like Cree Semiconductor in North Carolina - 4", planning to "move up" to 6" (150mm).

I recall some years ago, going to my oldest son's school and some of his friends' schools with discarded/scrapped wafers and microscopes to look at the printed circuits (primitive now by today's standards). I'd describe for 7 - 10-year-old kids the energy band gap (LOTS of pretty pictures), and how that described insulators, conductors and semiconductors. I even smocked up for the kids - sweaty business, as smocks are uncomfortably HOT without laminar flow - giving back, trying to inspire others to follow me in science.

One young lady that came to her teacher's class after I'd begun my smock presentation, expressed absolute shock when I took my smock hood off: "You're black!" I saved her blushing teacher some embarrassment. Smiling, I said: "I've been that all my life, child." I quickly moved to another subject.

I also recall taking the same "show" to an elementary school far from my own kid's suburban neighborhood - to a socioeconomically deprived one, much like my own in North Carolina. The kids there were not able to see themselves beyond what impressed them the most - sadly, not someone that looked like them in science, but others that had in their minds, status, money and power.

I wonder about them now, as much as I wonder about the future of US Manufacturing...and, attached-at-its-hip innovation and education. We must have the ability to make what we dream, and inspire younger dreamers of all backgrounds to follow.

An excerpt from Technology Review (continued on the link below):

If you believe Thomas Friedman's assertion that "the world is flat," and that moving manufacturing to places where production is cheap makes companies more competitive, such a shift might not matter beyond its implications for the U.S. economy and its workers. But the United States remains the world's most prolific source of new technologies, particularly materials-based ones, and evidence is growing that its diminished manufacturing capabilities could severely cripple global innovation. There are ample reasons to believe that the model of the U.S. computer industry—which has successfully outsourced much of its production in the last few decades and made design, not manufacturing, its priority—will not work effectively for companies trying to commercialize innovations in energy, advanced materials, and other emerging sectors.

Technology Review: Can We Build Tomorrow's Breakthroughs?

Ohm's Law Still Applies...

1.5 nm wide nanowire

5 January 2012 — Moore’s Law, the cornerstone rule of the semiconductor industry, may get a reprieve from its predicted demise, according to a group of scientists in Australia and the United States. Their unexpected findings show that a well-understood law of classical physics—and a pillar of electrical engineering—holds for some objects that are just four atoms wide, a size where quantum effects should rule instead.

Michelle Simmons and her colleagues at the University of New South Wales, in Australia, together with collaborators at the University of Melbourne and Purdue University, in Indiana, have built low-resistance silicon wires that show that Ohm’s Law works at the atomic level. Ohm’s Law, an empirical rule discovered by the German physicist Georg Ohm in 1827, says that the current through a conductor is directly proportional to the potential difference across the conductor. Introducing the concept of resistance, the law is a mainstay of circuit theory and is taught to high school and college students in physics and engineering classes.

At least... I tried to!

[Opinion] Nanotechnology will utilize quantum mechanics in initial design concept, even in conventional circuits where your I-Pad apps are concerned as consumer demand drives chips to do more, and faster.

IEEE: Ohm’s Law Survives at the Atomic Scale

The Amazing Story of Quantum Mechanics

But: what about the sound?...

InvisiTank: Popular Science

I admit to copying the embed code because the video is "throaty," "ballsy," and "laden with testosterone."

That being said: like Discovery Magazine online, take it with a grain of salt and enjoy!

Discovery Magazine: New Stealth Tech Lets Tanks Blend Into the Infrared Background

Teeny-Tiny Mirror...



Science



You can't get much smaller than this: Physicists have fashioned a mirror from a single atom. The advance might lead to an atom-sized transistor for light, and experts say it bodes well for broader efforts to shrink optical elements to the nanometer scale.

"In terms of the basic physics, it's incredibly cute," says Christian Kurtsiefer, an experimental physicist at the National University of Singapore, who was not involved in the work. "It's a very striking effect because you wouldn't necessarily expect that a single atom would exert a lot of influence on the flow of light."

In fact, the atom effectively reflects less than 1% of the light that hits it. So to detect the reflection, Gabriel Hétet, Rainer Blatt, and colleagues at the University of Innsbruck in Austria relied on a wave effect known as interference. They fashioned a device called a Fabry-Pérot interferometer, which ordinarily consists of two mirrors facing each other. Laser light of a fixed wavelength shines on the back of one mirror and some leaks through the mirror, entering the "cavity" between the mirrors. A small amount of light then leaks through the second mirror, while most of it reflects back toward the first. The reflected light can make multiple roundtrips between the mirrors. Each time, a little more light can leak through the second, farther mirror. (A similar effect takes place at the first mirror, too.)

As we move closer to the Moore's Law limit, this is another method of pushing beyond it, gaining smaller and more powerful optical electronics that will supercede our current technology.

Gate processes qualified by Intel in dimensions are currently as small as 14 nanometers (14 x 10^-9 meters); Moore's Law sets the physical limit at 7 nm.

Beyond this, transmission becomes optics, nano and because of the effects of quantum tunneling, harder to do.

Science Mag: Physicists Turn a Single Atom Into a Mirror
Encyclopedia of Laser Physics and Technology: Fabry–Pérot Interferometers