System Bits: March 24


A better band-aid UC Berkeley engineers are working on a bandage that can detect bedsores before they are visible - while recovery from them is still possible. Leveraging flexible electronics advancements, the researchers collaborated with colleagues at UC San Francisco to create their “smart bandage” that uses electrical currents to detect early tissue damage from pressure ulcers as th... » read more

Power/Performance Bits: March 17


Artificial photosynthesis: leaves of nickel Inspired by a chemical process found in leaves, Caltech scientists developed an electrically conductive film that could help pave the way for devices capable of harnessing sunlight to split water into hydrogen fuel. When applied to semiconducting materials (it's been tested with silicon, indium phosphide, and cadmium telluride), the team's film ... » read more

Power/Performance Bits: Dec. 2


Harvesting more of the sun's energy As solar panels become less expensive and capable of generating more power, solar energy is becoming a more commercially viable alternative source of electricity and today’s photovoltaic cells can only absorb and use a small fraction of that light, which means a significant amount of solar energy goes untapped. However, a new technology created by research... » read more

System Bits: Nov. 11


How transistors operate at absolute zero Research led by scientists at Chalmers University of Technology in Sweden and Caltech in California have demonstrated how noise in a microwave amplifier is limited by self-heating at very low temperatures, which is expected to be of importance for future discoveries in such as quantum computers and radio astronomy. The team also included researchers ... » read more

Power/Performance Bits: July 22


Lasers to replace quartz in electronics? While nearly all electronics today require devices called oscillators that create precise frequencies, future high-end navigation systems, radar systems, and even possibly tomorrow's consumer electronics will require references beyond the performance of quartz, according to researchers at Caltech. In fact, these researchers have developed a method to... » read more

Manufacturing Bits: July 1


Nanotubes in 4D The California Institute of Technology (Caltech) has continued to advance its efforts in four-dimensional electron microscopy. In 4D microscopy, electrons bombard a sample. Each electron scatters off the sample. This produces an image at just a femtosecond in duration. Then, millions of the images are stitched together, which, in turn, produces a digital movie in 4D. [cap... » read more

Power/Performance Bits: June 3


Stabilizing common semiconductors for solar fuels generation Researchers around the world are trying to develop solar-driven generators that can split water, yielding hydrogen gas that could be used as clean fuel. These devices would require efficient light-absorbing materials that attract and hold sunlight to drive the chemical reactions involved in water splitting. As semiconductors like sil... » read more

System Bits: May 20


Re-routing noise away from measurement Today, we are capable of measuring the position of an object with unprecedented accuracy, but quantum physics and the Heisenberg uncertainty principle place fundamental limits on our ability to measure. Noise that arises as a result of the quantum nature of the fields used to make those measurements imposes what is called the "standard quantum limit," whi... » read more

System Bits: April 8


Quantum photon properties revealed in plasmon particle For years, researchers have been interested in developing quantum computers—the theoretical next generation of technology that will outperform conventional computers that involves storing information in qubits rather than in bits used by computers today. One approach for computing with qubits relies on the creation of two single photons ... » read more

System Bits: March 18


Bending light with a tiny chip Imagine your smartphone being able to project a bright, clear image from a presentation or a video onto a wall or a big screen – all made possible with a light-bending silicon chip developed by Caltech researchers. Traditional projectors pass a beam of light through a tiny image, using lenses to map each point of the small picture to corresponding, yet expan... » read more

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