Research fields
Using the tools of physics and design principles, AMOLF researchers study complex matter, such as light at the nanoscale, living matter, designer matter and nanoscale solar cells. These insights open up opportunities to create new functional materials and to find solutions to societal challenges.
AMOLF NEWS magazine
Editie juli 2021 is uit!
Daarin interviews met onder andere Wiebke Albrecht ”Geboeid door de morfologie van een enkel nanodeeltje” en Esmee Geerkens ”De kunst van zelforganisatie”.
Ook de highlights uit AMOLF onderzoek worden toegelicht zoals Schilderen met halfgeleiders en De voordelen van ruis ontrafeld.
Verder AMOLF nieuwsberichten over Wim Noorduin bijzonder hoogleraar UvA, ERC Grant voor Albert Polman voor nieuw type quantum-elektronenmicroscoop en ERC Grant voor Martin van Hecke voor ”Rekenende materialen”…en nog veel meer.
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AMOLF scientists unravel noise-assisted signal amplifications in systems with memory
Signals can be amplified by an optimum amount of noise, but this so-called stochastic resonance is a rather fragile phenomenon. Researchers at AMOLF were the first to investigate the role of memory for this phenomenon in an oil-filled optical microcavity. The effects of slow non-linearity (i.e. memory) on stochastic resonance were never considered before, but these experiments suggest that stochastic resonance becomes robust to variations in the signal frequency when systems have memory. This has implications in many fields of physics and energy technology. In particular, the scientists numerically show that introducing slow non-linearity in a mechanical oscillator harvesting energy from noise can increase its efficiency by tenfold.
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Self-learning robots go full steam ahead
Researchers from AMOLF’s Soft Robotic Matter group have shown that a group of small autonomous, self-learning robots can adapt easily to changing circumstances. They connected these simple robots in a line, after which each individual robot taught itself to move forward as quickly as possible. The results were published in the scientific journal PNAS.
