Editor’s Picks

1. Novel Fabrication Technique To Create Hybrid Silicon Lasers For Mass-Produced Photonic Devices
   6/19/2017

   Researchers at the Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR) in Singapore have developed a new technique to fabricate hybrid silicon lasers that is considered more economical than current standard manufacturing methods.

2. Graphene Encapsulation Provides View Of Diffusion And Rotation Of Fullerene Molecules
   6/9/2017

   Scientists at the University of Vienna have created a new hybrid structure, termed buckyball sandwich, by encapsulating a single layer of fullerene molecules between two graphene sheets. Buckyball sandwiches combine for the first time soccerball-like fullerenes, each consisting of sixty carbon atoms, and graphene, a one-atom thick layer of carbon.

3. New Chemical Method Could Revolutionize Graphene
   6/14/2017

   University of Illinois at Chicago scientists have discovered a new chemical method that enables graphene to be incorporated into a wide range of applications while maintaining its ultra-fast electronics.

4. Mussels Add Muscle To Biocompatible Fibers
   6/9/2017

   Rice University chemists can thank the mussel for putting the muscle into their new macroscale scaffold fibers.

5. Novel Techniques Examine Solar Cells With Nanoscale Precision
   6/9/2017

   Using two novel techniques, researchers at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) have for the first time examined, with nanometer-scale precision, the variations in chemical composition and defects of widely used solar cells.

6. 'Magic' Alloy Could Spur Next Generation Of Solar Cells
   6/15/2017

   In what could be a major step forward for a new generation of solar cells called "concentrator photovoltaics," University of Michigan researchers have developed a new semiconductor alloy that can capture the near-infrared light located on the leading edge of the visible light spectrum.

7. Changing The Color Of Laser Light On The Femtosecond Time Scale
   6/16/2017

   Using femtosecond visible and terahertz (THz) pulses as external perturbations, scientists at Tokyo Institute of Technology and Institute for Integrated Cell-Material Sciences, Kyoto University have investigated the second harmonic generation effect in photoexcited BiCoO₃.

8. Beetles Spark Development Of Color-Changing Nanoparticles For Commercial Use
   6/14/2017

   Inspired by the varying colors that gleam off of beetle shells, scientists have developed color-shifting nanoparticles that can change hue even after being embedded into a material.

9. Researchers Discover Short-Cut To Satellite-Based Quantum Encryption Network
   6/15/2017

   In a new study, researchers demonstrate ground-based measurements of quantum states sent by a laser aboard a satellite 38,000 kilometers above Earth. This is the first time that quantum states have been measured so carefully from so far away.

10. Perfection In Sight: SLAC Receives New Mirrors For X-Ray Laser
    8/1/2016

    Scientists are installing new mirrors to improve the quality of the X-ray laser beam at the Department of Energy’s SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory.