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

Researchers at the National Institute of Standards and Technology have adapted a low-cost optical method of examining the shape of small objects so that it can detect certain types of nanocontaminants smaller than 25 nanometers in height. The researchers originally developed the technique to record the three-dimensional shape of small objects, not to detect nanocontaminants. But by optimizing both the wavelength of the light source and the alignment of an optical microscope, the team produced images with the sensitivity required to reveal the presence of nanocontaminants in a small sample of semiconductor material.

A research project at Binghamton University has won a three-year, $609,436 grant from the National Science Foundation to investigate a new method of producing electronic circuits below 10 nanometers. The researchers use the same technique as an atomic force microscope, which scans samples down to fractions of a nanometer by using a mechanical probe to "feel" a sample and translate the data into images. But this time, instead of "feeling" the surface, the researchers used carbon nanotubes that are around 3.1 nanometers wide to etch the desired circuit patterns onto a material.

A research project at Binghamton University has won a three-year, $609,436 grant from the National Science Foundation to investigate a new method of producing electronic circuits below 10 nanometers. The researchers use the same technique as an atomic force microscope, which scans samples down to fractions of a nanometer by using a mechanical probe to "feel" a sample and translate the data into images. But this time, instead of "feeling" the surface, the researchers used carbon nanotubes that are around 3.1 nanometers wide to etch the desired circuit patterns onto a material.

A team of researchers has demonstrated for the first time a single-molecule electret – a device that could be critical to molecular computers. In an electret, all the dipoles – pairs of opposite electric charges – spontaneously line up in the same direction. By applying an electric field, their directions can be reversed. The researchers inserted an atom of gadolinium inside a 32-sided molecule called a buckyball and put this construct in a transistor-type structure. They observed single-electron transport and discovered that an electric field could be used to switch the structure’s energy state from one stable state to another.

A team of researchers has demonstrated for the first time a single-molecule electret – a device that could be critical to molecular computers. In an electret, all the dipoles – pairs of opposite electric charges – spontaneously line up in the same direction. By applying an electric field, their directions can be reversed. The researchers inserted an atom of gadolinium inside a 32-sided molecule called a buckyball and put this construct in a transistor-type structure. They observed single-electron transport and discovered that an electric field could be used to switch the structure’s energy state from one stable state to another.

A multi-institutional team of scientists led by the U.S. Department of Energy's Ames Laboratory has developed a first-of-its-kind catalyst that can process polyolefin plastics such as polyethylene and polypropylene, which are widely used in plastic grocery bags, milk jugs, shampoo bottles, toys, and food containers. The unique process relies on nanoparticle technology: The scientists designed a mesoporous silica nanoparticle consisting of a core of platinum with catalytic active sites, surrounded by long silica pores, or channels, through which the long polymer chains in polyolefin plastics thread through to the catalyst.

A multi-institutional team of scientists led by the U.S. Department of Energy's Ames Laboratory has developed a first-of-its-kind catalyst that can process polyolefin plastics such as polyethylene and polypropylene, which are widely used in plastic grocery bags, milk jugs, shampoo bottles, toys, and food containers. The unique process relies on nanoparticle technology: The scientists designed a mesoporous silica nanoparticle consisting of a core of platinum with catalytic active sites, surrounded by long silica pores, or channels, through which the long polymer chains in polyolefin plastics thread through to the catalyst.

Researchers at Caltech have developed a new way to power wireless wearable sensors by harvesting kinetic energy that is produced by people as they move around. The energy is harvested by a nanogenerator, which contains a thin sandwich of materials (Teflon, copper, and polyimide) that is attached to a person's skin. As the person moves, these sheets of material rub against a sliding layer made of copper and polyimide and generate small amounts of electricity.

Researchers at Caltech have developed a new way to power wireless wearable sensors by harvesting kinetic energy that is produced by people as they move around. The energy is harvested by a nanogenerator, which contains a thin sandwich of materials (Teflon, copper, and polyimide) that is attached to a person's skin. As the person moves, these sheets of material rub against a sliding layer made of copper and polyimide and generate small amounts of electricity.

Researchers at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Pacific Northwest National Laboratory and General Motors have increased the conductivity of copper wire by about 5%. Higher conductivity means that less copper is needed for the same efficiency, which can reduce the weight and volume of various components that are expected to power our future electric vehicles. The increase in conductivity was achieved by adding graphene—a highly conductive, nano-thin sheet of carbon atoms – to copper and the produced wire.