nanoscale tagged posts

Researchers from ICMAB-CSIC, the Politecnico di Milano and Université de Liège have adapted a direct laser writing technique that allows them to “draw” superconducting properties in a material. The result is a new way to locally program the behavior of a superconductor, tuning it from a fully superconducting state to an insulating one with extraordinary precision.

High-temperature superconductors (HTSC) are materials that can conduct electricity without resistance at higher temperatures than conventional superconductors...

Researchers create a polymer thermal regulator that can quickly transform from a conductor to an insulator, and back again. This control of heat flow at the nanoscale opens up new possibilities in developing switchable thermal devices, solid-state refrigeration, waste heat scavenging, thermal circuits, and computing. This is the first time that this work has been demonstrated experimentally.

Polymers are used to develop various materials, such as plastics, nylons, and rubbers...

Being able to measure, and monitor, temperatures and temperature changes at miniscule scales—inside a cell or in micro and nano-electronic components—has the potential to impact many areas of research from disease detection to a major challenge of modern computation and communication technologies, how to measure scalability and performance in electronic components.

A collaborative team, led by scientists from the University of Technology Sydney (UTS), developed a highly-sensitive nano-thermometer that uses atom-like inclusions in diamond nanoparticles to accurately measure temperature at the nanoscale...

Artist’s representation of Faraon’s quantum memory device. Credit: Ella Maru Studio

Smallest-yet optical quantum memory device is a storage medium for optical quantum networks with the potential to be scaled up for commercial use. For the first time, an international team led by engineers at Caltech has developed a computer chip with nanoscale optical quantum memory. Quantum memory stores information on individual quantum particles – in this case, photons of light.

This allows it to take advantage of the peculiar features of quantum mechanics (such as superposition, in which a quantum element can exist in two distinct states simultaneously) to store data more efficiently and securely...