U of Utah Engineers Shrink Plasma Devices to Resist Radiation
University of Utah electrical engineers fabricated the smallest plasma transistors that can withstand high temperatures and ionizing radiation found in a nuclear reactor. Such transistors someday might enable smartphones that take and collect medical X-rays on a battlefield, and devices to measure air quality in real time.
“These plasma-based electronics can be used to control and guide robots to conduct tasks inside the nuclear reactor,” says Massood Tabib-Azar, a professor of electrical and computer engineering. “Microplasma transistors in a circuit can also control nuclear reactors if something goes wrong, and also could work in the event of nuclear attack.”
A study of the new transistors by Tabib-Azar and electrical engineering doctoral student Pradeep Pai appears online Thursday, March 20 in the journal IEEE Electron Device Letters, published by the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers. The study was funded by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency.
Media Coverage
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- “Tiny devices that can control nuclear reactor are here” – TMCnet
- “A Transistor that Stands Up to Blistering Nuclear Reactor Temperatures” – IEEE Spectrum
- “World’s Tiniest Plasma Transistor Can Make Supertough Electronics” – Gizmodo
- “Tiny Transistors for Extreme Environments” – Medical Design Technology Magazine
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- “Electrical engineers shrink plasma devices to resist radiation” – Medical News Today
- “Researchers Create Micro Plasma Transistors for Extreme Environments” – World Industrial Reporter
- “Tiny devices that can control nuclear reactor are here” – Technology Marketing Corporation
- “Tiny microplasma transistor is able to function in extreme environments” – Design, Products, and Applications
- “Tiny transistors for extreme environs: Engineers shrink plasma devices to resist radiation” – Phys.org
- “Tiny devices that can control nuclear reactor are here” – Z News
- “Tiny transistors for extreme environs” – Nanowerk
- “Tiny devices that can control nuclear reactor are here” – Sify News
- “Tiny devices that can control nuclear reactor are here” – Business Standard
- “Tiny devices that can control nuclear reactor are here” – We Speak News – Tech
- “Tiny transistors for extreme environs” – Science Codex
- “Tiny Transistors for Extreme Environs” – Newswise