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

Researchers at The University of Texas at Austin and the University of California, Riverside have found a way to transfer energy between silicon and organic, carbon-based molecules—a breakthrough that has implications for information storage in quantum computing, solar energy conversion, and medical imaging. The discovery provides a way to boost silicon's efficiency by pairing it with a carbon-based material that converts blue photons into pairs of red photons that can be more efficiently used by silicon.

The University of Southern California has partnered with Carbonics, Inc., to develop a carbon nanotube technology that, for the first time, achieved speeds exceeding 100 gigahertz in radio frequency applications. The milestone eclipses the performance of traditional Radio Frequency Complementary Metal-Oxide Semiconductor (RF-CMOS) technology, which is ubiquitous in modern consumer electronics, including cell phones.

The University of Southern California has partnered with Carbonics, Inc., to develop a carbon nanotube technology that, for the first time, achieved speeds exceeding 100 gigahertz in radio frequency applications. The milestone eclipses the performance of traditional Radio Frequency Complementary Metal-Oxide Semiconductor (RF-CMOS) technology, which is ubiquitous in modern consumer electronics, including cell phones.

Scientists at Cornell University have used magnets to design self-assembling systems that could be created in nanoscale form. The researchers made centimeter-sized acrylic panels, each containing four tiny magnets in a square pattern. To activate the self-assembly, the magnets were scattered on a shaker table, with the table’s vibrations preventing the magnets from forming bonds. As the shaking amplitude was decreased, the magnets attached in their designated order and formed the target structures. While nanoscale machines and self-assembling systems are not new, this project marks the first time the two concepts have been combined with magnetic encoding.

Scientists at Cornell University have used magnets to design self-assembling systems that could be created in nanoscale form. The researchers made centimeter-sized acrylic panels, each containing four tiny magnets in a square pattern. To activate the self-assembly, the magnets were scattered on a shaker table, with the table’s vibrations preventing the magnets from forming bonds. As the shaking amplitude was decreased, the magnets attached in their designated order and formed the target structures. While nanoscale machines and self-assembling systems are not new, this project marks the first time the two concepts have been combined with magnetic encoding.

By folding snippets of DNA into the shape of a five-pointed star using structural DNA nanotechnology, researchers have created a trap that captures Dengue virus as it floats in the bloodstream. Once sprung, the trap—which is non-toxic and is naturally cleared from the body—lights up. It's the most sensitive test for the mosquito-borne diseases yet devised.

By folding snippets of DNA into the shape of a five-pointed star using structural DNA nanotechnology, researchers have created a trap that captures Dengue virus as it floats in the bloodstream. Once sprung, the trap—which is non-toxic and is naturally cleared from the body—lights up. It's the most sensitive test for the mosquito-borne diseases yet devised.

This article reviews an article published in the journal Science that presents a comprehensive analysis of two decades of energy storage research involving nanomaterials. The article’s authors lay out a roadmap for how this technology can enable the world's urgent shift toward better energy storage devices and sustainability.

This article reviews an article published in the journal Science that presents a comprehensive analysis of two decades of energy storage research involving nanomaterials. The article’s authors lay out a roadmap for how this technology can enable the world's urgent shift toward better energy storage devices and sustainability.

Scientists at Columbia University have demonstrated a new way to tune the properties of two-dimensional materials simply by adjusting the twist angle between them. The researchers built devices consisting of monolayer graphene encapsulated between two crystals of boron nitride and, by adjusting the relative twist angle between the layers, they were able to create multiple moiré patterns. Moiré patterns are of high interest to condensed matter physicists and materials scientists, who use them to change or generate new electronic material properties.