The Thing That Smells Like Rotten Eggs Could Be A Superconductor - http://clapway.com/2015/08/18/the-thing-that-smells-like-rotten-eggs-could-be-a-superconductor234/

Who knew that the gas that stank like rotten eggs in the general chemistry lab could act as a superconductor? Scientists have recently unearthed the physics-defying powers of the smelly hydrogen sulfide.

What is a superconductor?

A superconductor is a material that offers zero resistance to the flow of electric current and expels magnetic fields when cooled below a critical temperature. Discovered by the Dutch physicist, Heike Kamerlingh Onnes, in 1911, superconductivity has revolutionized the world of electronics ever since. Superconductors show infinite conductivity and magnetic levitation properties when they transition into a different state at cooler temperatures. Any metal conductor shows decreased resistance to the flow of electric current at lower temperatures; this gradual decrease is limited to the impurities and defects in the metal itself. Therefore, even at absolute zero (459 degrees below zero), usual conductors show some resistivity. However, superconductors show a drastic drop in resistivity down to zero upon cooling below a certain temperature. This temperature is called the critical temperature and varies from one conductor to another. Mercury was first discovered to show superconductivity at 4.2 K (450 degrees below zero). These numbers demonstrate one of the greatest problems using a superconductors⎯it takes incredibly low temperatures and high amounts of energy to make them behave as superconductors. Even the materials that have relatively high transition temperatures ⎯such as some ceramic cuprates that were found to superconduct at 164 K (164 degrees below zero)⎯are rare and expensive.

The superconducting properties of hydrogen sulfide

In an attempt to uncover superconductive properties of materials, the researchers of the study chose to focus on hydrogen-dominated materials that could easily be converted into metals under really high pressures. Using high pressures, they wanted to achieve the effect of impractically low temperatures at plausible temperature ranges. After testing many materials, they finally had success with hydrogen sulfide. They subjected minuscule amounts of hydrogen sulfide between diamond cells to a pressure that was million times that of atmospheric pressure. Hydrogen sulfide showed superconductivity at just 203 K (94 degrees below zero), which is roughly the temperature of Antarctica.

Applications of a superconductor

While the immediate applications of this new discovery seem distant, other superconductors are being heavily used in the field of electronics. Superconducting electromagnets are extremely powerful and form components MRI, nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) and mass spectrometers. Superconductors also form the basis for magnetic levitation devices (maglev trains) and magnetic refrigeration.

Are you a physics geek?

---

Interested in more technology news? Check out Clapway Trends:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uh73AjBjCN0

The Thing That Smells Like Rotten Eggs Could Be A Superconductor

Weyl Particle: A Massless Solution to Your Quantum Locutions - http://clapway.com/2015/07/17/weyl-particle-a-massless-solution-to-your-quantum-locutions324/

Eighty-five years ago, mathematician and physicist Hermann Weyl proposed the existence of a highly elusive, massless particle. Later known as the Weyl particle, it would allow the development of faster and more efficient electronics because of a unique propensity for reacting like matter and antimatter inside of a crystal. Just recently, an international team run by Princeton University scientists discovered this Weyl particle.

NEW EUPHORIA-INDUCING DISCOVERY

Their findings were published in the journal Science on July 16th. In it, they anticipate that if Weyl fermions are used in the development of next-gen electronics, we could have access to a free and practically perfectly efficient flow of electricity in electronic devices. Weyl particles would greatly increase the power potential for devices like the computer in your hand(s) right now.

DESIRE FOR SPEEDY QUANTUMS

Scientists and theorists have ravenously sought particles with such properties because they were posited as a kind of fundamental building block of subatomic particles, of an even more basic nature than negatively-charged electrons we’ve already been long familiar with. Since Weyl fermions are so fundamental, they might provide an incredibly stable and efficient means for conducting particles. But why replace electrons if they already do the job we desire?

IF IT AIN’T BROKE, MAYbe IT’S TOO SLOW, DUDE

Electrons possess mass, and however minuscule this is, mass does slow movement, specifically, acceleration. Conversely, since a Weyl fermion is massless, it is extremely mobile because its spin is both in the same and opposite direction of its motion (i.e., as physicists know it, both right-and-left-handed).

A corresponding author named M. Zahid Hasan, who’s also a Princeton professor of Physics and leader of the research team, commented that “[t]he physics of the Weyl fermion are so strange, there could be many things that arise from this particle that we’re just not capable of imagining now.”

SIMILAR PARTICLES DIFFICULT TO PRODUCE

Weyl fermions are not that unique. Other particles with similar properties, like the Higgs boson, possess the same propensities, but are only observable for a short time in the instant following artificially induced particle collisions. The Weyl fermion was observed inside a synthetic metallic crystal known as tantalum arsenide, which was designed by the Princeton team in conjunction to other researchers at the Collaborative Innovation Center of Quantum Matter in Beijing, and at National Taiwan University.

PRELIMINARY CONCLUSIONS

The Weyl particle will be revolutionary for many fields. For starters, says Hans, we will develop efficient quantum computing at a much quicker pace. In addition, as stated before, the Weyl particle’s ability to work as a monopole and antimonopole simultaneously means that two Weyl particles with opposite charges can move independently of each other, regardless of charge.

REPLICATED EFFECT

What’s more, Weyl fermions are also capable of creating massless electrons that can move, or when electrons are lost due to collision with extraneous objects, is a major drawback to efficiency, and also generates heat (which is always a drag, plus a great pun). Instead of leaving scientists lost to such trifle mishaps, Weyl electrons move around or even through any obstructions.

“It’s like they have their own GPS and steer themselves without scattering,” Hasan continues to explicate. “They will move and move only in one direction since they are either right-handed or left-handed and never come to an end because they just tunnel through. These are every fast electrons that behave like unidirectional light beams that can be used for new types of quantum computing.”

So, in a word, the Weyl particle is cool beans, man, cool beans.

---

 

keep your data protected forever with nanoform.

Weyl Particle: A Massless Solution to Your Quantum Locutions

Single Molecule Diode Paves Way for Microscopic Electronics - http://clapway.com/2015/05/26/single-molecule-diode-paves-way-for-microscopic-electronics-123/

Researchers at Columbia and Berkeley have successfully created an effective single molecule diode, a development that could lead to the creation of nano-scale electronic devices. The concept of a single molecule diode was first proposed in 1974 By Mark Ratner and Arieh Aviram, and has until now been a tantalizingly unachievable goal in nanotechnology. Now that a one-molecule diode has been developed, the world may be closer to seeing an entire electronic device contained in one molecule.

WHAT IS A SINGLE MOLECULE DIODE?

A diode basically acts as a gate for the flow of electricity. It only allows electricity to travel through it in one direction. Diodes are a crucial part of the circuits that power the electronic devices we use every day, including the microchips that make computers work. The single molecule diode is exciting because it will allow for a new phase in the miniaturization of electronics.

BETTER THAN BEFORE

Although single molecule diodes have been created in the past, this new molecule outperforms previous attempts by far. The older single molecule diodes were simply molecules designed to have an asymmetrical structure. While the asymmetrical structure did give these molecules some of the properties of diodes, it was not enough to achieve completely unidirectional travel of current.

The new single molecule diode is more than 50 times more effective than its predecessors at making electricity flow only in one direction. It also conducts much more power: 0.1 microamps. The new diode achieves these remarkable results through simple means. Instead of focusing on making the molecule itself asymmetrical, the researchers introduced asymmetry into its environment. Since this single molecule diode is so easily constructed, it will be relatively simple to incorporate into current nano-scale devices.

WHAT’S NEXT?

Diodes are not the only electronic components that might be made out of a single molecule. Since Aviram and Ratner’s 1974 paper, scientists have been experimenting with turning molecules into electrical switches, transistors, and more. The hope is that eventually entire circuits will be built out of single-molecule components. The team of researchers that created the new diode will now focus on trying to understand more clearly the mechanics behind why their new device works.

Single Molecule Diode Paves Way for Microscopic Electronics