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

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.

Researchers at the Center for Nanoscale Materials, a U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Science User Facility, which is located at DOE's Argonne National Laboratory, have reported the cause behind a key quantum property of donut-like nanoparticles called "semiconductor quantum rings."  This property may find application in quantum information storage, communication, and computing in future technologies.

Researchers at the Center for Nanoscale Materials, a U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Science User Facility, which is located at DOE's Argonne National Laboratory, have reported the cause behind a key quantum property of donut-like nanoparticles called "semiconductor quantum rings."  This property may find application in quantum information storage, communication, and computing in future technologies.

A Berkeley Lab-led team of physicists and materials scientists has, for the first time, unambiguously observed and documented the unique optical phenomena that occur in certain types of synthetic materials called moire superlattices – materials made by layering sheets of single-atom-thick materials on top of one another in precise configurations. The new findings will help researchers understand how to better manipulate materials into light emitters with controllable quantum properties.

A Berkeley Lab-led team of physicists and materials scientists has, for the first time, unambiguously observed and documented the unique optical phenomena that occur in certain types of synthetic materials called moire superlattices – materials made by layering sheets of single-atom-thick materials on top of one another in precise configurations. The new findings will help researchers understand how to better manipulate materials into light emitters with controllable quantum properties.

Most attempts to turn textiles into wearable technology use stiff metallic fibers that alter the texture and physical behavior of the fabric. And coating methods that are successfully able to apply enough material to a textile substrate to make it highly conductive also tend to make the yarns and fabrics too brittle to withstand normal wear and tear. Now researchers at Drexel University have shown that they can create a highly conductive, durable yarn by coating standard cellulose-based yarns with a type of conductive two-dimensional material called MXene. Related video: https://youtu.be/Jxx3pAWvJqY

Most attempts to turn textiles into wearable technology use stiff metallic fibers that alter the texture and physical behavior of the fabric. And coating methods that are successfully able to apply enough material to a textile substrate to make it highly conductive also tend to make the yarns and fabrics too brittle to withstand normal wear and tear. Now researchers at Drexel University have shown that they can create a highly conductive, durable yarn by coating standard cellulose-based yarns with a type of conductive two-dimensional material called MXene. Related video: https://youtu.be/Jxx3pAWvJqY

Bionanomotors, like myosins that move along actin networks in cells, are responsible for motion in all life forms. So the development of artificial nanomotors could make robots more effective and versatile teammates for soldiers in combat. This article describes the work of researchers from the Army Research Laboratory on identifying a design that would allow an artificial nanomotor to take advantage of Brownian motion, the property of particles to move because they are warm.

Bionanomotors, like myosins that move along actin networks in cells, are responsible for motion in all life forms. So the development of artificial nanomotors could make robots more effective and versatile teammates for soldiers in combat. This article describes the work of researchers from the Army Research Laboratory on identifying a design that would allow an artificial nanomotor to take advantage of Brownian motion, the property of particles to move because they are warm.

When periodic arrays of metallic nanostructures are illuminated with light, each of the nanoparticles produces a strong response, which, in turn, results in enormous collective behaviors if all of the particles can interact. Scientists at The University of New Mexico have found that decreasing the density of nanoparticles in the array produces field enhancements that are not only larger, but extend farther away from the array.