Category: NEWS

Figure 1: (Left) The lattice mismatch between the monolayer graphene (black) on multilayer black phosphorous (blue) generates PMF on the graphene layer. (Right) The spatial distribution and intensity of the PMF can be tailored by changing the rotation angle between the graphene and black phosphorous. (Image: NUS)

NUS researchers have discovered a simple and effective method to produce a large area pseudo-magnetic field (PMF) on graphene, and demonstrated how it can be tuned with desired spatial distribution and intensity for data storage and logic applications (“Tailoring sample-wide pseudo-magnetic fields on a graphene-black phosphorus heterostructure“).

The field of electronics focuses on how to control and exploit the properties of electrons. To study or modify the properties of these electrons at the quantum regime, a magnetic field has to be applied. Continue Reading

New discovery published in Science explains what happens during the phase transition in Dirac materials, paving the way for engineering advanced electronics that perform significantly faster

Shaffique Adam, who holds joint appointments in Centre for Advanced 2D Materials and the Department of Physics at the National University of Singapore, is the lead author for a recent work that describes a model for electron interaction in Dirac materials, a class of materials that includes graphene and topological insulators, solving a 65-year-old open theoretical problem in the process. The discovery will help scientists better understand electron interaction in new materials, paving the way for developing advanced electronics such as faster processors. The work was published in the peer-reviewed academic journal Science on 10 August 2018.

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Graphene’s usefulness on Earth has already been established in the last decade. It is now an opportune time to expand its prospects for use in space applications – an area touted as being the most challenging to modern technology – and shift the paradigm of materials science. Space is the final frontier for graphene research, and I believe this is the first time that graphene has entered the stratosphere,”
– Professor Antonio Castro Neto

On 30 June 2018, the spacecraft was launched over the Mojave Desert in the United States. CA2DM has teamed up with US-based aerospace company Boreal Space to test the properties of graphene after it has been launched into the stratosphere. The results could provide insights into how graphene could be used for space and satellite technologies.

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Novel organic thin film significantly outperforms existing flash memory devices

An international research team led by scientists from the National University of Singapore (NUS) pioneered the development of a novel thin, organic film that supports a million more times read-write cycles and consumes 1,000 times less power than commercial flash memories.

The novel organic film can store and process data for 1 trillion cycles and has the potential to be made even smaller than its current size of 60 square nanometers, with potential to be sub-25 square nanometres.

“The novel properties of our invention opens up a new field in the design and development of flexible and lightweight devices. Our work shifts the paradigm on how the industry has traditionally viewed organic electronics, and expands the application of such technologies into new territories,” said Professor T Venky Venkatesan, Director of NUS Nanoscience and Nanotechnology Institute (NUSNNI), the overall coordinator for this groundbreaking project.

The invention of this novel memory device was first reported online in the journal Nature Materials on 23 October 2017.
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