In the Namib Desert in Namibia, Africa, a tiny beetle is able to convert microscopic droplets of water present in a morning fog into larger sized droplets that are directed into the beetle's mouth to quench a
In the Namib Desert in Namibia, Africa, a tiny beetle is able to convert microscopic droplets of water present in a morning fog into larger sized droplets that are directed into the beetle's mouth to quench a
Magnetism in metallic films and interfaces has been intensively studied since the discovery of Giant MagnetoResistance (GMR) in the late 1980s. This effect enabled fabrication of high sensitivity magnetic field sensors for the read heads in magnetic hard disks, revolutionizing magnetic recording.
Field-effect transistors made of single organic crystals are ideal for studying the charge transport characteristics of organic semiconductor materials. Their outstanding device performance, relative to that of transistors made of organic thin films, makes them also attractive candidates for electronic applications such as active matrix displays and sensor arrays.
Organic semiconductor materials have shown promise in recent years for use in low-cost electronics applications such as photovoltaics, chemical sensors, and flat-panel displays.
Scientists in the University of Nebraska MRSEC are using very short light pulses from a femtosecond laser to perturb magnetic materials and to probe their behavior at times after the perturbation. The light pulses are only about 100 millionth-billionths of a second long.
The recent decade has seen an explosion of optical communication. Yet much of the information processing is conducted electronically since there have been few truly tunable optical devices. Ferroelectric materials offer a potential solution. They possess interesting nonlinear properties that can be used to design and fabricate unique active tunable nanophotonic devices.
In eukaryotic cells, kinesin motor proteins transport intracellular cargo along microtubules, 25 nm protein filaments that form the cell cytoskeleton.
In 2004, a Penn State MRSEC team showed that bimetallic platinum/gold nanorods could swim at speeds up to 20 microns per second by catalyzing the decomposition of hydrogen peroxide. Nickel stripes added to the motors allowed them to be steered using weak magnetic fields as a "remote control". Microgears formed from platinum and gold rotated in hydrogen peroxide solutions.
