IndiaNanoResearchers(INR)

A key step in unlocking the potential for greener, faster, smaller electronic circuitry was taken recently by a group of researchers led by UAlberta physicist Robert Wolkow. The research team found a way to delete and replace out-of-place atoms that had been preventing new revolutionary circuitry designs from working. This unleashes a new kind of silicon chips for used in common electronic products, such as our phones and computers. "For the first time, we can unleash the powerful properties inherent to the atomic scale," explained Wolkow, noting that printing errors on silicon chips are inevitable when working at the atomic scale. "We were making things that were close to perfect but not quite there. Now that we have the ability to make corrections, we can ensure perfect patterns, and that makes the circuits work. It is this new ability to edit at the atom scale that makes all the difference." Think of a typing mistake and the ability to go back and white

View of the bismuthene film through the scanning tunnelling microscope. The honeycomb structure of the material (blue) is visible, analogous to graphene. A conducting edge channel (white) forms at the edge of the insulating film (on the right). Credit: Felix Reis It's ultra-thin, electrically conducting at the edge and highly insulating within -- and all that at room temperature: Physicists from the University of Würzburg have developed a promising new material. The material class of topological insulators is presently the focus of international solids research. These materials are electrically insulating within, because the electrons maintain strong bonds to the atoms. At their surfaces, however, they are conductive due to quantum effects. What is more: The electron has a built-in compass needle, the spin, whose orientation is capable of transmitting information very efficiently. It is protected against scattering when moving through these surface channels. Wi

Engineers at Caltech have for the first time developed a light detector that combines two disparate technologies -- nanophotonics, which manipulates light at the nanoscale, and thermoelectrics, which translates temperature differences directly into electron voltage -- to distinguish different wavelengths (colors) of light, including both visible and infrared wavelengths, at high resolution. Light detectors that distinguish between different colors of light or heat are used in a variety of applications, including satellites that study changing vegetation and landscape on Earth and medical imagers that distinguish between healthy and cancerous cells based on their color variations. The new detector, described in a paper in  Nature Nanotechnology on May 22, operates about 10 to 100 times faster than current comparable thermoelectric devices and is capable of detecting light across a wider range of the electromagnetic spectrum than traditional light detectors. In traditional light d

Researchers at the University of Connecticut have found that reducing oxygen in some nanocrystalline materials may improve their strength and durability at elevated temperatures, a promising enhancement that could lead to better biosensors, faster jet engines, and greater capacity semiconductors. "Stabilizing nanocrystals at elevated temperatures is a common challenge," says Peiman Shahbeigi-Roodposhti, a postdoctoral research scholar with UConn's Institute of Materials Science and the study's lead author. "In certain alloys, we found that high levels of oxygen can lead to a significant reduction in their efficiency." Using a special milling process in an enclosed glove box filled with argon gas, UConn scientists, working in collaboration with researchers from North Carolina State University, were able to synthesize nano-sized crystals of Iron-Chromium and Iron-Chromium-Hafnium with oxygen levels as low as 0.01 percent. These nearly oxygen-free alloy

A discovery of how to control and transfer spinning electrons paves the way for novel hybrid devices that could outperform existing semiconductor electronics. In a study published in  Nature Communications , researchers at Linkoping University in Sweden demonstrate how to combine a commonly used semiconductor with a topological insulator, a recently discovered state of matter with unique electrical properties. Just as the Earth spins around its own axis, so does an electron, in a clockwise or counter-clockwise direction. "Spintronics" is the name used to describe technologies that exploit both the spin and the charge of the electron. Current applications are limited, and the technology is mainly used in computer hard drives. Spintronics promises great advantages over conventional electronics, including lower power consumption and higher speed. In terms of electrical conduction, natural materials are classified into three categories: conductors, semiconductors and insul

In today's increasingly powerful electronics, tiny materials are a must as manufacturers seek to increase performance without adding bulk. Smaller also is better for optoelectronic devices -- like camera sensors or solar cells -- which collect light and convert it to electrical energy. Think, for example, about reducing the size and weight of a series of solar panels, producing a higher-quality photo in low lighting conditions, or even transmitting data more quickly. However, two major challenges have stood in the way: First, shrinking the size of conventionally used "amorphous" thin-film materials also reduces their quality. And second, when ultrathin materials become too thin, they become almost transparent and actually lose some ability to gather or absorb light. Now, in a nanoscale photodetector that combines a unique fabrication method and light-trapping structures, a team of engineers from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and the University at Buffalo ha