Category Technology/Electronics

Microscopy of self-oscillation of the crystalline assembly. A crystalline assembly of azobenzene derivative and oleate showed oscillatory bending-unbending motion under continuous 435-nm light irradiation. The frequency of oscillation increased with increasing light intensity. Credit: Copyright Ikegami T. et. al., Angewandte Chemie International Edition, May 19, 2016

Scientists have developed light-powered molecular motors that repetitively bend and unbend, bringing us closer to molecular robots. Researchers are working on mimicking cellular systems to develop molecular motors that can move or even deliver drugs to target tissues. Engineering such motors may ultimately lead to molecular robots that can execute more complex tasks...

This is Tim Burgess with a silicon wafer on which nanostructures are grown. Credit: Stuart Hay, ANU

This will help in development of low-cost biomedical sensors, quantum computing, and a faster internet. Researcher Tim Burgess added atoms of zinc to lasers 1/100 the diameter of a human hair and made of gallium arsenide – a material used extensively in smartphones and other electronic devices. The impurities led to a 100X improvement in the amount of light from the lasers.

“Normally you wouldn’t even bother looking for light from nanocrystals of gallium arsenide – we were initially adding zinc simply to improve the electrical conductivity,” said Mr Burgess, a PhD student, ANU. “It was only when I happened to check for light emission that I realised we were onto something.”

Gallium arsenide ...

This is a bowtie-shaped nanoparticle made of silver with a trapped semiconductor quantum dot (indicated by the red arrow). Credit: Weizmann Institute of Science

Bowtie-shaped Nanostructures may advance development of Quantum devices. Made of silver, these may help bring the dream of quantum computing and quantum information processing closer to reality. They greatly simplify the experimental conditions for studying quantum phenomena and may one day be developed into crucial components.

Led by Prof. Gilad Haran of Weizmann’s Chemical Physics Department the team manufactured 2D bowtie-shaped silver nanoparticles with a minuscule gap of about 20 nanometers in the center...

Diagram showing the mechanism of the technique developed in this study. External voltage is applied to insert/remove lithium ions present in the solid electrolyte (lithium silicate) into/from the magnetic material (Fe3O4) to tune magnetoresistance and magnetization. Credit: Copyright NIMS

Scientists developed a device capable of controlling magnetism at a lower current level than conventional spintronics devices. The new device was fabricated by combining a solid electrolyte with a magnetic material, and enabling insertion/removal of ions into/from the magnetic material through application of voltage.

A research team of International center for Materials Nanoarchitectonics (MANA) developed a device capable of controlling magnetism at a lower current level than conventional spintronics devi...