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Silicon-based photodetector is sensitive to ultraviolet light
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – By depositing thin films of silicon nanoparticles on silicon substrates, researchers at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign have fabricated a photodetector sensitive to ultraviolet light. Silicon-based ultraviolet sensors could prove very handy in military, security and commercial applications. “Silicon is the most common semiconductor, but it has not been useful for […]
Production of high-fidelity entangled photons exceeds 1 million per second
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – Like virtuosos tuning their violins, researchers at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign have tuned their instruments and harmonized the production of entangled photons, pushing rates to more than 1 million pairs per second. The brighter and purer entangled states could assist researchers in applications involving quantum information processing – such as […]
DARPA funds new photonic research center at Illinois
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – The University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign has received a grant from the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency to create a photonic research center to develop ultra-fast light sources for high-speed signal processing and optical communications systems. The grant will provide $6.2 million in funding over four years. The Hyper-Uniform Nanophotonic Technology Center […]
Printable silicon for ultrahigh performance flexible electronic systems
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – By carving specks of single crystal silicon from a bulk wafer and casting them onto sheets of plastic, scientists at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign have demonstrated a route to ultrahigh performance, mechanically flexible thin-film transistors. The process could enable new applications in consumer electronics – such as inexpensive wall-to-wall displays […]
Dislocation creates ‘whirlpool’ that pulls surface atoms into crystal
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – Developing novel ways to control the motion of atoms on surfaces is essential for the future of nanotechnology. Now, researchers at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign have found a phenomenon of dislocation-driven nucleation and growth that creates holes that spiral into a surface and pull atoms into crystalline solids. The newly […]
Nation remains vulnerable to power blackouts, thanks to political impasse
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – As the peak electricity season approaches, little has been done in Washington to prevent a recurrence of last August’s power failure that produced a huge blackout in the Northeast, an expert at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign says. Legislative steps to improve and enforce compliance with standards of reliability for electrical […]
Strong magnetic field converts nanotube from metal to semiconductor and back
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – By threading a magnetic field through a carbon nanotube, scientists have switched the molecule between metallic and semiconducting states, a phenomenon predicted by physicists some years ago, but never before clearly seen in individual molecules. In the May 21 issue of the journal Science, researchers from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign […]
Measurement clarifies role between protein structure and cell adhesion
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – Scientists studying the adhesive properties of the neural cell adhesion molecule (NCAM) – a protein that helps bind the nervous system together – have found that two opposing models of cell adhesion are both correct. “Our extremely sensitive technique allows us to directly measure how these proteins bind to one another, and […]
Illinois professor to receive $500,000 Lemelson-MIT Prize
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – Nick Holonyak Jr., a John Bardeen Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering and Physics at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, has been selected as the 2004 recipient of the $500,000 Lemelson-MIT Prize – the world’s largest single cash prize for invention. Holonyak will receive the prize – awarded annually to an […]
Like ozone hole, polar clouds take bite out of meteoric iron
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – Polar clouds are known to play a major role in the destruction of Earth’s protective ozone layer, creating the springtime “ozone hole” above Antarctica. Now, scientists have found that polar clouds also play a significant role in removing meteoric iron from Earth’s mesosphere. The discovery could help researchers refine their models of […]
Measurement technique can image how heat moves through material
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – Infrared cameras create images by detecting the heat given off by an object, including the body of a soldier hidden in the dark of night. Now, researchers have developed a technique for imaging how fast heat can move through an object. Thermal conductivity – the rate at which heat flows through a […]
New technique uses household humidifier to create nanocomposite materials
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – In what may sound like a project from a high school science fair, scientists are using a household humidifier to create porous spheres a hundred times smaller than a red blood cell. The technique is a new and inexpensive way to do chemistry using sound waves, the researchers say. In the home, […]