Below you'll find a list of all posts that have been categorized as “News”
FLEET shares the responsibility to support students and teachers to increase participation in science, and in particular works towards increasing the number of girls and women participating in physics, chemistry and engineering. The Centre Launch on 12 June will showcase FLEET’s science outreach programs, educating the public and inspiring a new generation of scientists. Home Science and FLEET Geeks programs …
FLEET postdoc Dr Carlos Kuhn described his field of ultra-cold atomic science and the fundamental discoveries made in an interview with RRR science show Einstein a Go-Go. The research will take a huge step forward this year with the commissioning of a new ARC-funded quantum-gas microscope, which will bridge the microscopic (atomic) and macroscopic (visible) worlds. Carlos also described his …
The unusual electronic and magnetic properties of van der Waals (vdW) materials, made up of many ‘stacked’ 2D layers, offer potential for future electronics, including spintronics. In a recent study, FLEET researchers at RMIT found that one promising candidate material, Fe3GeTe2 (FGT), fits the bill – provided it’s created in layers only 200 millionths of a millimetre in thickness. This …
Bridge between microscopic and macroscopic behaviour A new quantum-gas microscope facility at Swinburne University of Technology will allow studies of ultra-cold atomic gases, giving researchers the ability to image and manipulate single atoms. The facility will allow study of quantum effects at a macroscopic scale: a major unsolved issue in physics. To harness the full potential of such quantum materials, …
FLEET PhD student Rebecca Orrell-Trigg (RMIT) uses liquid metals to synthesise 2D (atomically thin) materials for use in future ultra-low energy electronic devices. Late last year they developed a liquid metal “bubbling” method that was described as “ground breaking”, and have since refined this method to make it even more widely applicable. Rebecca’s interview covered the advantages of the new …
Last year, FLEET researchers at RMIT developed a ground-breaking new method of depositing atomically-thin (two-dimensional) crystals using molten metals, described as a ‘once-in-a-decade’ advance. Earlier this year, the same research team expanded the new method from controlled to ambient conditions, and has properly characterised the growth mechanisms for key tin oxides, which should allow improved control of target oxide growth. …
Melbourne Knowledge Week (May 2018) was an opportunity for FLEET to engage with the public and road-test a number of outreach demonstrations being developed for schools. It also gave 20 Centre members the opportunity to gain valuable experience in public science outreach, speaking to a diverse audience. Melbourne Knowledge Week showcases cool science and engineering projects in the city of …
An MP visit last week provided an opportunity to discuss future electronics, 2D materials and science policy. Melbourne MP and Greens Science/Energy spokesperson Adam Bandt was visiting FLEET’s labs at RMIT, hosted by FLEET RMIT node leader Kourosh Kalantar-Zadeh, and FLEET Director Michael Fuhrer. As well as FLEET researchers, Adam also got to meet our scientific counterparts from the Centre for …
FLEET-nano collaboration recognised: Congratulations to Qiaoliang Bao, 2018 ANFF-VIC Technology Fellow Qiaoliang Bao works at the nanoscale, trapping photons in atomically-thin, two-dimensional materials, where high binding energies create a quantum state known as a superfluid. The aim is a new generation of superfluid transistors that will ‘switch’ using much less energy than conventional electronics. Such work requires access to the …
“Endless” possibilities for custom nanotech design FLEET’s research to achieve zero-dissipation electrical current depends on the design of key nanoscale structures. Within FLEET, nano-device fabrication is coordinated via Enabling technology B, which links each of the research themes. In 2017, Theme B leader Lan Wang, and PhD student Cheng Tan, developed a method to build such nanoscale structures, required to achieve zero-dissipation …
“It’s so simple my retired parents could do this in their kitchen.” FLEET AI Torben Daeneke discussed deceptively-simple methods of depositing atomically-thin materials with Rohan Neagle, on Radio Adelaide’s Subatomic radio show. Torben’s interview also covered why 2D materials are key to ultra-low energy electronics, the mechanics of 2D deposition, the end of Moore’s Law and the massive amount of …
Recent theoretical studies at Monash University bring us a step closer to realistic ‘quantum batteries’. Such technology would depend on the energy difference offered by different quantum states, rather than on electrochemical changes, as is the case in traditional batteries. Quantum batteries also offer potential for vastly better thermodynamic efficiency, and ultra-fast charging time. The study, which was co-led by …
Wait. What do you mean ‘transistors’? Yep, ‘transistors’ are still the basis of electronics. In essence, they’re the tiny controllable switches that form the building blocks of logic circuits, switching between open (0) and closed (1). In your Dad’s old ‘wireless’ radio, transistors were the small metallic components shaped like War of the Worlds war tripods. Those replaced the glass …
Applying an electric field switches conduction mode of a topological material FLEET researchers achieved a significant landmark in the search for a functional topological transistor in 2017, using an applied electric field to switch the electronic conduction mode of a topological material. A ‘gate’ electrode was used to switch the conduction mode in the topological material Na3Bi. Na3Bi is a …
Congratulations to FLEET UNSW postdoc Harley Scammell who has been awarded a Fulbright Scholarship to work with world-renowned theoretical physicist Subir Sachdev at Harvard University on the mechanisms behind superconductivity – an exotic quantum phase of matter. The Australian-American Fulbright Commission promotes education and cultural exchange between Australia and the US, By the completion of the Fulbright program, researchers around …
Some terms and materials relevant to FLEET. The first sentence or two of each definition is aimed at non-physicists. For physicists in the field, these are suggested as accurate, non-jargon simplifications to help communicate your science. More information for experts is given in italics for some terms, as well as useful links. Feedback and suggested tweaks/additions are very welcome! 2D Two-dimensional materials …
FLEET researchers taking an innovative, even ‘playful’, approach to their science have created a couple of unique and interesting branding displays for the Centre. >>>FLEET PhD student Fan Ji developed this micro-sized logo (right) at UNSW. The FLEET logo is etched onto the two-dimensional interface between two materials, in letters only a few thousandths of a millimetre high, using bias-assisted …
“I love working in FLEET because it challenges me all the time, and because it has deepened my understanding in an essential topic to the progress of technology. I thought I would never be capable to work in an environment full of such brilliant minds.” Jessica Alves at Monash University Engineering is the recipient of FLEET’s first Women in FLEET …
FLEET Director Michael Fuhrer spoke Friday with ABC Radio 2CC Canberra’s Rod Henshaw about making physics more accessible, and FLEET’s search for better, ultra-low-energy transistors. Listen Prof Fuhrer was in Canberra for the International Physics Summer School on Topological Matter at ANU. Fuhrer discussed energy use in information and communications technology (ICT) and the alternatives that FLEET is pursuing, …
Electronically-smooth nature of trisodium bismuthide makes it a viable alternative to graphene/h-BN Researchers have found that the topological material trisodium bismuthide (Na3Bi) can be manufactured to be as ‘electronically smooth’ as the highest-quality graphene-based alternative, while maintaining graphene’s high electron mobility. Na3Bi is a Topological Dirac Semimetal (TDS), considered a 3D equivalent of graphene in that it shows the same …
Sharing best practice, finding efficiencies, setting up future networks – and swapping a few war stories Operations staff from 18 ARC-funded centres met in Melbourne last week to share best practice and learnings, and to develop future networks among similar roles. How do centres become ‘greater than the sum of the parts’? What strategies have professional staff found to enhance …
Reaching schoolkids, and setting scientists up for outreach success Bringing practising scientists to schools brings enormous benefits. The FLEET Geeks program sees FLEET members performing science shows at primary schools and kindergartens, demonstrating physics with equipment not typically available to students. The program brings scientists to the students, allowing them to ask questions about scientific phenomena seen in the show, …
Physics experiments at temperatures a billionth of outer space, and the benefits of flexibility in a science career. Nobel physics laureate Prof Wolfgang Ketterle told a crowd of around 200 at Swinburne University of Technology last week about Bose-Einstein condensates (BECs), and other strange states of matter that exist at nano-Kelvin temperatures, which open a new door to the quantum …
Over 80 Australian and international physicists met at UNSW last month to discuss spin and strong-electron correlations in the university’s biennial Gordon Godfrey Workshop, including a very strong FLEET contingent. Leading international speakers came from as far afield as China, Denmark, France, Germany, Israel, Italy, Japan, Switzerland, Russia and USA, including Prof David Neilson (University of Camerino), a pioneer of electron-hole exciton …
FLEET supported the first Melbourne show of Science Says!, a science entertainment event run by The Science Nation, with FLEET’s A/Prof Meera Parish (Monash University) and Prof Chris Vale (Swinburne University of Technology) appearing on the panel at the Royal Society of Victoria. FLEET collaborated with Swinburne University of Technology, Monash University School of Physics and Astronomy, and the Australian …
“That’s not right!” Well, yes, it is. Prof Wolfgang Ketterle, in Australia with FLEET, teaches ABC Radio Melbourne’s Red Symons a thing or two about states of matter. In particular, Bose Einstein condensates. Listen below. Ketterle, in town for FLEET’s inaugural annual workshop in Torquay, is visiting the ultra-cold atomic labs at Swinburne today, where FLEET researchers use Bose-Einstein condensates …
How much energy do you burn using the internet? It’s more than you think. While a smartphone or home PC itself doesn’t burn too much energy, a tremendous amount of electricity is consumed in the massive data centres that keep us all connected via the net. Over a hundred physicists meeting in Torquay this week may have the solution. The …
This month’s ARC funding round saw FLEET research and researchers across five universities awarded additional funding. Across eight separate grants, almost $4.6m new research funding went to projects and facilities led by or involving FLEET researchers or directly contributing to FLEET’s search to develop ultra-low energy electronics and boost related areas of research. Two projects in particular will be key …
FLEET’s Monash labs recently hosted a tour by members of the Victorian branch of the Australian Institute of Physics, the country’s leading body for physics advocacy and support. The tour included the experimental laboratories of FLEET Chief Investigators Michael Fuhrer, Agustin Schiffrin, Kris Helmerson and Qiaoliang Bao. Members saw where: Michael Fuhrer grows atomically-thin (2D) materials in the lab using …
UNSW researchers solve a 10-year-old mystery in the way nanoscale transistors work. Half of all the transistors in your iPhone use positively-charged ‘holes’, rather than negatively-charged electrons to operate. At university, we teach undergraduates that holes are quasiparticles, basically ‘missing electrons’ – a bit like the bubble in a spirit level, or the missing chair in a game of musical …
