Nanotechnologies News

A film a few atoms thick of non-crystalline niobium phosphide conducts better through the surface to make the material, as a whole, a better conductor. Image credit: Il-Kwon Oh / Asir Khan.

Researchers Create Ultrathin Niobium-Phosphide Conductor for Nanoelectronics

Jan 9, 2025 by News Staff

Niobium phosphide can conduct electricity better than copper in films that are only a few atoms thick; moreover, these films can be created and deposited...

Britton et al. used a scanning electron microscope, scanning the mat with a focused beam of electrons and creating an image based on the pattern of electrons that are deflected or knocked-off; each individual strand is too narrow to be clearly captured by any form of visible light camera or microscope. Image credit: Beatrice Britton / Adam Clancy.

World’s Thinnest Spaghetti Created: Nanopasta

Nov 25, 2024 by News Staff

The world’s thinnest spaghetti is just 372 nm across — about 200 times thinner than a human hair. Britton et al. used a scanning electron microscope,...

This artist’s impression shows how Mars may have looked about 4 billion years ago. Image credit: M. Kornmesser / ESO.

‘Nanoparticle Warming’ Have Potential to Warm Mars, Planetary Scientists Say

Aug 8, 2024 by News Staff

One-third of Mars’ surface has shallow-buried water, but it is currently too cold for use by life. Proposals to warm Mars using greenhouse gases require...

Tang et al. discovered neutronic molecules, in which neutrons can be made to cling to quantum dots, held just by the strong force: the red item represents a bound neutron, the sphere is a hydride nanoparticle, and the yellow field represents a neutron wavefunction. Image credit: Tang et al., doi: 10.1021/acsnano.3c12929.

Scientists Discover ‘Neutronic Molecules’

Apr 8, 2024 by News Staff

Neutrons are subatomic particles that have no electric charge, unlike protons and electrons. That means that while the electromagnetic force is responsible...

An image of a ring shaped supramolecule where only one iron atom is present in the entire ring. Image credit: Ajayi et al., doi: 10.1038/s41586-023-06011-w.

Physicists X-Ray Single Atom for First Time

Jun 2, 2023 by News Staff

Since the discovery of X-rays by Wilhelm Röntgen in 1895, its use has been ubiquitous, from medical and environmental applications to materials sciences....

Overview of nanowire network device and setup for supervised learning, physical reinforcement learning, and the N-Back task protocol. Image credit: Loeffler et al., doi: 10.1126/sciadv.adg3289.

Nanowire Networks Can Exhibit Both Short- and Long-Term Memory Like Human Brain

Apr 24, 2023 by News Staff

The brain’s powerful information processing capacity can be largely attributed to neuronal microcircuits established by synaptic connectivity patterns....

An artist’s impression of defect centers in diamond nanostructures. They can be used as quantum bits. Via quantum entanglement, quantum information can be stored in emitted single photons and transmitted in optical fibers in the future quantum internet. Image credit: HU Berlin / AG Integrierte Quantenphotonik.

Scientists are One Step Closer to Quantum Internet

Apr 6, 2023 by News Staff

A team of researchers from the Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin and the Ferdinand-Braun-Institut has succeeded in generating photons with stable frequencies...

Faisal et al. demonstrated three-dimensional micropatterned sensors based on a subnanometer-thick epitaxial graphene for detecting the electroencephalography signal from the challenging occipital region of the head. Image credit: Faisal et al., doi: 10.1021/acsanm.2c05546.

Researchers Develop Non-Invasive Graphene Sensors for Brain-Machine Interfaces

Mar 21, 2023 by News Staff

Using their non-invasive sensors, Professor Francesca Iacopi from the University of Technology Sydney and her colleagues have demonstrated hands-free communication...

The demonstration of the metalens telescope proves the exciting potential lying in the metasurfaces and could bring new possibilities for areas involving large optical systems, including geosciences, planetary observation, and astrophysical science. Image credit: Zhang et al., doi: 10.1021/acs.nanolett.2c03561.

Scientists Create First Ultrathin, Compact Metalens Telescope Capable of Imaging Far-Away Objects

Mar 7, 2023 by News Staff

Metalenses promise potential for a paradigm shift of conventional optical devices. They comprise tiny, antenna-like surface patterns that can focus light...

The green fuel (alcohol) is represented by the green-colored droplets at the top of the image, which upon interacting with curcumin enveloped gold nanoparticles, efficiently yield energy (white-colored sparks at the bottom of the image). Image credit: Sri Sai Prasad Nayak / Lakshman Ventrapragada.

Scientists Use Curcumin to Create Highly Efficient Electrode

Apr 19, 2022 by News Staff

A team of researchers from India and the United States has combined curcumin, a molecule that was first extracted from the roots of Curcuma longa (turmeric),...

A designer view of a single-wall carbon nanotube intramolecular junction with metallic portions on left and right ends and a semiconductor ultrashort 3 nm channel in between. Image credit: Tang et al., doi: 10.1126/science.abi8884.

Scientists Turn Carbon Nanotubes into Tiny Transistors

Dec 24, 2021 by News Staff

Using a transmission electron microscope, a team of materials scientists led by the International Center for Materials Nanoarchitectonics in Japan and...

The copper magnified 500,000 times under a scanning electron microscope shows its tiny nano-scale pores. Image credit: RMIT University.

Novel Copper Surface Shows Exceptional Bactericidal Efficacy

Dec 14, 2021 by News Staff

A team of materials scientists from RMIT University and CSIRO has designed and fabricated a micro-nano copper structure and demonstrated its exceptional...

Tin monosulfide nanosheets possess high photon absorption coefficients, allowing them to be used in making ultrathin soft X-ray detectors with high sensitivity and a rapid response time. Image credit: Shabbir et al., doi: 10.1002/adfm.202105038.

World’s Thinnest X-ray Detector Created

Nov 9, 2021 by News Staff

The structural characteristics of biological specimens, such as wet proteins and living cells, can be conveniently probed in their host aqueous media using...

Liquid gallium converts carbon dioxide into oxygen and a high-value solid carbon product. Image credit: Tang et al., doi: 10.1002/adma.202105789.

Liquid Gallium Shown to Break Down Carbon Dioxide

Oct 13, 2021 by News Staff

A team of researchers led by the University of New South Wales has discovered that suspensions of gallium liquid metal — a soft, silvery-white metal...

Continuous monitoring of hydrogen sulfide in human breath for early stage diagnosis of halitosis is of great significance for prevention of dental diseases. Image credit: Shin et al., doi: 10.1021/acsnano.1c01350.

Newly-Developed Portable Device Can Rapidly Detect Bad Breath

Jul 22, 2021 by News Staff

An international team of researchers from Korea and the United States has constructed a tiny portable device that directly detects hydrogen sulfide (H2S)...

The acousto-electric chip includes a radio-frequency amplifier, circulator and filter; SEM image shows details of the amplifier. Image credit: Bret Latter / Matt Eichenfield.

Researchers Create World’s Smallest Acoustic Amplifier

Jun 7, 2021 by News Staff

An acoustic amplifier developed by Sandia National Laboratories researchers measures 0.5 mm2 (0.0008 square inches), and is more than 10 times more effective...

Microscale origami duck transforming from a flat sheet and holding its 3D shape. Image credit: Liu et al.

World’s Tiniest Self-Folding Origami Bird Created

Mar 18, 2021 by News Staff

A team of scientists at Cornell University has created micron-sized shape memory actuators that enable atomically thin 2D materials to fold themselves...

Hus et al. created the smallest atom-memory unit yet. Image credit: Cockrell School of Engineering, University of Texas at Austin.

Researchers Create Smallest Memory Device Yet

Nov 24, 2020 by News Staff

An international team of scientist from the United States, the United Kingdom and Taiwan has developed the world’s smallest memristor. Their results...

Miskin et al built microsopic robots that consist of a simple circuit made from silicon photovoltaics and four electrochemical actuators; when laser light is shined on the photovoltaics, the robots walk. Image credit: Miskin et al, doi: 10.1038/s41586-020-2626-9.

Researchers Create Laser-Activated Walking Microrobots

Aug 27, 2020 by News Staff

A team of scientists from Cornell University and the University of Pennsylvania has developed a new class of microscopic robots that incorporate semiconductor...