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05/19/2016 : 139286
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Ultra-Thin Lenses Will Transform Technology
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Posted by Okachinepa on 01/17/2025 @
Courtesy of SynEvol
Credit: 2024 Konishi et al.
Researchers have created a novel way to use common semiconductor manufacturing processes to create Fresnel zone plates, which are paper-thin optical lenses.
Even though these lenses are currently less effective, their potential for mass production and application-specific design could revolutionize a variety of industries, including consumer electronics and astronomy.
A new generation of compact optical devices may be made possible by paper-thin optical lenses, which are easy enough to produce in large quantities utilizing microchip manufacturing techniques. Fresnel zone plates (FZPs) are flat lenses that have been created and tested by researchers from JSR Corp. and the University of Tokyo utilizing standard semiconductor manufacturing tools, namely the i-line stepper. This is the first time that this method has been used to create such lenses. Despite not being as effective as traditional lenses at the moment, these flat lenses have the potential to completely transform optics in a variety of fields, including consumer electronics, healthcare, and astronomy.
Metalenses and other flat lenses are already available, but they are costly, complicated, and scarce. With the assistance of academic researchers, manufacturers are investigating alternative technologies in response to the need for improved performance, reduced costs, and superior quality. FZPs have become a viable option, particularly for applications with limited space. For the first time, researchers successfully produced sample lenses through a simple and efficient process using standard industry machinery.
Courtesy of SynEvol
Credit: 2024 Konishi et al.
"We used a common semiconductor lithography system, or stepper, to develop a straightforward and mass-producible method for FZPs," stated Associate Professor Kuniaki Konishi of the Institute for Photon Science and Technology. The reason for this is a unique kind of photoresist or mask known as a color resist, which was first created for use as color filters. We created lenses that could concentrate visible light down to about 1.1 microns—roughly 100 times thinner than a human hair—by merely coating, exposing, and developing this material.
The new FZPs' current flaw is that they only have a 7% light-gathering efficiency, which results in images that are too noisy. However, the group is already figuring out how to boost this fourfold by altering how they use the color is resistant. Though it is possible, this would necessitate a higher level of control over the physical characteristics of the color resists than the researchers had at the time of this investigation.
Courtesy of SynEvol
Credit: 2024 Konishi et al.
Together with effectively creating FZPs, we also developed simulations that closely reflect our tests. This means that before committing to manufacturing, we might modify designs to fit certain uses in various industries, like medicine," Konishi explained. Additionally, we anticipate economic and environmental advantages as well because, in contrast to conventional manufacturing techniques, the FZP production process uses a lot less energy and does not use hazardous etching chemicals.
Therefore, it may be some time until FZPs enable you to record situations in excellent visual fidelity using your really tiny smartphone, but this or similar technology will probably be developed shortly.
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Breakthrough in Silicon Photonics the Last Missing Piece Now Exist
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Posted by Okachinepa on 01/17/2025 @
Courtesy of SynEvol
Credit: Forschungszentrum Julich / Jhonny Tiscareno
Researchers from the Leibniz Institute for High Performance Microelectronics (IHP), the University of Stuttgart, Forschungszentrum Jülich (FZJ), and their French partner CEA-Leti have successfully created the first electrically pumped continuous-wave semiconductor laser composed solely of group IV elements, also known as the "silicon group" in the periodic table.
Germanium-tin and silicon-germanium-tin are stacked in ultrathin layers to create this novel laser. Its remarkable direct growth on a silicon wafer makes it the first laser of its kind, opening the door for further developments in on-chip integrated photonics. The esteemed publication Nature Communications has published the research findings.
The need for more potent, energy-efficient hardware is being driven by the Internet of Things' (IoT) and artificial intelligence's (AI) explosive expansion. With its capacity to transmit large volumes of data with minimal energy loss, optical data transmission is already the technique of choice for distances more than one meter and is showing benefits even for shorter distances.
Courtesy of SynEvol
Credit: Forschungszentrum Julich / Jhonny Tiscareno
This advancement suggests that low-cost photonic integrated circuits (PICs), which provide notable cost reductions and enhanced performance, may be found in future microchips.
Monolithically integrating optically active components on silicon chips has advanced significantly in recent years. Important parts have been developed, such as waveguides, photodetectors, and high-performance modulators. However, the absence of an effective electrically pumped light source that solely uses Group IV semiconductors has long been a problem.
Historically, these light sources have been based on III-V materials, which are costly and challenging to integrate with silicon. By filling that gap, this novel laser can be seamlessly integrated into current silicon production methods and is compatible with traditional CMOS technology for chip manufacture. Thus, it might be considered the "final missing piece" in the toolbox of silicon photonics.
The researchers have shown continuous-wave operation in an electrically pumped Group IV laser on silicon for the first time. This new laser uses a low current injection of only 5 milliamperes (mA) at 2 volts (V), which is equivalent to the energy consumption of a light-emitting diode, in contrast to earlier germanium-tin lasers that depended on high-energy optical pumping.
By reducing power consumption and heat generation through its sophisticated multi-quantum well structure and ring geometry, the laser can operate steadily up to 90 Kelvin (K), or minus 183.15 degrees Celsius (°C).
Courtesy of SynEvol
Credit: Forschungszentrum Julich / Jhonny Tiscareno
It is the first completely "usable" Group IV laser, grown on common silicon wafers similar to those used for silicon transistors, however more refinements are required to lower the lasing threshold even more and enable room-temperature operation. A clear route forward is suggested by the success of previous optically pumped germanium-tin lasers, which have transitioned from cryogenic to room-temperature operation in a matter of years.
Whereas an electrically pumped laser produces light when an electrical current flows through the diode, an optically pumped laser needs an external light source to produce the lasing light. Since electrical power is converted directly into laser light, electrically pumped lasers are typically more energy-efficient.
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Breakthrough in Silicon Photonics the Last Missing Piece Now Exist
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Posted by Okachinepa on 01/17/2025 @
Courtesy of SynEvol
Credit: Forschungszentrum Julich / Jhonny Tiscareno
Researchers from the Leibniz Institute for High Performance Microelectronics (IHP), the University of Stuttgart, Forschungszentrum Jülich (FZJ), and their French partner CEA-Leti have successfully created the first electrically pumped continuous-wave semiconductor laser composed solely of group IV elements, also known as the "silicon group" in the periodic table.
Germanium-tin and silicon-germanium-tin are stacked in ultrathin layers to create this novel laser. Its remarkable direct growth on a silicon wafer makes it the first laser of its kind, opening the door for further developments in on-chip integrated photonics. The esteemed publication Nature Communications has published the research findings.
The need for more potent, energy-efficient hardware is being driven by the Internet of Things' (IoT) and artificial intelligence's (AI) explosive expansion. With its capacity to transmit large volumes of data with minimal energy loss, optical data transmission is already the technique of choice for distances more than one meter and is showing benefits even for shorter distances.
Courtesy of SynEvol
Credit: Forschungszentrum Julich / Jhonny Tiscareno
This advancement suggests that low-cost photonic integrated circuits (PICs), which provide notable cost reductions and enhanced performance, may be found in future microchips.
Monolithically integrating optically active components on silicon chips has advanced significantly in recent years. Important parts have been developed, such as waveguides, photodetectors, and high-performance modulators. However, the absence of an effective electrically pumped light source that solely uses Group IV semiconductors has long been a problem.
Historically, these light sources have been based on III-V materials, which are costly and challenging to integrate with silicon. By filling that gap, this novel laser can be seamlessly integrated into current silicon production methods and is compatible with traditional CMOS technology for chip manufacture. Thus, it might be considered the "final missing piece" in the toolbox of silicon photonics.
The researchers have shown continuous-wave operation in an electrically pumped Group IV laser on silicon for the first time. This new laser uses a low current injection of only 5 milliamperes (mA) at 2 volts (V), which is equivalent to the energy consumption of a light-emitting diode, in contrast to earlier germanium-tin lasers that depended on high-energy optical pumping.
By reducing power consumption and heat generation through its sophisticated multi-quantum well structure and ring geometry, the laser can operate steadily up to 90 Kelvin (K), or minus 183.15 degrees Celsius (°C).
Courtesy of SynEvol
Credit: Forschungszentrum Julich / Jhonny Tiscareno
It is the first completely "usable" Group IV laser, grown on common silicon wafers similar to those used for silicon transistors, however more refinements are required to lower the lasing threshold even more and enable room-temperature operation. A clear route forward is suggested by the success of previous optically pumped germanium-tin lasers, which have transitioned from cryogenic to room-temperature operation in a matter of years.
Whereas an electrically pumped laser produces light when an electrical current flows through the diode, an optically pumped laser needs an external light source to produce the lasing light. Since electrical power is converted directly into laser light, electrically pumped lasers are typically more energy-efficient.
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The Potential of Floating Solar Panels to Power 100 Million Homes
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Posted by Okachinepa on 01/17/2025 @
Courtesy of SynEvol
Credit: U.S De;partment of Energy's National Renewable Energy Laboratory
According to a recent study published in Solar Energy, federal reservoirs have a great deal of potential to help meet the country's solar energy needs.
The first thorough analysis of the potential energy output of putting floating solar panel systems on federally owned or regulated reservoirs was carried out by geospatial scientists Evan Rosenlieb and Marie Rivers, as well as Aaron Levine, a senior legal and regulatory analyst at the U.S. Department of Energy's National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL). The AquaPV website provides developers with detailed information about each reservoir.
According to the findings, there is a huge potential for these lakes to hold enough floating solar panels to provide up to 1,476 terawatt-hours of electricity yearly, which is enough to light about 100 million households.
The maximum quantity of energy that might be produced if each reservoir contained as many floating solar panels as possible is known as "technical potential," according to Rosenlieb. "We are aware that we cannot develop all of this. However, it would be quite beneficial even if you could develop 10% of what we found.
Levine and Rosenlieb have not yet taken into account the potential effects of wildlife and human activity on the development of floating solar energy on particular reservoirs. However, they intend to overcome this constraint in subsequent research.
This study offers much more precise information about the possibility of floating solar electricity in the US. Additionally, such precision may make it easier for developers to plan projects on U.S. reservoirs and for researchers to evaluate how these technologies align with the nation's larger energy objectives.
The advantages of floating solar panels, or floating PV, are numerous. These buoyed power plants not only produce electricity but also do so without vying for scarce land. Additionally, they chill and shade water bodies, reducing evaporation and conserving precious water resources.
However, Levine stated, "we haven't seen any large-scale installations, like at a large reservoir." "There isn't a single project in the US that is larger than 10 megawatts."
Prior research has attempted to estimate the amount of electricity that the nation could produce using floating solar panels. However, Levine and Rosenlieb are the first to think about which water sources are suitable for these kind of power plants.
For instance, maritime activity creates wakes in some reservoirs that may harm the float infrastructure or mooring lines. Others have sloping bottoms that are too steep, are too chilly, or are too shallow to hold solar panels in place.
However, some hydropower reservoirs might make perfect sites for solar power facilities that float. The power grid may get more dependable and robust electricity from a hybrid energy system that uses both hydropower and solar energy. For instance, solar panels could produce electricity while a hydropower facility pauses to allow the water to replenish if a drought depletes the reservoir.
Additionally, some developers construct completely new bodies of water in order to construct new pumped storage hydropower plants, which move water from one reservoir to another at a higher elevation in order to store and produce energy as needed. Neither humans nor animals rely on these new reservoirs for recreation, habitat, or food (at least not yet), and they are not connected to naturally flowing rivers.
Future research will examine which sites are near transmission lines or power demand, the potential costs of development at particular places, if a site should be avoided to preserve the local environment, and how developers might comply with local, state, and federal regulations. Additionally, the team wants to assess even more possible sites, such as smaller reservoirs, estuaries, and even coastal locales.
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Malvertising Scam Targets Google Ads Users.
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Posted by Okachinepa on 01/16/2025 @
Courtesy of SynEvol
Credit: Malwarebytes
Researchers studying cybersecurity have warned of a new malvertising effort that aims to phish for users' credentials through phoney Google ads, targeting both individuals and companies that use Google Ads.
Jérôme Segura, senior head of threat intelligence at Malwarebytes, told The Hacker News that the plan is to "steal as many advertiser accounts as possible by impersonating Google Ads and redirecting victims to fake login pages."
It is believed that the campaign's ultimate objective is to sell the credentials to other criminal actors on underground forums and use them again to continue the activities. Posts on Google's support forums, Bluesky, and Reddit indicate that the threat has been active since at least mid-November 2024.\
The activity cluster has a striking resemblance to operations that use stealer malware to obtain information about Facebook business and advertising accounts, then use the accounts to launch push-out malvertising campaigns that spread the malware.
In order to deliver fake Google Ads advertisements that, when clicked, link visitors to fraudulent websites hosted on Google Sites, the recently discovered effort explicitly targets people who search for Google Ads on Google's own search engine.
Following that, these websites work as landing pages that direct users to external phishing websites that are made to obtain their login credentials and two-factor authentication (2FA) codes using a WebSocket and exfiltrate them to a distant server that is controlled by the attacker.
"The fake ads for Google Ads come from a variety of individuals and businesses (including a regional airport), in various locations," Segura stated. "Some of those accounts already had hundreds of other legitimate ads running."
Courtesy of SynEvol
Credit: Malwarebytes
One clever feature of the campaign is that it makes use of the fact that, provided the domains match, Google Ads does not require the final URL—the page that people see after clicking on the ad—to match the display URL.
This enables the threat actors to maintain the display URLs as ads.google[.]com while hosting their intermediate landing pages on sites.google[.]com. Furthermore, the method involves hiding the phishing infrastructure through cloaking, obfuscation, fingerprinting, anti-bot traffic detection, and a lure modeled after CAPTCHA.
According to Malwarebytes, the stolen login credentials are then misused to access the victim's Google Ads account, create a new administrator, and use their spending funds for phony Google advertisements.
To put it another way, the threat actors are using Google Ads accounts to promote their own advertisements in an effort to increase the number of victims in the expanding number of compromised accounts that are used to further spread the scam.
"There appears to be several individuals or groups behind these campaigns," Segura stated. Interestingly, most of them speak Portuguese and are probably based in Brazil. The intermediary domains used by the phishing infrastructure use the Portuguese top-level domain (TLD),.pt.
"Google's ad guidelines are not broken by this malicious ad activity. In their advertisements, threat actors are permitted to display phony URLs that are identical to authentic ones. Until their security is restored, Google has not yet demonstrated that it takes decisive action to freeze such accounts.
"We specifically forbid advertisements that seek to deceive people in order to steal their information or scam them," a Google representative told The Hacker News in a statement. Our teams are working swiftly to resolve this issue and are currently looking into it."
Google also acknowledged the existence of these malicious ad campaigns and stated that it is constantly monitoring its ad network for misuse and taking enforcement action against advertisers who use their ads to deceive users by hiding or misrepresenting information about their company, goods, or services.
Additionally, it reported that in 2023, it suspended more than 5.6 million advertising accounts, limited more than 5.7 billion ads, and eliminated more than 3.4 billion ads. Its Misrepresentation Policy resulted in the blocking of 206.5 million of these ads.
The revelation follows Trend Micro's discovery that hackers are leveraging websites like SoundCloud and YouTube to spread links to phony installers for pirated versions of well-known software, which eventually results in the spread of several malware families including Amadey and Lumma Vidar Stealer, PrivateLoader, Penguish, Mars Stealer, and Stealer.
"Threat actors often use reputable file hosting services like Mediafire and Mega.nz to conceal the origin of their malware and make detection and removal more difficult," the business stated. "Many malicious downloads are password-protected and encoded, which complicates analysis in security environments such as sandboxes and allows malware to evade early detection."
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