Power/Performance Bits: Feb. 1


Seaweed-inspired energy harvesting Researchers from Dalian Maritime University, Georgia Institute of Technology, and Sun Yat-sen University developed flexible power generators that mimic the way seaweed sways to efficiently convert surface and underwater waves into electricity to power marine-based devices. Networks of sensors are spread across coastal zones, collecting information on curre... » read more

Power/Performance Bits: Feb. 4


Infrared nanoantenna Researchers at the University of Würzburg built a nanoantenna capable of generating directed infrared light. The Yagi-Uda antenna is the smallest of its type yet created. "Basically, it works in the same way as its big brothers for radio waves ," said René Kullock, a member of the nano-optics team at Würzburg. An AC voltage is applied that causes electrons in the met... » read more

Power/Performance Bits: Nov. 19


Quantum communications chip Researchers at Nanyang Technological University, Australian National University, A∗STAR, University of Science and Technology of China, Singapore University of Technology and Design, Sun Yat-sen University, Beijing University of Posts and Telecommunications, and National University of Singapore built an integrated silicon photonic chip capable of performing quantu... » read more

Power/Performance Bits: June 25


Improving IGBTs Researchers at the University of Tokyo developed a power switching device that surpasses previous performance limits, showing that there may still be gains ahead for the silicon-based devices, which have been thought to be approaching their limits. The team's improved insulated gate bipolar transistor (IGBT) used a scaling approach, and simulations showed that downscaling pa... » read more