How a Virginia Tech research team constructed its novel thermal diode. Test results of the thermal diode. Electrical engineers are obviously very familiar and comfortable with the basic diode, a ...

We’re all familiar with semiconductor diodes, whose function is to allow electricity to easily flow in one direction and impede its progress in the other. A thermal diode performs a similar gating ...

When it comes to the sound-proofing of buildings, most people likely think of using materials that simply absorb the sound waves in a noisy room, so they can't proceed into a neighboring quiet room.

An international group of physicists has demonstrated that a very thin layer of quantum-mechanical material sandwiched between two pieces of superconductor can conduct electricity with or without ...