Nanotechnology News – Latest Headlines

45-year physics mystery shows a path to quantum transistors

An odd, iridescent material that's puzzled physicists for decades turns out to be an exotic state of matter that could open a new path to quantum computers and other next-generation electronics.

Dec 5th, 2014

Nanoparticle cluster manufacturing technique using DNA binding protein

Scientists used the Zinc Finger protein to develop a new manufacturing technique for size-controllable magnetic nanoparticle clusters.

Dec 5th, 2014

New technique offers spray-on solar power (w/video)

It may look more like Junk Yard Wars than high-tech, but a researcher's new design is the first step towards spray-on solar cells - bringing efficient, low-cost manufacturing of solar cells closer.

Dec 5th, 2014

X-ray laser allows to 'see' atomic changes in proteins with record resolution (w/video)

Scientists have proven a method that makes it possible to find the atomic structure of proteins in action by producing 'snapshots' of them with unprecedented spatial and temporal resolution.

Dec 5th, 2014

High efficiency electrodeposited ZnO-Nanowire/Cu2O photovoltaic devices

ZnO nanowire were used to expand the active layer in the Cu2O light-absorbing layer and in the highly resistive i-ZnO layer to reduce the recombination loss at the heterointerface of ZnO/Cu2O photovoltaic devices.

Dec 5th, 2014

High photosensitivity few-layered MoSe2 back-gated field-effect phototransistors

Researchers have fabricated back-gated field-effect phototransistors made of MoSe2 crystals having a thickness of only twenty nanometers. The devices were fabricated by mechanical cleavage of MoSe2 crystals into few-layered flakes, followed by transfer onto a silicon wafer with pre-deposited titanium electrodes.

Dec 5th, 2014

Ultrafast complex molecular simulations by 'cutting up molecules'

Scientists have developed an ultrafast quantum chemical method, which allows rapid and accurate simulations of complex molecular systems consisting of thousands of molecules.

Dec 5th, 2014

Atomic 'mismatch' creates nano 'dumbbells'

Researchers are closer to understanding the process by which nanoparticles made of more than one material - called heterostructured nanoparticles - form. This process, known as heterogeneous nucleation, is the same mechanism by which beads of condensation form on a windowpane.

Dec 5th, 2014

Light propagation in solar cells made visible

How can light which has been captured in a solar cell be examined in experiments? Scientists have succeeded in looking directly at light propagation within a solar cell by using a trick. The photovoltaics researchers are working on periodic nanostructures that efficiently capture a portion of sunlight which is normally only poorly absorbed.

Dec 5th, 2014

Filming chemistry with a high speed x-ray camera

A chemical reaction is a rearrangement of atoms in and between molecules, the breaking of old and the formation of new bonds. The glue that binds atoms in molecules and creates the bonds between them is made out of valence electrons. Scientists were able to show theoretically that the ultrafast x-ray camera is not only sensitive to inert core electrons but may also visualize the motion of chemically active valence electrons.