Reviews & Analysis

The ability to excite extreme states of motion such as shock waves in nanomechanical resonators will provide new insights into the interactions between electrons and phonons.

DNA self-assembly is the basis for building three-dimensional structures. Now it is possible to use DNA as 'fuel' to change the shape of these nanostructures.

The electron spin on a semiconductor device can be manipulated with high-speed electrical signals, which is a major step toward scalable quantum computing.

Can ferroelectric materials help transistors overcome the 'Boltzmann tyranny' that limits the performances of conventional semiconductor devices?

A straightforward method for coating nanopore membranes with functional polymers puts a new face on an old friend by enabling the size and adsorption properties of the pores to be easily tuned.

A wide variety of nanomaterials are being explored in the search for technologies that can extract energy from the environment to generate electrical power for sensors and other devices.

Computer simulations suggest a route to making a capacitor that can store electron spin, as well as charge, by applying an electric field to a conventional capacitor.

Graphene has potentially useful electronic properties but it is difficult to produce and process on large scales. Working with chemically modified forms of graphene — such as graphene oxide — may provide an alternative.

Nanoparticles have many potential medical applications but their behaviour in the body is poorly understood. New studies in mice show that particles that don't have targeting molecules attached can selectively enter certain organs solely on the basis of their charge and size.

A cell-targeting peptide can be assembled into well-defined nanoparticles with different shapes and sizes depending on the number of branches present in the hydrocarbon chain it is attached to.