materiaux

Researchers from the University of Rostock and Technion Haifa have created the first three-dimensional topological insulator for light. A judiciously placed screw dislocation allows optical signals to wind around the surface of a synthetic lattice while keeping it protected from scattering.
Their discovery has recently been published in the journal Nature (« Photonic topological insulator induced by a dislocation in three dimensions »).

The bar was undoubtedly set high: In the research project Functional Oxides Printed on Polymers and Paper – FOXIP for short – the goal was to succeed in printing thin-film transistors on paper substrates or PET films. Electronic circuits with such elements play an important role in the growing Internet of Things (IoT), for example as sensors on documents, bottles, packaging … – a global market worth billions.