Visit physicist Divine Kumah in his research lab and you’ll find him making what could be described as the world’s tiniest layer cakes. How tiny? Try just a few atoms thick. One hundred thousand of them would barely stack up against a sheet of paper. They’re not for eating, however. He takes his ingredients from the periodic table oxygen and different metals such as titanium and magnesium and brings them together in ways not found in nature to create ultra-thin films, one layer of atoms at a time.
North Carolina State University’s new study throws light on how electric fields can be employed to change the thermal properties of ferroelectric materials, enabling engineers to influence the heat flow via the materials.