News from the NNI Community - Research Advances Funded by Agencies Participating in the NNI

Researchers at Los Alamos National Laboratory and the University of California, Irvine have created fundamental electronic building blocks out of quantum dots and used them to assemble functional logic circuits. The innovation promises a cheaper and manufacturing-friendly approach to complex electronic devices that can be fabricated in a chemistry laboratory via simple, solution-based techniques, and offer long-sought components for a host of innovative devices.

A team of engineers at Penn State are attempting to pioneer a type of computing that mimics the efficiency of the brain's neural networks while exploiting the brain's analog nature. Like synapses connecting the neurons in the brain that can be reconfigured, the artificial neural networks the team is building can be reconfigured by applying a brief electric field to a sheet of graphene, the one-atomic-thick layer of carbon atoms.

A team of engineers at Penn State are attempting to pioneer a type of computing that mimics the efficiency of the brain's neural networks while exploiting the brain's analog nature. Like synapses connecting the neurons in the brain that can be reconfigured, the artificial neural networks the team is building can be reconfigured by applying a brief electric field to a sheet of graphene, the one-atomic-thick layer of carbon atoms.

Researchers at Michigan State University are testing a liquid nanofoam liner, a material full of tiny nanopores, that could prolong the safe use of football helmets. When a helmet withstands an impact severe enough to cause a concussion to the player wearing it, the safety features of the helmet are compromised, rendering equipment unsafe for further use.

Researchers at Michigan State University are testing a liquid nanofoam liner, a material full of tiny nanopores, that could prolong the safe use of football helmets. When a helmet withstands an impact severe enough to cause a concussion to the player wearing it, the safety features of the helmet are compromised, rendering equipment unsafe for further use.

Scientists at Ames Laboratory have discovered and confirmed a method which could serve as an easy but reliable way to test the quality of graphene and other 2D materials. It takes advantage of the very broad background in surface electron diffraction, named the Bell-Shaped-Component (BSC) which strongly correlates to uniformly patterned, or "perfect" graphene. Understanding the correlation has implications for reliable quality control of 2D materials in a manufacturing environment.

Scientists at Ames Laboratory have discovered and confirmed a method which could serve as an easy but reliable way to test the quality of graphene and other 2D materials. It takes advantage of the very broad background in surface electron diffraction, named the Bell-Shaped-Component (BSC) which strongly correlates to uniformly patterned, or "perfect" graphene. Understanding the correlation has implications for reliable quality control of 2D materials in a manufacturing environment.

Rice University researchers have expanded their theory on converting graphene into 2D diamond, or diamane. They have determined that a pinpoint of pressure can trigger connections between layers of graphene, rearranging the lattice into a cubic diamond.

Rice University researchers have expanded their theory on converting graphene into 2D diamond, or diamane. They have determined that a pinpoint of pressure can trigger connections between layers of graphene, rearranging the lattice into a cubic diamond.

An international multi-institution team of scientists has synthesized graphene nanoribbons—ultrathin strips of carbon atoms—on a titanium dioxide surface using an atomically precise method that removes a barrier for custom-designed carbon nanostructures required for quantum information sciences. When fashioned into nanoribbons, graphene could be applied in nanoscale devices; however, the lack of atomic-scale precision in using current state-of-the-art "top-down" synthetic methods stymie graphene's practical use. Researchers developed a "bottom-up" approach by building the graphene nanoribbon directly at the atomic level in a way that can be used in specific applications.