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Crescent-shaped gold nanostructures have optical properties that can be tuned into the visible portion of the light spectrum, with promising applications in biosensing
Periodic nanostructures can be made over large areas using a simple low-cost method in which a thin polymer film is sandwiched between two flat plates that are then pulled apart.
As companies rush to bring new products to market, they may be cutting corners in ways that will backfire on them in the future. Spending more time on the early stages of the development process will, says Michael Helmus, save time later.
Gold nanoparticles are routinely used as 'seeds' to grow semiconductor nanowires and it has now been discovered that the nanowires grow faster when the gold seeds are placed closer together.
A nanoscale superconducting device in which the flow of heat can be switched on and off by a gate voltage — a heat transistor — has been demonstrated at temperatures close to absolute zero.
Most definitions of nanotechnology focus on the control of matter, not light, but research in nanophotonics is thriving in areas as diverse as quantum optics and biological imaging.
Uncertainties in new regulations that cover the manufacture, importation and production of chemicals in the European Union could make it more difficult to commercialize nanotechnology.