Mar 25, 2024 (Nanowerk News) Understanding the behavior of matter is crucial for advancing scientific fields like biology, chemistry, and materials science. X-ray crystallography has been instrumental in this pursuit, allowing scientists to determine molecular structures with precision. In traditional X-ray crystallography experiments, a single crystal is exposed to X-rays...
The world is one step closer to secure quantum communication on a global scale
Mar 25, 2024 (Nanowerk News) Researchers at the University of Waterloo's Institute for Quantum Computing (IQC) have brought together two Nobel prize-winning research concepts to advance the field of quantum communication. Scientists can now efficiently produce nearly perfect entangled photon pairs from quantum dot sources. The research was published in...
Researchers identify two of the Milky Way’s earliest building blocks
Mar 22, 2024 (Nanowerk News) Astronomers have identified what could be two of the Milky Way’s earliest building blocks: Named “Shakti” and “Shiva”, these appear to be the remnants of two galaxies that merged between 12 and 13 billion years ago with an early version of the Milky Way, contributing...
A 2D ‘antenna’ boosts light emission from carbon nanotubes
Mar 22, 2024 (Nanowerk News) A flat sheet of atoms can act as a kind of antenna that absorbs light and funnels its energy into carbon nanotubes, making them glow brightly ("Resonant exciton transfer in mixed-dimensional heterostructures for overcoming dimensional restrictions in optical processes"). This advance could aid the development...
Insect-inspired antennal sensory system excels in tactile and magnetic perception
Mar 22, 2024 (Nanowerk Spotlight) Insect antennae have long fascinated scientists with their remarkable ability to detect an array of environmental stimuli, from vibrations and surface textures to magnetic fields. These diminutive sensory organs display a level of perceptual acuity that often surpasses that of human skin, enabling insects to...
Downscaling storage devices with chiral spiral magnets
Mar 22, 2024 (Nanowerk News) A team of researchers has proposed a new concept for magnet-based memory devices, which might revolutionize information storage devices owing to their potential for large-scale integration, non-volatility, and high durability. Details of their findings were published in the journal Nature Communications ("Room temperature chirality switching...
Direct laser writing on halide perovskites: from mechanisms to applications
Mar 22, 2024 (Nanowerk News) Metal halide perovskites have become well-deserved “star” materials among a variety of semiconductors owing to their excellent optoelectronics properties, such as high photoluminescence (PL) quantum yield (QY), high absorption coefficient, tunable bandgaps, long carrier diffusion lengths, and high defect tolerance, attracting enormous attention from both...
Plasmonic water safety detector for toxic substances
Mar 22, 2024 (Nanowerk News) Pharmaceutical waste and contaminants present a growing global concern, particularly in the context of drinking water and food safety. Addressing this critical issue, a new study by researchers at Bar-Ilan University’s Department of Chemistry and Institute of Nanotechnology and Advanced Materials has resulted in the...
An endless domino effect (w/video)
Mar 21, 2024 (Nanowerk News) If it walks like a particle, and talks like a particle… it may still not be a particle. A topological soliton is a special type of wave or dislocation which behaves like a particle: it can move around but cannot spread out and disappear like...
Understanding corrosion to enable next-generation metals
Mar 21, 2024 (Nanowerk News) Researchers are using new, experimental techniques like Shear Assisted Processing and Extrusion (ShAPE™) and friction stir welding to produce metal components that are lighter, stronger, and more precise than ever before. But as we enter those new frontiers of metalworking, it’s crucial to understand the...