Volume 8 Issue 7, July 2013

The theoretical work done by Lyndon Hicks and Mildred Dresselhaus 20 years ago on the effect of reduced dimensionality on thermoelectric efficiency has had deep implications beyond the initial expectations.

Nanobots have in the past been a fixture of science fiction writing and illustration, and such ideas are now also appearing in scientific research. But, as Chris Toumey explains, practical nanobots are different from their science fiction counterparts.

Lattice surface plasmons enable large-area unidirectional emission of coherent light generated at deep subwavelength scales.

The combination of a plasmonic nanoantenna and a nanoaperture has merged fluorescence enhancement and spatial confinement to enable single-molecule detection at biologically relevant concentrations.

Ultrasensitive nanomechanical transducers based on carbon nanotubes can be fabricated using a bottom-up assembly method.

The response of bacteria to antibiotics can be quickly assessed by monitoring the fluctuations of cantilevers coated with the bacteria.

Magnetic domain walls in ultrathin films have a handedness that makes them move at high speeds when an electrical current is applied.

An unidentified defect in diamond is used to demonstrate optical spin polarization and readout with high contrast.

A record force sensitivity at low temperatures is now reported using a carbon nanotube mechanical resonator.

A very sensitive photodector based on molybdenum disulphide with potential for integrated optoelectronic circuits, light sensing, biomedical imaging, video recording or spectroscopy is now demonstrated.

Exciton localization in suspended carbon nanotubes leads to bright fluoresence with an ultranarrow linewidth and long lifetime.

Two-dimensional arrays of plasmonic nanoparticles coupled with a gain medium can behave as a surface-emitting laser with near-zero group velocity and picosecond dynamics.

A plasmonic nanoantenna enables a thousand fold-enhanced fluorescence brightness allowing single-molecule analysis to be carried out in a zeptolitre volume at physiological concentrations.

Direct measurements of pressure inside living cells can now be made non-invasively using a nanomechanical silicon chip.

Highly sensitive cantilever sensors can now be used to quantitatively characterize a bacterial response to drugs before they even replicate.

The influence of magnetic fields on the current-driven motion of domain walls in nanowires with perpendicular anisotropy shows that two spin–orbit-derived mechanisms are responsible for their motion.

SiGe nanowires exhibit ballistic thermal conduction at room temperature with a long phonon mean free path.