Scientists bring order, and color, to microparticles

Scientists have developed a technique that prompts microparticles to form ordered structures in a variety of materials. The advance offers a method to potentially improve the makeup and color of optical materials used in computer screens along with other consumer products.

Nanoparticles used to breach mucus barrier in lungs

Proof-of-concept study conducted in mice a key step toward better treatments for lung diseases.

Vaccine with virus-like nanoparticles effective treatment for RSV, study finds

Researchers suggest this vaccine induces long-term protection against respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) and could serve as a novel treatment option for this disease. There is currently no licensed RSV vaccine.

Graphene enables ultrafast laser pulses for spectroscopy and biomedical applications

Researchers have developed an optical fibre laser that emits pulses with durations equivalent to just a few wavelengths of the light used. This fastest ever device based on graphene will be ideal for use in ultrafast spectroscopy, and in surgical lasers that avoid heat damage to living tissue.

Quantum states in a nano-object manipulated using a mechanical system

Scientists have used resonators made from single-crystalline diamonds to develop a novel device in which a quantum system is integrated into a mechanical oscillating system. For the first time, the researchers were able to show that this mechanical system can be used to coherently manipulate an electron spin embedded in the resonator - without external antennas or complex microelectronic structures.

Researchers clear the way for fast plasmonic chips

Researchers have developed a new method for optical communication on a chip, which will give a possibility to decrease the size of optical and optoelectronic elements and increase the computer performance several tenfold. They have proposed the way to completely eliminate energy losses of surface plasmons in optical devices.

Compact optical data transmission

Researchers developed a plasmonic Mach-Zehnder modulator of only 12.5 micrometers length which converts digital electrical signals into optical signals at a rate of up to 108 gigabit per second,

Multi-million pound carbon nanotube research to transform global manufacturing sector

Engineering experts from Ulster University and the University of Cambridge have received 2.8 million pounds of funding for research into a carbon-based material that could transform the global manufacturing sector.

Self-assembling nano... whiskers? (w/video)

Researchers have developed a way to make these structures grow in an electron microscope. By recording the atoms self-assembling to form the whiskers - renamed in modern fashion as nanowires - they hope to understand how they grow and how to tune the growth conditions to build nano-devices.

Proving nanoparticles in sunscreen products

Loads of cosmetics like sunscreen lotions contain titanium dioxide. These nanoparticles are contentious. But it is difficult to prove that the particles are in the lotions. Using a newly developed method, the particles can now be calculated.