Latest Content

Filter by Journal:

A New Way to Measure Solar Panel Degradation

WASHINGTON, D.C., January 10, 2018 — Despite many benefits and relative popularity as a renewable energy source, eventually, the sun does set on even the best solar panels. Over time, solar cells face damage from weather, temperature changes, soiling, and UV exposure. Solar cells also require inspections to maintain cell performance levels and reduce economic losses. […]

A Major Step Closer to a Viable Recording Material for Future Hard Disk Drives

WASHINGTON, D.C., December 20, 2018 — Magnetic recording is the primary technology underpinning today’s large-scale data storage. Now, companies are racing to develop new hard disk devices (HDDs) capable of recording densities greater than 1 terabit per square inch. Perpendicular recording HDDs store data as tiny areas of “up” or “down” magnetization within a thin […]

A New Model of Ice Friction Helps Scientists Understand How Glaciers Flow

Assessing the Promise of Gallium Oxide as an Ultrawide Bandgap Semiconductor

WASHINGTON, D.C., December 18, 2018 — In microelectronic devices, the bandgap is a major factor determining the electrical conductivity of the underlying materials. Substances with large bandgaps are generally insulators that do not conduct electricity well, and those with smaller bandgaps are semiconductors. A more recent class of semiconductors with ultrawide bandgaps (UWB) are capable […]

Magnetoresistance ratio enhancement in Heusler-based alloy opens the door to highly sensitive magnetic field sensors

WASHINGTON, D.C., December 18, 2018 — Magnetic field sensors can enhance applications that require efficient electric energy management. Improving magnetic field sensors below the picoTesla range could enable a technique to measure brain activity at room temperature with millisecond resolution — called magnetic encephalography — without superconducting quantum interference device (SQUID) technology, which requires cryogenic […]

Advancing the Description Of ‘Mysterious’ Water To Improve Drug Design

Women in Science: Research and Reflections

WASHINGTON, D.C., DECEMBER 7, 2018 — A special issue of the interdisciplinary AVS journal Biointerphases, from AIP Publishing, appears this week online and focuses on the research results and reflections of a group of women at the forefront of biomaterials and biological interface research whose studies aim to improve human health through discovering basic, quantitative […]

Scientists Unravel the Mysteries of Polymer Strands in Fuel Cells

WASHINGTON, D.C., October 24, 2018 — Hydrogen fuel cells offer an attractive source of continuous energy for remote applications, from spacecraft to remote weather stations. Fuel cell efficiency decreases as the Nafion membrane, used to separate the anode and cathode within a fuel cell, swells as it interacts with water. A Russian and Australian collaboration […]

New Reservoir Computer Marks First-Ever Microelectromechanical Neural Network Application