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As the removal of excess heat becomes increasingly important in semiconductor devices, localized thermoelectric cooling might be the answer to the problem of hotspots.
Graphene samples with areas of several square centimetres and excellent electrical and optical properties have been fabricated using chemical vapour deposition.
The observation of a Mott transition from a metal to an insulator in an ultraclean carbon nanotube could open the door to a new generation of experiments that explore the influence of electron correlations on the properties of condensed-matter systems.
Current diagnostic tools detect cartilage degeneration only at advanced stages, but the atomic force microscope can now detect structural changes earlier, paving the way for treatment of joint diseases.
Information can be encoded in electron waves on a surface using electronic holograms constructed from single molecules. The information is stored in two spatial dimensions and one energy dimension, and is read with a scanning tunnelling microscope.
Semiconducting inks based on carbon nanotubes have mobilities that are comparable with those of polycrystalline silicon, and could one day match the performance of single-crystal silicon. A host of applications based on this inexpensive approach to electronics are expected.
It is possible to couple the spins of molecular nanomagnets — each acting as a quantum bit — to make an entangled state that could prove useful in a quantum computer.
New insights are emerging about the interactions between brain cells and carbon nanotubes, which could eventually lead to the development of nanoengineered neural devices.
Charged nanoparticles can alter the local physical properties of lipid membranes, which could shed new light on the interactions between living cells and nanomaterials.
Theorists have shown that the forces between atoms in an atomic-scale contact can do work when an electronic current is passed through it, opening up the possibility that current could be used to drive atomic-scale motors.
Research into public perceptions of nanotechnology is becoming more rigorous as increasingly complex theoretical models are developed and tested by social scientists.
By measuring changes in the photoluminescence of single-walled carbon nanotubes caused by the presence of molecules that damage DNA, it could be possible to build a biosensor that can identify multiple analytes in real time.
Two independent groups have demonstrated an unprecedented degree of control over the crystal structure and defect distribution in semiconductor nanowires
Protein nanoparticles derived from viruses are commonly studied, but a new rod-shaped thermophilic virus isolated from acidic hot springs may yield another class of protein building blocks that are stable and can be selectively modified with diverse chemical groups.
