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Category: materials

This design can either double the performance of chips or reduce power use by 85%.

In May of 2021, we brought you a breakthrough in semiconductor materials that saw the creation of a chip that could push back the “end” of Moore’s Law and further widen the capability gap between China and U.S.-adjacent efforts in the field of 1-nanometer chips.

The breakthrough was accomplished in a joint effort, involving the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), National Taiwan University (NTU), and the Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC), which is the world’s largest contract manufacturer of advanced chips. At the core of the breakthrough was a process that employs semi-metal bismuth to allow for the manufacture of semiconductors below the 1-nanometer (nm) level.

Now, IBM and Samsung claim they have also made a breakthrough in semiconductor design, revealing a new concept for stacking transistors vertically on a chip, according to a press release acquired by IE. It’s called Vertical Transport Field Effect Transistors (VTFET) and it sees transistors lie perpendicular to one another while current flows vertically.

This is a drastic change from today’s models where transistors lie flat on the surface of the silicon, and then electric current flows from side to side. By doing this, IBM and Samsung hope to extend Moore’s Law beyond the nanosheet threshold and waste less energy.

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From self-healing robots to reconfigurable electronic circuits, the applications of liquid metal are only limited by the imaginations of the scientists working with them. Let’s take a look at some of the latest revolutions, discoveries, and innovations in this material.

2D morphing metal

In 2017, scientists at the University of Sussex and Swansea University invented a way to morph liquid metal into 2D shapes using an electrical charge. Though still in the early stages of development, this team’s research could open up new possibilities in soft robotics, smart electronics, computer graphics, and flexible displays.

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Volvo’s recent investment in the Israeli startup Spectralics gives the Swedish company the opportunity to revolutionize the in-car user experience by turning the entire windshield into a heads-up display. According to the press release, the startup has a background in developing aerospace tech and is focused on developing better images. However, instead of working on just one aspect, the start-up is leveraging hardware, software, and even materials to improve the final product.

Of special interest to Volvo is the startup’s core product, multi-layered thin combiner (MLTC), a new type of optical film that can be applied on any type of surface or size. When applied to glass, it can be used to overlay images, making it an ideal candidate to make a full-scale heads-up display.

Car manufacturers have been tinkering with the idea of a windshield display for a few years now. While this is a great way to ensure that the driver does not take his eyes off the road, currently available displays are rather small, either due to cost constraints or to ensure that they do not become the cause of distraction.

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Astronomers using the National Science Foundation’s Karl G. Jansky Very Large Array (VLA) have shown that a jet of material propelled from the core of a giant galaxy is channeled by a corkscrew-shaped magnetic field out to nearly 3,300 light-years from the galaxy’s central supermassive black hole. That is much farther than such a magnetic field previously had been detected in a galactic jet.

“By making high-quality VLA images at several different radio wavelengths of the galaxy Messier 87 (M87), we were able to reveal the 3-dimensional structure of the in this jet for the first time,” said Alice Pasetto of the National Autonomous University of Mexico, leader of the team. “The material in this jet traces a double helix, similar to the structure of DNA,” she added.

M87 is a giant elliptical galaxy about 55 million light-years from Earth. A some 6.5 billion times more massive than the Sun lurks at the center of M87. That black hole is the first one ever to be imaged—an achievement done with the world-wide Event Horizon Telescope (EHT) collaboration and announced in 2019. Earlier this year, new EHT images traced the magnetic field in the vicinity of the black hole event horizon.

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Wakanda, the mythical setting for Marvel’s superhero film “Black Panther,” is home to some not-so-mythical technology. An indestructible cape might not yet be possible, but Wakanda’s levitating high-speed trains could zoom into reality with the help of superconductors.

Now, a new discovery about electron behavior may represent a step toward that superpowered world.

Superconductors give electrons—and, therefore, electricity—resistance-free highways. They have the potential to create that permit super-fast transmission without shedding energy, enhance imaging technologies like MRIs, and levitate more than trains. But most of today’s fledgling superconductors require extremely cold temperatures to work. And while some scientists hope to find an answer in the right combination of materials, the solution might be hidden in how electrons move, not only what they move through.

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Engineers at California Institute of Technology (Caltech) and the Nanyang Technological University (NTU) in Singapore teamed up to develop a chain mail-inspired fabric that transforms from a fluid malleable material into a solid protective material when under pressure, a press statement reveals.

The material could be used for a host of potentially lifechanging applications, including as smart fabric for exoskeletons, for a cast that becomes more or less rigid when needed to facilitate the healing of an injury, and as a deployable bridge that could be thrown over an obstacle and stiffened so that people can walk across with ease.

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Neutron’s structure will be comprised of a new, specially formulated carbon composite material that is lightweight, strong, and can withstand the immense heat and forces of launch and re-entry again and again to enable frequent re-flight of the first stage. The launch vehicle will also be mostly reusable, designed to land on a landing pad after launch. It starts with Neutron’s unique shape, a tapered rocket with a wide base to provide a robust, stable base for landing, eliminating the need for complex mechanisms and landing legs.

“Neutron is not a conventional rocket. It’s a new breed of the launch vehicle with reliability, reusability, and cost reduction that is hard-baked into the advanced design from day one. Neutron incorporates the best innovations of the past and marries them with cutting-edge technology and materials to deliver a rocket for the future,” said Peter Beck, Rocket Lab founder, and CEO.

At 40 meters (131 feet) tall with a 4.5-meter (14.7 ft) diameter, the Neutron rocket will be more than double the size of the Electron. Neutron will be powered by seven entirely new rocket engines, called Archimedes – a reusable liquid oxygen/methane gas generator cycle engine capable of 1-meganewton thrust and 320 seconds of ISP. The rocket will be capable of putting between eight and 15 tons into low Earth orbit.

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Circa 2018 c:

Shoes made from stone may sound uncomfortable and something the Flintstones might wear. However, thanks to innovative technology, it is possible to transform ordinary stone into a flexible and paper-thin material. German companies Roxxlyn and Nat-2 decided to work together and use this material to create the world’s first sneakers made from natural stone!

When we think about stone, we think about hard and sturdy material, rather than something flexible. However, Roxxlyn, an expert in creating ultra-light design pieces from stone, developed a technology to use stone to make all kinds of accessories and design pieces, from phone cases to belts, and now sneakers.

The process begins with slicing real stone into thin layers. When these have been extracted, they are flexible and smooth. The pieces are then machined into shape using diamond tools. The layer is engraved on the top surface using a high performance laser. The now created piece is sanded and cleaned from dust and grime by hand. Through a complicated technology, stone slates are made flexible.

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Digital tongue circa 2019.

“Electronic tongues” are devices that can analyze materials just by coming in contact with them — and they have near-infinite applications, from testing water quality to ensuring an expensive wine isn’t a counterfeit.

The problem is most fall into one of two categories: portable and specialized for only certain materials, or stationary and versatile. But now, IBM researchers have unveiled a new electronic tongue capable of bridging gap, making it easier to identify a range of liquids on the fly.

The IBM team calls its electronic tongue Hypertaste, and it looks a bit like a drink coaster with a slit in its side.

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