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

Date Published
(Funded by the Army Research Office and the National Science Foundation)

Engineers have developed a simple home medical test consisting of various silicon chips coated in a special film. One chip could detect drugs in the blood, another could detect proteins in the urine indicating infection, and another could detect bacteria in water. The engineers imagine a user picking the bodily fluid to test, taking a picture with a smartphone, and an app would indicate if there is a problem.

(Funded by the Army Research Office, the National Science Foundation and the U.S. Department of Energy)

Scientists have found a way to turn graphene into a topological insulator – a material that is an insulator in its interior but is highly conducting on its surface. Realizing a topological insulator in graphene could provide a basis for low-dissipation ballistic electrical circuits or could form the material substrate for topologically protected quantum bits.

(Funded by the Army Research Office, the National Science Foundation and the U.S. Department of Energy)

Scientists have found a way to turn graphene into a topological insulator – a material that is an insulator in its interior but is highly conducting on its surface. Realizing a topological insulator in graphene could provide a basis for low-dissipation ballistic electrical circuits or could form the material substrate for topologically protected quantum bits.

(Funded by the National Science Foundation)

Engineers have devised a way to pattern the surface of a diamond that makes it easier to collect light from the defects inside. Called a metalens, this surface structure contains nanoscale features that bend and focus the light emitted by the defects. This work could enable the creation of a system that would form the basis for compact quantum technologies.

(Funded by the National Science Foundation)

Engineers have devised a way to pattern the surface of a diamond that makes it easier to collect light from the defects inside. Called a metalens, this surface structure contains nanoscale features that bend and focus the light emitted by the defects. This work could enable the creation of a system that would form the basis for compact quantum technologies.

(Funded by the U.S. Department of Energy)

Researchers have developed a nanostructure that could be used to improve the efficiency with which solar cells harvest energy from the sun. The nanostructure is composed of a light-harvesting protein, semiconducting nanocrystals, and a two-dimensional semiconducting transition metal only one atomic layer thick.

(Funded by the U.S. Department of Energy)

Researchers have developed a nanostructure that could be used to improve the efficiency with which solar cells harvest energy from the sun. The nanostructure is composed of a light-harvesting protein, semiconducting nanocrystals, and a two-dimensional semiconducting transition metal only one atomic layer thick.

(Funded by the National Institute of Standards and Technology)

Researchers have discovered that tiny circular regions of magnetism can be rapidly enlarged to provide a precise method of measuring the magnetic properties of nanoparticles. The technique provides manufacturers with a practical way to measure and improve the control of the properties of magnetic nanoparticles for a host of medical and environmental applications.

(Funded by the National Institute of Standards and Technology)

Researchers have discovered that tiny circular regions of magnetism can be rapidly enlarged to provide a precise method of measuring the magnetic properties of nanoparticles. The technique provides manufacturers with a practical way to measure and improve the control of the properties of magnetic nanoparticles for a host of medical and environmental applications.

(Funded by the National Science Foundation)

Researchers at the University of Rochester have combined 2D materials with oxide materials in a new way, using a transistor-scale device platform. A small flake of a 2D material is deposited onto a ferroelectric material, and then a voltage is applied to the ferroelectric, causing the 2D material to stretch, which triggers a phase change that can completely change the way the material behaves.