Volume 7 Issue 2, February 2012

Sensors that combine solid-state nanopores and nanowire field-effect transistors can be used to detect single DNA molecules quickly and with high sensitivity.

The thermal conductivity of pairs of boron nanoribbons can be switched between high and low values by wetting the interface between the nanoribbons with various solutions.

Ferroelectric tunnel junctions can be operated as non-volatile memories with low write powers.

Circularly polarized light can isolate surface states from bulk states in topological insulators, allowing their unique properties to be probed.

Oil droplets stabilized with a polymer surfactant can repair cracked polymer surfaces by selectively delivering nanoparticles into the cracks.

The thermal conductivity of a bundle of boron nanoribbons can be significantly higher than that of a single free-standing ribbon, and can be switched between this enhanced value and that of a single nanoribbon by wetting the interface between the nanoribbons with various solutions.

A topological insulator illuminated with circularly or linearly polarized light produces a photocurrent that depends on the helicity or polarization of the light, respectively.

A tunnel junction that consists of a ferroelectric barrier layer sandwiched between two electrodes can operate as a fast, low-power and non-volatile nanoscale solid-state memory.

Phase-estimation algorithms applied to single nitrogen nuclear spins in diamond allow weak magnetic fields to be measured with high sensitivity and a large dynamic range.

Phase-estimation algorithms applied to single electronic spins in diamond allow weak magnetic fields to be measured with high sensitivity and a large dynamic range.

Hot carriers dominate energy transport across graphene p–n junctions that are excited by ultrafast laser pulses, and set fundamental limits on device speeds.

Combining solid-state nanopores and nanowire field-effect transistors allows the translocation of single DNA molecules through the nanopore to be detected with a high intrinsic bandwidth and large-scale integration.

Photoluminescence microscopy can be used to image exciton quenching in semiconducting single-walled carbon nanotubes during the early stages of chemical doping.

The electrophoretic mobilities of ions in membranes made of subnanometre carbon nanotubes are approximately three times higher than the bulk values, and the induced electro-osmotic velocities are four orders of magnitude faster than those measured in conventional porous materials.