A nano-scale material does strange things. True is ferromagnetic metal compound in large quantities, but when its thickness is reduced to nanometric values, it becomes an insulator, and loses much of its ferromagnetism. Still the same material, but holds a very different behavior.

Using a spectroscopic technique with atomic resolution, a team of researchers, who include David A. Muller, Lena Fitting Kourkoutis of Cornell University, has concluded why this happens and how to grow extremely thin manganite films that retain their magnetic properties.

When this technique is sufficiently refined, it may be possible to lay the foundation for new developments that allow manganites and other oxides to replace silicon in electronic components based on thin films, in data storage and other technologies. (more…)

There has developed a new technique for manipulation of particles that may be useful for medical diagnostics, to detect possible contamination of food and water, and coroners investigating of the scene of a crime.

The technique uses a combination of light and electric fields to the desired position as tiny droplets containing biological particles such as bacteria, viruses and even DNA, and also to position such particles in the required location within the drop. (more…)

A team of scientists has discovered the world’s smallest superconductor, a sheet of four pairs of molecules of less than one nanometer. The study provides the first evidence that it is possible to produce superconducting wires molecular nano-scale that could be used for electronic devices nano-metric and certain power transmission systems.

It has been determined that it is almost impossible to make nano-scale interconnects using metal wires because the resistance increases as wire size decreases. The nano-wires are heated to the point where they can melt. That problem has been a major impediment to the development of nano-devices that are practical to use. (more…)

Chemists at New York University and Nanjing University in China have developed a device nanorobot.That can manipulate molecules within the DNA.”What we aim to put structures in nanotechnology is molecular or even atomic scales where and when we put them with total accuracy,” said Professor Nadrian Seeman of NYU, a member of the project.

The device, which measures 150 x 50 x 8 nanometers, is the work of Seeman in this area, his first work was a similar technology but one arm, and was groundbreaking in its time introducing a device capable of nanotechnological manipulate a section of DNA. (more…)

By placing quantum dots on a specially designed photonic crystal, researchers at the University of Illinois have shown that strengthening the fluorescence intensity by a factor of 108. Potential applications include light-emitting diodes, high-gloss, optical switches and personalized high-sensitivity bio sensors.

Researchers are using photonic crystals in a new way. The tune to the specific wavelength of a laser that stimulates quantum dots, allowing you to use energy more efficiently and increase the brightness. (more…)

A new technique for creating films of barium titanate nano particles in a polymer matrix could allow fabrication of improved capacitors able to store as much as twice the energy of conventional devices. The improved capacitors could be used in everyday appliances like mobile phones, and in applications that require both storage of large amounts of energy and the rapid current discharge.

Because of its high dielectric properties, barium titanate has been of interest for a long time for use in capacitors, but until recently scientists had been unable to produce good dispersion of the material within a polymer matrix. (more…)