Image Credit: Yen Strandqvist/Chalmers
Microcombs are small photonic devices that could help improve the energy efficiency of the internet, monitor our health, or even discover new Earth-like exoplanets. Swedish researchers have developed a unique, game-changing microcomb that could bring these advanced applications a step closer.
What is a Microcomb?
A frequency comb is a unique laser source where the emission spectrum consists of a series of discrete, equally spaced frequency lines. It works similarly to a ruler made of light; markers set the frequency scale across the electromagnetic spectrum from ultraviolet to the mid-infrared, with each marker s location linked to a known reference.
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Credit: Johan Bodell/Chalmers University of Technology
Knut and Alice Wallenberg Foundation is almost doubling the annual budget of the research initiative Wallenberg Centre for Quantum Technology, WACQT, based at Chalmers University of Technology, Sweden. This will allow the centre to shift up a gear and set even higher goals - especially in its development of a quantum computer. Two international workshops will kick-start this new phase. Quantum technology has enormous potential and it is important that Sweden has the necessary skills in the area. During the short time since the center was founded, WACQT has built up a qualified research environment, established collaborations with Swedish industry and succeeded in developing qubits with proven problem-solving ability. We can look ahead with great confidence at what they will go on to achieve, says Peter Wallenberg Jr, Chair Knut and Alice Wallenberg Foundation.
Renewable base for thermoelectric textiles
The cellulose threads have been used in a thermoelectric textile that generates a small amount of electricity from body heat.
15th March 2021
A thread made of conductive cellulose is paving the way for electronic textiles made from renewable materials.
A research team at Chalmers University of Technology has already sewn these electrically-conductive cellulose threads into a fabric using a standard household sewing machine to produce a thermoelectric textile that generates a small amount of electricity when it is heated on one side – for example, by body heat. At a temperature difference of 37 degrees Celsius, the textile can generate around 0.2 microwatts of electricity.
Big Potential for Electronic Textiles Made with Cellulose Thread labmanager.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from labmanager.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Electronic textiles offer revolutionary new opportunities in various fields, in particular healthcare. But experts say that to be sustainable, they need to be made of renewable materials. A research team led by Chalmers University of Technology, Sweden, has found that a thread made of conductive cellulose offers fascinating and practical possibilities for electronic textiles.
“Miniature, wearable, electronic gadgets are ever more common in our daily lives. But currently, they are often dependent on rare, or in some cases toxic, materials. They are also leading to a gradual build-up of great mountains of electronic waste. There is a real need for organic, renewable materials for use in electronic textiles,” said Sozan Darabi, a doctoral student at the Department of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering at Chalmers University of Technology and the Wallenberg Wood Science Center, and lead author of the scientific article, which was recently published in