Nanotechnology breakthrough could change future of electronics design

A new breakthrough in #nanotechnology standard could see computers have eternal memories. The limits of existing electronics have been well documented in the past. Example include #MooresLaw, where #silicon transistors were defined as having a set limit and, thus, a maximum processing potential. But, as the past few years have shown, new advances in nanotechnology have helped to push out that limit further and further with the promise of speeds unlike anything we can imagine today.  Now, a team of scientists from the University of Southampton has achieved one such breakthrough that could open the door to a new generation of electronics. In a paper published to Scientific Reports, the research team revealed that it achieved blistering speeds using a newly developed memristor – a simpler and smaller alternative to the transistor, with the capability of altering its resistance and storing multiple memory states. Memristors are seen as the next evolutionary step of transistors as they are smaller, simpler, require less energy and can retain data by ‘remembering’ the amount of charge that has passed through them. This effectively creates a computer than can switch on instantly and remember every action ever performed on it. The Southampton team has now smashed the record for memristor capacity with storage of up to 128 discernible memory states per switch. This makes it four times more powerful than any other previously reported memristor. It was achieved by evaluating several configurations of functional oxide materials, the core component that gives it the ability to alter its resistance.

https://www.siliconrepublic.com/machines/nanotechnology-memristor-breakthrough

Researchers use sound waves to advance optical communication

Illinois researchers have demonstrated that #soundwaves can be used to produce #ultraminiature #opticaldiodes that are tiny enough to fit onto a #computer #chip. These devices, called #opticalisolators, may help solve major data capacity and system size challenges for photonic integrated circuits, the light-based equivalent of electronic circuits, which are used for computing and communications. Researchers use sound waves to advance optical communication Champaign, IL | Posted on January 22nd, 2018 blog posts CHAMPAIGN, Ill. —Illinois researchers have demonstrated that sound waves can be used to produce ultraminiature optical diodes that are tiny enough to fit onto a computer chip. These devices, called optical isolators, may help solve major data capacity and system size challenges for photonic integrated circuits, the light-based equivalent of electronic circuits, which are used for computing and communications. Isolators are nonreciprocal or “one-way” devices similar to electronic diodes. They protect laser sources from back reflections and are necessary for routing light signals around optical networks. Today, the dominant technology for producing such nonreciprocal devices requires materials that change their optical properties in response to magnetic fields, the researchers said. “There are several problems with using magnetically responsive materials to achieve the one-way flow of light in a photonic chip,” said mechanical science and engineering professor and co-author of the study Gaurav Bahl. “First, industry simply does not have good capability to place compact magnets on a chip. But more importantly, the necessary materials are not yet available in photonics foundries. That is why industry desperately needs a better approach that uses only conventional materials and avoids magnetic fields altogether.” In a study published in the journal Nature Photonics, the researchers explain how they use the minuscule coupling between light and sound to provide a unique solution that enables nonreciprocal devices with nearly any photonic material. However, the physical size of the device and the availability of materials are not the only problems with the current state of the art, the researchers said. “Laboratory attempts at producing compact magnetic optical isolators have always been plagued by large optical loss,” said graduate student and lead author Benjamin Sohn. “The photonics industry cannot afford this material-related loss and also needs a solution that provides enough bandwidth to be comparable to the traditional magnetic technique. Until now, there has been no magnetless approach that is competitive.” The new device is only 200 by 100 microns in size – about 10,000 times smaller than a centimeter squared – and made of aluminum nitride, a transparent material that transmits light and is compatible with photonics foundries. “Sound waves are produced in a way similar to a piezoelectric speaker, using tiny electrodes written directly onto the aluminum nitride with an electron beam. It is these sound waves that compel light within the device to travel only in one direction. This is the first time that a magnetless isolator has surpassed gigahertz bandwidth,” Sohn said.

http://www.nanotech-now.com/news.cgi?story_id=54940

Ultra-thin memory storage device paves way for more powerful computing

Abstract: Engineers worldwide have been developing alternative ways to provide greater memory storage capacity on even smaller computer chips. Previous research into two-dimensional atomic sheets for memory storage has failed to uncover their potential -- until now. Ultra-thin memory storage device paves way for more powerful computing Austin, TX | Posted on January 17th, 2018 A team of electrical engineers at The University of Texas at Austin, in collaboration with Peking University scientists, has developed the thinnest memory storage device with dense memory capacity, paving the way for faster, smaller and smarter computer chips for everything from consumer electronics to big data to brain-inspired computing. "For a long time, the consensus was that it wasn't possible to make memory devices from materials that were only one atomic layer thick," said Deji Akinwande, associate professor in the Cockrell School of Engineering's Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering. "With our new 'atomristors,' we have shown it is indeed possible." Made from 2-D nanomaterials, the "atomristors" -- a term Akinwande coined -- improve upon memristors, an emerging memory storage technology with lower memory scalability. He and his team published their findings in the January issue of Nano Letters. "Atomristors will allow for the advancement of Moore's Law at the system level by enabling the 3-D integration of nanoscale memory with nanoscale transistors on the same chip for advanced computing systems," Akinwande said. Memory storage and transistors have, to date, always been separate components on a microchip, but atomristors combine both functions on a single, more efficient computer system. By using metallic atomic sheets (graphene) as electrodes and semiconducting atomic sheets (molybdenum sulfide) as the active layer, the entire memory cell is a sandwich about 1.5 nanometers thick, which makes it possible to densely pack atomristors layer by layer in a plane. This is a substantial advantage over conventional flash memory, which occupies far larger space. In addition, the thinness allows for faster and more efficient electric current flow. Given their size, capacity and integration flexibility, atomristors can be packed together to make advanced 3-D chips that are crucial to the successful development of brain-inspired computing. One of the greatest challenges in this burgeoning field of engineering is how to make a memory architecture with 3-D connections akin to those found in the human brain. "The sheer density of memory storage that can be made possible by layering these synthetic atomic sheets onto each other, coupled with integrated transistor design, means we can potentially make computers that learn and remember the same way our brains do," Akinwande said. The research team also discovered another unique application for the technology. In existing ubiquitous devices such as smartphones and tablets, radio frequency switches are used to connect incoming signals from the antenna to one of the many wireless communication bands in order for different parts of a device to communicate and cooperate with one another. This activity can significantly affect a smartphone's battery life. The atomristors are the smallest radio frequency memory switches to be demonstrated with no DC battery consumption, which can ultimately lead to longer battery life. "Overall, we feel that this discovery has real commercialization value as it won't disrupt existing technologies," Akinwande said. "Rather, it has been designed to complement and integrate with the silicon chips already in use in modern tech devices."

http://www.nanotech-now.com/news.cgi?story_id=54930

GLOBALFOUNDRIES Demonstrates 2.5D High-Bandwidth Memory Solution for Data Center, Networking, and Cloud Applications

Santa Clara, CA | Posted on August 9th, 2017 The 2.5D ASIC solution includes a stitched interposer capability to overcome lithography limitations and a two terabits per second (2Tbps) multi-lane HBM2 PHY, developed in partnership with #Rambus, Inc. Building on the 14nm FinFET demonstration, the solution will be integrated on the company’s next-generation FX-7™ ASIC design system built on GF’s 7nm FinFET process technology. “With the tremendous advances in interconnect and packaging technology that has occurred in recent years, the line between wafer processing and packaging has blurred,” said Kevin O’Buckley, vice president of ASIC product development at GF. “Incorporating 2.5D packaging into ASIC design boosts performance beyond scaling and is a natural evolution of our capabilities. It enables us to support our customers in a one-stop end-to-end fashion, from product design all the way through manufacturing and testing.” The Rambus memory PHY is aimed at high-end networking and data center applications performing the most data-intensive tasks in systems requiring low-latency and high-bandwidth. The PHY is compliant with the JEDEC JESD235 HBM2 standard, supporting data rates up to 2Gbps per data pin, enabling a total bandwidth of 2Tbps. “We strive to deliver comprehensive HBM PHY technologies that will enable data center and networking solution providers to meet today’s most demanding workloads and take advantage of compelling market opportunities,” said Luc Seraphin, senior vice president and general manager, Memory and Interfaces Division at Rambus. “Our collaboration with GF combines our HBM2 PHY with their 2.5D packaging and FX-14 ASIC design system and provides a fully-integrated solution for the industry’s fastest-growing applications.” FX-14 and FX-7 are complete ASIC design solutions that take advantage of GF’s experience in volume production with FinFET process technology. They comprise functional modules based on the industry’s broadest and deepest intellectual property (IP) portfolio, which makes possible unique solutions for next-generation wired/5G wireless networking, cloud/data center servers, machine learning/deep neural networks, automotive, and aerospace/defense applications. GF is one of only two companies in the world that delivers best-in-class IP plus advanced memory and packaging solutions.

http://www.nanotech-now.com/news.cgi?story_id=54665

USDA Announces $4.6 Million for Nanotechnology Research

WASHINGTON, D.C. July 20, 2017 – The U.S. Department of Agriculture's ( @USDA ) National Institute of Food and Agriculture ( @NIFA ) today announced 13 grants totaling $4.6 million for research on the next generation of agricultural technologies and systems to meet the growing demand for food, fuel, and fiber. The grants are funded through NIFA's Agriculture and Food Research Initiative (AFRI), authorized by the 2014 Farm Bill. “ #Nanotechnology is being rapidly implemented in medicine, electronics, energy, and biotechnology, and it has huge potential to enhance the agricultural sector,” said NIFA Director Sonny Ramaswamy. “NIFA research investments can help spur nanotechnology-based improvements to ensure global nutritional security and prosperity in rural communities.” The Agriculture and Food Research Initiative is America’s flagship competitive grants program for foundational and translational research, education, and extension projects in the food and agricultural sciences. These grants are awarded under the AFRI Foundational: Agriculture Systems and Technology program. Funded projects support nanotechnology-based solutions that improve food production, nutrition, sustainable agriculture, and food safety. Fiscal year 2016 grants being announced include: Nanotechnology for Agricultural and Food Systems Kansas State University, Manhattan, Kansas, $450,200 Wichita State University, Wichita, Kansas, $340,000 University of Massachusetts, Amherst, Massachusetts, $444,550 University of Nevada, Las Vegas, Nevada,$150,000 North Dakota State University, Fargo, North Dakota, $149,000 Cornell University, Ithaca, New York, $455,000 Cornell University, Ithaca, New York, $450,200 Oregon State University, Corvallis, Oregon, $402,550 University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, $405,055 Gordon Research Conferences, West Kingston, Rhode Island, $45,000 The University of Tennessee, Knoxville, Tennessee, $450,200 Utah State University, Logan, Utah, $450,200 The George Washington University, Washington, D.C., $450,200 Project details can be found at the NIFA website (link is external). Among the grants, a University of Pennsylvania project will engineer cellulose nanomaterials with high toughness for potential use in building materials, automotive components, and consumer products. A University of Nevada-Las Vegas project will develop a rapid, sensitive test to detect Salmonella typhimurium to enhance food supply safety. Previously funded grants include an Iowa State University project in which a low-cost and disposable biosensor made out of nanoparticle graphene that can detect pesticides in soil was developed. The biosensor also has the potential for use in the biomedical, environmental, and food safety fields. University of Minnesota (link is external) researchers created a sponge that uses nanotechnology to quickly absorb mercury, as well as bacterial and fungal microbes from polluted water. The sponge can be used on tap water, industrial wastewater, and in lakes. It converts contaminants into nontoxic waste that can be disposed in a landfill. NIFA invests in and advances agricultural research, education, and extension and promotes transformative discoveries that solve societal challenges. NIFA support for the best and brightest scientists and extension personnel has resulted in user-inspired, groundbreaking discoveries that combat childhood obesity, improve and sustain rural economic growth, address water availability issues, increase food production, find new sources of energy, mitigate climate variability and ensure food safety. To learn more about NIFA’s impact on agricultural science, visit www.nifa.usda.gov/impacts, sign up for email updates (link is external) or follow us on Twitter @USDA_NIFA (link is external), #NIFAImpacts (link is external).

https://nifa.usda.gov/announcement/usda-announces-46-million-nanotechnology-research

Global Nanoelectronics Market 2017- Advanced Micro Devices, Fujitsu Laboratories, General Nanotechnology, Hewlett-packard Development Company

The Global #Nanoelectronics Market 2017 examines the performance of the Nanoelectronics market. It encloses an in-depth judgment of the Nanoelectronics market state and the competitive landscape globally. This report analyzes the potential of Nanoelectronics market in the present and the future prospects from various angles in detail. The Global Nanoelectronics Market 2017 report includes Nanoelectronics industry volume, market Share, market Trends, Nanoelectronics Growth aspects. A wide range of applications, Utilization ratio, Supply and demand analysis are also consist in the report.It shows manufacturing capacity, Nanoelectronics Price during the Forecast period from 2017 to 2022. To Get Sample Report Click Here: https://market.biz/report/global-nanoelectronics-market-2017/98808/#inquiry Manufacturers Analysis and Top Sellers of Global #Nanoelectronics Market 2017: 1 #AdvancedMicroDevices 2 #Fujitsu Laboratories 3 #GeneralNanotechnology 4 #HewlettpackardDevelopmentCompany 5 #Hitachi 6 #InternationalBusinessMachines 7 #Infineon Technologies
https://dailyhover.com/global-nanoelectronics-market-2017/

Nano Nickel Sales Market 2017 - CVMR, EPRUI Nanoparticles & Microspheres, Flance (Beijing) Nanotechnology

Top Manufacturers Analysis of This Report 
1. # CVMR
2. #EPRUI #Nanoparticles & #Microspheres
3. #Flance (Beijing) #Nanotechnology
4. Beijing Entrepreneur Science & Trading
5. #Guangbo
6. #ShanghaiNaiou Nanotechnology
7. # Nanjing Emperor Nano Material
8. #Suzhou Canfuo Nanotechnology
9. #SichuanKehui industrial
10. #ExcelMetal & Engg Industries
11. #ShanghaiXangtian Nano Materials

MarketReports.biz, recently published a detailed market research study focused on the " #NanoNickel Sales Market" across the global, regional and country level. The report provides 360° analysis of "Nano Nickel Sales Market" from view of manufacturers, regions, product types and end industries. The research report analyses and provides the historical data along with current performance of the global Nano Nickel Sales industry, and estimates the future trend of Nano Nickel Sales market on the basis of this detailed study. The study shares "Nano Nickel Sales Market" performance both in terms of volume and revenue

http://www.openpr.com/news/541703/Nano-Nickel-Sales-Market-2017-CVMR-EPRUI-Nanoparticles-Microspheres-Flance-Beijing-Nanotechnology.html

The Future Of Nanoelectronics & How Scientists Design Them To Address Global Needs

#Nanotechnology is the future of engineering and technology. The area of #nanoelectronics is seen to be progressing productively with researchers and scientists designing them to address global needs. All fields of science will involve nanotechnology and in how it will shape the outlook of the mankind's development.

http://www.sciencetimes.com/articles/15158/20170515/the-future-of-nanoelectronics-how-scientists-design-them-to-address-global-needs.htm

IBM Looks for the Next Step in Nanotechnology

George Tulevski was a strong proponent of nanotechnology in graduate school, he fully invested his work in the science, and "drank all the Kool-aid." Fifteen years later he saw nanotechnology development at a difficult place. The unending possibilities did not lead to disease-fighting nanobots, space elevators, or new computing methods. In his TED Talk The next step in nanotechnology Tulevski discusses his frustrations with nano progress and his ideas to develop the world of computing. #IBM

http://www.engineering.com/DesignerEdge/DesignerEdgeArticles/ArticleID/14115/IBM-Looks-for-the-Next-Step-in-Nanotechnology.aspx

Controllable quantum valley pumping with high current in a silicene junction

We propose an efficient scheme for the generation and control of both pure and fully polarized valley currents in a silicene-based junction, using adiabatic #quantumpumping. The pure and fully polarized valley currents are induced using ferromagnetic proximity and the application of a perpendicular electric field. We show that the valley polarized current can easily be switched from valley K to valley  and vice versa, simply by reversing the direction of the electric field. Thus, the valley current is controllable electrically. Compared to the methods proposed for generation of valley current by quantum pumping in graphene, which are based on inducing strain on its sheet, our method is very simple and can be easily utilized in practical applications. Also, we show that the magnitude of pumped current in a silicene-based junction is roughly one order of magnitude greater than that of graphene. In addition to valley-related currents, our pump scheme can be used on its own to generate pure and fully polarized spin currents. A comparison between weak and strong adiabatic regimes is given, and the effects of some structural parameters that can significantly affect the pumping currents and polarizations are discussed.

http://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/0957-4484/27/49/495202/meta;jsessionid=12836536A07E979AC71C937B5583B6A9.c5.iopscience.cld.iop.org

Graphite Announces Further Investment in Group NanoXplore

MONTRÉAL, QUÉBEC--(Marketwired - Nov. 8, 2016) - #MasonGraphite Inc. ("Mason Graphite" or the "Company") (TSX VENTURE:LLG)(OTCQX:MGPHF) is pleased to announce that, as originally mentioned in its press releases issued on September 6th and 27th, 2016, the Company has completed an additional equity investment of $1,000,000 in Group NanoXplore Inc. (''NanoXplore"). After its initial investment in February 2014 and after giving effect to this investment, Mason Graphite's equity interest in #NanoXplore now stands at 32.5% of the new total amount of shares outstanding. Mason Graphite remains NanoXplore's sole graphite supplier and acts as commercialisation agent. Benoît Gascon, President and CEO of Mason Graphite, commented: "We have been very happy with the business progression of NanoXplore and its industrialization strategy which focuses on markets with large potential like all the polymers applications among others. All current users of graphite being potential users of graphene, this partnership aligns perfectly with our commercial strategy." More information about this financing is available in a press release issued by NanoXplore in which Soroush Nazarpour, President and CEO of NanoXplore, commented: "NanoXplore will use the funds raised to scale production of graphene from 4 to 64 metric tonnes per year, and to help its customers develop new and innovative products using graphene-enhanced polymers." NanoXplore recently increased the footprint of its manufacturing facility.

http://www.stockhouse.com/news/press-releases/2016/11/08/mason-graphite-announces-further-investment-in-group-nanoxplore-inc#Xxu5sfE4E6dvjf5O.99

Supersonic phenomena, the key to extremely low heat loss nanoelectronics Read more: Supersonic phenomena, the key to extremely low heat loss nanoelectronics

Freak waves, as well as other less striking localised excitations, occur in nature at every scale. The current theory and models of such waves can be applied to physics and, among others, to oceanography, nonlinear optics and lasers, acoustics, plasmas, cosmological relativity and neuro-dynamics. However, they could also play a significant role at the quantum scale in #nanoelectronics. In a recent study, Manuel G. Velarde from the Pluridisciplinary Institute of the University Complutense of Madrid, Spain, and colleagues, performed computer simulations to compare two types of localised excitations in nano-electronics. Their findings, published in a recent study in EPJ B ("From solitons to discrete breathers"), confirm that such localised excitations are natural candidates for energy storage and transport. These, in turn, could lead to applications such as transistors with extremely low heat dissipation not using silicon. Spontaneously localised excitations may either be pinned to the crystal lattice--known as discrete breathers--or alternatively may travel, and are then referred to as solitons or spontaneous solitary excitation waves. To further clarify the differences between the two types of excitations, the authors developed a computer simulation. They relied on the direct integration of their dynamics (using an approach known as the standard Runge-Kutta methodology), following a strong initial external pulse on a single lattice unit. The authors focused on the relative influence of the forces leading to these excitations as a result of on-site and inter-site vibrations (corresponding to individual lattice units and relative displacements of units, respectively). Under certain conditions, they found that the discrete breathers evolve into a genuine soliton, moving at supersonic speed within the lattice. These findings confirm that solitons can be used as natural carriers of energy, matter or electric charge--in the latter case, by transferring the soliton-like motion to the charges, allowing them to 'surf' on the soliton wave. Meanwhile, discrete breathers are natural energy traps for energy and can also be used as electric charge carriers under certain conditions.

http://www.nanowerk.com/nanotechnology-news/newsid=44912.php

Shedding light on the secrets of nano-sized processors Read more: Shedding light on the secrets of nano-sized processors

When light couples to electrons on a surface, their concerted motion can travel as a wave guided by the surface geometry itself. Known as ‘surface plasmons’, these waves could impact the development of telecommunications and computing as in the future data will likely be processed using light instead of electricity. Not only is the use of light more energy-efficient than electricity, it also allows developers to reduce the processors’ size to the nanoscale – a necessary step in the quest to build high-resolution sensors and nano-sized signal processing systems. The challenge, however, is that to build these nano-sized processors we must first be able to stack different layers of advanced materials and track the guided light as it travels across the layers. Unfortunately, scientists have not been able to accomplish this - until now. According to a recent study published by the journal Nature Communications ("Imaging and controlling plasmonic interference fields at buried interfaces"), researchers have reached a breakthrough for future optical-electronic hybrid computers. Scientists from the Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), working via the EU-funded TRUEVIEW and USED projects, developed an ultrafast technique capable of tracking light and electrons as they travel through a stacked, nanostructured surface. Ground-breaking work The USED project focused on the understanding and control of material properties at the atomic level. The project was the first to successfully implement an ultrafast Transmission Electron Microscope (TEM) based on a new design that enables an unprecedented time resolution and sensitivity to magnetic contacts. A TEM is an advanced telescope that allows the user to take femtosecond snapshots of materials with the atomic resolution guaranteed by high-energy electrons. By confining an electromagnetic field on the surface of one single nanowire and imaging its properties in space and energy, the USED-designed TEM takes a snapshot of light itself, simultaneously revealing its quantum and classical nature. TRUEVIEW, on the other hand, successfully unravelled the working principles of nanoscale-confined optical waves and the manipulation of light in optoelectronic nanostructures. By implementing innovative electron imaging techniques to directly visualise and characterise photonic and plasmonic nanostructures in both space and time with nanometer and femtosecond resolution, the project successfully established the field of ultrafast electron microscopy within the European research community. Lights, camera, nano-action Combined with the USED designed TEM, the two projects laid the groundwork for an array of optoelectronic applications, including the ultrafast technique for tracking light and electrons across stacked nanostructured surfaces. The process includes a tiny antenna array consisting of an extremely thin membrane of silicon nitride, which is then covered with an even thinner film of silver. The array’s surface is full of nano-holes, which serve as antennas and allow plasmons to travel across its interface. These antennas are then lit up by firing ultrafast laser pulses onto the array, followed by ultrashort electron pulses fired across the multilayer stack. This process allows scientists to map the plasmons radiated by the antennas at the interface between the silver film and the silicon nitride membrane. By using the ultrafast PINEM technique, scientists are actually able to film the propagation of the guided light and read its spatial profile across the film. In a sense, the USED and TRUEVIEW breakthrough gives scientists the ability to see through walls – and from here they can design the confined plasmonic fields in multi-layered structures that are needed for the development of optoelectronic devices.
http://www.nanowerk.com/nanotechnology-news/newsid=44859.php

Working under pressure: Diamond micro-anvils with huge pressures will create new materials

University of Alabama at Birmingham researchers will use pressures greater than those found at the center of the Earth to potentially create as yet unknown new materials. In the natural world, such immense forces deep underground can turn carbon into diamonds, or volcanic ash into slate. Working under pressure: Diamond micro-anvils with huge pressures will create new materials Birmingham, AL | Posted on October 19th, 2016 The ability to produce these pressures depends on tiny nanocrystalline-diamond anvils built in a UAB clean room manufacturing facility. Each anvil head is just half the width of an average human hair. The limits of their pressure have not yet been reached as the first 27 prototypes are being tested. "We have achieved 75 percent of the pressure found at the center of the Earth, or 264 gigapascals, using lab-grown nanocrystalline-diamond micro-anvil," said Yogesh Vohra, Ph.D., a professor and university scholar of physics in the UAB College of Arts and Sciences. "But the goal is one terapascal, which is the pressure close to the center of Saturn. We are one-quarter of the way there." One terapascal, a scientific measure of pressure, is equal to 147 million pounds per square inch. One key to high pressure is to make the point of the anvil, where the pressure is applied, very narrow. This magnifies the pressure applied by a piston above the micro-anvil, much like the difference of being stepped on by a spiked high heel rather than a loafer. A more difficult task is how to make an anvil that is able to survive this ultra-high pressure. The solution for the Vohra team is to grow a nanocrystalline pillar of diamond -- 30 micrometers wide and 15 micrometers tall -- on the culet of a gem diamond. The culet is the flat surface at the bottom of a gemstone. "We didn't know that we could grow nanocrystalline diamonds on a diamond base," Vohra said. "This has never been done before." In the 264-gigapascal pressure test at Argonne National Laboratory in Lemont, Illinois, the nanocrystalline diamond showed no sign of deformation. Vohra and colleagues recently reported this result in the American Institute of Physics journal AIP Advances. "The structure did not collapse when we applied pressure," Vohra said. "Nanocrystalline diamond has better mechanical properties than gem diamonds. The very small-sized grain structure makes it really tough." As more micro-anvils are tested and improved, they will be used to study how transition metals, alloys and rare earth metals behave under extreme conditions. Just as graphitic carbon that is subjected to high pressure and temperature can turn into diamond, some materials squeezed by the micro-anvils may gain novel crystal modifications with enhanced physical and mechanical properties -- modifications that are retained when the pressure is released. Such new materials have potential applications in the aerospace, biomedical and nuclear industries. The micro-anvils are made in a Class 7000 clean room in the UAB Diamond Microfabrication Lab, using maskless lithography and microwave plasma chemical vapor deposition. Vohra says his research team wants to generate smaller grain sizes in the nanocrystalline diamond, which may make it even stronger; understand how the nanocrystalline diamond is bonded to the gem diamond; and use ion beams to machine the top of the micro-anvil to a hemispherical shape. That shape will mean an even narrower contact point, thus increasing the pressure.
http://www.nanotech-now.com/news.cgi?story_id=54041

Diamonds aren't forever: Sandia, Harvard team create first quantum computer bridge

"People have already built small #quantumcomputers ," says Sandia researcher Ryan Camacho. "Maybe the first useful one won't be a single giant #quantumcomputer but a connected cluster of small ones." Distributing quantum information on a bridge, or network, could also enable novel forms of quantum sensing, since quantum correlations allow all the atoms in the network to behave as though they were one single atom. The joint work with Harvard University used a focused ion beam implanter at Sandia's Ion Beam Laboratory designed for blasting single ions into precise locations on a diamond substrate. Sandia researchers Ed Bielejec, Jose Pacheco and Daniel Perry used implantation to replace one carbon atom of the diamond with the larger silicon atom, which causes the two carbon atoms on either side of the silicon atom to feel crowded enough to flee. That leaves the silicon atom a kind of large landowner, buffered against stray electrical currents by the neighboring non-conducting vacancies. Though the silicon atoms are embedded in a solid, they behave as though floating in a gas, and therefore their electrons' response to quantum stimuli are not clouded by unwanted interactions with other matter. "What we've done is implant the silicon atoms exactly where we want them," said Camacho. "We can create thousands of implanted locations, which all yield working quantum devices, because we plant the atoms well below the surface of the substrate and anneal them in place. Before this, researchers had to search for emitter atoms among about 1,000 randomly occurring defects -- that is, non-carbon atoms -- in a diamond substrate of a few microns to find even one that emitted strongly enough to be useful at the single photon level." Once the silicon atoms are settled in the diamond substrate, laser-generated photons bump silicon electrons into their next higher atomic energy state; when the electrons return to the lower energy state, because all things seek the lowest possible energy level, they spit out quantized photons that carry information through their frequency, intensity and the polarization of their wave. "Harvard researchers performed that experiment, as well as the optical and quantum measurements," said Camacho. "We did the novel device fabrication and came up with a clever way to count exactly how many ions are implanted into the diamond substrate." Sandia researcher John Abraham and other Sandia researchers developed special detectors -- metal films atop the diamond substrate -- that showed the ion beam implants were successful by measuring the ionization signal produced by single ions. "Pretty cool, huh?" said Camacho.

http://www.nanotech-now.com/news.cgi?story_id=54027

IBM Creates Artificial Neurons from Phase Change Memory for Cognitive Computing

A team of scientists at #IBM Research in Zurich, have created an artificial version of neurons using #phasechangememory  materials to store and process data. These phase change based artificial neurons can be used to detect patterns and discover correlations in the areas of big data and unsupervised machine learning. The results of the decade-long research to use phase-change materials for memory applications were recently published in the journal Nature Nanotechnology. The research team is led by Evangelos Eleftheriou. The development of energy-efficient, ultra-dense integrated neuromorphic technologies for applications in cognitive computing is getting a lot of attention. This technology, foundation for event-based computations, could lead to the development of extremely dense neuromorphic computing systems (computers inspired by the efficiency of the human brain) with co-located memory and processing units to speed up cognitive computing and analyze IoT Big Data. Deep learning, the rapidly developing branch of artificial intelligence, is inspired by the science behind the biological brains and how they are put together. The team applied a series of electrical pulses to the artificial neurons, which resulted in the progressive crystallization of the phase-change material, ultimately causing the neuron to fire, a function known as “integrate-and-fire” property of the biological neurons. They have organized hundreds of artificial neurons into populations and used them to represent fast and complex signals. Moreover, the artificial neurons have been shown to sustain billions of switching cycles, which would correspond to multiple years of operation at an update frequency of 100 Hz. The energy required for each neuron update was less than five picojoule and the average power less than 120 microwatts — for comparison, 60 million microwatts powers a 60 watt lightbulb. In this interview, one of the research team members, Manuel Le Gallo (IBM Research Scientist), talked about what makes neuromorphic computing more efficient than conventional computing.

https://www.infoq.com/news/2016/09/ibm-artificial-neurons

EXCLUSIVE: Google, Singularity visionary Ray Kurzweil on the amazing future he sees — thanks to tech

@RayKurzweil is a futurist, a director of engineering at #Google and a co-founder of the #SingularityUniversity think tank at #NASA Ames Research Center in Mountain View. He is a nonfiction author and creator of several inventions. Kurzweil met with the Silicon Valley Business Journal to discuss how technology's exponential progress is rapidly reshaping our future through seismic shifts in information technology and computing power, energy, #nanotechnology, robotics, health and longevity.

http://www.bizjournals.com/sanjose/news/2016/09/06/exclusive-google-singularity-visionary-ray.html

'Artificial atom' created in graphene

In a tiny #quantum prison, electrons behave quite differently as compared to their counterparts in free space. They can only occupy discrete energy levels, much like the electrons in an atom - for this reason, such electron prisons are often called " #artificialatoms ". Artificial atoms may also feature properties beyond those of conventional ones, with the potential for many applications for example in quantum computing. Such additional properties have now been shown for artificial atoms in the carbon material #graphene. The results have been published in the journal Nano Letters ("Electrostatically Confined Monolayer Graphene Quantum Dots with Orbital and Valley Splittings"), the project was a collaboration of scientists from TU Wien (Vienna, Austria), RWTH Aachen (Germany) and the University of Manchester (GB).

http://www.nanowerk.com/nanotechnology-news/newsid=44276.php

Using spider-silk as a superlens to increase a microscope's potential Read more: Using spider-silk as a superlens to increase a microscope's potential

Extending the limit of classical microscope's resolution has been the 'El Dorado' or 'Holy Grail' of microscopy for over a century. Physical laws of light make it impossible to view objects smaller than 200 nm - the smallest size of bacteria, using a normal microscope alone. However, superlenses which enable us to see beyond the current magnification have been the goal since the turn of the millennium. Hot on the heels of a paper ("Visible light superlens made from nanobeads") revealing that a team at Bangor University's School of Electronic Engineering has used a nanobead-derived superlens to break the perceived resolution barrier, the same team has achieved another world first. Now the team, led by Dr Zengbo Wang and in colloboration with Prof. Fritz Vollrath's silk group at Oxford University's Department of Zoology, has used a naturally occurring material - dragline silk of the golden web spider, as an additional superlens, applied to the surface of the material to be viewed, to provide an additional 2-3 times magnification. This is the first time that a naturally occurring biological material has been used as a superlens. In the paper in Nano Letters ("Spider Silk: Mother Nature’s Bio-Superlens"), the joint team reveals how they used a cylindrical piece of spider silk from the thumb sized Nephila spider as a lens.

http://www.nanowerk.com/nanotechnology-news/newsid=44271.php

Nanotech pioneer brings 3D printable metal to Makers

The scientist who helped developed #nanotechnology for the next generation of flexible and wearable electronic devices is now bringing affordable 3D printed electronics to anyone with access to a basic 3D printer. 3D printed electronics are already in use for smartphone manufacture and 2017 will see the next generation of printers powered by quantum mechanics to produce multilayer Printed Circuit Boards (PCBs). But what about 3D printing electronics with the tools available at home, or at the local Makerspace or FabLab? A chemistry professor from Duke University might have the answer. “For the price one of those [industrial] machines you could buy a thousand of the printers we’re using, which are $200 #3Dprinters,” says Ben Wiley.

http://3dprintingindustry.com/news/nanotech-pioneer-brings-3d-printable-metal-makers-91202/