Shaping light lets 2D microscopes capture 4D data

Invention adds new dimension to fluorescent microscopy

20-Feb-2019 - Rice University researchers have added a new dimension to their breakthrough technique that expands the capabilities of standard laboratory microscopes. Two years ago, the Rice lab of chemist Christy Landes introduced super temporal resolution microscopy, a technique that allowed researchers to ...

Carrying and releasing nanoscale cargo with 'nanowrappers'

Nanocubes for biomedicine, catalysis and beyond

08-Jan-2019 - This holiday season, scientists at the Center for Functional Nanomaterials (CFN)--a U.S. Department of Energy Office of Science User Facility at Brookhaven National Laboratory--have wrapped a box of a different kind. Using a one-step chemical synthesis method, they engineered hollow metallic ...

Microscope creates near-real-time videos of nanoscale processes

16-Dec-2015 - State-of-the-art atomic force microscopes (AFMs) are designed to capture images of structures as small as a fraction of a nanometer. In recent years, AFMs have produced desktop-worthy close-ups of atom-sized structures, from single strands of DNA to individual hydrogen bonds between ...

UO-industry collaboration points to improved nanomaterials

University of Oregon microscope puts spotlight on the surface structure of quantum dots for designing new solar devices

02-Dec-2014 - A potential path to identify imperfections and improve the quality of nanomaterials for use in next-generation solar cells has emerged from a collaboration of University of Oregon and industry researchers. To increase light-harvesting efficiency of solar cells beyond silicon's limit of about 29 ...

The future face of molecular electronics

Thin layer of picene molecules attached to a silver surface maintain their structure and function, demonstrating potential for electronic applications

18-Sep-2014 - The emerging field of molecular electronics could take our definition of portable to the next level, enabling the construction of tiny circuits from molecular components. In these highly efficient devices, individual molecules would take on the roles currently played by comparatively-bulky wires, ...

Study helps unlock mystery of high-temp superconductors

07-Jul-2014 - A Binghamton University physicist and his colleagues say they have unlocked one key mystery surrounding high-temperature superconductivity. Their research, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, found a remarkable phenomenon in copper-oxide (cuprate) high-temperature ...

New microscope sees what others can't

12-May-2014 - Microscopes don't exactly lie, but their limitations affect the truths they can tell. For example, scanning electron microscopes (SEMs) simply can't see materials that don't conduct electricity very well, and their high energies can actually damage some types of samples. In an effort to extract a ...

Batteries as they are meant to be seen

03-Jan-2014 - Researchers have developed a way to microscopically view battery electrodes while they are bathed in wet electrolytes, mimicking realistic conditions inside actual batteries. While life sciences researchers regularly use transmission electron microscopy to study wet environments, this time ...

Low-resistance connections facilitate multi-walled carbon nanotubes for interconnects

02-Nov-2012 - Using a new method for precisely controlling the deposition of carbon, researchers have demonstrated a technique for connecting multi-walled carbon nanotubes to the metallic pads of integrated circuits without the high interface resistance produced by traditional fabrication techniques.Based on ...

Benefits of single atoms acting as catalysts in hydrogen-related reactions

13-Mar-2012 - A team of researchers at Tufts University's School of Arts and Sciences and School of Engineering have discovered that individual atoms can catalyze industrially important chemical reactions such as the hydrogenation of acetylene, offering potentially significant economic and environmental ...