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Category: nanotechnology – Page 107

Scientists are vigorously competing to transform the counterintuitive discoveries about the quantum realm from a century past into technologies of the future. The building block in these technologies is the quantum bit, or qubit. Several different kinds are under development, including ones that use defects within the symmetrical structures of diamond and silicon. They may one day transform computing, accelerate drug discovery, generate unhackable networks and more.

Working with researchers from several universities, scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Argonne National Laboratory have discovered a method for introducing spinning electrons as qubits in a host nanomaterial. Their test results revealed record long coherence times—the key property for any practical qubit because it defines the number of quantum operations that can be performed in the lifetime of the qubit.

Electrons have a property analogous to the spin of a top, with a key difference. When tops spin in place, they can rotate to the right or left. Electrons can behave as though they were rotating in both directions at the same time. This is a quantum feature called superposition. Being in two states at the same time makes electrons good candidates for spin qubits.

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Carbon nanotubes (CNTs) are cylindrical tube-like structures made of carbon atoms that display highly desirable physical properties like high strength, low weight, and excellent thermal and electrical conductivities. This makes them ideal materials for various applications, including reinforcement materials, energy storage and conversion devices, and electronics.

Despite such immense potential, however, there have been challenges in commercializing CNTs, such as their incorporation on plastic substrates for fabricating flexible CNT-based devices. Traditional fabrication methods require carefully controlled environments such as high temperatures and a clean room. Further, they require repeat transfers to produce CNTs with different resistance values.

More direct methods such as laser-induced forward transfer (LIFT) and thermal fusion (TF) have been developed as alternatives. In the LIFT method, a laser is used to directly transfer CNTs onto substrates, while in TF, CNTs are mixed with polymers that are then selectively removed by a laser to form CNT wires with varying resistance values.

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Skyrmions are extremely small with diameters in the nanoscale, and they behave as particles suited for information storage and logic technologies. In 1961, Tony Skyrme formulated a manifestation of the first topological defect to model a particle and coined it as skyrmions. Such particles with topologically stable configurations can launch a promising route toward establishing high-density magnetic and phononic (a discrete unit of quantum vibrational mechanical energy) information processing routes.

In a new report published in Science Advances, Liyun Cao and a team of researchers at the University of Lorraine CNRS, France, experimentally developed phononic skyrmions as new topological structures by using the three-dimensional (3D) hybrid spin of . The researchers observed the frequency-independent spin configurations and their progression toward the formation of ultra-broadband phononic skyrmions that could be produced on any solid structure.

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The RNA molecule is commonly recognized as messenger between DNA and protein, but it can also be folded into intricate molecular machines. An example of a naturally occurring RNA machine is the ribosome, that functions as a protein factory in all cells.

Inspired by natural RNA machines, researchers at the Interdisciplinary Nanoscience Center (iNANO) have developed a method called “RNA origami,” which makes it possible to design artificial RNA nanostructures that fold from a single stand of RNA. The method is inspired by the Japanese paper folding art, origami, where a single piece of paper can be folded into a given shape, such as a paper bird.

The in Nature Nanotechnology describes how the RNA origami technique was used to design RNA nanostructures, that were characterized by cryo– (cryo-EM) at the Danish National cryo-EM Facility EMBION. Cryo-EM is a method for determining the 3D structure of biomolecules, which works by freezing the sample so quickly that water does not have time to form ice crystals, which means that frozen biomolecules can be observed more clearly with the electron microscope.

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A new form of heterostructure of layered two-dimensional (2D) materials may enable quantum computing to overcome key barriers to its widespread application, according to an international team of researchers.

The researchers were led by a team that is part of the Penn State Center for Nanoscale Science (CNS), one of 19 Materials Research Science and Engineering Centers (MRSEC) in the United States funded by the National Science Foundation. Their work was published Feb. 13 in Nature Materials.

A regular computer consists of billions of transistors, known as bits, and are governed by binary code (“0” = off and “1” = on). A , also known as a qubit, is based on and can be both a “0” and a “1” at the same time. This is known as superposition and can enable quantum computers to be more powerful than the regular, classical computers.

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“Nature is a great source of inspiration, and nanotechnology is an exciting way to apply its lessons.”

A small robot that could one day help doctors perform surgery was inspired by the incredible grasping ability of geckos and the efficient motion of inchworms.

What is GeiwBot, the soft robot in healthcare?

University of Waterloo.

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Physicians routinely prescribe an infusion containing gadolinium to enhance MRI scans, but there is evidence that nanoparticles of the toxic rare earth metal infiltrate kidney cells, sometimes triggering severe side effects, University of New Mexico researchers have found.

In the worst cases, , an element that has no biologic function, can trigger nephrogenic systemic fibrosis, a painful disease that affects the skin and organs and is often fatal.

In a new study published in Scientific Reports, a team led by Brent Wagner, MD, MS, associate professor in the UNM Department of Internal Medicine, describes the use of electron microscopy to detect tiny deposits of gadolinium in the kidneys of people who had been injected with agents prior to their MRIs.

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A slow-motion movie on sports television channels shows processes in hundredths of a second. By contrast, processes on the nanoscale take place in the so-called femtosecond range: For example, an electron needs only billionths of a second to orbit a hydrogen atom. Physicists around the world are using special instruments to capture such ultrafast nano-processes in films.

Researchers at Kiel University (CAU) have developed a new method for such films that is based on a different physical concept and thus allows further and more precise options for investigation. To do this, they combined an electron microscope with nanostructured metallic thin films that generate very short light pulses.

In a first experiment, they were thus able to document the coherent interactions of light and electrons in a semiconductor on film.

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Hey folks, I’m excited to share a new essay with y’all on my proposed route towards nanoscale human brain connectomics. I suggest that synchrotron ‘expansion x-ray microscopy’ has the potential to enable anatomical imaging of the entire human brain with sub-100 nm voxel size and high contrast in around 1 year for a price of roughly $10M. I plan to continue improving this essay over time as I acquire more detailed information and perform more calculations.

For a brief history of this concept: I started exploring this idea during undergrad (working with a laboratory-scale x-ray microscope), but was cut short by the pandemic. Now, I’m working on a PhD in biomedical engineering centered on gene therapy and synthetic biology, but I have retained a strong interest in connectomics. I recently began communication with some excellent collaborators who might be able to help move this technology forward. Hoping for some exciting progress!

By Logan Thrasher Collins.

PDF version

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