World’s most complex microparticle: A synthetic that outdoes nature’s intricacy

Nanowerk  April 10, 2020 The structural complexity of composite biomaterials and biomineralized particles arises from the hierarchical ordering of inorganic building blocks over multiple scales. An international team of researchers (USA – University of Michigan, Caltech, University of Pennsylvania, Brazil) assembled hierarchically organized particles (HOPs) with twisted spikes and other morphologies from polydisperse Au-Cyc nanoplatelets. Its complexity is higher than biological counterparts or other complex particles. Their intricate organization emerges from competing chirality-dependent assembly restrictions that render assembly pathways primarily dependent on nanoparticle symmetry rather than size. The researchers believe that the tactics they have uncovered can help scientists engineer […]

Team develops foldable and washable luminescent film

Phys.org  April 8, 2020 The conversion of invisible infrared or ultraviolet light into visible light allows us to intuitively see the data contained in the light, and thus enables the use of infrared or ultraviolet light for displays or imaging devices. As ultraviolet light is high in energy its conversion into visible light relatively easy and efficient. A team of researchers in South Korea made a square lattice array of silica microbeads decorated with up-conversion nanoparticles and metal structures. This configuration maximizes both the absorption of near-infrared light and the luminescence of visible light, thus increasing the efficiency of near-infrared-to-visible […]

A twist connecting magnetism and electronic-band topology

Phys.org  April 6, 2020 There are only very few examples where the topology of the electronic bands is connected in a well-defined manner to the magnetic properties of the materials. One material in which such interplay between topological electronic states and magnetism has been observed is CaMnBi2, but the mechanism connecting the two remained unclear. An international team of researchers (Switzerland, Germany, China, USA – Brookhaven National Laboratory, Stony Brook University) report a comprehensive study providing clear evidence that a slight nudge on the magnetic moments, known as spin canting, provokes substantial changes in the electronic band structure. These findings […]

Study on low noise, high-performance transistors may bring innovations in electronics

Science Daily  December 19, 2018 Electronic noise is ubiquitous to all devices and circuits and only worsens when the material becomes atomic thin. A team of researchers in the US (Purdue University, Kansas State University) has systematically shown that if one can control the layer thickness between 10 and 15-atomic thin in a transistor, the device will not only show high performance — such as turning the switch “on” — but also experience very low electronic noise. This unique finding is essential to building several enabling technologies in electronics and sensing using a number of emerging 2D materials. The research […]