In the news

Two ECE professors are among the recipients of the 2019 Google Faculty Research Awards. Sunil Bhave is being recognized in the Quantum Computing category for his proposal on “RF MEMS applications in Quantum Computing.” Hong Z. Tan’s proposal, “Tactile Supplements to Speech Perception: A User-Centered Approach,” is among thee recipients in the Speech category. These annual awards are structured as unrestricted gifts to recognize and support the research of world-class faculty members at top universities around the world.

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — Computer chips use billions of tiny switches, called transistors, to process information. The more transistors on a chip, the faster the computer. A material shaped like a one-dimensional DNA helix might further push the limits on a transistor’s size. The material comes from a rare earth element called tellurium. Researchers found that the material, encapsulated in a nanotube made of boron nitride, helps build a field-effect transistor with a diameter of two nanometers. Transistors on the market are made of bulkier silicon and range between 10 and 20 nanometers in scale.

Researchers at Purdue University have created a technology to address the thickness issue for wearable power generation. Credit: Purdue University Wearable electronics and other Internet of Things (IoT) devices are rapidly growing in popularity, but their need for consistent power can place a high burden on users. One recently proposed solution is to generate electricity using heat from the human body, animals or other ambient sources, but typical emerging devices need to be up to an inch thick to harvest maximum results.

Nanoparticle levitated by light rotates at 300 billion rpm WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — A dumbbell-shaped nanoparticle powered just by the force and torque of light has become the world's fastest-spinning object. li-image1 Scientists at Purdue University have created the world's fastest-spinning human-made object and the most sensitive torque detector by suspending a nanoparticle in a vacuum with a laser, and then using a second laser to test its torque sensitivity. (Purdue University image/Jonghoon Ahn) Download image Scientists at Purdue University created the object, which revolves at 300 billion revolutions per minute. Or, put another way, half a million times faster than a dentist's drill. In addition, the silica nanoparticle can serve as the world's most sensitive torque detector, which researchers hope will be used to measure the friction created by quantum effects.

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. – A wearable monitoring device to make treatments easier and more affordable for the millions of people with swallowing disorders is about to be released into the market. Georgia A. Malandraki, an associate professor of speech, language, and hearing sciences in Purdue University’s College of Health and Human Sciences, and Chi Hwan Lee, an assistant professor of biomedical engineering and mechanical engineering in Purdue’s College of Engineering, founded Curasis LLC and serve as an acting chief executive officer and chief technology officer, respectively. They started the company to commercialize their wearable technology and move it as quickly as possible to clinics and people with swallowing difficulties.

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — A computer chip processes and stores information using two different devices. If engineers could combine these devices into one or put them next to each other, then there would be more space on a chip, making it faster and more powerful. Purdue University engineers have developed a way that the millions of tiny switches used to process information – called transistors – could also store that information as one device.

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — The gas turbines powering aircraft engines rely on ceramic coatings that ensure structural stability at high temperatures. But these coatings don’t control heat radiation, limiting the performance of the engine. Researchers at Purdue University have engineered ceramic “nanotubes” that behave as thermal antennas, offering control over the spectrum and direction of high-temperature heat radiation. The work is published in Nano Letters, a journal by the American Chemical Society. An illustration of the ceramic nanotubes will be featured as the journal’s supplementary cover in a forthcoming issue.

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. -- A new type of material for next-generation solar cells eliminates the need to use lead, which has been a major roadblock for this technology. Solar cells, incorporating the mineral perovskite, have been the focus of attention since the material was first shown to work in 2009. Solar cells that are built using this material are more efficient than current solar panels. Current solar panels capture 15% to 18% of the solar energy on average, while perovskite solar cells have been found to be as much as 28% efficient.

Prof. Vladimir Shalaev, the Robert and Anne Burnett Distinguished Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering, will receive the 2020 Frank Isakson Prize for Optical Effects in Solids. The prize from the American Physical Society honors outstanding optical research that leads to breakthroughs in the condensed matter sciences.

Researchers demonstrate the first hardware for a ‘probabilistic computer’ WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — It may still be decades before quantum computers are ready to solve problems that today’s classical computers aren’t fast or efficient enough to solve, but the emerging “probabilistic computer” could bridge the gap between classical and quantum computing. Engineers at Purdue University and Tohoku University in Japan have built the first hardware to demonstrate how the fundamental units of what would be a probabilistic computer – called p-bits – are capable of performing a calculation that quantum computers would usually be called upon to perform.