Volume 5 Issue 10, October 2010

C₆₀ was discovered in 1985 but it took five years to confirm that this famous molecule was spherical. Chris Toumey revisits a debate that highlighted different approaches to science.

It might be possible to sequence DNA by passing the molecule through a small hole in a sheet of graphene.

Arrays of graphene nanoribbons are fabricated on structured silicon carbide substrates using self-organized growth, without lithography and with well-controlled widths.

Samples of graphene supported on boron nitride demonstrate superior electrical properties, achieving levels of performance that are comparable to those observed with suspended samples.

Patterning thin films of silicon to produce nanomesh structures can reduce their thermal conductivity without compromising their good electrical properties.

A wealth of physics can be explored by connecting two superconducting electrodes to a quantum dot. This article reviews the different electron-transport regimes observed in such devices and possible applications.

A Möbius strip — a ribbon-like structure with only one side — can be assembled from DNA origami and then reconfigured into various topologies by cutting along the length of the strip.

Patterning thin films of silicon can reduce their thermal conductivity by modifying the phonon band structure.

Graphene devices supported on single-crystal hexagonal boron nitride substrates show an enhanced mobility and carrier homogeneity, as well as reduced roughness, intrinsic doping and chemical reactivity, compared with traditional SiO₂ substrates.

Graphene nanoribbons with a room-temperature bandgap have been grown on templated silicon carbide substrates at high density without the need for etching.

Optical rectification and electric-field enhancements in excess of 1,000 are observed when a subnanometre gap between gold electrodes is illuminated with infrared radiation.

A single electron can modulate the conductance of an InAs nanowire field-effect transistor by as much as 4,200% at 31 K, and has a charge sensitivity of 6 × 10⁻⁵ e Hz^−1/2 up to ∼200 K.

The capabilities of a new direct-printing method are demonstrated by fabricating nanowire field-effect transistors and arrays of pentacene thin-film transistors.

The diffusion times of lithium ions in the cathode of a lithium-ion battery have been probed at a spatial resolution below 100 nanometres.