Nanotechnology Spotlight – Latest Articles

Showing Spotlights 1977 - 1984 of 3577 in category All (newest first):

Carbon nanotube computer for the masses gets closer

Most of the accomplishments in building carbon nanotube circuits have come at the single-nanotube level. Researchers have been struggling with two major obstacles in building CNT-based circuits: the presence of metallic CNTs and a 'perfect' alignment of nanotubes. In new work, researchers have now demonstrated the ability to fabricate, in a scalable manner, larger-scale CNFET circuits at highly scaled technology nodes. The channel lengths are ranging from 90 nm to sub-20 nm.

April 29, 2014

The long and tortuous path of EUV lithography to full production

EUV lithography was first included in the next-generation lithography road maps in the early 90s, but after about 20 years it is not yet ready for prime time. In this article we briefly analyze the history of EUV in the last 2 decades and the situation as of today. Extreme ultraviolet technology posed and still poses formidable challenges as it is based on principles vastly different from conventional DUV (deep ultraviolet) lithography.

April 24, 2014

A novel approach to Density Functional Theory

In the past decades, the Density Functional Theory (DFT) has been very successful in helping chemists and physicists understand the properties of matter at extremely small scales. Although some problems still remain in the standard implementation of DFT, it represents an important theoretical tool which is used on a daily basis. Scientists now propose a variant of the standard DFT which could pave the way towards the simulation of very complex chemical and physical systems at a quantum level.

April 22, 2014

Magnetic nanovoyagers in human blood (w/video)

While nanotechnology researchers have made great progress over the past few years in developing self-propelled nano objects, these tiny devices still fall far short of what their natural counterparts' performance. Today, artificial nanomotors lack the sophisticated functionality of biomotors and are limited to a very narrow range of environments and fuels. In another step towards realizing the vision of tiny vessels roaming around in human blood vessels working as surgical nanorobots, researchers have now demonstrated, for the first time, externally driven nanomotors that move in undiluted human blood.

April 17, 2014

Topological insulator - a novel optical and microwave-absorbing material

Recently, a new Dirac material - a lattice system where the excitations are described by relativistic Dirac or Weyl equations - namely a topological insulator (TI), entered researchers' sight. TIs possess a small band gap in their bulk state and a gapless metallic state at their edge/surface. A research group working on two-dimensional materials photonicshas now experimentally demonstrated for the first time that TI may be a novel microwave-absorbing material.

April 15, 2014

Researchers achieve complete control over on/off switching of the movement of a nanomachine

Over the past few years, researchers have demonstrated that microtubules driven by kinesin make flexible, responsive and effective molecular shuttles for nanotransport applications. In order to fully control microtubules driven by kinesin it has to be possible to switch them on, switch them off, and regulate the speed and direction of their movements - achievements that until now researchers have't fully attained yet. Now, though, it has become possible, for the first time, to achieve complete control over on/off switching of the movement of a nanomachine.

April 14, 2014

Surface-modified nanocellulose hydrogels for wound dressing

Nanocellulose from wood is a promising nanomaterial with potential applications as a substrate for printing electronics, filtration, or biomedicine. Researchers have now reported on a method to control the surface chemistry of nanocellulose. They fabricated nanocellulose gels that have a significantly higher swelling degree in neutral and alkaline conditions, compared to an acid environment. This material could be of great interest for critical wound healing applications.

April 10, 2014

A novel approach to designing drug-loaded nanoconstructs

Nanomaterials for nanomedicine and biological applications are often two-component structures - referred to as 'nanoconstructs' -consisting of a 'hard' nanoparticle core and a 'soft' shell of biomolecular ligands. Researchers have now demonstrated a nanoconstruct with enhanced in vitro efficacy. This highly loaded nanoconstruct was taken up by pancreatic cancer cells and fibrosarcoma cells at fast rates. The team found that the increased loading of Apt on AuNS also resulted in an enhanced in vitro response.

April 9, 2014