Navigation Links
Let there be light: Teaching magnets to do more than just stick around
Date:8/20/2009

That palm tree magnet commemorating your last vacation is programmed for a simple function to stick to your refrigerator. Similarly, semiconductors are programmed to convey bits of information small and large, processing information on your computer or cell phone.

Scientists are working to coax those semiconductors to be more than conveyers, to actually perform some functions like magnets, such as data recording and electronic control. So far most of those effects could only be achieved at very cold temperatures: minus 260 degrees Celsius or more than 400 below zero Fahrenheit, likely too cold for most computer users.

However, researchers led by a University of Washington chemist report Friday (Aug. 21) in Science that they have been able to train tiny semiconductor crystals, called nanocrystals or quantum dots, to display new magnetic functions at room temperature using light as a trigger.

Silicon-based semiconductor chips incorporate tiny transistors that manipulate electrons based on their charges. Scientists also are working on ways to use electricity to manipulate the electrons' magnetism, referred to as "spin," but are still searching for the breakthrough that will allow "spintronics" to function at room temperature without losing large amounts of the capability they have at frigid temperatures.

The team led by Daniel Gamelin, a UW chemistry professor, has found a way to use photons tiny light particles to manipulate the magnetism of semiconductor nanocrystals efficiently, even up to room temperature.

"This provides a completely new approach to microelectronics, if you can use spin instead of charge to process information and use photons to manipulate that process," Gamelin said. "It opens the door to materials that store information and perform logic functions at the same time without the need for super cooling."

The team used nanocrystals of a cadmium-selenium semiconductor called ca
'/>"/>

Contact: Vince Stricherz
vinces@u.washington.edu
206-543-2580
University of Washington
Source:Eurekalert

Page: 1 2 3

Related biology technology :

1. NPL research shows there could be no end in sight for Moore’s Law
2. Tethered molecules act as light-driven reversible nanoswitches
3. Diverse Coalition of Purchasers Respond to BIO CEO Fly-In: There is Another Side to The Story
4. Tethered to chip, energy supply that drives sperm could power nanobot
5. Let there be light: new magnet design continues magnet labs tradition of innovation
6. Medical Simulation Corporation to Introduce Central Line Management Program at the National Teaching Institute and Critical Care Exposition
7. Call for Applications: The Amgen Award for Science Teaching Excellence
8. Teaching old drugs new tricks
9. Nanomagnets guide stem cells to damaged tissue
10. Sophisticated nano-structures assembled with magnets
11. New kind of MRI enables study of magnets for computer memory

Post Your Comments:
*Name:
*Comment:
*Email:
(Date:11/20/2009)...Md., Nov. 20 Novavax, In...iced an underwritten public offering of 6,800,000 ...c of $3.30 per share. The approximately $21 milli...ng discounts and commissions, will be used for pre...sed vaccines, internal research and development pr...
(Date:11/20/2009)... METTLER TOLEDO recently announced that Dr. Domin...The Role of Process Analytical Technology (PAT) in...ecember 1, 2009. , (PRWEB...cess Analytical Technology (PAT) in Green Chemistr...ocess Analytical Technology (PAT) case studies wil...
(Date:11/19/2009)...., Nov. 19 Dr. Mate Hidvegi, inven...ds to a press release issued on November 17 by Bir...r making false and self-serving statements about i.... Hidvegi stated from his office in Budapest, Hung... Avemar does not apply to AveULTRA, www.aveultra...
(Date:11/19/2009)...Pa. and WALTHAM, Mass., Nov. 19 Ar...rces find that the leading driver of antibiotic se...-spectrum activity against gram-positive and gram-...s that can cause nosocomial pneumonia, surveyed Eu...for agents that provide appropriate coverage again...
Breaking Biology Technology:Novavax Prices Public Offering of Common Stock 2Process Analytical Technology (PAT) in Green Chemistry and Green Engineering 2American BioSciences Rebuts Misleading Statements Made by Hungarian Competitor 2Broad-Spectrum Antibacterial Activity is the Most Important Driver of Antibiotic Selection for Nosocomial Pneumonia In Europe 2Broad-Spectrum Antibacterial Activity is the Most Important Driver of Antibiotic Selection for Nosocomial Pneumonia In Europe 3
...n, one of the first rituals after shaking hands is...r card. In the business world, it is a reflex reac...tic. , ,When I visited Japan a few years ago, I h...usiness card was so important to the Japanese that...hee). I learned to take a card carefully with both...
...Can the UW-Madison survive as a public university ...ts budget? , ,Thats the question being posed these...elieves the universitys role as a catalyst for Wis...sh if state investment in higher education stalls.... less accessible to students from middle-class and...
...nologies, nationwide power-monitoring system is c...utage Task Force in its newly released report in...t that affected large portions of the Midwest and ...The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) an...,s I-Grid for analysis, as well as from other util...
Other Biology Technology:Are You Your Business Card? 2Are You Your Business Card? 3UW-Madison Chancellor Wiley Challenges State to Think About Universitys Future 2UW-Madison Chancellor Wiley Challenges State to Think About Universitys Future 3
(Date:11/23/2009)...re a nasty business, posing dangers to human healt...sity is launching a new project with funding from ...t targets the fat and grease that contribute to mi...n planners new tools to further reduce the risk of...anitary" sewer systems, as opposed to "combined" s...
(Date:11/23/2009)...available in German . , Of all global carbo...the atmosphere where it contributes to global warm...rrestrial ecosystems such as forests, grasslands a...aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems is considered o...cing climate change. However, new greenhouse gas b...
(Date:11/22/2009)...ing South Korean scientists have succeeded in prod...ugh bioengineering, rather than through the use of...research, which may now allow for the production o... in two papers in the journal Biotechnology and B...ary. , Polymers are molecules found in everyday...
Breaking Biology News(10 mins):Lose the fat: Targeting grease to curtail sewer overflows 2Intensive land management leaves Europe without carbon sinks 2Bioengineers succeed in producing plastic without the use of fossil fuels 2Pluromed Inc Signs Agreement with Boston Scientific 59122 1Pluromed Inc Signs Agreement with Boston Scientific 59122 2Pluromed Inc Signs Agreement with Boston Scientific 59122 3Jackson 26amp 3B Coker Investigates the Impact of Social Media on Hospitals and Physicians 59119 1Jackson 26amp 3B Coker Investigates the Impact of Social Media on Hospitals and Physicians 59119 2Jackson 26amp 3B Coker Investigates the Impact of Social Media on Hospitals and Physicians 59119 3Jackson 26amp 3B Coker Investigates the Impact of Social Media on Hospitals and Physicians 59119 4Jackson 26amp 3B Coker Investigates the Impact of Social Media on Hospitals and Physicians 59119 5ONRAD Announces New Partnership with La Maestra Community Health Centers of San Diego CA 59117 1ONRAD Announces New Partnership with La Maestra Community Health Centers of San Diego CA 59117 2
...is S. Collins, M.D., Ph.D., a physician-geneticist...named recipient of the inaugural Inamori Ethics Pr...cs and Excellence at Case Western Reserve Universi... international ethical leaders. It is presented an...lary ethical leadership and whose actions and infl...
...one who has seen Kansas prairies in late summer to...ers decorating fields and lining roadways, giving ...tate. , Despite its beauty, the sunflower is more... Mark Ungerer, assistant professor in the Division...ime example of the unique adaptability of plants. ...
...stacle when it comes to starting a business. Thats...chemist Empire, Inc., who invented a trading card ...tudents in a fun, unusual way. , At the 235th Nat...New Orleans, Samar will present his inventive card..., this precocious CEO hopes to secure $500,000 in ...
Other Biology News:Geneticist Francis Collins named first recipient of Inamori Ethics Prize at Case Western Reserve 2Geneticist Francis Collins named first recipient of Inamori Ethics Prize at Case Western Reserve 3Kansas state flower receives scientific attention 214-year-old CEO makes chemistry a game with 'Elementeo' 2
...XPRESS 2D Proteomic Imaging System, Professional P...n Over a Wide Dynamic Range: The ProXPRESS 2D Prot...ing system for both proteomic and general life sci...unparalleled flexibility, enabling the use of all ...
... T2-01 high-performance pump, available in a singl... efficiency dynamic valve design. With the most co...e, T2-01 is ideal for use in portable air and gas ... (T2-01 SH and T2-01TH). , Delivers 1.5 and 2.0 li...
...cription: ,Kit containing Dermal Fibroblasts (rab...taining 20% FBS and 10% DMSO at passage 25 (approx...This cell culture is supplied as a long-term cultu...onths of continuous growth from the date supplied,...
... containing Vaginal Keratinocyte Progenitors, Rabb...aining 20% FBS and 10% DMSO at passage 25 (approx)...his cell culture is supplied as a long-term cultur...nths of continuous growth from the date supplied, ...
Biology Products: