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Bright Bulbs
With banquet ceremonies set to take place in Stockholm, Sweden on December 10, the Nobel Prize for Physics this year has been awarded to Shuji Nakamura of University of California at Santa Barbara, Hiroshi Amano of Nagoya University, and Isamu Akasaki of Meijo University. These luminary researchers are being recognized for their discovery and development of blue light-emitting diodes (LEDs).
LEDs are essentially semiconductor devices built from different chemicals that emit light when activated by electricity. Red, green and yellow LEDs have been around for a while, but blue LEDs were harder to come by. Akasaki, Amano and Nakamura discovered that blue LEDs can be made from gallium nitride, or GaN. What's so special about blue LEDs? Besides blue being our favorite color, blue LEDs in combination with the other colors have led to the development of bright white LEDs and RGB LEDs, technology that's now used to light up smartphone screens, and our homes, using tiny amounts of power.
High-resolution X-ray diffraction techniques, such as those presented by Madhana Sunder in a recent Bruker Webinar about GaN-based devices, have helped researchers like Akasaki, Amano and Nakamura build and characterize the layered thin-film structures needed for blue LEDs. Bruker's line of D8 diffractometers continues to light the way to world-changing inventions.
You've probably already noticed LED holiday lights of every color popping up around your neighborhood. Energy-efficient and environmentally friendly, LED lights are a bright investment -- bright bulbs, one could say, just like their inventors! Happy holidays. |
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In This Issue
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Gunshot Residue Analysis
Forensic Distance Determination by TXRF After Firearm Use
Distance determination after firearm use requires trace element analysis of gunshot residue in the area surrounding the bullet hole. The major source of gunshot residue is the ammunition's primer. This report describes the determination of shooting distances with an S2 PICOFOX benchtop total reflectance X-ray fluorescence (TXRF) spectrometer.
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X-ray Crystallography
Low Multiplicity Sulfur SAD Phasing of Lysozyme
To demonstrate the usefulness of shutterless data collection with the PHOTON 100 CMOS detector for the structure determination of small, beam-sensitive proteins, sulfur SAD phasing data was collected on a single crystal of lysozyme with a D8 VENTURE X-ray crystallography system. This article shows that shutterless data collection and other advanced features of the D8 VENTURE make it much easier to investigate difficult structures.
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Non-Ambient XRD
Humidity Induced Phase Transitions in MIL-53(Cr)
In this lab report, the behavior of a typical metal-organic framework (MOF) structure is described as a function of humidity using a D8 ADVANCE XRD instrument equipped with an in-situ chamber. MOFs are nano-porous materials formed by metallic centers linked to each other through organic chains. They are all the rage lately because of their gas sorption properties and potential use for catalysis, sensing and gas storage.
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Metals Analysis
Insoluble Aluminum Detection in Steel with Q4 TASMAN and IDE
Production of steels for products such as ball bearings, deep-drawn parts or wires in tire belts is very demanding. During inspection and analysis of the steel, one of the most important elements to consider is the amount of insoluble aluminum. Read on to learn about the Q4 TASMAN, an optical emission spectrometer offering analysis methods and insoluble detection (IDE) features adapted specifically for aluminum in steel.
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Upcoming Events
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2015 Training class schedules for XRD, SC-XRD, Micro-CT, XRF and EDS |
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Dec 1-5 - AEMA - American Exploration & Mining Association, Reno, NV, USA |
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Dec 2-4 - MRS Fall - Materials Research Society, Boston, MA, USA |
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Dec 10-12 - Open Lab IYCr 2014 - International Year of Crystallography, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam |
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Jan 14-16 - BioXFEL Conference- National Science Foundation Science & Technology Center BioXFEL 2nd International Conference, Ponce, Puerto Rico |
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Jan 26-29 - AME BC Mineral Exploration Roundup - Association for Mineral Exploration British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada |
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Feb 15-18 - SME - Society for Mining, Metallurgy & Exploration, Denver, CO, USA |
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