News & Views |
Featured
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Article |
Fano-resonant asymmetric metamaterials for ultrasensitive spectroscopy and identification of molecular monolayers
Plasmonic nanostructures are known to be an attractive platform for highly sensitive molecular sensors, although they often lack specificity. A plasmonic device with a sharp optical resonance tuned to biomolecules selectively captured on the surface of the device now offers a versatile yet highly specific platform for molecular sensing.
- Chihhui Wu
- , Alexander B. Khanikaev
- & Gennady Shvets
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News & Views |
The challenges of graphene
A study of nitrogen doping of graphene reveals the potential of high-resolution electron microscopy for imaging charge transfer around chemical bonds.
- Knut W. Urban
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News & Views |
Diamonds are forever — or are they?
The friction and wear of materials is part of our everyday experience, and yet these processes are not well understood. The example of diamond highlights wear processes that result from bumping atoms, showing that the devil is indeed in the details.
- Jay Fineberg
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Letter |
Anisotropic mechanical amorphization drives wear in diamond
The only way diamond can be polished is by pressing it against small diamond crystals, but this works well only for certain crystallographic orientations. The details of this wear mechanism have now been uncovered in simulations that suggest wear occurs via a thin amorphous layer on the diamond surface.
- Lars Pastewka
- , Stefan Moser
- & Michael Moseler
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News & Views |
Electrifying plasmonics on silicon
The realization of electrical sources of surface plasmon polaritons using complementary metal oxide semiconductor technology is a significant step towards silicon-compatible nanoscale photonic devices.
- Aaron Hryciw
- , Young Chul Jun
- & Mark L. Brongersma
Stretching silicon's potential
Suppressed light