What Does Diamond Do? Consumer Tech

 

Building better batteries

 

An iPhone 6 contains 2 billion transistors: tiny devices that transfer data and allow our tech to function. If we want devices to keep getting smarter without getting bigger, we’ll need more efficient transistors. That’s why Diamond scientists are exploring ‘spintronic’ transistors. Instead of transferring information using electron charge, like regular transistors, new transistors could exploit another fundamental property of electrons: their spin, thus making our tech faster and more efficient without sacrificing on size.

 

 

The classic automobile: it remains the ultimate consumer tech accessory. But whilst cars can be great for us, combusting engines haven’t been so good for the planet. Fundamental work at Diamond could help to change that. From improving the materials and engineering around electric and hydrogen-powered cars, to making existing fuel combustion more energy efficient, research at the synchrotron is driving automobile technology forwards. 

Graphene is the thinnest, lightest and strongest material known to humankind. It’s also remarkably good at conducting electricity – a characteristic that could be used to develop faster, smaller and more efficient technology. But graphene is difficult to work with, so scientists are using Diamond to study new graphene hybrids that have 3D qualities, making them stronger and easier to make and use. If we can harness these materials, we can create truly pioneering tech.

Some materials respond to magnetism, some respond to electricity; multiferroics are a type of material which respond to both. This means that they can be used to develop devices which exploit both magnetism and electric charge so that they run faster and on less power. Scientists are using Diamond to investigate how the forces between atoms in multiferroic materials lead to subtle patterns of magnetism and electronic charge. By altering the material qualities of multiferroics, researchers hope to develop smaller devices with higher performance.