Electronics rule our world, but electrons rule our electronics.
A research team at The Ohio State University has discovered a way to simplify how electronic devices use those electrons -- using a material that can serve dual roles in electronics, where historically multiple materials have been necessary.
The team published its findings March 18 in the journal Nature Materials.
"We have essentially found a dual-personality material," said Joseph Heremans, co-author of the study, professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering and Ohio Eminent Scholar in Nanotechnology at Ohio State. "It is a concept that did not exist before."
Their findings could mean a revamp of the way engineers create all different kinds of electronic devices. This includes everything from solar cells, to the light-emitting diodes in your television, to the transistors in your laptop, and to the light sensors in your smartphone camera.
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