Kinks and curves at the nanoscale
One of the basic principles of nanotechnology is that when you make things extremely small—one nanometer is about five atoms wide, 100,000 times smaller than the diameter of a human hair—they are going ...
One of the basic principles of nanotechnology is that when you make things extremely small—one nanometer is about five atoms wide, 100,000 times smaller than the diameter of a human hair—they are going ...
(Phys.org) -- In the phenomenon of superlubricity, two solid surfaces can slide past each other with almost no friction. The effect occurs when the solid surfaces have crystalline structures and their lattices ...
A researcher with the National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST) has developed a novel light-trapping structure to enhance optical absorption inside thin-film silicon solar cells. ...
(Phys.org) —A new process for growing forests of manganese dioxide nanorods may lead to the next generation of high-performance capacitors.
Researchers at the universities of Chicago and Wisconsin-Madison raise the possibility of designing ultrastable glasses at the molecular level via a vapor-deposition process. Ultrastable glasses could find ...
(PhysOrg.com) -- Nearly 100 years ago, in 1912, a paper by Max von Laue made it possible to use x-rays to study the structure of different crystalline substances. He won a Nobel Prize in 1914 for his work, but, even so, the ...
(Phys.org) —Changing the way a plant forms cellulose may lead to more efficient, less expensive biofuel production, according to Penn State engineers.
University of Nebraska-Lincoln materials engineers have developed a structural nanofiber that is both strong and tough, a discovery that could transform everything from airplanes and bridges to body armor ...
(Phys.org)—A research team including scientists from the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has confirmed long-standing suspicions among physicists that electrons in a crystalline structure ...
Gelatin sets by forming a solid matrix full of random, liquid-filled pores—much like a saturated sponge. It turns out that a similar process also happens in some metallic glasses, substances whose molecular ...
Researchers from Rice University and UCLA unveiled a new data-encoding scheme this week that slashes more than 30 percent of the energy needed to write data onto new memory cards that use "phase-change memory" (PCM) -- a ...
(Phys.org)—Magnonics is an exciting extension of spintronics, promising novel ways of computing and storing magnetic data. What determines a material's magnetic state is how electron spins are arranged ...
(PhysOrg.com) -- NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity has found bright veins of a mineral, apparently gypsum, deposited by water. Analysis of the vein will help improve understanding of the history of ...
(PhysOrg.com) -- Imagine a material that's stronger than steel, but just as versatile as plastic, able to take on a seemingly endless variety of forms. For decades, materials scientists have been trying to ...
(Phys.org) —Reach for a tall glass of iced tea. Don't drink. Look at the glass instead. The glass is an amorphous solid, consisting of molecules jumbled in disarray. It's the complete opposite of the ice ...