Today's Tech News: Notable or Not?

https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/1106386 "microscopic defects in wire force electricity to take circuitous routes, leading to inefficiency/ failure... overcome allowing their utilization, but because tapes held together by pressure rather than solder, if defect encountered in 1 strand, it jumps to neighboring wire without sacrificing performance, drastically lowering production costs... cooled using helium which remains a gas over wider temperature range than liquid nitrogen... utilizes high (up to 77°K) rather than near-absolute zero temperature superconductors"

https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/1106469 "tested barriers made of mix of silicon/ germanium/ tin atoms to enclose quantum well, which was expected to create resistance, but instead, electrical charges (mobility) moved faster/ more efficiently through quantum well... suggests barriers' atoms are not random but rather arrange themselves in consistent, orderly fashion relative to main material... acts as speed control knob without relying solely on strain/ alloying... neuromorphic/ quantum computing, microelectronics (miniaturization of standard silicon CMOS)"

https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/1106455 "heating/ cooling rates up to 1,000°C/ second synthesizes relaxor antiferroelectric lead zirconate film on silicon wafer... material's high-temperature paraelectric phase structure frozen at room temperature, creating <3 nm nanodomains acting as maze triggering high-performance relaxor antiferroelectric behavior, essential for highly efficient energy storage... capacitor: withstands high electric fields, strong polarization, 63.5 J/cm³ energy density... dense/ uniform film texture, thermally stable, scalable... prototype on 2" silicon wafers"

https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/1102188 "converts solid metals/ oxides/ ceramics/ polymers to nanoparticles, then focuses aerodynamically printing features as narrow as 20 μm/ building structures >50 μm thick in single pass onto substrate including flexible paper... proof of concept, built: letter-shaped silver circuits (powering LED belts), strain/ temperature sensors (on flexible films), ceramic-based X-band dipole antenna... scalable, cost-effective, sustainable... future: optimize aerosol transport, expand range of printable materials, enhance spatial resolution"

https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/1102105 "high precision capillary printable using 3 carbon-based inks (carbon nanotubes, graphene, nanocellulose) onto both rigid (glass, silicon)/ flexible (paper) substrates... Hummink low energy use printing technique creates features tens of μm long with sub-μm-sized gaps (transistor channel length) for stronger electrical performance... performance comparable to LCD, close to what's needed to drive OLED displays... not intended to replace high-performance silicon chips, can be competitive/ transformative in digital displays"

https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/1106266 "overcomes difficult positioning/ low efficiency challenges using lithography on non-planar surfaces... using 2 axicons converts Gaussian beam into collimated annular beam which then passes through convex lens group, where aberration in 2nd convex lens reduces annular beam width in radial direction... 1.79 µm minimum average line width, >10X better... with extended depth of focus, defocus/ positional errors minimally impact exposure outcomes... can be integrated with other advanced manufacturing methods"

https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/1105654 "fabricated optical cavity using gold nanotubes/ 2D tungsten diselenide semiconductors... amplified dark excitons 300,000X for visibility, long lifetimes, reduced decoherence... tunable using electric/ magnetic fields, allowing precise control... previously unobserved on/off switchable spin-forbidden dark excitons enables faster, smaller, more energy-efficient quantum information/ computing devices without altering fundamental nature of previously dark excitons... on-chip photonics, sensors, advanced communication"

https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/1106039 "fabricated heterostructure device scalably capable of forming 3 coupled quantum dots through precise electric-field control in few-electron regime... Quantum Cellular Automata effect where a charge in 1 dot electrostatically influencing neighbors, inducing simultaneous movement of 2 electrons, key to low-power quantum logic... zinc oxide is widely used in everyday technologies... future: explore coherent quantum control and qubit operations in these oxide systems... drug discovery, data security"

https://phys.org/news/2025-11-photonic-chips-passively-laser-multiple.html "6 different chips manufactured on same wafer, from nonlinear interactions consistently generated 2nd (red), 3rd (green), 4th (blue) harmonics from incoming standard telecommunications 190 THz frequency laser... 2 timescales in resonator array of rings passively increases probability of satisfying frequency-phase matching conditions, eliminating need for embedded heaters or optimizations... integrated photonics: metrology, frequency conversion, nonlinear optical computing"

https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/1105998 "coumarin-based metamaterial, dynamic control... text, watermarks, graphics invisible under white light/ revealed by specific UV... 60 second write/erase cycles without chemicals/ mechanical wear.... features small as 700 nm via 2-photon polymerization/ grayscale-gradient processing... independent optical channels as separate passwords for different data levels... contrast remains >3× after 20 write–erase loops, readable >10 days... banknotes, pharmaceuticals, ID chips with time-dependent codes... reconfigurable barcodes"

https://phys.org/news/2025-11-raman-quantum-memory-unity.html "atom-light interaction spatiotemporal mapping control, while quantum information is stored... breaks efficiency/ fidelity trade-off... Raman quantum memory based on warm rubidium-87 vapor... long-distance quantum communication, quantum computers, and distributed quantum sensing systems.,, future: exploring new physics-driven principles and integrating the memory into quantum repeaters for fault-tolerant quantum computing architectures and quantum networks" Related: Physicists unveil system to solve long-standing barrier to new generation of supercomputers https://phys.org/news/2025-11-physicists-unveil-barrier-generation-supercomputers.html

https://techxplore.com/news/2025-11-ultra-strong-lightweight-metal-composite.html "mimics reinforced concrete's microscopic structure... 3D metal printing/ micro-casting combination... rebar: titanium alloy microscopic mesh struts created using lasers to heat metal powders... space between struts filled with aluminum, silicon, magnesium using micro-casting... embedded µm-sized alumina particles/ silicon nanoprecipitates further strengthens... performance comparable to medium-range steels but at only third of weight... high-temperature resistance due to enhanced twinning,.. future: lower cost, for scalability"

https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/1106053 "double-layer lens automatically adjusts beam spot size based on receiver's distance (up to 5m)/ size... adjustable reflector controlled by 2 stepping motors rotating horizontally/ vertically... retroreflective sheets placed around PV receivers' edges, reflecting IR from depth camera's projector, creating clear outline, allowing: accurate shape/ position detection, target area isolation, minimized environmental interference... sequentially targets multiple PV receivers of different sizes/ distances, switching between them rapidly"

https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/1105488 "digital data encoded into light waves' amplitude/ phase, turning numbers into optical fields' physical properties... deep learning matrix/ tensor multiplications occur naturally as light fields interact/ combine... passive, requiring no active control/ electronic switching... using multiple wavelengths enables handling higher-order tensor operations... connects input to correct output instantly... integration with existing photonics hardware within 3 to 5 years... optical computing for fast, low power consumption, complex AI"

https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/1106159 "growing the sodium niobate on substrate induces 3 different phases (atom arrangements) simultaneously at room temperature (as film's atoms contract/ expand to match the substrate's atomic structure) without traditional methods like changing temperature/ chemical composition... optimizes ferroelectric properties by creating more boundaries between phases... even slight changes in length led to substantial phase changes... future: investigate the effect of strain at extreme temperatures ranging from -270° to 1,000°C"

https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/1105890 "allows manufacturing of complex 2D/ 3D structures... methacrylate-based 'ink' contains redox-active carbazole groups allowing resulting polymer structures to donate or accept electrons, making them electrically conducting so can reversibly change color depending on their oxidation state... ability to manipulate properties down to pixel level/ control color in 3D (height) opens up new possibilities for the additive manufacturing of optoelectronic devices such as pixel displays or actuators for soft robotics" Related: From Artificial Organs to Advanced Batteries: A Breakthrough 3D-Printable Polymer https://engineering.virginia.edu/news-events/news/artificial-organs-advanced-batteries-breakthrough-3d-printable-polymer

https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/1105842 "image operated on horizontally/ vertically using diagonal matrices, building image approximation layer by layer compressing into smaller data amount... faster computation, lighter processing, utilizing less storage... more precise control during compression, well-suited for parallel data processing, allows image buildup in stages upon decompression... DCT, powerful but inefficient, divides image into 64 parts for compression/ PCA, practical but labor-intensive, rigid... rigidity removed enabling algorithmic combination"

https://phys.org/news/2025-11-software-toolbox-enables-brain.html "bridges biophysics and machine learning inspired techniques to accelerate/ improve brain accuracy modeling... trains directly on experimental data... models use 1,000s of equations simulating electrical signaling in neurons, calculating how changes in model parameters affect simulation outcome, model self-adjusting based on data... analyzes large datasets in parallel using AI-class GPU... faster and more accurate simulations of brain function, learning, and memory"

https://phys.org/news/2025-11-cow-cells-defy-aging-door.html "tracked natural cell immortalization process for 500 days (240 generations): after 180 days (60 generations) became senescent, then after months of apparent inactivity, at 400 days spontaneous cell renewal through controlled pathway driven by natural telomerase/ PGC1α activation, resetting cell's biological clocks by extending chromosomal ends/ regenerating mitochondria... retained DNA repair capabilities/ no disruption of normal growth regulation... commercially viable, non-GM cell lines across various animal species"

https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/1105737 "use rubber for every functional component (semiconductor, dielectric, interconnect) eliminating need for rigid conventional materials... skin-like, thin, sensory, stretchable electronic layer, including digital logic gates, that adhere intimately to human skin... integrates not only p-type (which has been done previously) but also n-type... stable even stretched up to 50%... medical/ health-monitoring, soft robotics and advanced human–machine interfaces (e.g., a smart, sensing glove)"

https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/1105690 "molybdenum disulfide channel, hexagonal boron nitride insulating tunneling dielectric, discrete platinum nanocrystal floating gate storage layer... superior data retention/ reliability... single defect/ leakage in tunneling layer does not cause complete charge loss... minimized charge trapping defects ensures sharp interfaces, contributing to stability/ speed... 10 year retention time at room temperature... 20K cycle endurance... in-memory computing reduces the number of transistors needed"

https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/1104504 "quantum dots offer superior color purity/ brightness, but have outcoupling efficiency limitation that doesn't apply to elongated anisotropic nanocrystal quantum rods... overcomes widespread pinholes in film due to elongated rod shape, by enhancing balanced carrier injections/ suppressing leakage current... up to 92% photoluminescence quantum yield for both green/ red quantum rods, along with uniform size distribution/ shape confinement... green: reaches peak EQE of 20.2% and an ultra-high luminance of 250,000 cd m⁻²"

https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/1105371 "focuses a 1036 and a non-integer-related 1300 nm seed wavelength into water, amplifying cooperative nonlinear optical effects: soliton compression, dispersive-wave emission, 4-wave mixing, cross-phase modulation... advances liquid photonics/ ultrafast optics: deep-tissue biophotonics/ bioimaging. aqueous-phase/ ultrafast interfacial spectroscopy, attosecond electron-dynamics studies in water, optical sensing/ nonlinear photonics using water as a platform"

https://techxplore.com/news/2025-11-quality-problems-substrate-defects-enable.html "remote epitaxy: high-quality crystal film grown on substrate, guided by its atomic structure through thin buffer layer, peeled off... grew crystals through carbon buffer layers up to 7 nm thick (previous limit <1 nm) while maintaining alignment with substrate... substrate dislocations enable long-distance electrostatic interactions guiding crystal film growth/ structure... widens material choices/ improves processing window... scalable membrane release, enables wafer-recycling... built photodetector as proof-of-concept"

https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/1105286 "creates high-quality 3D scenes, from small objects to outdoor environments, using only 2 to 3 ordinary photographs, without need to precisely measure physical spaces or camera position/ orientation (simultaneously estimates directly from images themselves)... aligns multiple images into unified space without shape distortion... no: specialized equipment, complex calibration, additional training... construction, media, gaming (using just smartphone camera), low-cost simulations in robotics/ autonomous driving"

https://phys.org/news/2025-11-silver-nanowire-electrodes-surge-coating.html "43% less electrical resistance, doubling conductivity... facile, scalable, low-temperature solution process... durable, withstanding 85°C, 85% humidity... slightly increased light transmittance, enabling brighter, more transparent electrodes... fabricated transparent heaters: due to lower resistance reached, 140°C–145°C (previous: 102°C) in 6 minutes, 35% better heating performance... flexible, foldable, rollable electronic devices, including flexible displays, wearable sensors, electronic paper, advanced transparent heaters" 

https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/1105304 "integrates approximately 4K transistors, previously restricted to only a few hundred... integration flow ensures reliable core logic unit operation using only N-type transistors... efficient 2T0C DRAM occupies significantly less chip area, contributing to higher integration density... 2D thickness inherently offers a physical mechanism to resist ionizing radiation damage (Total Ionizing Dose), withstanding 10 Mrad gamma radiation, significantly reducing need for heavy external shielding... aerospace, high-reliability computing"

https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/1103734 "fluorographene nanofiber composite paper... scalable, cost-effective, lightweight... 96.3% transmittance, thermal conductivity for heat dissipation in high-power devices, 197.4 MPa tensile strength, 11.6 MJ·m-3 toughness for durability under extreme conditions... preparation time reduced from 50 to 14 hours, nearly 50% less raw material cost for large-scale industrial production... forgoes harsh acids, uniform dispersion for minimal signal loss... antenna covers, em/ thermal shielding: sensors, aerospace, high-frequency electronics"

https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/1104672 "overcomes signal loss/ interference: atmospheric effects, background light, imperfect alignment... ground-based transmitters have more power/ less maintenance than space-based, generating stronger quantum signals (higher bandwidth)... compact optical unit intercepting photons/ reporting results, rather than complex quantum hardware generating signals, keeping satellite costs/ size down, making approach more practical... quantum internet, continental/ global quantum networks using small, low-orbit satellites" Related: A fast and high-precision satellite-ground synchronization technology in satellite beam hopping communication https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/1105656

https://techxplore.com/news/2025-11-green-alternative-emitting-materials-displays.html "preparation only uses green solvents water/ acetone... fluoresces under UV due to excited state proton transfer... phenolic groups within lignin absorb UV and become energized, releasing as visible light (fluorescence) as lignin relaxes back to normal state... photoluminescent properties easily adjusted... screens (TVs, smartphones), lighting, sensors, security inks, biomedical imaging... upcycles lignin, a major waste product of the paper industry, into a high-value technology material"

https://techxplore.com/news/2025-11-artificial-proteins-path-fast-sustainable.html "lab-designed, without altering their overall stability... integrated into an efficient energy storage device capable of rapidly storing/ releasing energy... sustainable and much safer alternative to traditional materials in batteries and supercapacitors. Their inherent biocompatibility is especially promising for bioelectronic devices such as pacemakers, implantable glucose sensors, and brain electrodes... energy storage and bioelectronic devices based on safe, biodegradable, and sustainable materials"

https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/1104913 "typically uses rolled precursors having structural heterogeneity, impeding control/ scalability... overcome using strain–energy–texture framework involving: tailored cold rolling, controlled low-temperature recrystallization, high-temperature annealing... optimal deformation window (4.5–5.0 true strain) where cube texture fraction exceeds 90%, enabling reliable single-crystal growth... fabricated 33×20cm2 Cu(111) foil, and foils with 6 distinct high-index orientations... for: cast, rolled, electrodeposited, also applies to nickel"

https://techxplore.com/news/2025-11-optical-diffractive-processors-large-scale.html "input variables for nonlinear functions encoded into optical wavefront phase space... encoded wavefront processed through optimized, diffractive, thin, passive layers... each diffraction-limited output pixel corresponds to unique nonlinear function, enabling simultaneous computation of numerous functions with massive spatial density/ speed... avoids electronic post-processing, and weak, power-hungry, slow nonlinear optical effects... ultrafast analog computing, neuromorphic photonics, high-throughput optical processing"

https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/1104983 "quasicrystals either completely block light from few directions or weaken light from all directions but don't completely block it, so imperfect for maintaining signal strength... overcome using gyromorphs combining seemingly incompatible properties of liquids/ crystals, exhibiting liquid-like non-repeating, but form regular patterns when viewed from distance, outperforming all ordered alternatives, including quasicrystals... control over optical properties advancing light-based computers' capabilities by eliminating signal loss"

https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/1105192 "6Gs fade more rapidly/ cannot pass through physical barriers, necessitating narrow, line-of-sight links between transmitters/ receivers, but maintaining links requires rapid/ precise alignment... overcome, making line-of-sight links nearly instantaneous by generating/ controlling radio wave patterns estimating signal's direction within 1/10th°, 10X better... signal hits metasurface, scatters into distinct randomized pattern varying across frequency/ time which receivers compare against library to identify signal's origin direction" Related: New holography-inspired reconfigurable surface developed for wireless communication https://techxplore.com/news/2025-11-holography-reconfigurable-surface-wireless-communication.html

https://phys.org/news/2025-11-table-salt-enables-metallic-nanotubes.html "nanotubes only made from carbon (semiconductors/ semimetals) or boron nitride (insulating), so no true metallic nanotubes which can exhibit superconductivity/ magnetism... overcome, coaxing metal to wrap around carbon/ boron nitride nanotube template adding tiny salt amount during growth... favored forming 2 nested shells instead of 1 layer, stabilized by electrons hopping between layers, acting like atomic-sized capacitor... no dangling bonds, providing greater precision/ reliability at nanoscale... faster electronics"

https://phys.org/news/2025-11-electrified-atomic-vapor-enables-nanomaterial.html "electrified carbon paper heater quickly reaches extremely high temperatures. instantly vaporizes/ dissociates, creating atomic vapor which is rapidly mixed with surrounding room-temperature argon gas causing rapid cooling/ highly uniform nucleation, continuous flow/ rapid vapor cooling enables excellent compositional/ structural control of final product... allows mixing of wide range of materials otherwise difficult to combine... avoids: high-powered plasma/ laser to achieve high temperatures, costly vacuum"

https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/1104968 "entangling atoms through fiber cable... longer quantum coherence time enables greater distance... raised coherence times of individual erbium atoms from 0.1 to >10 ms... scalable Molecular-Beam Epitaxy: spray thin layers, like 3D printing, assembling rare-earth doped crystals atom by atom... superb quality/ purity, greatly increasing quantum coherence... future: validate these theoretical distances, first by simulating a 1,000 km link in the lab using spooled cable between 2 (later, 3) separate dilution refrigerators"

https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/1104898 "micro-LED display technology overcomes problem scaling micro-LEDs to ultra-high resolutions: thin-film transistor (regulates current)/ storage capacitor (stores brightness information) pixel component crowding, making manufacturing complex, expensive, power-hungry... built 12 × 12 micro-LED array, each pixel driven by a germanium-based memristor... adjusting memristor's resistance controls LED brightness capacitor-free... higher pixel density, lower power consumption, simpler manufacturing"

https://techxplore.com/news/2025-11-camera-lens-focus.html "overcomes depth-of-field limitation... modified Lohmann lens design, using 2 shifting curved lenses, combined with phase-only spatial light modulator controlling how light bends at each pixel... divides image into regions each of which independently detects out of focus, direction to adjust... faster and more suitable for moving subjects, achieving 21 frames per second... microscopy capturing every layer of a biological sample in focus at once. autonomous vehicles, AR/ VR"

https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/1104774 "integrate data storage/ signal processing... highly uniform, scalable, using precise method controlling Schottky (contact) barriers achieved exposing selected areas to oxygen, allowing precise/ predictable electricity flow... high resistive switching ratio, switches clearly between on/ off, <6.8% variation between devices, 100% fabrication yield, picture classification accuracy >98%... fabrication strategy also applicable to other materials... AI accelerators when integrated with multi-layer stacking or hybrid CMOS-2D"

https://techxplore.com/news/2025-11-metal-bridge-biological-electronic.html "liquid metals/ conductive polymers have poor adhesion, oxide layer formation (for liquid metal), limited conductivity, lack of self-healing properties; electronics are rigid... overcome embedding dormant electrogenic bacillus subtilis endospores into liquid metal droplets... bacterial spores interact with/ rupture liquid metal oxide layers, enabling metal to remain conductive... easily absorbed into device substrates, exhibits enhanced electrical conductivity when spores germinate, self-healing, bacteria generate electrons"

https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/1104659 "iron: excellent properties/ low cost, but brittle lattice causes difficulty using high-density flux pinning centers required for carrying large, lossless currents... overcome utilizing asymmetric stress field to engineer flux pinning centers: synergistically controlled hydrostatic pressure/ shear stress using scalable extrusion...  current density rose from 1.5×10⁵ A/cm² to 4.5×10⁵ A/cm², while at 30 T reached 2.1×10⁵ A/cm², 5X higher (>30 T WM5 water-cooled magnet provided magnetic field)... high-field: fusion/ particle accelerators"

https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/1104606 "Janus transition metal dichalcogenides, such as molybdenum sulfur selenide/ molybdenum disulfide... Janus means top/ bottom atomic layers different chemical species, giving material internal electrical polarity/ high external force/ light sensitivity, which together with strong coupling between layers causes atoms' displacement... optical switches/ components for photonic chips: less heat/ greater efficiency, than electrical... displays, imaging, quantum light sources, detectors sensing smallest vibrations/ pressure changes"

https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/1104086 "DC-powered LEDs require 2 contacts (p, n) causing alignment/ fabrication challenges as device sizes shrink to nanoscale, overcome using AC requiring only 1... 300 nm thick nanorods for high pixel densities... electrons to photons conversion (quantum efficiency) controls AC current frequency tuning by the manufacturer, enabling visible flicker elimination while maintaining efficient light generation... also: optical communications, biomedical devices... more efficient nanoscale LED devices"

https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/1104349 "avoids extreme temperatures/ very high magnetic fields... most measures use values linked to constants of nature; not so for physical quantities such as mass/ electrical units whose metrological traceability so complex that feasible only at national metrology institutes... overcome using memristor switching providing stable resistance values linked to constants of nature... silver nanofilaments are adjustable with atomic precision applying electrical bias, so conductance changes not continuously but in discrete quantum steps"

https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/1104357 "single organic layer... 2 standard aluminum electrodes also acting as microcavity mirrors... replaces traditional complicated organic stacks, indium tin oxide, complex color-mixing chemicals... avoids complexity/ cost of mixing red, green, blue dopants by using single, metal-free, sky-blue thermally activated delayed fluorescence... adjusting cavity layer thickness reinforces certain colors... fits existing vacuum-deposition lines... reflective/ flexible surface compatible... future: improve brightness, efficiency, stability"

https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/1104295 "only final intensity or amplitude of target scene is known, not the crucial wavefront phase, so large datasets pre-computed holograms as labels unobtainable... also, trade-off between reconstruction quality/ computational speed... overcome by learning mapping between target scene/ its hologram... lightweight multi-wavelength network creates realistic depth perception by computationally simulating optical field... future: overcome full-color still needing 3 separate network models, which triples computational resources"

https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/1101843 "overcomes slow convergence, overfitting, high computational requirements, black box nature... training each network layer individually without back-propagation still faces information loss in input images, reducing classification accuracy, solved using: Label-Wise Noise Labeling preventing pixel information loss, Cosine Similarity-Based Contrastive Loss preserving spatial information for accurate image classification, Layer Grouping by output characteristics/ adding auxiliary layers, improving performance"

https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/1103592 "contains multiple cations in near-equimolar ratios, forming highly disordered yet stable lattices resisting phase segregation... defects enable oxygen vacancy control, facilitating low-power, forming-free resistive switching... tunable band structure, ionic mobility, electron transport create multifunctional platforms for memory, sensing, learning... compatible with CMOS integration... multilevel conductance states enable accurate synaptic weight updates essential for neural network operation"

https://phys.org/news/2025-10-propeller-luminescent-molecules-chirality-solvent.html "molecule, of 6 highly emissive perylene diimide chromophores arranged like blades, obtained in high yield spontaneously twisting in optically active conformation, exhibiting bright circularly polarized luminescence... different helical conformations/ complete polarization inversion measured in chloroform versus dichloromethane solvent, caused by internal phenethyl groups' rotation... contrasts with static chiral molecular designs... optical switching, molecular sensors, polarization devices, quantum photonics"

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2025/11/251102011155.htm "generating both even/ odd THz... highly symmetrical materials like graphene only produce odd harmonics, difficult achieving even harmonics needed for practical applications, overcome utilizing topological insulator thin layers of Bi2Se₃ and van der Waals heterostructures made from (InₓBi₁₋ₓ)2Se₃, with split ring resonators amplifying incoming light... frequency up-conversion at even 6.4 and odd 9.7 THz... compact, tunable THz light sources powered by optics: ultrafast optoelectronic components/ sensors"

https://techxplore.com/news/2025-10-wetware-scientists-human-mini-brains.html "human brain cells fed nutrients... 1 million X more energy efficient than artificial neurons, also endlessly lab reproducible... purchases stem cells, turns them into neurons, collected into mm-wide clumps/ organoids around fruit fly larvae brain's size, electrodes attached allowing monitoring internal discussion... can stimulate with small electric current, responding with a spike in activity or not (computers' 1's and 0's)... challenges: encoding data in/ interpreting data out, live for up to 6 months... read braille, study brain disease"

  https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/1102359 "as AI model grows/ processed sentences become longer, computational load/ memory requirements surge, leading to speed reductions/ high energy consumption... overcome using sequential memory-based Mamba structure processing information over time, increasing efficiency... further improved with Transformer–Mamba Hybrid Model including PIMBA processing inside memory, combining advantages of both Transformer and Mamba"

https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/1103741 "oxidized by treating with heat in air... fills oxygen vacancies/ changes chromium atoms' oxidation state, collectively allowing conduction electrons to pass through more easily... also applicable to other materials with drastically tunable physical properties... for use in memristors, electronic elements encoding memory of previous states, critical for developing more power-efficient, next-generation AI computing chips that can meet the growing demand for greater computing power"

https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/1103920 "defect where nitrogen substitutes for carbon atom next to vacancy (missing carbon atom)... defect possesses long-lived spin that can couple to/ sense magnetic field... defects densely packed, confined to 2D layer with designed orientations to exhibit strong dipolar interactions... improves signal-to-noise ratio... solid-state, no vacuum chambers/ lasers... methods: (1) spin-squeezing increasing precision like adding finer gradations to ruler, (2) amplifying signal without increasing noise... future: greater control over spins' spatial positioning"

https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/1104139 "overcomes poorly controlled interfaces leading to complex fabrication, inefficient charge transport, significant energy loss... elegant/ efficient double molecular bridge uses single multifunctional additive 4-F-PEAFa molecule which simultaneously creates 2 perovskite transport layer bridges: 1 moving holes/ 1 moving electrons... record: 25.6% efficiency, up to 0.88 fill factor... unencapsulated device maintained >90% of initial efficiency after 2000 hours at 85°C or 1000 hours under continuous operation"

https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/1104133 "overcomes n-type organic semiconductors' limited availability/ ambient instability... gold(III) chloride (AuCl₃) dopant ions become oxidized, performing substitutional chlorination: chlorine atom replaces atom or group on polymer backbone, chemically/ structurally altering polymer's structure... reorganizes charge transport pathways... p–n organic homojunction diode using single polymer doped at 2 different concentrations, rectification ratio 10s of 1,000sX greater than single-material diodes... flexible electronics"

https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/1104099 "restores original cathode material for reuse in new batteries... ternary molten salt (heated: lithium hydroxide, lithium nitrate, lithium salicylate)... high-nickel NCM811 loses lithium/ develops structural defects, restored moving lithium ions into damaged material/ reorganizes atoms to original ordered layered structure/ unwanted surface rock salt layer removed... achieves 196 mAh/g initial discharge capacity, maintains 76% of that capacity after 200 cycles... operates at relatively low temperatures, no: strong acids/ toxic solvents" Related: New recharge-to-recycle reactor turns battery waste into new lithium feedstock https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/1105397

https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/1103951 "energy-absorbing box with aluminum shell filled with Polyether Ether Ketone (PEEK) high-performance thermoplastic core, arranged in regular hexagonal honeycomb pattern... alternative to hollow structures or heavy aluminum foam fillers in car's front-end, 1st line of defense in low speed crash... increased average crushing load 18.1% for more stable, progressive, efficient energy dissipation... approximately 19% lighter than conventional aluminum foam, for exceptional specific energy absorption (strength-to-weight ratio)"

https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/1103766 "hybrid quantum devices: classical electronics + quantum technologies... failed attempts used ion implantation/ introduced imperfections, overcome using molecular beam epitax... with precise placement, gallium atoms substitute neatly into germanium lattice, growing thin crystal layers (epitaxy), reshaping electronic bands to be superconductive... scalable, foundry-ready quantum devices... quantum circuits, sensors, and low-power cryogenic electronics"

https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/1103817 "barriers to hydrogen-powered vehicles: platinum catalyst nearly 40% total system cost/ limited cell lifespan, overcome using multi-walled carbon nanotube conductive backbone/ ZIF-8-derived carbon as branches providing abundant sites for platinum group metals, enhancing corrosion resistance through high graphitization... low 0.1 mgPt/cm² platinum loading, 12.7% increased electrode peak power density, 30% reduced concentration loss, >25K hours stable operation, 50.8% of original performance after 5K cycles"

https://techxplore.com/news/2025-10-ai-efficiency-advances-spintronic-memory.html "earlier designs relied on analog computing, which while energy-efficient is less precise than digital... Spin-Transfer Torque Magnetic-Random Access Memory spintronic chip stores data within magnetic tunnel junction... different magnetic alignments create varying electrical resistances corresponding to binary states... 7.4–29.6 ns computation latencies, 7.02–112.3 TOPS/W energy efficiencies for fully parallel lossless matrix–vector multiplications across precision configurations ranging from 4 to 16 bits"

https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/1103865 "scalable, patent-pending, potentially supports 10X more devices than previous approaches using same bandwidth, reduces latency while maintaining high data rate for all connected devices... doubles spectrum efficiency, reducing waste... decouples control and data beams in hardware...  delay-phased array front end sends separate, strong beams simultaneously across same wideband channel: one beam is dedicated to control, others are dedicated to data... satellite communication"  Related: Researchers report terahertz communication breakthroughs for 6G networks https://techxplore.com/news/2025-10-terahertz-communication-breakthroughs-6g-networks.html

https://techxplore.com/news/2025-10-memristor-ferroelectric-memory-energy-efficient.html "share similar structural stack... memristors apply trained models, offering energy efficiency during read operations/ supporting in-memory computing... ferroelectric capacitors: store information via electric field switchable reversible ferroelectric polarization, endurance/ extremely low energy consumption during programming... integrates silicon-doped HfO₂ (of FeCAPs) with titanium scavenging layer (of memristors)... efficient machine learning, stores analog weights, edge AI without forgetting prior knowledge"

https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/1103593 "high power consumption/ complex integration of electronics in edge computing for mobile devices/ security systems, overcome using mV-scale optoelectronic polymer memristors. Application & Performance: The researchers used these memristors to build a reservoir computing framework, which achieved a 97.15% accuracy in fingerprint recognition... scalable, solution-based fabrication on flexible substrates, making them low-cost and compatible with large-area flexible electronics, highlighting potential for widespread adoption"

https://phys.org/news/2025-10-mirrorless-laser-physicists-source.html "superradiant emission uses atoms as quantum emitters that build their own feedback mechanism/ frequency selection via dipole-dipole interaction... pumping only fraction of emitters with laser energy causes synchronized collective radiation, remaining unpumped passive emitters act as frequency-selective feedback for active emitters... takes place of traditional optical resonator... highly directional, spectrally pure... nanophotonics, precision measurements, quantum sensors/ clocks, on-chip devices"

https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/1103431 "ionic-liquid-based materials suffered leakage, environmental instability, poor durability, overcome using polymer electrolyte where ions are permanently anchored to polymer chains... precisely controls triboelectric materials' polarity... allows for triboelectric polarity (positive/negative) tuning by adjusting polymer structure... cationic polymer exhibited 83V output voltage, about 2X higher; anionic polymer achieved 34V, 4X higher than conventional... minimal charge loss/ excellent thermal stability for over week even at 60℃"

https://techxplore.com/news/2025-10-plasma-treatment-strategy-semiconductor-device.html "Al-doped TiO₂, used as dielectric shielding against high electrical fields, suffers electrical leakage/ reduced stability, overcome by exposing shielding to argon/ oxygen plasma... transfers energy to shielding surface, facilitating atomic-scale migration of aluminum dopants/ reordering of the crystal lattice... fills oxygen vacancies that caused electrical leakage... 30% higher dielectric constants, up to nearly 40X lower leakage currents... Al atoms settled into lattice positions restoring crystallinity"

https://techxplore.com/news/2025-10-electronics-optical-feature-unprecedented-latency.html "integrated on-chip system with tunable power splitters/ precise delay lines... matrix-vector multiplication performs feature extraction at 12.5 GHz in <250.5 ps, a record (>10 GHz expected in real-world applications)... better performance in image classification/ increased pixel accuracy in semantic segmentation (such as identifying organs in computed tomography scans)... requires fewer electronic parameters for more efficient hybrid AI... multitasking applications in scene recognition, medical assistance, digital finance"

https://news.stanford.edu/stories/2025/10/crystal-strontium-titanate-cryogenic-photonics-quantum-computing "tested at -450°F... electro-optic effects 40X stronger than the most-used electro-optic material/ non-linearities 20X greater than best-known non-linear optical material lithium niobate... quantum computers' transducers/ switches, space exploration/ cryogenic fuel tanks, manipulation of frequency/ phase/ intensity/ bending of light by exploiting non-linear/ electro-optic effects... tunability further enhanced 4X substituting oxygen isotopes into crystal, effectively tuning the material towards a quantum criticality threshold"

https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/1103063 "existing joint phase modulation unsuitable for high-throughput optical information processing, overcome with: fast modulation, large information processing capacity, Lithium Niobate on Insulator dynamic photonic platform... diatomic integrated metasurface combining geometric/ detour phases as addressing unit, enabling 4-channel multiplexing expanded into 2x2 metasurface network on waveguide crossing array... on-chip holographic displays, high-capacity optical communication, integrated photonic information processing"

https://techxplore.com/news/2025-10-layer-microfluidic-cooling-device-small.html "3-layers each etched into silicon substrate's back: tapered manifold ensuring even coolant distribution (top), microjet shooting coolant up onto chip's surface (middle), etched microchannel with sawtooth-shaped sidewalls carrying warm coolant out (bottom)... single-phase water pumping uses only 0.9 W cm−2 power... up to 13K coefficient of performance and 1K W cm−2 heat flux dissipation at 65°K maximum chip temperature rise... removes heat significantly more effectively than most previously introduced strategies"

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2025/10/251024041822.htm "laser pulses coherently excite pairs of magnons (quanta of spin waves/ collective magnetic vibrations) within crystal... tested on haematite (iron ore), a common, naturally grown crystal, eliminating the need for rare or exotic materials... fast data transmission/ storage at THz speeds without the heat build-up that slows down current systems... exhibited room-temperature quantum effects, such as producing light-induced Bose-Einstein condensates of high-energy magnons, which typically only occur near absolute zero"

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2025/10/251023031612.htm "uses waveguides' photonic topological characteristics and the quantum behavior of two-level atoms to store and transfer energy... dissipation, which usually degrades performance, can temporarily increase charging power... topological nature of the waveguides allows for a nearly perfect transfer of energy... overcomes vulnerability to energy loss and decoherence, paving the way for the potential realization of efficient nanoscale batteries, optical quantum communication, and distributed quantum computing systems"

https://www.aau.dk/new-technology-can-store-green-energy-for-months-n151116 "when electricity is needed, the stored heat is converted back into electricity using thermophotovoltaic cells. These specialized devices convert IR emitted by the heat source into electricity... nanostructured emitter can withstand extreme temperatures, up to 1400 °C, and has shown stable operation for over six months, making it suitable for long-term energy storage... reduces energy storage costs by up to 80% compared to traditional batteries and can also be used to recover waste heat in industrial processes"

https://www.newequipment.com/home/product/55325167/exowatt-p3-modular-energy-system-delivers-24-hour-renewable-power "heat stored in sustainably sourced U.S. -made: silicon-based composite, clay, and ceramic blocks... for industry: electricity-intensive users such as data centers, and high-temperature thermal energy uses such as manufacturing/ chemical processing... modular, scalable, each unit fits in a 40 ft shipping container footprint... generates electricity by way of Stirling engine at <4 cents/ kWh... minimal maintenance, rapid deployment... unified interface gives operators real-time control from single module to entire fleet" See also: The trouble with Exowatt’s ‘groundbreaking’ tech: We’ve seen it before https://www.latitudemedia.com/news/the-trouble-with-exowatts-groundbreaking-energy-tech-weve-seen-it-before/

https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/1103251 "van der Waals squeezing reorganizes atoms from slightly buckled to perfectly flat, eliminating energy band gap, allowing electrons to move freely making conductive like a metal... trilayer heterostructure: bismuth squeezed between 2 semiconductor molybdenum disulfide layers, 1 forming low-resistance (Ohmic) contact, other forming high-resistance (Schottky) barrier... applying perpendicular external electric field switches Ohmic contact between top/ bottom layers... asymmetric, reprogrammable, energy-efficient nanoelectronics" Related : Controlling next-generation energy conversion materials with simple pressure https://phys.org/news/2025-11-generation-energy-conversion-materials-simple.html

https://idw-online.de/en/news860330 "consists of OLED/ optical antennas... as bright as larger 5 X 5 μm conventional OLED pixel... enables high-resolution display (1920 x 1080 pixels) to fit onto 1 square mm area integrable into compact devices like arms of AR glasses projecting light onto lenses... miniaturizing caused uneven current distribution/ destructive filament formation short-circuiting pixel, overcome insulating antenna leaving only 200-nm circular opening, blocking current injections from edges/ corners... future: increase pixel's 1% efficiency"

https://techxplore.com/news/2025-10-minimal-pixels-highest-resolution-visible.html "highest possible resolution visible to human eye: each pixel roughly corresponds to 1 photoreceptor in eye... sub-wavelength structures act as meta-materials in highly miniaturized spectrometer... few square mm size is orders of magnitude smaller, fits on phone... measures UV to near-IR with sensitivity comparable to big devices... rapidly applying range of <1 volt voltages, measures light captured at each voltage, then computational program accurately recreates light's signature in <1 ms... hand-held spectroscopy devices" Related: Bridging light, microwaves and electrons for precision calibration https://phys.org/news/2025-10-bridging-microwaves-electrons-precision-calibration.html

https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/1103121 "nanowire structure oriented transversely to optical waveguide positions nanowires' corners outside waveguide, eliminating efficiency loss source common in conventional hairpin structures... hybrid integration: flexible membrane transferred onto waveguide chip... cascaded 2 comb nanowire detectors for redundancy on 1 waveguide, for detection efficiency crucial for large-scale photonic quantum computing/ other scalable quantum photonic chip applications" Related: Synthesis method enables small-diameter, high-density carbon nanowires https://phys.org/news/2025-10-synthesis-method-enables-small-diameter.html

https://quantumzeitgeist.com/chinese-researchers-achieve-98-scalability-on-sunway-supercomputer-this-week/ "scaled quantum simulations to real molecular sizes using 37 million processor cores by training neural network to model electron arrangements/ movements within a molecule... SW26010-Pro chips including clustered cores highly effective for parallelizable, computationally demanding tasks... bridges AI/ quantum science: existing classical supercomputing resources accurately modeling complex quantum systems... materials and drug discovery without needing fully realized quantum computers"

https://techxplore.com/news/2025-10-thin-tunnel-transistors-wearable-small.html "thermionic limit sets minimum required voltage for efficient electrical current switching... operates below thermionic limit, replacing standard thermionic injection mechanism with band-to-band tunneling quantum mechanical process... hybrid inorganic-organic source-channel heterojunction combining: deep-conduction-banded inorganic metal oxide molybdenum trioxide/ single-crystalline thin film... compatible with existing fabrication... record signal amplification efficiency... ultra-low-power, energy-constrained applications"

https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/1102963 "pressure repeatedly forces water into/ out of nanoscale pores in water-repellent nanoporous silicon monolith... up to 9% energy conversion efficiency... friction electricity generated at solid silicon/ liquid water interface... no exotic materials... autonomous, maintenance-free sensor systems in applications such as water detection, smart garments for sports and health monitoring, and haptic robotics"

https://techxplore.com/news/2025-10-ultra-compact-semiconductor-power-gen.html "analog + digital circuits in minimal footprint ideal for highly integrated System-on-Chips: 0.032 mm² when made with 28-nm CMOS process thanks to elimination of bulky external capacitors... digital-to-analog transfer method/ local ground generator for stable power delivery/ effective noise filtration, even during rapid changes in current demand... 54 mV voltage ripple during rapid 99 mA current swings, voltage restored in 667 ns., –53.7 dB power supply rejection ratio at 10 kHz with 100 mA load... 0.029 Figure of Merit"

https://techxplore.com/news/2025-10-reinventing-technology-benefit-centers.html "replaces outdated, inherently slow virtual memory management where single machine has to run many different programs for many different users simultaneously... oblivious to application developers... order of magnitude higher performance/ efficiency... rack-scale computing with a purpose-built collection of servers that behave as a single computer in a data center... with network fabrics that connect an entire rack of servers together, cloud services can use all hardware, not just memory, more efficiently in data centers"

https://phys.org/news/2025-10-dual-torque-electron-magnetic-domain.html "faster, smarter, more energy-efficient electronic devices... spintronic memory reading or writing requires efficiently shifting domain walls... artificial antiferromagnetic thin film of cobalt/ Iridium/ platinum alternating layers... 2 cobalt layers coupled aligning magnetic moments in opposite directions... platinum layers generate electron spin streams via Spin Hall Effect spin torque on cobalt layers' magnetic moments... spin torques from top/ bottom platinum layers combine as dual-torque moving domain walls"

https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/1102815 "improved synthesis techniques/ purifying raw arsenic to produce cleaner crystals... also effective semiconductor, potential silicon replacement in electronics... easier and cheaper to manufacture than diamond, which was previously considered the best thermal conductor, and possesses properties—like a wider band gap and much higher carrier mobility—that could lead to significantly better thermal management in devices such as cell phones, high-powered electronics, and data centers"

https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/1102574 "4-level modulation strategy for dual 3-phase open-winding permanent magnet synchronous motor drive, using 2:1:1 DC-link voltage ratio across 3 DC sources to achieve 4-level effect... average current Total Harmonic Distortion reduced >29%, use of Unified Duty Ratio Compensation enabled 50% further reduction during voltage deviations... switching frequencies significantly reduced... EV propulsion, aerospace actuators, industrial automation" Related: Energy-efficient predictive control strategy boosts performance of electric vehicle drives https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/1102558

https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/1102173 "traditionally relies on difficult to miniaturize vacuum pumps/ tubing, overcome using magnetic composite particles that can be made to attract/ cling to one another stiffening material when magnetic field applied... falls apart softening material when field switched off... mm-sized, dice-shaped particles made from magnetic and non-magnetic materials surrounded by wireless magnetic coils controlling aggregation... future: scale down to µm-level for microrobotics, smart materials, biomedical, micro-manipulation"

https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/1102169 "antennas remain stable/ high-performing even when bent or exposed to high humidity/ temperature variations, salt... processor chip can correct errant signals from the flexible antenna in real-time, compensating for material deformation and vibrations... smart textiles, drone or aircraft communications, edge sensing, and various applications in the auto, aviation, and space industries"

https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/1101496 "ceramic aerogels typically highly brittle, overcome using unitary structured dual-phase nanofibrous core for ultra- flexible deformation/ nanoporous sheath for thermal superinsulation... introduces numerous nanopores suppressing air conduction, resulting in a κ less than 24 mW·m−1·K−1... enables all nanoporous aerogels to be orderly assembled onto fibers' surface, increasing stability... mechanical flexibility with compressive strain up to 80%, fracture strain up to 21.9%, bending strain up to 100%... up to 1,300°C working temperature"

https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/1102155 "self-assembly enables precise control: polyoxometalate hybrid comb-like crosslinked polymer networks integrate polymer scaffolds with superacidic phosphotungstic acid clusters in PEM high-temperature fuel cells... overcomes: struggle with rapid conductivity loss under anhydrous conditions >100°C, trade-off between conductivity/ strength... proton conductivity: 8.5 × 10−4 S·cm−1 at 130 °C, up to 18.1 MPa mechanical strength, consistent operation >160 hours, thermal stability at >150 °C"

https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/1102332 "digitally processed magnetic flux quantum signal carrier based on tiny magnetic fields, determined by physical constants... mitigates performance degradation in large-scale neural networks reliant on analog neuron circuits' sensitivity to variation in elemental characteristics... this robustness due to the inherent digital nature of single flux quantum logic enabling ideal input-output... Rectified Linear Unit activation function solves vanishing gradient problem... massive, complex brain-like circuits for neuromorphic computers"

https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/1102183 "writes new instructions into material using high-intensity laser, precisely heating tiny spot above 85°C, melting internal magnetic microcapsules, then, external magnetic field orients freed magnetic particles encoding specific instruction before spot rapidly cools locking new programming in place... to bend, 2nd low-intensity laser warms larger area above 60°C, softening material's shape-memory polymer skeleton, making pliable... 2nd magnetic field then acts on written instructions, guiding material to fold, twist, bend"

https://phys.org/news/2025-10-school-material-power-quantum-center.html "barium titanate reshaped into 40 nm metastable strained thin films converts at room-temperature for fiber optics by >10X than when in bulk form at cryogenic temperature for superconducting qubits... but metastable phase created here not only avoids this cryogenic conversion drop, but also shows exceptional response... future: test concept with other materials... modulators, switches, sensors, quantum communication via fiber optics"

https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/1101019 "withstands repeated heavy loads even at 400 to 600°C... foam: hollow spheres of stainless steel, nickel, or other metals/ alloys embedded in metallic matrix... absorbs compressive forces... better heat insulation than conventional metals/ alloys... jet engine vane/ ducts/ exhaust flaps, turbine blades, hypersonic vehicle airframes/ hot trailing wing edges, gas/ steam turbines, car brakes, nuclear reactor fuel cladding, storing/ transporting nuclear material, hazardous materials, explosives, vehicle armor, body armor."

https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/1101744 "miniaturization crucial for flexible electronics, smart health, IoT, but current design approaches are reaching quantum mechanical limit/ skyrocketing cost, overcome using vertical stacking... fabrication mostly at room temperature, none beyond 150°C, so no damage to bottom layers as new layers added... layers' surfaces kept smoother, better aligned... scaling vertically: increasing functional density far beyond today's limits"

https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/1102393 "single-phase solid (Ti, Zr)C carbide ceramic doped with 25% nitrogen content, restricting dislocation formation/ movement by reducing stacking fault energy, then high-temperature aging triggering spinodal decomposition, creating complex lamellar nanostructure... both harder/ more cracking resistant... 40% hardness increase, 50% fracture toughness increase... excessive nitrogen content or over-aging detrimental... high-temperature equipment, machining/ cutting tools, wear-resistant components, aerospace engines" Related: Electrospun nanofiber‑based ceramic aerogels: Synergistic strategies for design and functionalization https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/1102351

https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/1102339 "singular dispersion equation gives rise to narwhal-shaped wavefunctions, combining local power-law enhancement with global exponential decay, trapping light in lossless dielectrics... electromagnetic eigenmode field distributions' rapid decay across space enhances energy density per unit volume, achieving strong spatial confinement/ light–matter interaction strength... avoids ohmic loss, enabling compact, energy-efficient photonic devices... also developed near-field scanning optical microscopy technique"