Recent Headlines:

Nanofabrication:

Nanoscale ‘Conversations’ Create Complex, Multi-Layered Structures – Brookhaven National Laboratory

Ever since scientists discovered that atomically thin materials could have useful electronic properties, engineers have been seeking ways to mass-produce so-called single-layer chips. A new technique shows how it might be done.

Flexible Device Captures Energy From Human Motion – PHYS

Building nanomaterials with features spanning just billionths of a meter requires extraordinary precision. Scaling up that construction while increasing complexity presents a significant hurdle to the widespread use of such nano-engineered materials.

Miniscule Amounts of Impurities in Vacuum Greatly Affecting OLED Lifetime – EurekAlert!

Reproducibility is a necessity for science but has often eluded researchers studying the lifetime of organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs). Recent research from Japan sheds new light on why: impurities present in the vacuum chamber during fabrication but in amounts so small that they are easily overlooked.

Process Watch: Hitback Analysis Improves Defect Visibility – Solid State Technology

In order to maximize the profitability of an IC manufacturer’s new process node or product introduction, an early and fast yield ramp is required. Key to achieving this rapid yield ramp is the ability to provide quality and actionable data to the engineers making decisions on process quality and needed improvements.

Nanotech ‘Superbatteries’ That Can Last Longer and Charge Faster That Current Tech Begin Mass Production – Daily Mail

A Czech company opened on Monday a production line for batteries based on nanotechnology, which uses tiny parts invisible to human eyes.

Photonics:

Advance in Intense Pulsed Light Sintering Opens Door to Improved Electronics Manufacturing – Solid State Technology

Faster production of advanced, flexible electronics is among the potential benefits of a discovery by researchers at Oregon State University’s College of Engineering.

The Hidden Inferno Inside Your Laser Pointer – University of Arizona

Two UA physicists have discovered that basic concepts such as “hot” or “cold” apply to any system, even those far from equilibrium. Challenging established wisdom, the findings could possibly inform the design of future microelectronic devices and help bring some order around fundamental concepts in thermodynamics.

Optical Fiber Probe Detects Breast Cancer – Photonics Media

Using an optical fiber probe, researchers have developed a more precise technique to distinguish breast cancer tissue from normal tissue. This novel device will potentially give surgeons the upper hand when removing breast cancer and prevent follow-up surgeries, which are currently needed for 15 to 20 percent of breast cancer surgery patients where all the cancer is not removed.

A Smart Window Powers Itself – C&EN

Windows that go from see-through to cloudy at the flip of a switch can provide privacy and help buildings stay cool on sunny days. Such smart glass, while expensive, is starting to find its way into airplanes, cars, and houses. Now, by integrating a rudimentary solar cell into this switchable glass, researchers have made a smart window that can power itself.

HPE’s New Chip Marks a Milestone in Optical Computing – IEEE Spectrum

We may use photons to carry our data, but we rely on the electron to put it to use. One day that division of labor might not be so stark. A team at Hewlett Packard Labs, in Palo Alto, Calif., has built a demonstration chip that could help push some particularly thorny computations into the realm of light, potentially boosting speed and saving energy in the process.

Telecommunications Light Amplifier Could Strengthen Integrity of Transmitted Data – Solid State Technology

Imagine a dim light which is insufficiently bright enough to illuminate a room. An amplifier for such a light would increase the brightness by increasing the number of photons emitted. Photonics researchers have created such a high gain optical amplifier that is compact enough to be placed on a chip. The developed amplifier, when used within an optical interconnect such as a transceiver or fiber optic network, would help to efficiently increase the power of the transmitted light before it is completely depleted through optical losses.

Bio-Medical:

A Transistor-like pH Nanoprobe for Tumour Detection and Image-guided Surgery – Nature

Here, we report the design and performance of a fluorescent nanoprobe with transistor-like responses (transition pH = 6.9) for the detection of deregulated pH, which drives many of the invasive properties of cancer.

New Drug Delivery System Doubles Mesothelioma Survival – Surviving Mesothelioma

A new method for delivering cancer-fighting drugs directly into mesothelioma tumors has been shown to more that double mesothelioma survival in a new animal study.

New Nanoparticle Discovery May Eliminate Cold Storage for Some Tests – Lab Manager

Many diagnostic tests use antibodies to help confirm a myriad of medical conditions, from Zika infections to heart ailments and even some forms of cancer. Antibodies capture and help detect proteins, enzymes, bacteria, and viruses present in injuries and illnesses, and must be kept at a constant low temperature to ensure their viability—often requiring refrigeration powered by electricity. This can make diagnostic testing in underdeveloped countries, disaster or remote areas, and even war zones extremely expensive and difficult.

Keystone Nano Announces FDA Approval Of Investigational New Drug Application For Ceramide NanoLiposome For The Improved Treatment Of Cancer – Yahoo!

Keystone Nano, Inc., a biopharmaceutical company focused on improving cancer treatments through the application of nanotechnology, announced today that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved the company’s Investigational New Drug (IND) Application to assess Ceramide NanoLiposome in the treatment of solid tumors.

Materials:

Enhanced Energy: ONR Global Seeks More Powerful Electronic Devices – ONR Science & Technology

Groundbreaking energy research from the United Arab Emirates, sponsored by the Office of Naval Research Global (ONRG), is the focus of an article published this week in the acclaimed Nature Magazine journal “Scientific Reports.”

Stanford Scientists See Big Potential For Tiny Wires – The Mecury News

Using microscopic bits of diamonds, scientists at SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory have created the world’s smallest electrical wire, measuring only three atoms wide.

Electrifying News… Nano-modified Aerospace Composites – University of Surrey

New technology that could enhance both the electrical and thermal conductivity of conventional composite materials has been developed thanks to a collaboration between the University of Surrey, University of Bristol and aerospace company Bombardier.

Scientists Design New Heat-guiding Device That is Thinner Than a Hair – Nano Werk

Researchers at Singapore University of Technology and Design (SUTD), University of Bath and University of Cambridge have designed for the first time a heat-guiding structure on the size of nanometers that can steer heat away from, or even towards critical regions of current silicon (or advanced chalcogenide) chips through computer simulations.

Nano-chimneys can Cool Circuits – RICE

A few nanoscale adjustments may be all that is required to make graphene-nanotube junctions excel at transferring heat, according to Rice University scientists.

Nanotechnology Enables New Insights into Chemical Reactions – AlphaGalileo

Eighty percent of all products of the chemical industry are manufactured with catalytic processes. Catalysis is also indispensable in energy conversion and treatment of exhaust gases. It is important for these processes to run as quickly and efficiently as possible; that protects the environment while also saving time and conserving resources.

Sensors:

NIST Device for Detecting Subatomic-Scale Motion Has Potential Robotics, Homeland Security Applications – NIST

Scientists at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) have developed a new device that measures the motion of super-tiny particles traversing distances almost unimaginably small—shorter than the diameter of a hydrogen atom, or less than one-millionth the width of a human hair.

Sensor Sensation – Solid State Technology

Microfluidic platforms have revolutionized medical diagnostics in recent years. Instead of sending blood or urine samples off to a laboratory for analysis, doctors can test a single drop of a patient’s blood or urine for various diseases at point-of-care without the need for expensive instruments.