Search by tag «Silicon» 10 results

  • Scientists Make Quantum Germanium “Islands” Glow With Hundredfold Intensity

    A team of Russian scientists including researchers from ITMO University, A.M. Prokhorov General Physics Institute, the Institute for Physics of Microstructures of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Skolkovo Institute of Science and Technology, and Lomonosov Moscow State University succeeded in enhancing the luminance of quantum dots on a silicon substrate. The methods used by the scientists can help create next generation microchips that will receive and transfer information from a computer to a fiber-optic network a lot faster. The article was published in Laser & Photonics Review.

    09.06.2021

  • ITMO Researchers Discover Material With Refractive Index Higher Than in Silicon

    This will potentially allow them to create more compact and efficient elements for lasers, sensors, and optical chips. Moreover, it proves the hypothesis that ITMO physicists had about the connection between a material’s refractive index and its electronic features. The research has been published in Nanophotonics.

    03.11.2020

  • ITMO Physicists Discover Way to Achieve Stimulated Raman Scattering in Isolated Silicon Nanoparticles

    An optimized design of silicon nanoparticles provides а more efficient transition from spontaneous to stimulated Raman scattering. The proposed approach also allowed researchers to reduce the size and volume of particles supporting the stimulated Raman scattering regime by tens of times compared to their existing counterparts. The researchers also designed a platform in the form of a silicon nanoparticle on a sapphire surface that can be applied in sensing, detection, and thermometry, opening up new opportunities for future applications in biomedicine, targeted drug delivery, and as an alternative to electronic devices in optical chips. The results of the research were published in Nano Letters.

    03.08.2020

  • St. Petersburg Scientists Propose a Technology That Can Reduce the Cost of High-Efficiency Solar Cells

    A group of St. Petersburg scientists has proposed and experimentally tested a technology for the fabrication of high-efficiency solar cells based on A3B5 semiconductors integrated on a silicon substrate, which in the future may increase the efficiency of the existing single-junction photovoltaic converters by 1.5 times. The development of the technology was forecasted by the Nobel Laureate Zhores Alferov. The results have been published in the journal Solar Energy Materials and Solar Cells.

    11.02.2020

  • Researchers Use Silicon Nanoparticles For Bioimaging and Drug Delivery

    An international research team has studied a new cell visualisation and drug delivery system based on nanoparticles coated with luminescent dye molecules. Scientists have found out that the particle material and the distance between the dye and the particle’s surface affect the intensity of the luminescent signal. It turned out that silicon nanoparticles coated with dye molecules are more efficient than similar particles made of gold. Thanks to their biocompatibility, silicon particles can be used for cell visualisation and drug delivery. The research was published in Scientific Reports.

    28.05.2018

  • Mining Hardware Helps Scientists Gain Insight into Silicon Nanoparticles

    Researchers from ITMO University and their international colleagues have developed the first three-dimensional dynamic model of an interaction between light and silicon nanoparticles. They used a supercomputer with graphic accelerators for the calculations. Results showed that when exposed to short, intense laser pulses, silicon particles temporarily lose their symmetry and their optical properties become strongly heterogeneous. Such a change in properties depends on particle size; therefore it can be used to control light at nanoscale and in ultrafast information processing devices. The study was published in Advanced Optical Materials.

    02.03.2018

  • New Materials, Genes, And Crowd Management: Science Slam in St. Petersburg

    How can one of most widespread materials on the Earth help cure cancer? In what ways are people similar to pigeons? Why oxidize graphene atoms? And why do genes constitute only 20% of the human genome? Scientists gave answers to these and other questions during the recent Science Slam in St. Petersburg; ITMO.NEWS summarized the key points of their presentations.

    13.02.2018

  • ITMO Scientists Develop New “White” Near-Field Optical Microscope

    Scientists from ITMO University have proven that a silicon-gold nanoparticle can act as an effective source of white light when agitated by a pulse laser in IR band. One such “nanobulb” was integrated into a standard probe microscope, which allowed the researchers to overcome the diffraction limit and examine subwavelength-size objects. What is more, it made it possible to study the optical response of nanoobjects on the entire visual band, and not just in particular wavelengths. Not only will the new technology make modern near-field microscopy cheaper and simpler, but it also can find use in medicine. The scientists are currently patenting their invention, while its description has recently been published in the prestigious Nano Letters journal.

    29.12.2017

  • Researchers Use Glass Microparticles to Enhance Solar Cell Efficiency

    Scientists from ITMO University have developed a new solar cell coating based on amorphous silicon that combines the features of an electrode and those of a light-trapping structure. The coating enabled researchers to cut down on reflected light and avoid the overheating of solar cells, thus increasing their overall efficiency by 20%. Moreover, the suggested method is highly suitable for industrial needs due to its relatively low cost and simplicity. The research was published in Optics Letters.

    16.11.2017

  • Royal Society Member Maurice Skolnick: Why Making Science Understandable to Society Matters

    Why do we need to “disassemble” light into photons and how can it change the world? How do you explain to someone what a soliton is? Which discovery has shown the importance of long-term research to the world? Maurice Skolnick, a member of the Royal Society and a visiting scientist at ITMO University answers these and other questions in an interview with ITMO.NEWS. Prof. Skolnick’s field of work is semiconductors and he is currently studying methods of dispersing light into photons to create new modes of communication. He came to ITMO to work at a new international laboratory on hybrid light-matter states. 

    11.05.2017