http://phys.org/nanotech-news/nano-physics/ en-us PhysOrg Team Phys.Org provides the latest news on nanophysics, nanotechnology, nanotech and nanoscience. (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 are rotated in such a way as to cancel out the friction force. A bit like stacking two egg cartons, if the lattices are aligned, they lock in to each other and it is hard to slide one over the other. But rotate one egg carton a bit, and it no longer locks in this way. http://phys.org/news258017893.html Nanotechnology - Nanophysics 2012-06-04T09:30:01-07:00 (Phys.org) -- Scientists at the Vienna University of Technology found a method to locate single gold atoms on a surface. This should pave the way to better and cheaper catalysts. http://phys.org/news257586456.html Nanotechnology - Nanophysics 2012-05-30T08:47:41-07:00 While the Statue of Liberty and old pennies may continue to turn green, printed electronics and media screens made of copper nanowires will always keep their original color. http://phys.org/news257525860.html Nanotechnology - Nanophysics 2012-05-29T15:57:52-07:00 Using Center for Nanoscale Materials (CNM) expertise in the design and fabrication of micro- and nanoscale devices, a new strategy for engineering low-frequency noise oscillators capitalizes on the intrinsic nonlinear phenomena of micro- and nanomechanical resonators. A fundamental limitation of such resonators was addressed by a team of researchers from the Nanofabrication & Devices Group working with CNICT, Argentina. http://phys.org/news257412971.html Nanotechnology - Nanophysics 2012-05-28T08:50:10-07:00 (Phys.org) -- Graphene is the wonder material that could solve the problem of making ever faster computers and smaller mobile devices when current silicon microchip technology hits an inevitable wall. Graphene, a single layer of carbon atoms in a tight hexagonal arrangement, has been highly researched because of its incredible electronic properties, with theoretical speeds 100 times greater than silicon. But putting the material into a microchip that could outperform current silicon technology has proven difficult. http://phys.org/news257400658.html Nanotechnology - Nanophysics 2012-05-28T05:34:48-07:00 Scientists have created and imaged the smallest possible five-ringed structure – about 100,000 times thinner than a human hair – and you'll probably recognise its shape. http://phys.org/news257317217.html Nanotechnology - Nanophysics 2012-05-27T19:00:01-07:00 Chinese researchers have designed and tested simulations of a "nanoclutch," a speed regulation tool for nanomotors. http://phys.org/news257100379.html Nanotechnology - Nanophysics 2012-05-24T18:00:02-07:00 (Phys.org) -- Researchers are edging toward the creation of new optical technologies using "nanostructured metamaterials" capable of ultra-efficient transmission of light, with potential applications including advanced solar cells and quantum computing. http://phys.org/news257092260.html Nanotechnology - Nanophysics 2012-05-24T15:31:15-07:00 In the growth of crystals, do nanoparticles act as "artificial atoms" forming molecular-type building blocks that can assemble into complex structures? This is the contention of a major but controversial theory to explain nanocrystal growth. A study by researchers at the DOE's Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) may resolve the controversy and point the way to energy devices of the future. http://phys.org/news257078986.html Nanotechnology - Nanophysics 2012-05-24T14:00:16-07:00 Berkeley Lab researchers have reported the first direct observation of nanoparticles undergoing oriented attachment, the critical step in biomineralization and the growth of nanocrystals. A better understanding of oriented attachment in nanoparticles is a key to synthesizing new materials with remarkable structural properties. http://phys.org/news257080715.html Nanotechnology - Nanophysics 2012-05-24T14:00:14-07:00 A novel approach to designing artificial materials could enable magnetic devices with a wider range of properties than those now available. An international team of researchers have now extended the properties and potential uses of metamaterials by using not one but two very different classes of nanostructures, or metamolecules. http://phys.org/news257068663.html Nanotechnology - Nanophysics 2012-05-24T09:10:12-07:00 Often the sum is greater than its parts. Using an atomic force microscope as a “crane”, Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich researchers have succeeded in bringing two biomolecules together to form an active complex – with nanometer precision and built-in quality control. http://phys.org/news256980343.html Nanotechnology - Nanophysics 2012-05-23T08:26:25-07:00 To modify a metal surface at the scale of atoms and molecules — for instance to refine the wiring in computer chips or the reflective silver in optical components — manufacturers shower it with ions. While the process may seem high-tech and precise, the technique has been limited by the lack of understanding of the underlying physics. In a new study, Brown University engineers modeled noble gas ion bombardments with unprecedented richness, providing long-sought insights into how it works. http://phys.org/news256965978.html Nanotechnology - Nanophysics 2012-05-23T04:26:27-07:00 (Phys.org) -- By taking advantage of graphene’s favorable electrical and optical properties, and then adding an organic dopant, researchers have achieved the highest power conversion efficiency yet for a graphene-based solar cell. The 1.9% power conversion efficiency of the undoped devices increases by more than four times to 8.6% after doping. http://phys.org/news256804344.html Nanotechnology - Nanophysics 2012-05-21T08:50:01-07:00 To prevent terrorist attacks at airports, it would be helpful to detect extremely low concentrations of explosives easily and reliably. Despite the development of various sensor technologies, dogs continue to be the most efficient detectors. In the journal Angewandte Chemie, a German and French team has now described a type of micromechanical sensor with a structure derived from the sense organs of butterflies. http://phys.org/news256568678.html Nanotechnology - Nanophysics 2012-05-18T14:05:09-07:00 Kansas State University researchers have come closer to solving an old challenge of producing graphene quantum dots of controlled shape and size at large densities, which could revolutionize electronics and optoelectronics. http://phys.org/news256494325.html Nanotechnology - Nanophysics 2012-05-17T17:26:06-07:00 In an article in the highly ranked interdisciplinary journal PNAS, Loïg Kergoat, a researcher at Linköping University, describes how transistors made of plastic can be controlled with great precision. http://phys.org/news256380104.html Nanotechnology - Nanophysics 2012-05-16T09:43:35-07:00 (Phys.org) -- Researchers have created an ultrasensitive biosensor that could open up new opportunities for early detection of cancer and "personalized medicine" tailored to the specific biochemistry of individual patients. http://phys.org/news256296373.html Nanotechnology - Nanophysics 2012-05-15T10:27:15-07:00 (Phys.org) -- Researchers in Spain have succeeded in building a photodetector that is a billion times more sensitive than other such detectors based on graphene and could herald the use of graphene based light sensors and solar cells. The team, from the Institut de Ciencies Fotoniques, in Barcelona, describe their research and results in a paper they’ve published in the journal Nature Nanotechnology. http://phys.org/news256289648.html Nanotechnology - Nanophysics 2012-05-15T09:10:01-07:00 (Phys.org) -- There’s nothing worse than a shonky pool table with an unseen groove or bump that sends your shot off course: a new study has found that the same goes at the nano-scale, where the “billiard balls” are tiny electrons moving across a “table” made of the semiconductor gallium arsenide. http://phys.org/news256201146.html Nanotechnology - Nanophysics 2012-05-14T07:59:27-07:00 (Phys.org) -- For more than a decade, scientists have tried to improve lithium-based batteries by replacing the graphite in one terminal with silicon, which can store 10 times more charge. But after just a few charge/discharge cycles, the silicon structure would crack and crumble, rendering the battery useless. http://phys.org/news255944906.html Nanotechnology - Nanophysics 2012-05-11T08:48:38-07:00 (Phys.org) -- When creating nanomaterials, cracking is generally considered a problem; it usually means something has gone wrong and the result, as with other material making processes such as glass or ceramics, almost always means either reprocessing or sending the sample to the trash bin. Now however, a research team in South Korea has found a way to cause cracking on purpose when fabricating a nanomaterial, to produce a required result. They describe their process and results in their paper published in the journal Nature. http://phys.org/news255854530.html Nanotechnology - Nanophysics 2012-05-10T08:30:02-07:00 A group of researchers at the University of California, Riverside Bourns College of Engineering have developed a technique to keep cool a semiconductor material used in everything from traffic lights to electric cars. http://phys.org/news255709643.html Nanotechnology - Nanophysics 2012-05-08T15:27:47-07:00 Traditional silicon-based integrated circuits are found in many applications, from large data servers to cars to cell phones. Their widespread integration is due in part to the semiconductor industry's ability to continue to deliver reliable and scalable performance for decades. http://phys.org/news255282542.html Nanotechnology - Nanophysics 2012-05-03T17:40:02-07:00 Red, green, and blue lasers have become small and cheap enough to find their way into products ranging from BluRay DVD players to fancy pens, but each color is made with different semiconductor materials and by elaborate crystal growth processes. A new prototype technology demonstrates all three of those colors coming from one material. That could open the door to making products, such as high-performance digital displays, that employ a variety of laser colors all at once. http://phys.org/news254905138.html Nanotechnology - Nanophysics 2012-04-29T13:00:07-07:00 Scientists with the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) and the University of California (UC) Berkeley have directed the first self-assembly of nanoparticles into device-ready materials. Through a relatively easy and inexpensive technique based on blending nanoparticles with block co-polymer supramolecules, the researchers produced multiple-layers of thin films from highly ordered one-, two- and three-dimensional arrays of gold nanoparticles. Thin films such as these have potential applications for a wide range of fields, including computer memory storage, energy harvesting, energy storage, remote-sensing, catalysis, light management and the emerging new field of plasmonics. http://phys.org/news254753196.html Nanotechnology - Nanophysics 2012-04-27T13:47:26-07:00 The intense interest in harvesting energy from heat sources has led to a renewed push to discover materials that can more efficiently convert heat into electricity. Some researchers are finding those gains by re-designing materials scientists have been working with for years. http://phys.org/news254584536.html Nanotechnology - Nanophysics 2012-04-25T14:58:23-07:00 Microscopic particles are being coaxed by Duke University engineers to assemble themselves into larger crystalline structures by the use of varying concentrations of microscopic particles and magnetic fields. http://phys.org/news254486242.html Nanotechnology - Nanophysics 2012-04-24T11:37:34-07:00 (Phys.org) -- Researchers from the Georgia Institute of Technology and University of California San Francisco have advanced scientists’ ability to view a clear picture of a single cellular structure in motion. By identifying molecules using compressed sensing, this new method provides needed spatial resolution plus a faster temporal resolution than previously possible. http://phys.org/news254392285.html Nanotechnology - Nanophysics 2012-04-23T09:31:52-07:00 (Phys.org) -- A new x-ray microscope probes the inner intricacies of materials smaller than human cells and creates unparalleled high-resolution 3D images. By integrating unique automatic calibrations, scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Brookhaven National Laboratory are able to capture and combine thousands of images with greater speed and precision than any other microscope. The direct observation of structures spanning 25 nanometers will offer fundamental advances in many fields, including energy research, environmental sciences, biology, and national defense. http://phys.org/news254039046.html Nanotechnology - Nanophysics 2012-04-19T07:24:46-07:00