Blog
- Silicon nanopillars for quantum communication 20/09/2022 Around the world, specialists are working on implementing quantum information technologies
- Scientists made a Möbius strip out of a tiny carbon nanobelt 15/09/2022 The new twist on nanocarbon joins other structures including nanotubes and buckyballs
- Unique ferroelectric microstructure revealed for first time 13/09/2022 A team of researchers have observed and reported for the first time the unique microstructure of a novel ferroelectric material, enabling the development of lead-free piezoelectric materials for electronics, sensors, and energy storage that are safer for human use. This work was led by the Alem Group at Penn State and in collaboration with research teams at Rutgers University and the University of California, Merced.
- New nanoelectronic sensor simultaneously measures electrical and mechanical activity in heart cells 08/09/2022 Using a suspended nanowire, a University of Massachusetts research team has, for the first time, created a tiny sensor that can simultaneously measure electrical and mechanical cellular responses in cardiac tissue, work promising for cardiac disease studies, drug testing and regenerative medicine.
- Less risk, less costs: Portable spectroscopy devices could soon become real 06/09/2022 Nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) is an analytical tool with a wide range of applications, including the magnetic resonance imaging that is used for diagnostic purposes in medicine. However, NMR often requires powerful magnetic fields to be generated, which limits the scope of its use.
- Master equation to boost quantum technologies 01/09/2022 As the size of modern technology shrinks down to the nanoscale, weird quantum effects—such as quantum tunneling, superposition, and entanglement—become prominent. This opens the door to a new era of quantum technologies, where quantum effects can be exploited. Many everyday technologies make use of feedback control routinely; an important example is the pacemaker, which must monitor the user's heartbeat and apply electrical signals to control it, only when needed. But physicists do not yet have an equivalent understanding of feedback control at the quantum level. Now, physicists have developed a "master equation" that will help engineers understand feedback at the quantum scale. Their results are published in the journal Physical Review Letters.
- Quantum heat pump: A new measuring tool for physicists 30/08/2022 Physicists from TU Delft, ETH Zürich and the University of Tübingen have built a quantum scale heat pump made from particles of light. This device brings scientists closer to the quantum limit of measuring radio frequency signals, which may be useful in the hunt for dark matter. Their work will be published as an open-access article in Science Advances on Aug. 26.
- Visualising sigma orbitals opens path to new understanding of surface chemistry 18/08/2022 A technique developed for imaging π orbitals during surface chemical reactions – photoemission orbital tomography – can also image σ orbitals as well. The researchers, who tested their discovery by answering a hitherto open question about the product of a reaction, believe the method could unravel chemical mechanisms in fields such as catalysis.
- An upgrade for magnetic resonance methods with a 1,000-fold amplifier 16/08/2022 Researchers determine the structure and dynamics of proteins using NMR (Nuclear Magnetic Resonance) spectroscopy. Until now, however, much higher concentrations were necessary for in-vitro measurements of the biomolecules in solution than found in our body's cells. An NMR method enhanced by a very powerful amplifier, in combination with molecular dynamics simulation, now enables their detection and accurate characterization at physiological concentrations. This is reported by Dennis Kurzbach chemist at the University of Vienna and his colleagues in the journal Science Advances. The team demonstrated their new method with the example of a protein that influences cell proliferation and thus also potential tumor growth.
- The structure of the smallest semiconductor elucidated 11/08/2022 A semiconductor is a material whose conductivity lies somewhere between that of a conductor and an insulator. This property allows semiconductors to serve as the base material for modern electronics and transistors. It is no understatement that the technological progress in the latter part of the 20th century was largely spearheaded by the semiconductor industry.
- New nanoparticle-based material could detect antibiotics in water 09/08/2022 An international team of researchers has developed a new type of strong and elastic two-dimensional (2D) membrane. The invention could prove useful, for instance, in detecting remnants of antibiotics from water.