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When electrons travelling individually pass through a constricted opening, they will bounce off the walls at either side, losing their momentum as well as some of their energy. But when the electrons travel in dense groups, they are much more likely to bounce off each other than the walls, and travel quickly.

Experiments confirm theory of “superballistic” electron flow

Behaving like particles in a viscous fluid can help bunches of electrons squeeze through a tight space.

August 23, 2017

A new flexible graphene solar cell developed at MIT is seen in the transparent region at the center of this sample. Around its edges are metal contacts on which probes can be attached during tests of device performance.

Transparent, flexible solar cells

Researchers develop a novel technique using graphene to create solar cells they can mount on surfaces ranging from glass to plastic to paper and tape.

July 28, 2017

Felice Frankel, a research scientist in MIT’s Center for Materials Science and Engineering, has helped to produce images that just in the last few months have graced the covers of Nature, Nature Materials, and Environmental Science, among others.

Felice Frankel: Creating images to explain science concepts

MIT researcher helps scientists and engineers hone their visual imagery.

July 13, 2017

Instead of relying on silicon-based devices, a new chip uses carbon nanotubes and resistive random-access memory (RRAM) cells. The two are built vertically over one another, making a new, dense 3-D computer architecture with interleaving layers of logic and memory.

New 3-D chip combines computing and data storage

Advance points toward new generation of computers for coming superstorm of data.

July 5, 2017

1) Graphene, grown on copper foil, is pressed against a supporting sheet of polycarbonate. 2) The polycarbonate acts to peel the graphene from the copper. 3) Using interfacial polymerization, researchers seal large tears and defects in graphene. 4) Next, they use oxygen plasma to etch pores of specific sizes in graphene.

Scientists produce dialysis membrane made from graphene

Material can filter nanometer-sized molecules at 10 to 100 times the rate of commercial membranes.

June 28, 2017

Top row, left to right: Yuriy Roman, Katharina Ribbeck, Ryan Williams, Bradley Olsen, Noelle Selin, and John Hart. Bottom row, left to right: Polina Anikeeva, Cullen Buie, Nuno Loureiro, Timothy Lu, Jessika Trancik, and Xuanhe Zhao.

The tenured engineers of 2017

Twelve appointments in the School of Engineering.

May 12, 2017

Twelve National Science Foundation Research Experience for Undergraduates interns, co-sponsored by the Materials Processing Center and the Center for Materials Science and Engineering, and two AIM Photonics Academy interns will conduct research from June 15 to August 5 on the MIT campus. 2017 MIT Summer Scholars: (top row, l-r) Alejandro Aponte-Lugo, Stephanie Bauman, Lucia Brunel, Richard Canty, ...

Summer Scholars embrace engineering challenges

Diverse group seeks MIT laboratory internship experiences in materials science, photonics, energy, and biomedical applications.

May 11, 2017

MIT physicists have found that a flake of graphene, when brought in close proximity with two superconducting materials, can inherit some of those materials’ superconducting qualities. As graphene is sandwiched between superconductors, its electronic state changes dramatically, even at its center. Pictured is the experimental concept and device schematic.

Sandwiched between superconductors, graphene adopts exotic electronic states

Platform may be used to explore avenues for quantum computing.

May 4, 2017

Nicholas Fang, an associate professor of mechanical engineering, won an MITEI Seed Fund grant to continue his research into developing efficient ceramic support structures for catalytic converters used in power plants and in the automotive industry. This photo shows a piece of 3-D-printed cellular ceramic substrate with 100-nm-thin walls that has exhibited excellent thermal conductance and mechani...

MIT Energy Initiative awards 10 seed fund grants for early-stage energy research

May 2, 2017

On the left, an atomic-force microscopy image shows a nanoporous graphene membrane after a burst test at 100 bars. The image shows that failed micromembranes (the dark black areas) are aligned with wrinkles in the graphene. On the right, two zoomed-in scanning electron microscopy images of graphene membranes show the before (top) and after of a burst test at pressure difference of 30 bars. The i...

Graphene holds up under high pressure

Used in filtration membranes, ultrathin material could help make desalination more productive.

April 24, 2017

(Left to right): Postdoc Kyusang Lee, Professor Jeehwan Kim (sitting), and graduate students Samuel Cruz and Yunjo Kim.

Not stuck on silicon

Engineers use graphene as a “copy machine” to produce cheaper semiconductor wafers.

April 19, 2017

Researchers at MIT have found a way to make graphene with fewer wrinkles, and to iron out the wrinkles that do appear. They found each wafer exhibited uniform performance, meaning that electrons flowed freely across each wafer, at similar speeds, even across previously wrinkled regions.

Researchers “iron out” graphene’s wrinkles

New technique produces highly conductive graphene wafers.

April 3, 2017

New research shows that electrons passing through a narrow constriction in a piece of metal can move much faster than expected, and that they move faster if there are more of them — a seemingly paradoxical result. In this illustration, the orange surface represents the potential energy needed to get an electron moving, and the “valley” at center represents the constricted portion.

Electrons go superballistic

Newly discovered phenomenon accelerates electrons as they enter a viscous state.

March 6, 2017

Mild heating of graphene oxide sheets makes it possible to bond particular compounds to the sheets’ surface, a new study shows. These compounds in turn select and bond with specific molecules of interest, including DNA and proteins, or even whole cells. In this image the treated graphene oxide on the right is nearly twice as efficient at capturing cells as the untreated material on the left.

Graphene sheets capture cells efficiently

New method could enable pinpoint diagnostics on individual blood cells.

March 3, 2017

Institute Professor Emerita Mildred Dresselhaus, a pioneer in the electronic properties of materials, dies at 86

“Queen of carbon science” and recipient of Presidential Medal of Freedom and National Medal of Science led US scientific community, promoted women in STEM.

February 21, 2017

MIT News | Massachusetts Institute of Technology

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