Nanotechnology News – Latest Headlines

Ultralight, flexible, fire-resistant carbon nanotube aerogels from bacterial cellulose

They can absorb vast amounts of oil or organic compounds, yet they are nearly as light as air: highly porous solids made of a three-dimensional network of carbon nanotubes.

Mar 6th, 2013

Inorganic-organic hybrid photovoltaic devices as sustainable energy generation

Hybrid inorganic-organic photovoltaic devices are attractive as next generation high efficiency thin film solar cells, but the photovoltaic performance is still low level compared with inorganic solar cells of Si, Cu(InGa)Se2 , and organic solar cells of C60.

Mar 6th, 2013

Carbon nanocoils fracture like an automobile spring

Carbon nanocoils (CNCs) composed of helical shaped carbon nanofibers have potential applications including mechanical springs, nano-solenoids, and field emitters. Researchers have now described the CNC fracturing properties of eight CNCs using focused ion beam modification.

Mar 6th, 2013

Nanostructured electron source makes for better imaging and communications

This new, patent-pending technology could lead to improved microwave communications and radar, and more notably to new and improved X-ray imaging systems for security and health-care applications.

Mar 6th, 2013

First discovery of a natural topological insulator

In a step toward understanding and exploiting an exotic form of matter that has been sparking excitement for potential applications in a new genre of supercomputers, scientists are reporting the first identification of a naturally occurring topological insulator.

Mar 6th, 2013

Nanotechnology researchers develop material to detect caesium with naked eyes

Micrometre-level naked-eye detection of caesium ions, a major source of contamination in the vicinity of radioactive leaks, is demonstrated in a material developed by researchers in Japan.

Mar 6th, 2013

Key EUV milestone, DSA progress, more reported at SPIE Advanced Lithography

Significant progress in EUV lithography as well as demonstrations of DSA advancements were among highlights at SPIE Advanced Lithography, the industry's leading annual forum on state-of-the-art lithographic tools, resists, metrology, materials characterization, and design and process integration. Researchers and developers from around the world met in San Jose, California, to report on advances in chip-making technologies that enable computers, smartphones, and other vital applications.

Mar 6th, 2013

Nanoanalytics shows how a change in conductivity works in a two-dimensional layer

Organic materials are comparatively poor conductors of electricity. Under certain conditions, however, this can change significantly. Physicists have now experimentally determined how exactly such a change in conductivity works in a two-dimensional layer.

Mar 6th, 2013

Monitoring the movements of individual molecules in liquid flow

Blood, paint or ketchup are complex liquids composed of several different components. For the construction of pumps, or the improvement of technical processes scientists and engineers need description models. They make the special properties of such liquids predictable.

Mar 6th, 2013

Nanoelectronics conference will focus on semiconductor industry's future

How the semiconductor industry can create the next generations of nanoscale computing technology will be one of the themes of the 2013 International Conference on Frontiers of Characterization and Metrology for Nanoelectronics, to be held at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), March 25-28, 2013.

Mar 5th, 2013

European Chemicals Agency updates IUCLID user manual for nanomaterials

The IUCLID User Manual "Nanomaterials in IUCLID 5" includes instructions on how registrants can explicitly report when a nanoform has been used in (experimental) studies. It will help registrants to prepare or update registration dossiers for substances that are nanomaterials or include nanoforms.

Mar 5th, 2013

Nanoclusters in steel add strength, stability under irradiated conditions

In this study, scientists used various analysis tools, including EMSL's atom probe tomography (APT), focused ion beam, and accelerator capabilities, to examine complex oxide nanoclusters within oxide dispersion strengthened, or ODS, steels to determine their potential resistance and stability under a range of irradiation conditions.