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nanotechnology (84)

TBG and Ferromagnets...

Posted by Reginald L. Goodwin on July 29, 2019 at 5:00am
magic-angle.jpeg
Magic angle graphene superlattice. Scale=10 nm. Courtesy: P Jarillo-Herrero

 

Topics: Ferromagnetism, Graphene, Hall Effect, Magnetic Resonance Imaging, Nanotechnology


Researchers have found that electrons organize themselves into a new kind of ferromagnet in twisted bilayer graphene (TBG). In this system, which forms when two sheets of graphene are stacked on top of one another with a small twist angle between them, it is the orbital motion of electrons, rather than their spins, that aligns. Such behavior could produce emergent topological states that might be exploited in applications such as low-power magnetic memory in the future.

Graphene is a flat crystal of carbon just one atom thick. When two sheets of the material are placed on top of each other and misaligned by rotating them relative to each other, they form a moiré pattern. Last year, researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) found that at a “magic” twist angle of 1.1°, the material becomes a superconductor (that is, it can carry currents with no losses) at 1.7 K. This effect, which occurs thanks to miniband flattening at this angle that strongly enhances interactions between electrons in the material, disappears at slightly larger or smaller angle twists.

A team of researchers led by David Goldhaber-Gordon of Stanford University has now found unambiguous evidence of ferromagnetism – as the giant anomalous Hall (AH) effect – in TBG when its flat conduction miniband is three-quarters filled.

 

Ferromagnetism appears in twisted bilayer graphene, Belle Dumé, Physics World

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How We See the Small...

Posted by Reginald L. Goodwin on July 17, 2019 at 1:28pm
800px-AFM_used_cantilever_in_Scanning_Electron_Microscope_magnification_1000x.jpg
View of cantilever on an atomic force microscope (magnification 1000x).
Credit: SecretDisc GFDL, CC-BY-SA-3.0

 

Topics: Atomic Force Microscopy, Nanotechnology, Optics, Scanning Electron Microscope


Cell reproduction, disease detection and semiconductor optimization are just some of the areas of research that have exploited the atomic force microscope. First invented by Calvin Quate, Gerd Binnig and Christoph Gerber in the mid 1980s, atomic force microscopy (AFM) brought the atomic resolution recently achieved by the scanning tunnelling microscope to non-conducting samples, and helped to catalyse the avalanche of science and technology based on nanostructures that now permeates all aspects of modern life from smartphones to tennis rackets. On 6 July 2019 Calvin Quate died aged 95 at his home in Menlo Park, California.

Long before the development of AFM, Quate’s research had made waves in microscopy. 1978 had seen the announcement of the scanning acoustic microscope, which achieved the sensitivity of optical microscopy but probed samples so softly that it could image the interiors of living cells without damaging them. The technique uses high frequency sound waves in place of light, which penetrate deep into structures to image internal structures non-destructively. It is widely used in quality control of electronic component assembly among other applications such as printed circuit boards and medical products.
 

Advanced microscopy pioneer leaves broad ranging legacy
Anna Demming, Physics World

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Your iPhone as Tricorder...

Posted by Reginald L. Goodwin on June 11, 2019 at 1:03pm
Silicon chips similar to those that would be used in the detection process. Credit: Vanderbilt University/Heidi Hall

 

Topics: Applied Physics, Medical Physics, Nanotechnology, Star Trek


The simplest home medical tests might look like a deck of various silicon chips coated in special film, one that could detect drugs in the blood, another for proteins in the urine indicating infection, another for bacteria in water and the like. Add the bodily fluid you want to test, take a picture with your smart phone, and a special app lets you know if there's a problem or not.

That's what electrical engineer Sharon Weiss, Cornelius Vanderbilt Professor of Engineering at Vanderbilt University, and her students developed in her lab, combining their research on low-cost, nanostructured thin films with a device most American adults already own. "The novelty lies in the simplicity of the basic idea, and the only costly component is the smart phone," Weiss said.

"Most people are familiar with silicon as being the material inside your computer, but it has endless uses," she said. "With our nanoscale porous silicon, we've created these nanoscale holes that are a thousand times smaller than your hair. Those selectively capture molecules when pre-treated with the appropriate surface coating, darkening the silicon, which the app detects."
 

 

iPhone plus nanoscale porous silicon equals cheap, simple home diagnostics
Heidi Hall, Vanderbilt University, Phys.org

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SLIPS...

Posted by Reginald L. Goodwin on May 27, 2019 at 5:00am
A novel, highly sensitive molecular sensor together with a first-of-its-kind histamine detector comprise abbieSense, a device that can diagnose and assess the severity of an allergic reaction within five minutes. Credit: Wyss Institute at Harvard University

 

Topics: Applied Physics, Fluid Mechanics, Microfluidics, Nanofluidics, Nanotechnology

 


The need for an inexpensive, super-repellent surface cuts across a vast swath of societal sectors—from refrigeration and architecture, to medical devices and consumer products. Most state-of-the-art liquid repellent surfaces designed in the last decade are modeled after lotus leaves, which are extremely hydrophobic due to their rough, waxy surface and the physics of their natural design. However, none of the lotus-inspired materials designed so far has met the mark: they may repel water but they fail to repel oils, fail under physical stress, cannot self-heal – and are expensive to boot.

‘SLIPS’ technology, inspired by the slippery pitcher plant that repels almost every type of liquid and solid, is a unique approach to coating industrial and medical surfaces that is based on nano/microstructured porous material infused with a lubricating fluid. By locking in water and other fluids, SLIPS technology creates slick, exceptionally repellent and robust self-cleaning surfaces on metals, plastics, optics, textiles and ceramics. These slippery surfaces repel almost any fouling challenge a surface may face—whether from bacteria, ice, water, oil, dust, barnacles, or other contaminants.

 

Wyss Institute, Harvard: Slippery Liquid Infused Porous Surfaces

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