Science

Tags:

Scientists craft atomically seamless, thinnest-possible semiconductor junctions

Scientists have developed what they believe is the thinnest-possible semiconductor, a new class of nanoscale materials made in sheets only three atoms thick.

50032.jpg
As seen under an optical microscope, the heterostructures have a triangular shape. The two different monolayer semiconductors can be recognized through their different colors.

Tags:

Competition for Graphene: Berkeley Lab Researchers Demonstrate Ultrafast Charge Transfer in New Family of 2D Semiconductors

A new argument has just been added to the growing case for graphene being bumped off its pedestal as the next big thing in the high-tech world by the two-dimensional semiconductors known as MX2 materials. An international collaboration of researchers led by a scientist with the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE)'s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) has reported the first experimental observation of ultrafast charge transfer in photo-excited MX2 materials. The recorded charge transfer time clocked in at under 50 femtoseconds, comparable to the fastest times recorded for organic photovoltaics.

50029.jpg
Illustration of a MoS2/WS2 heterostructure with a MoS2 monolayer lying on top of a WS2 monolayer. Electrons and holes created by light are shown to separate into different layers.

Tags:

Symphony of nanoplasmonic and optical resonators leads to magnificent laser-like light emission

By combining plasmonics and optical microresonators, researchers at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign have created a new optical amplifier (or laser) design, paving the way for power-on-a-chip applications.

50028.png
Hybrid optoplasmonic system showing the operation of amplification.

Tags:

Researchers Map Quantum Vortices Inside Superfluid Helium Nanodroplets - See more at: http://newscenter.lbl.gov/2014/08/21/researchers-map-quantum-vortices-inside-superfluid-helium-nanodroplets/#sthash.I4qBLFRX.dpuf

First-ever snapshots of spinning nanodroplets reveal surprising features. - See more at: http://newscenter.lbl.gov/2014/08/21/researchers-map-quantum-vortices-inside-superfluid-helium-nanodroplets/#sthash.I4qBLFRX.dpuf

Droplet_art_fin3-300x197.jpg
Illustration of analysis of superfluid helium nanodroplets. Droplets are emitted via a cooled nozzle (upper right) and probed with x-ray from the free-electron laser. The multicolored pattern (upper left) represents a diffraction pattern that reveals the shape of a droplet and the presence of quantum vortices such as those represented in the turquoise circle with swirls (bottom center).

Tags:

First Galileo spacecraft launched carrying navigational payloads supplied by UK company, SSTL

FOC%20Search%20and%20Rescue%20Antenna_75dpi.jpg

Tags:

Tissue regeneration using anti-inflammatory nanomolecules

Anyone who has suffered an injury can probably remember the after-effects, including pain, swelling or redness. These are signs that the body is fighting back against the injury. When tissue in the body is damaged, biological programs are activated to aid in tissue regeneration. An inflammatory response acts as a protective mechanism to enable repair and regeneration, helping the body to heal after injuries such as wounds and burns. However, the same mechanism may interfere with healing in situations in which foreign material is introduced, for example when synthetics are grafted to skin for dermal repair. In such cases, the inflammation may lead to tissue fibrosis, which creates an obstacle to proper physiological function.

The research group of Arun Sharma, PhD has been working on innovative approaches to tissue regeneration in order to improve the lives of patients with urinary bladder dysfunction. Among their breakthroughs was a medical model for regenerating bladders using stem cells harvested from a donor's own bone marrow, reported in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences in 2013.

Tags:

A breakthrough in imaging gold nanoparticles to atomic resolution by electron microscopy

Nanometre-scale gold particles are intensively investigated for application as catalysts, sensors, drug delivery devices, biological contrast agents and components in photonics and molecular electronics. Gaining knowledge of their atomic-scale structures, fundamental for understanding physical and chemical properties, has been challenging. Now, researchers at Stanford University, USA, have demonstrated that high-resolution electron microscopy can be used to reveal a three-dimensional structure in which all gold atoms are observed. The results are in close agreement with a structure predicted at the University of Jyväskylä, Finland, on the basis of theoretical modelling and infrared spectroscopy.

50018.jpg
This is a visualization of the atomic structure of the Au68 gold nanoparticle determined by electron microscopy. The colored spheres denote gold atoms in different crystal shells around the central axis (red). The background shows a collection of real-life electron microscopy data from which the single structure shown was reconstructed.

Tags:

Shaping the Future of Nanocrystals: Berkeley Lab Researchers Obtain First Direct Observation of Facet Formation in Nanocubes

The first direct observations of how facets form and develop on platinum nanocubes point the way towards more sophisticated and effective nanocrystal design and reveal that a nearly 150 year-old scientific law describing crystal growth breaks down at the nanoscale.

50016.jpg
Berkeley Lab researchers found that differences in ligand mobility during crystallization cause the low index facets – {100}, {110} and {111} – to stop growing at different times, resulting in the crystal’s final cubic shape.

Tags:

Voyager Map Details Neptune's Strange Moon Triton

pia18668-640_0.jpg
The Voyager 2 spacecraft flew by Triton, a moon of Neptune, in the summer of 1989. Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Lunar & Planetary Institute

Tags:

Mars Rover Team Chooses Not to Drill 'Bonanza King'

pia18603-640_0.jpg
This image from the front Hazcam on NASA's Curiosity Mars rover shows the rover's drill in place during a test of whether the rock beneath it, "Bonanza King," would be an acceptable target for drilling to collect a sample. Subsequent analysis showed the rock budged during the Aug. 19, 2014, test.

Could not connect2