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

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.

Researchers at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) have made one of the highest-performance cameras ever. The camera is composed of sensors made from superconducting nanowires, which can detect single photons, or particles of light. With more than 1,000 sensors, or pixels, the camera may be useful in future space-based telescopes searching for chemical signs of life on other planets, and in new instruments designed to search for the elusive “dark matter” believed to constitute most of the “stuff” in the universe.

Researchers at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) have made one of the highest-performance cameras ever. The camera is composed of sensors made from superconducting nanowires, which can detect single photons, or particles of light. With more than 1,000 sensors, or pixels, the camera may be useful in future space-based telescopes searching for chemical signs of life on other planets, and in new instruments designed to search for the elusive “dark matter” believed to constitute most of the “stuff” in the universe.

Researchers at Purdue University have engineered ceramic "nanotubes" that behave as thermal antennas, offering control over the spectrum and direction of high-temperature heat radiation. The work is part of a larger search in the field for a wide range of materials that can withstand higher temperatures.

Researchers at Purdue University have engineered ceramic "nanotubes" that behave as thermal antennas, offering control over the spectrum and direction of high-temperature heat radiation. The work is part of a larger search in the field for a wide range of materials that can withstand higher temperatures.

Scientists from Stony Brook University have developed a new approach for making metal-metal composites and porous metals with a 3-D interconnected “bicontinuous” structure in thin films at size scales ranging from tens of nanometers to microns. Metallic materials with this sponge-like morphology could be useful in catalysis, energy generation and storage, and biomedical sensing.

Scientists from Stony Brook University have developed a new approach for making metal-metal composites and porous metals with a 3-D interconnected “bicontinuous” structure in thin films at size scales ranging from tens of nanometers to microns. Metallic materials with this sponge-like morphology could be useful in catalysis, energy generation and storage, and biomedical sensing.

A scientific team from the Department of Energy's Oak Ridge National Laboratory and Vanderbilt University has made the first experimental observation of a material phase that had been predicted but never seen. The newly discovered phase couples with a known phase to enable unique control over material properties - an advance that paves the way to eventual manipulation of electrical conduction in two-dimensional materials such as graphene.

A scientific team from the Department of Energy's Oak Ridge National Laboratory and Vanderbilt University has made the first experimental observation of a material phase that had been predicted but never seen. The newly discovered phase couples with a known phase to enable unique control over material properties - an advance that paves the way to eventual manipulation of electrical conduction in two-dimensional materials such as graphene.

Researchers at Iowa State University have used nanotechnology to develop a sensor that can detect organophosphates at levels 40 times smaller than what the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency recommends. Organophosphates are certain classes of insecticides used on crops throughout the world to kill insects.