Author: ofreed1@washington.edu

In a new Nature paper, a team led by UW researchers reports that it is possible to imbue graphite — the bulk, 3D material found in No. 2 pencils — with physical properties similar to graphite’s 2D counterpart, graphene. Not only was this breakthrough unexpected, the team also believes its approach could be used to test whether similar types of bulk materials can also take on 2D-like properties. If so, 2D sheets won’t be the only source for scientists to fuel technological revolutions. Bulk, 3D materials could be just as useful.

UW ECE and Physics Associate Professor Arka Majumdar and UW ECE postdoctoral scholar Johannes Fröch are part of an international research team helping to make high-quality, color cameras smaller and lighter for mobile platforms, such as next-generation smartphones, drones, and point-of-care medical devices. The team recently developed a miniature camera that uses an innovative hybrid optical system over 100 times smaller than its commercial counterpart.

As described in a paper published June 28 in the journal Nature, a UW ECE research team has invented a new type of LiDAR system that could help self-driving cars “see” distant objects with clarity and precision.

A team of UW scientists and engineers led by Xiaodong Xu has announced a significant advancement in developing fault-tolerant qubits for quantum computing.