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

Physicists at the University of Oregon have developed a fast and sensitive bolometer that can measure light at and far above room temperature. A bolometer is a sensitive electrical instrument that measures the power of incident electromagnetic radiation. The new device, which consists of a trampoline-shaped piece of graphene suspended over a hole, offers an alternative to conventional electronic light detectors, such as those found in a smartphone's camera.

Physicists at MIT and elsewhere have, for the first time, discovered fractal-like patterns in a quantum material—a material that exhibits strange electronic or magnetic behavior as a result of quantum, atomic-scale effects. A fractal is any geometric pattern that occurs again and again, at different sizes and scales, within the same object. The team made this discovery while measuring the material's magnetic domains at the nanoscale.

Physicists at MIT and elsewhere have, for the first time, discovered fractal-like patterns in a quantum material—a material that exhibits strange electronic or magnetic behavior as a result of quantum, atomic-scale effects. A fractal is any geometric pattern that occurs again and again, at different sizes and scales, within the same object. The team made this discovery while measuring the material's magnetic domains at the nanoscale.

Trions consist of three charged particles bound together by very weak bonding energy. Although trions can potentially carry more information than electrons in applications such as electronics and quantum computing, trions are typically unstable at room temperature, and the bonds between trion particles are so weak that they quickly fall apart. Now a University of Maryland-led team of researchers has discovered a method to uses carbon nanotubes to synthesize and trap trions that remain stable at room temperature.

Trions consist of three charged particles bound together by very weak bonding energy. Although trions can potentially carry more information than electrons in applications such as electronics and quantum computing, trions are typically unstable at room temperature, and the bonds between trion particles are so weak that they quickly fall apart. Now a University of Maryland-led team of researchers has discovered a method to uses carbon nanotubes to synthesize and trap trions that remain stable at room temperature.

Researchers at the Department of Energy's SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory and Stanford University have shown, for the first time, that a cheap catalyst can split water and generate hydrogen gas for hours on end in the harsh environment of a commercial device. The reactions that generate hydrogen and oxygen gas take place on different electrodes using different precious metal catalysts. In this case, the scientists replaced the platinum catalyst on the hydrogen-generating side with a catalyst consisting of cobalt phosphide nanoparticles deposited on carbon to form a fine black powder.

Researchers at the Department of Energy's SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory and Stanford University have shown, for the first time, that a cheap catalyst can split water and generate hydrogen gas for hours on end in the harsh environment of a commercial device. The reactions that generate hydrogen and oxygen gas take place on different electrodes using different precious metal catalysts. In this case, the scientists replaced the platinum catalyst on the hydrogen-generating side with a catalyst consisting of cobalt phosphide nanoparticles deposited on carbon to form a fine black powder.

While many nanomaterials exhibit promising electronic properties, scientists and engineers are still working to best integrate these materials together to eventually create semiconductors and circuits with them. Northwestern Engineering researchers have created two-dimensional heterostructures from two of these materials, graphene and borophene, taking an important step toward creating integrated circuits from these nanomaterials.

While many nanomaterials exhibit promising electronic properties, scientists and engineers are still working to best integrate these materials together to eventually create semiconductors and circuits with them. Northwestern Engineering researchers have created two-dimensional heterostructures from two of these materials, graphene and borophene, taking an important step toward creating integrated circuits from these nanomaterials.

Scientists at Rice University have demonstrated how to optimize a method that can sense small concentrations of molecules by amplifying the light they emit when their spectral frequencies overlap with those of nearby plasmonic nanoparticles. These nanoparticles emit coherent electron waves that ripple across the surfaces of the nanoparticles, act as antennas, and enhance the molecules’ emitted light up to 10 times when they are in the “sweet spot” near a given nanoparticle.