Electronic Components

Solar energy: A richer harvest on the horizon Aug. 31, 2013 — Semiconductor nanostructures are poised to play a big role in future solar-powered hydrogen generation systems, according to a new study by researchers at the A*STAR Institute of High Performance Computing1. Hui Pan and Yong-Wei Zhang report that model interfaces made from gallium nitride (GaN) and zinc oxide (ZnO) semiconductors have tunable magnetic and light-harvesting capabilities -- factors that can greatly improve the photocatalytic transformation of water into hydrogen fuel. Share This: Most photoelectrochemical cells use titanium dioxide electrodes to absorb light and split water molecules into hydrogen and oxygen gas. But because this mineral has a large bandgap -- a measure of energy needed to initiate photoreactions -- these devices respond only to a tiny fraction of the solar spectrum. A promising way to boost this efficiency is with 'superlattice' materials that s...

Magnetic materials: Forging ahead with a back-to-basics approach Aug. 31, 2013 — Scientists have recently started to explore the possibility of using an intrinsic property of the electron known as spin for processing and storing information. Magnetic fields can influence the dynamics of electron spin, so harnessing this potential relies on precision engineering of crystalline storage materials. Chee Kwan Gan and co‐workers at the A*STAR Institute of High Performance Computing and the A*STAR Data Storage Institute in Singapore have used theoretical calculations to show how the magnetic characteristics of specific materials can be controlled at the atomic level. Share This: Their results could lead to novel magnetic recording devices. One promising route to such spintronic devices is to design structures consisting of alternating layers of different magnetic atoms. The strength of the magnetic influence is stronger in the direction of the multilay...

High dose statins prevents dementia, study suggests Dr Lin said: "Statins are widely used in the older population to reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease. But recent reports of statin-associated cognitive impairment have led the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to list statin-induced cognitive changes, especially for the older population, in its safety communications." He added: "Previous studies had considered statin therapy to exert a beneficial effect on dementia. But few large-scale studies have focused on the impact of statins on new-onset, non-vascular dementia in the geriatric population." Accordingly, the current study examined whether statin use was associated with new diagnoses of dementia. The researchers used a random sample of 1 million patients covered by Taiwan's National Health Insurance. From this they identified 57,669 patients aged >65 years who had no history of dementia in 1997 and 1998. The analysis included pre-senile and seni...

Membranes contain beautiful patterns, but their function is a mystery Biological cells are surrounded by a membrane, and here some of the most important processes for sustaining life take place. There can also be something very beautiful happening in membranes, researchers from the University of Southern Denmark have discovered: Membranes can contain beautiful, mysterious patterns. "We do not yet know what the possible biological function of this might be. There should be a reason for the patterns, we just have not discovered it yet," says associate professor Adam Cohen Simonsen, Department of Physics, Chemistry and Pharmacy, University of Southern Denmark. With his colleagues Jes Dreier, Jonathan Brewer, John Hjort Ipsen and Uffe Bernchou (now Odense University Hospital) from the research group MEMPHYS at Department of Physics, Chemistry and Pharmacy at the University of Southern Denmark, he has discovered that cell membranes can form spectacular patterns. The patterns are f...

Sea-level rise drives shoreline retreat in Hawaii The authors of the work point out that knowing that SLR is a primary cause of shoreline change on a regional scale allows managers and other coastal zone decision-makers to target SLR impacts in their research programs and long-term planning. This study is confirmation that future SLR is a major concern for decision-makers charged with managing beaches. "It is common knowledge among coastal scientists that sea level rise leads to shoreline recession," stated Dr. Brad Romine, coastal geologist with the University of Hawaii Sea Grant College Program. "Shorelines find an equilibrium position that is a balance between sediment availability and rising ocean levels. On an individual beach with adequate sediment availability, beach processes may not reflect the impact of SLR. With this research we confirm the importance of SLR as a primary driver of shoreline change on a regional to island-wide basis." Globally-averaged sea...

Sideline teleconcussion robot to be tested at football games Mayo Clinic will be working with NAU to test the feasibility of using a telemedicine robot to assess athletes with suspected concussions during football games as part of a research study. With sophisticated robotic technology, use of a specialized remote controlled camera system allows patients to be "seen" by the neurology specialist, miles away, in real time. During the study, the robot equipped with a specialized camera system, remotely operated by a Mayo Clinic neurologist located in Phoenix who has the ability to assess a player for symptoms and signs of a concussion and to consult with sideline medical personnel. The first time the robot will be used in a game is this Friday, Aug. 30 when NAU kicks off its season against the University of Arizona in Tucson at 7 p.m. (MST). "Athletes at professional and collegiate levels have lobbied for access to neurologic expertise on the sideline. As we seek new and in...

Researchers a step closer to finding cosmic ray origins Cosmic rays can damage electronics on Earth, as well as human DNA, putting astronauts in space especially at risk. The research, which draws on data collected by IceTop, the IceCube Observatory's surface array of detectors, is published online in Physical Review D, a leading journal in elementary particle physics. University of Delaware physicist Bakhtiyar Ruzybayev is the study's corresponding author. UD scientists were the lead group for the construction of IceTop with support from the National Science Foundation and coordination by the project office at the University of Wisconsin, Madison. The more scientists learn about the energy spectrum and chemical composition of cosmic rays, the closer humanity will come to uncovering where these energetic particles originate. Cosmic rays are known to reach energies above 100 billion giga-electron volts (1011 GeV). The data reported in this latest paper cover the energy range fro...

LED Lighting Proved: Why LED efficiency drops at high current 2013/08/30 Researchers at the US Rensselaer Polytechnic have proven a link between LED efficiency drop at high current and carrier mobility. Better lighting LEDs could result. “Efficiency droop, first reported in 1999, has been a key obstacle in the development of LED lighting for situations, like household lighting, that call for economical sources of versatile and bright light,” said the university. Published in Applied Physics Letters, the work shows that at high current an electric field develops within the p-type region of the diode allowing electrons to escape the active region where they would otherwise re-combine with holes to emit photons – a mechanism previously proposed, but not proven, said Rensselaer. “We measure excellent correlation between the onset of field build-up and the onset of droop. This is clear evidence that the mechanism is electron leakage, and we can describe it quantitatively,” said Ren...

Hydrogen fuel from sunlight: Researchers make unique semiconductor/catalyst construct "We've developed a method by which molecular hydrogen-producing catalysts can be interfaced with a semiconductor that absorbs visible light," says Gary Moore, a chemist with Berkeley Lab's Physical Biosciences Division and principal investigator for JCAP. "Our experimental results indicate that the catalyst and the light-absorber are interfaced structurally as well as functionally ." Moore is the corresponding author, along with Junko Yano and Ian Sharp, who also hold joint appointments with Berkeley Lab and JCAP, of a paper describing this research in the Journal of the American Chemical Society (JACS) . The article is titled "Photofunctional Construct That Interfaces Molecular Cobalt-Based Catalysts for H 2 Production to a Visible-Light-Absorbing Semiconductor." Co-authors are Alexandra Krawicz, Jinhui Yang and Eitan Anzenberg. Earth receives more energy in one...

New understanding of formation of cilia: Cilia provide mobility to cells, and defects are implicated in many disease Aug. 30, 2013 — Tiny hair-like structures (cilia) are found on the surface of most cells. Cilia are responsible for the locomotion of cells (e.g. sperm cells), they process external signals and coordinate the correct arrangement of the inner organs during the development of an organism. For proper assembly and function of cilia, they need to be supplied with the appropriate building blocks. Share This: Scientists at the Max Planck Institute of Biochemistry (MPIB) in Martinsried near Munich, Germany, now identified the mechanism of how Tubulin, the main building block of cilia, is transported within the cilium. "Defects in cilia cause numerous diseases that affect millions of people worldwide," says Sagar Bhogaraju, scientist at the MPI of Biochemistry. The results now published in the journal Science could help to under...