University Electronics

A team led by researchers at the University of Oxford has demonstrated that the lead (Pb) in ‘perovskite’ solar cells can be replaced with tin, writes our technology editor Steve Bush. Pb perovskite solar cells have been causing a storm – reaching 17% efficiency from a standing start only three years ago. They are made from cheap raw materials, are atmospherically stable, ...

Researchers at the University of Manchester found a mechanism that could explain unusual electronic and optical behaviour in graphene, and another route to give it a bandgap, writes our technology editor Steve Bush. The work involved spreading mono-layer flakes of graphene on a thin (20nm) layer of boron nitride (BN). Both materials have a hexagonal two-dimensional structure – there is increasing interest in the ...

The University of Sheffield has secured £400,000 from the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) to lead a scheme designed bolster the role of technicians. The initiative, which will be rolled out across all Higher Education institutions in England, “aims to enhance the excellence and efficiency of the technical workforce by creating a national framework for progression and sharing ...

Bristol University has revealed some of its work on the development of light-driven ‘micro-robots’ that can autonomously investigate and manipulate the nano-scale environment in a microscope. In theory, says the university, such devices could allow the investigation of delicate biological samples, such as cells, in new ways. They would provide a new route to high-resolution imaging. Researchers including Dr David ...

Adaptive Array Systems of Cheadle, Manchester has been awarded a contract by the University of Manchester to provide design concepts for optical network termination and transmission equipment for the international Square Kilometre Array (SKA) telescope, the world’s largest and most sensitive radio telescope. An optical fibre network will form the backbone of the SKA telescope’s antenna array. “We are very pleased and ...

Clearance has been given to create a centre of excellence for advanced manufacturing, Factory 2050, at Sheffield Business Park. The “research factory” is designed to “meet the future needs of aerospace and other high-value manufacturing industries” and has grown from a collaboration with Boeing. The £43 building is planned by Sheffield University to combine technologies such as advanced robotics, flexible ...

SensaBubbles are described as a “chrono-sensory mid-air display system that generates scented bubbles to deliver information to people using different senses”. In essence, they are soap bubbles that can have images projected onto them or – when they are burst – release a scent… The research at Bristol University is led by Professor Sriram Subramanian from the Department of Computer ...

Simple robots that are able to form a dense cluster without the need for complex computation have been developed by a team of researchers working in the Sheffield Centre for Robotics (SCentRo). This is based in the University of Sheffield’s Faculty of Engineering. The work paves the way, says the University, for robot ‘swarms’ to be used in industries such as ...

Researchers have announced a breakthrough in the design of signal amplifiers for mobile phone masts that could deliver a 200MW cut in the load on UK power stations. The Universities of Bristol and Cardiff have designed an amplifier that works at 50 per cent efficiency compared with the 30 per cent now typically achieved, they say. The power efficiency was ...

A new look at PCB fabrication could lead to on-the-spot medical tests for disease, reports Steve Bush. Key to the development is the identification, by University of Southampton researchers, that a PCB manufacturing plant has everything needed to make micro-fluidic bio-chemical sensors. Disposable cartridges made like PCBs would clip into a hand-held analyser – also being development at Southampton. The ...