A new technique reveals single atom misfits and could help design better semiconductors used in modern and future electronics.
One of the challenges of cramming smarter and more powerful electronics into ever-shrinking devices is developing the tools and techniques to analyze the materials that make them up with increasingly intimate precision.
That includes things like computer chips, which routinely make use of semiconductors with nanoscale features. And researchers are working to take nanoscale architecture to an extreme by engineering materials that are a single atom thick. "We've got a number of open projects where we're using the technique with more materials and more exotic materials," Cocker said."We're basically folding it into everything we do and using it as a standard technique."There are already tools, notably scanning tunneling microscopes or STMs, that can help scientists spot single-atom defects.
But STM data alone isn't always sufficient to clearly resolve defects within a sample, especially in gallium arsenide, an important semiconductor material that's found in radar systems, high-efficiency solar cells and modern telecommunication devices. By coupling STM and terahertz light, the MSU team created a probe that has an unparalleled sensitivity for the defects.
Once they were convinced the signal was real, however, it was easy to explain thanks to the years of theory work devoted to the subject.
Physics Materials Science Spintronics Spintronics Research Computers And Internet Information Technology Hacking
United Kingdom Latest News, United Kingdom Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
The single at heart are embracing single life, not avoiding intimacy.The single at heart find fulfilment in single life. They are embracing single life rather than avoiding romantic relationships or anything else.
Read more »
Smoking News -- ScienceDailyHow smoking affects health. Read about the latest research on smoking, second-hand smoke, methods for quitting smoking and more.
Read more »
The beginnings of fashion | ScienceDailyA team of researchers suggest that eyed needles were a new technological innovation used to adorn clothing for social and cultural purposes, marking the major shift from clothes as protection to clothes as an expression of identity.
Read more »
Measuring body language | ScienceDailyA large international and interdisciplinary research team has developed software to measure the objective kinematic features of movements that express emotions.
Read more »
A 2D device for quantum cooling | ScienceDailyEngineers have created a device that can efficiently convert heat into electrical voltage at temperatures lower than that of outer space. The innovation could help overcome a significant obstacle to the advancement of quantum computing technologies, which require extremely low temperatures to function optimally.
Read more »
Migrating starlings are no copycats | ScienceDailyYoung, na ve starlings are looking for their wintering grounds independently of experienced conspecifics. Starlings are highly social birds throughout the year, but this does not mean that they copy the migration route from each other.
Read more »