Dec 17, 2021 (Nanowerk News) An international team of astronomers has revealed a new map of the Milky Way’s outer disc showing remains of tidal arms excited from interactions with satellite galaxies in the distant past. The findings were published in the Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society ("Kinematics...
Light-controlled spontaneous growth of nanostructures
Dec 17, 2021 (Nanowerk News) PhD student Marloes Bistervels from the Self-Organizing Matter research group at AMOLF has managed to use light to very precisely control the formation of nanocomposites in the shape of corals and vases. By illuminating a solution of the right ingredients with UV light, she can...
Magnetic ‘hedgehogs’ could store big data in a small space
Dec 17, 2021 (Nanowerk News) Atomic-scale magnetic patterns resembling a hedgehog’s spikes could result in hard disks with massively larger capacities than today’s devices, a new study suggests. The finding could help data centers keep up with the exponentially increasing demand for video and cloud data storage. In a study...
Binary mesocrystals from the nano-building kit
Dec 17, 2021 (Nanowerk News) Mesocrystals are a class of solids formed by the regular arrangement of nanocrystals, which are tiny nanoparticles that have unique properties due to their small size. In mesocrystals, these take on a highly organized, superordinate form in a densely packed grid. A German-Swiss research team...
Dynamic gating process observed at sub-2 nm speed in nanochannels
Dec 17, 2021 (Nanowerk News) In a recent study published in Matter ("Dynamically modulated gating process of nanoporous membrane at sub-2-nm speed"), Chinese researchers observed the dynamic gating process at sub-2 nm speed in nanochannels. Dr. ZHOU Yahong from Prof. JIANG Lei's team of the Technical Institute of Physics and...
Giving bug-like bots a boost
Dec 17, 2021 (Nanowerk News) When it comes to robots, bigger isn’t always better. Someday, a swarm of insect-sized robots might pollinate a field of crops or search for survivors amid the rubble of a collapsed building. MIT researchers have demonstrated diminutive drones that can zip around with bug-like agility...
Scientists successfully manipulate a single skyrmion at room temperature
Dec 17, 2021 (Nanowerk News) Scientists from the RIKEN Center for Emergent Matter Science and collaborators have shown that they can manipulate single skyrmions—tiny magnetic vortices that could be used as computing bits in future ultra-dense information storage devices—using pulses of electric current, at room temperature. Skyrmions—tiny particles that can...
Fabricating stable, high-mobility transistors for next-generation display technologies
Dec 16, 2021 (Nanowerk News) Amorphous oxide semiconductors (AOS) are a promising option for the next generation of display technologies due to their low costs and high electron (charge carrier) mobility. The high mobility, in particular, is essential for high-speed images. But AOSs also have a distinct drawback that is...
Nanodiamonds are key to efficient hydrogen purification
Dec 16, 2021 (Nanowerk News) Nanodiamonds may be tiny, but they can help with one of the biggest problems facing humanity today: Climate change. Hydrogen, a clean-burning fuel, leaves nothing but water when consumed. Many countries view hydrogen as a way to a zero-carbon future, but switching to a hydrogen...
Energy-saving glass ‘self-adapts’ to heating and cooling demand
Dec 16, 2021 (Nanowerk News) An international research team led by scientists from Nanyang Technological University, Singapore (NTU Singapore) has developed a material that, when coated on a glass window panel, can effectively self-adapt to heat or cool rooms across different climate zones in the world, helping to cut energy...