news from the lab

Physics/Astronomy - Electroengineering/Microtechnics - 2.02
Graphene electronics moves into a third dimension
Wonder material graphene has been touted as the next silicon, with one major problem – it is too conductive to be used in computer chips. Now scientists from The University of Manchester have given its prospects a new lifeline.

Electroengineering/Microtechnics - 19.12.2011
Landmark find has magnetic appeal
A fundamental problem that has long puzzled scientists has been solved after more than 70 years. An international team of researchers has discovered a subtle electronic effect in magnetite, the most magnetic of all naturally occurring minerals.

Electroengineering/Microtechnics - Medicine/Pharmacology - 22.11.2011
Big step forward for safety of bionic contact lenses
Hands-free information could stream across your lens, in a device that came one step closer to reality this week. In a new paper , University of Washington researchers demonstrated the safety of a prototype device tested in the eye of a rabbit.

Electroengineering/Microtechnics - 16.11.2011
Touchscreen with texture
Researchers have invented a new generation of tactile surfaces with relief effects – users can feel actual raised keys under their fingers. This technology could have many applications, particularly in improving access to electronic media for the visually impaired.

Electroengineering/Microtechnics - 14.11.2011
Packaging smarties and watches
It's the story of a long dynasty of industrial robots. Delta's three arms began by packaging chocolates, before being used in watchmaking, tele-surgery and the processing of materials.... More than 200 operations per minute! It's not a firearm, but rather an outstanding packaging tool.

Physics/Astronomy - Electroengineering/Microtechnics - 8.09.2011
The tarte tatin throws a new light on photovoltaics
Manufacturing solar cells that are one thousand times thinner than conventional cells. That is the challenge the researchers have set for themselves. In order to boost the output of the cells, they have developed a new nanopatterning technique.

Electroengineering/Microtechnics - Physics/Astronomy - 31.08.2011
Scientists observe smallest atomic displacements ever
UCL scientists are part of an international team which has developed a novel X-ray technique for imaging atomic displacements in materials with unprecedented accuracy. The team has applied the technique to determine how a recently discovered class of exotic materials - multiferroics - can be simultaneously both magnetically and electrically ordered.

Electroengineering/Microtechnics - Environmental Sciences - 29.08.2011
A high-tech propulsion system for the next 100 years
Environmentally friendly fuels are not just of interest for use in cars. The University of Birmingham has been operating a canal boat with a fuel cell drive for three years now. In the world of shipbuilding, however, different rules apply than those in the automobile or aircraft manufacturing industries.

Electroengineering/Microtechnics - Physics/Astronomy - 12.08.2011
Bilayer graphene: another step towards graphene electronics
Researchers have taken a step forward in studying the wonder material graphene and revealing its exciting electronic properties for future electronic applications. The academics have revealed more about the electronic properties of its slightly fatter cousin – bilayer graphene.

Electroengineering/Microtechnics - Physics/Astronomy - 25.07.2011
A “quantum leap” can make graphene devices even faster
Researchers have taken another step forward towards the understanding of wonder material graphene. Research institutes and universities around the world are already looking at ways to build devices such as touch-screen phones, ultrafast transistors and photodetectors.

Electroengineering/Microtechnics - 10.07.2011
While you re up, print me a solar cell
New MIT-developed materials make it possible to produce photovoltaic cells on paper or fabric, nearly as simply as printing a document. The sheet of paper looks like any other document that might have just come spitting out of an office printer, with an array of colored rectangles printed over much of its surface.

Electroengineering/Microtechnics - 28.06.2011
Silver pen has the write stuff for flexible electronics
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. - The pen may have bested the sword long ago, but now it's challenging wires and soldering irons. University of Illinois engineers have developed a silver-inked rollerball pen capable of writing electrical circuits and interconnects on paper, wood and other surfaces.

Environmental Sciences - Electroengineering/Microtechnics - 9.06.2011
A Power Grid on a Chip
Researchers have developed a device only 4mm thick that can manage an urban power grid a thousand times faster than currently possible. Is it really possible to manage the power grid of a whole town on single chip? The future of energy production will surely be a combination of several power sources, and Maher Kayal's team from EPFL are developing a dedicated hardware that manages the network a thousand times faster than current software running on a conventional computer.

Electroengineering/Microtechnics - Environmental Sciences - 25.05.2011
Record efficiency for solar cells
Scientists have further boosted the energy conversion efficiency of flexible solar cells made of copper indium gallium (di)selenide (also known as CIGS) to a new world record of 18.7% – a significant improvement overt he previous record of 17.6% achieved by the same team in June 2010.

Physics/Astronomy - Electroengineering/Microtechnics - 15.04.2011
New spin on graphene
University of Manchester scientists have found a way to make wonder material graphene magnetic, opening up a new range of opportunities for the world's thinnest material in the area of spintronics. A team led by Professor Andre Geim, a recipient of the 2010 Nobel Prize for graphene, can now show that electric current – a flow of electrons – can magnetise graphene.