Nanostructures, as a physical system, are materials or assemblies characterized by at least one spatial dimension in the nanometer range (typically 1–100 nm), where quantum confinement, high surface-to-volume ratio, and size-dependent effects dominate their physical behavior. They include zero-, one-, two-, and three-dimensional architectures such as quantum dots, nanowires, nanotubes, and nanoporous frameworks. In this size regime, electronic, optical, mechanical, and thermal properties deviate markedly from bulk counterparts, enabling tunable band gaps, altered phonon and electron transport, and enhanced catalytic activity. Nanostructures are central platforms in nanophotonics, nanoelectronics, energy conversion, and sensing, where controlled synthesis, morphology, and interface engineering critically determine system performance.
The terahertz (THz) frequency regime, sitting between microwaves and infrared light, has long promised revolutionary advances in wireless communication, security imaging and nondestructive sensing. A key roadblock, however, ...
Nanophysics
Jun 7, 2026
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57
Colloidal photonic glasses offer an appealing way to produce vivid colors without any chemical dyes—but so far, a stubborn optical effect has long prevented them from generating a true red color. Now, Yuwon Jeon and colleagues ...
The CIC biomaGUNE Center for Cooperative Research in Biomaterials has developed pulmonary surfactant nanoparticles (the blend of lipids and proteins that line the alveoli and enables breathing), which are encapsulated in ...
Bio & Medicine
Jun 4, 2026
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11
Designing surfaces that precisely control how light behaves at the nanoscale is tricky. Optical Fourier surfaces, which are nanostructured gratings that redistribute light into specific directions and wavelengths, hold enormous ...
Nanophysics
Jun 4, 2026
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18
Blurry light from lens imperfections is a problem everywhere, from microscopes to telescopes to smartphone cameras. Using a tiny yet carefully engineered optical element and artificial intelligence, University of California ...
Nanophysics
Jun 4, 2026
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42
Researchers in Japan have created some of the world's smallest semiconducting nanotubes, structures 100,000 times thinner than a human hair. By growing molybdenum disulfide inside protective tubes of boron nitride, the researchers, ...
Nanomaterials
Jun 4, 2026
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97
Studying physics can be very useful—even when it comes to machine learning. A digital "super-brain" with built-in knowledge of the fundamental laws of nature can speed up the development of optical components for everything ...
Nanophysics
Jun 4, 2026
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42
Scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) Argonne National Laboratory are helping show what it means to design a material almost atom-by-atom. In two publications, scientists show they can carefully choose the types ...
Nanomaterials
Jun 4, 2026
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8
Graphene, the "wonder material," has shaped much of Suprem Das's research career. From nano-manufacturing to advanced printing for applications such as sensing and energy, Das is committed to finding graphene solutions with ...
Bio & Medicine
Jun 4, 2026
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10
Nanodiamonds are tiny diamond particles only a few nanometers in size. Because they are chemically highly stable and can host so-called color centers, optically active defects in the crystal lattice, they are considered promising ...
Nanophysics
Jun 3, 2026
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11
