http://phys.org/ en-us Phys.org internet news portal provides the latest news on science including: Physics, Nanotechnology, Life Sciences, Space Science, Earth Science, Environment, Health and Medicine. Creating semiconductor structures for high-end optoelectronic devices just got easier, thanks to University of Illinois researchers. http://phys.org/news243786706.html Nanotechnology Thu, 22 Dec 2011 14:32:03 EST news243786706 Molecules that are twisted are ubiquitous in nature, and have important consequences in biology, chemistry, physics and medicine. Some molecules have unique and technologically useful optical properties; the medicinal properties of drugs depend on the direction of the twist; and within us – think of the double helix – twisted DNA can interact with different proteins. http://phys.org/news243080246.html Physics Wed, 14 Dec 2011 10:17:50 EST news243080246 The precise blending of tiny particles and multicolor dyes transforms gelatin into a realistic surrogate for human tissue. These tissue mimics, known as "phantoms," provide an accurate proving ground for new photoacoustic and ultrasonic imaging technologies. "The ability to provide phantoms that are capable of mimicking desired properties of soft tissue is critical to advance the development of new, more-accurate imaging technologies," said Stanislav Emelianov of the University of Texas at Austin and co-author of a paper appearing in the Optical Society's (OSA) open-access journal Biomedical Optics Express that describes an improved method for fabricating tissue phantoms. http://phys.org/news241878789.html Physics Wed, 30 Nov 2011 12:34:16 EST news241878789 (PhysOrg.com) -- A team of researchers working out of the University of California, Berkeley, has developed an entirely new class of two-dimensional semiconductor made of indium arsenide. Called quantum membranes, the new material has a band structure and can be turned from a bulk material to a two-dimensional one, simply by reducing its size. The team, led by Ali Javey, have published the results of their findings in Nano Letters. http://phys.org/news240489009.html Nanotechnology Mon, 14 Nov 2011 11:20:02 EST news240489009 Upconversion emission materials are ideal for bioimaging due to its effectiveness as contrast agents for the detection of cancer cells, more so when the background emission of non-cancerous tissues can be minimised. These materials could be used as biomarkers for luminescent labeling of cancerous cells. Opaque tissues can be turned into glassy, transparent substances by using these biomarkers which rely on near-infrared excitation. http://phys.org/news240487562.html Nanotechnology Mon, 14 Nov 2011 10:06:14 EST news240487562 (PhysOrg.com) -- Nanomanufacturing technology has enabled scientists to create metamaterials -- stuff that never existed in nature -- with unusual optical properties. They could lead to "superlenses" able to image proteins, viruses and DNA, and perhaps even make a "Star Trek" cloaking device. http://phys.org/news239436830.html Chemistry Wed, 02 Nov 2011 07:14:25 EST news239436830 "It's not brain surgery" is a phrase often uttered to dismiss a job's difficulty, but when the task actually is removing a brain tumor, even the slightest mistake could have serious health consequences. To help surgeons in such high-pressure situations, researchers from Prof. Adam Wax's team at Duke University's Fitzpatrick Institute for Photonics and Biomedical Engineering Department have proposed a way to harness the unique optical properties of gold nanoparticles to clearly distinguish a brain tumor from the healthy, and vital, tissue that surrounds it. The team will present their findings at the Optical Society's (OSA) Annual Meeting, Frontiers in Optics (FiO) 2011, taking place in San Jose, Calif. next week. http://phys.org/news237637067.html Nanotechnology Wed, 12 Oct 2011 11:18:02 EST news237637067 (PhysOrg.com) -- By taking advantage of the unique optical properties of nanoscale materials, researchers have designed a lens made of nanowires that can reconfigure its imaging properties without any electronic or mechanical control. The lens comes in two different varieties, one of which can enable zooming at two different magnifications, while the other can create stereoscopic images that show objects in three dimensions with a single, undivided lens. These functionalities could prove useful for micro imaging systems, which operate on a scale at which traditional zooming and stereoscopic imaging techniques do not work. http://phys.org/news237544721.html Nanotechnology Tue, 11 Oct 2011 09:38:59 EST news237544721 (PhysOrg.com) -- A nanoscale game of "now you see it, now you don't" may contribute to the creation of metamaterials with useful optical properties that can be actively controlled, according to scientists at Rice University. http://phys.org/news236533850.html Nanotechnology Thu, 29 Sep 2011 16:51:10 EST news236533850 (PhysOrg.com) -- The enigmatic quantum dot is the basic building block for quantum computers. EPFL physicists have developed a new theory which shows that dot symmetry is enough to account for most of their intriguing optical properties. http://phys.org/news234597477.html Nanotechnology Wed, 07 Sep 2011 06:58:08 EST news234597477 A Syracuse University researcher has developed a patent-pending robust process to manufacture stable suspensions of metal nanoparticles capable of capturing sunlight. http://phys.org/news233227278.html Nanotechnology Mon, 22 Aug 2011 10:21:34 EST news233227278 Weizmann Institute scientists have discovered that growing nanowires out, not up, can keep them in line. http://phys.org/news233225511.html Nanotechnology Mon, 22 Aug 2011 09:52:14 EST news233225511 An amorphous-seed mediated strategy has been developed in the Center for Nanoscale Materials Nanophotonics Group at the Argonne National Laboratory for creating bifunctional nanoparticles composed of silver and iron oxide nanodomains. These hybrid particles exhibit unique optical properties due to surface plasmon resonance from the silver and superparamagnetic responses from the iron oxide. http://phys.org/news232960476.html Nanotechnology Fri, 19 Aug 2011 08:14:54 EST news232960476 Researchers from North Carolina State University have developed a simple, scalable way to align gold nanorods, particles with optical properties that could be used for emerging biomedical imaging technologies. http://phys.org/news232794747.html Nanotechnology Wed, 17 Aug 2011 10:17:11 EST news232794747 Physicists from the University of California at San Diego (UCSD) have demonstrated a new technique to control the speed and direction of light using memory metamaterials whose properties can be repeatedly changed. http://phys.org/news232626997.html Physics Mon, 15 Aug 2011 11:36:47 EST news232626997 In Anna Gudmundsdottir's laboratory at the University of Cincinnati, dedicated researchers endeavor to tame the extremely reactive chemicals known as radicals. http://phys.org/news232019672.html Chemistry Mon, 08 Aug 2011 11:40:06 EST news232019672 In an advance that could open new avenues for solar cells, lasers, metamaterials and more, researchers at the University of Illinois have demonstrated the first optoelectronically active 3-D photonic crystal. http://phys.org/news230729681.html Chemistry Sun, 24 Jul 2011 13:00:01 EST news230729681 Modern electronics as we know them, from televisions to computers, depend on conducting materials that can control electronic properties. As technology shrinks down to pocket sized communications devices and microchips that can fit on the head of a pin, nano-sized conducting materials are in big demand. http://phys.org/news229941975.html Nanotechnology Fri, 15 Jul 2011 10:40:01 EST news229941975 (PhysOrg.com) -- A team of University of Maryland nanotechnology researchers has solved one of the most vexing challenges hindering the use of carbon nanomaterials for better electrical energy storage or enhancing the fluorescence sensing capabilities of biosensors. The findings are published in the July 12 issue of Nature Communications. http://phys.org/news229751371.html Nanotechnology Wed, 13 Jul 2011 04:49:47 EST news229751371 The novel material graphene makes faster electronics possible. Scientists at the Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Information Technology at the Vienna University of Technology (TU Vienna) developed light-detectors made of graphene and analyzed their astonishing properties. http://phys.org/news228459744.html Nanotechnology Tue, 28 Jun 2011 06:03:05 EST news228459744 "Seeing something invisible with your own eyes is an exciting experience," say Joachim Fischer and Tolga Ergin. For about one year, both physicists and members of the team of Professor Martin Wegener at KIT's Center for Functional Nanostructures (CFN) have worked on refining the structure of the Karlsruhe invisibility cloak to such an extent that it is also effective in the visible spectral range. http://phys.org/news224932103.html Physics Wed, 18 May 2011 10:08:44 EST news224932103 Optical data carriers such as DVDs, Blu-rays and CD-RWs store data in layers of so-called "phase change materials". In the future, these materials will enable the development of fast, non-volatile and energy-saving main memories. A prerequisite for this is a low thermal conductivity. Phase change materials display a surprisingly low thermal conductivity even in the crystalline state. This is described by an international research team including scientists from Julich and Aachen in the latest edition of the respected journal Advanced Functional Materials. Their findings will facilitate a targeted search for materials with the desired properties. http://phys.org/news223640580.html Physics Tue, 03 May 2011 11:23:46 EST news223640580 For many practical applications involving lasers, it's important to be able to control the direction of the laser beams. Just ask Han Solo, or the captain of the Death Star. Researchers from North Carolina State University have come up with a very energy-efficient way of steering laser beams that is precise and relatively inexpensive. http://phys.org/news223552565.html Physics Mon, 02 May 2011 10:56:23 EST news223552565 New insights into why and how nanowires take the form they do will have profound implications for the development of future electronic components. PhD student Peter Krogstrup from the Nano-Science Center at the Niels Bohr Institute, University of Copenhagen is behind the sensational new theoretical model, which is developed in collaboration with researchers from CINAM-CNRS in Marseille. The results have been published in the scientific magazine, Physical Review Letters. http://phys.org/news220261280.html Nanotechnology Fri, 25 Mar 2011 08:41:38 EST news220261280 University of British Columbia chemists have developed a new model to predict the optical properties of non-conducting ultra-fine particles. http://phys.org/news220197141.html Nanotechnology Thu, 24 Mar 2011 14:52:44 EST news220197141 (PhysOrg.com) -- Physicists from the University of Birmingham, with colleagues at Imperial College, London, and Technical University of Denmark, have demonstrated an 'invisibility cloak' that can hide a three-dimensional object, centimetres in dimension, large enough for the cloaking area to be visible to the human eye, according to research published today in the journal Nature Communications. http://phys.org/news215797097.html Physics Tue, 01 Feb 2011 15:39:42 EST news215797097 (PhysOrg.com) -- A new study from researchers at North Carolina State University sheds light on how a technique that is commonly used for making single-metal nanoparticles can be extended to create nanoparticles consisting of two metals – and that have tunable properties. The study also provides insight into the optical properties of some of these nanoparticles. http://phys.org/news211635968.html Nanotechnology Wed, 15 Dec 2010 11:46:24 EST news211635968 Scientists at the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) have proven that measuring fluorescence could improve source water monitoring during a study of the McKenzie River in Oregon. The study was designed to assess the amount, type and source of dissolved organic carbon that exists in all sources of drinking water. http://phys.org/news211555449.html Space & Earth Tue, 14 Dec 2010 13:25:08 EST news211555449 They might just be the smallest Christmas tree decorations ever. Tiny spherical particles of gold and silver that are more than 100 million times smaller than the gold and silver baubles used to decorate seasonal fir trees have been synthesized by researchers in Mexico and the US. http://phys.org/news210605626.html Nanotechnology Fri, 03 Dec 2010 13:34:06 EST news210605626 Quantum information processing is arguably one of the most fascinating facets of modern quantum physics. http://phys.org/news210339708.html Physics Tue, 30 Nov 2010 11:41:59 EST news210339708