Electronics // Current

Did your laptop cause the war in Congo?

Often people relate to ethnic differences when trying to explain the cause of the war in Congo. Others blame the break down of any... more

tjanssen
added this

Looking for good vibes? Electronic Feng Shui compass

The Fortune Compass helps you seek out the best place for arranging furniture. Weird? Or functional? Or both?

joshuaheller
added this

Following The Trail Of Toxic E-Waste - 60 Minutes

60 Minutes is going to take you to one of the most toxic places on Earth - a place government officials and gangsters don't... more

khaosworks
added this

The Obama Team is a Mac

I'm hoping the Mac/PC partisanship ends with the Obama Presidency. Also lets hope that more government websites are less... more

Brian_Brooks
added this

Following The Trail Of Toxic E-Waste

The amount of e-waste is becomming a huge problem in China, where many countries are currently shipping their electronics waste as... more

purplefox
added this

Channel 101 Sony Commerials

They have your nose.

Brian_Brooks
added this

Universal and Sony unveil PoP entertainment vending machine

It’s all going down at Stuff Live. As well as Cowon, Asus, TomTom and Archos whisking the wraps off their latest creations,... more

2muchinfo
added this

Introducing 12 years life Everlight LED Bulbs

Just imagine, if you could get both bright illumination, long lasting bulbs at the same electricity bill.

sravkum
added this

UNI-T @ International Hi-Tech Electronics Fair Shenzhen October 2008

DGCTV Brings you what is new for 2009 from UNI-T - Be Accurate - Be Uni-T - Remember to be in the red trend. UT61 Series -... more

DGCTV
added this

The International Hi-Tech Electronics Fair Shenzhen October 12 to 17 2008

DGCTV Brings you the Hi-Tech , what is new for 2009 was showed during this month, in Beijing, Hong Kong, Guangdong, Shangai,... more

DGCTV
added this

Shenzhen AeroModel Tests - DRA2008 Landing Test - HD

In this video DGCTV is in the aerial site in Shekou Bay in Shenzhen China with the guys of DGC Development and Dragon Group... more

DGCTV
added this

Shenzhen AeroModel Tests - DRA2008 Engine Test - HD

In this video DGCTV is in the aerial site in Shekou Bay in Shenzhen China with the guys of DGC Development and Dragon Group... more

DGCTV
added this

Shenzhen AeroModel Tests - 3D Fly Edge Landing - HD

In this video DGCTV is in the aerial site in Shekou Bay in Shenzhen China with the guys of DGC Development and Dragon Group... more

DGCTV
added this

Shenzhen AeroModel Tests - 3D Fly Edge Acrobats - HD

In this video DGCTV is in the aerial site in Shekou Bay in Shenzhen China with the guys of DGC Development and Dragon Group... more

DGCTV
added this

LaiShinG 601 F4U - The Classic War Scale by GuanLi

A Classic Delight F4U by GL Models Affordable and High Quality Scale Plane with all the requirements demanded by the experts. ... more

DGCTV
added this

Space tourist returns safely

Space tourist Richard Garriott's space vacation ended today when he landed safely in Kazakhstan. He visited the International... more

nazbags
added this

Fashion meets technology

UK firm CuteCircuit has recently revealed the M-Dress - a silk dress that doubles as a mobile phone. The garment works with a... more

nazbags
added this

Physicists find new state of matter in 'transistor': huge implications for new electronic devices

McGill University researchers have discovered a new state of matter, a quasi-three- dimensional electron crystal, in a material very much like those used in the fabrication of modern transistors. This discovery could have momentous implications for the development of new electronic devices.

Currently, the number of transistors that can be inexpensively crammed onto a single computer chip increases exponentially, doubling approximately every two years, a trend known as Moore's Law. But there are limits, experts say. As chips get smaller and smaller, scientists expect that the bizarre laws and behaviours of quantum physics will take over, making ever-smaller chips impossible.

This discovery, and other similar efforts, could help the electronics industry once traditional manufacturing techniques approach these quantum limits over the next decade or so, the researchers said. Working with one of the purest semiconductor materials ever made, they discovered the quasi-three-dimensional electron crystal in a device cooled at ultra-low temperatures roughly 100 times colder than intergalactic space. The material was then exposed to the most powerful continuous magnetic fields generated on Earth. Their results were published in the October issue of the journal Nature Physics.

Two-dimensional electron crystals were discovered in the laboratory in the 1990s, and were predicted as far back as 1934 by renowned Hungarian physicist Eugene Wigner.

"Picture a sandwich, and the ham in the middle is your electrons," explained Dr. Guillaume Gervais, director of McGill's Ultra-Low Temperature Condensed Matter Experiment Lab. "In a 2D electron crystal, the electrons are squeezed between two materials and they're very two dimensional. They can move on a plane, like billiard balls on a pool table, but there's no up and down motion. There's a thickness, but they're stuck."

Until an accidental discovery during one of Gervais's earliest ultra-low temperature experiments in 2005, however, no one predicted the existence of quasi-three-dimensional electron crystals.

"We decided to tweak the two-dimensionality by applying a very large magnetic field, using the largest magnet in the world at the Magnet Lab in Florida," he said. "You only have access to it for about five days a year, and on the third day, something totally unexpected popped."

Gervais's "pop" was the startling transformation of a two-dimensional electron system inside the semiconducting material into a quasi-three-dimensional system, something existing theory did not predict.

"It's actually not quite 3-D, it's an in-between state, a totally new phenomenon," he said. "This is the kind of thing the theoreticians love. Now they're scratching their heads and trying to fine-tune their models."

The importance of this discovery to micro-electronics and computing could be profound. Since the invention of the integrated circuit in 1958, Moore's Law has powered the ever-accelerating home electronics, personal computer and Internet revolutions which have changed the world. But, Gervais explained, Moore's Law is not an irresistible force, and some time in the next decade, it will inevitably collide with the immovable object of the laws of physics.

****CONTINUESMcGill University researchers have discovered a new state of matter, a quasi-three- dimensional electron crystal, in a material... more