10-05/06 :: May/June 2010
nanotimes News in Brief
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A quantum mechanics-based simulation demonstrates how a new NIST instrument can delicately pull a chain of atoms apart. The chart records quantum jumps in conduc- tivity as a gold contact is stretched 0.6nm. The junction transitions from a 2-dimensional structure to a one-dimen- sional single-atom chain, with a corresponding drop in conductivity. Following the last point, at a wire length of 3.97nm, the chain broke. © Tavazza, NIST
D. T. Smith, J. R. Pratt, F. Tavazza, L. E. Levine, and A. M. Chaka: An ultrastable platform for the study of sin- gle-atom chains, In: Journal of Applied Physics, Volu- me 107(2010), Issue 8, April 15, 2010, Article 084307, DOI:10.1063/1.3369584 (8 pages):
http://dx.doi.org/10.1063/1.3369584
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esearchers at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology KIT and at the Technical University of Denmark succeeded in realizing a laser em-
bedded in a 350 μm thick foil with considerably higher output pulse energies compared to conventional lasers. The process is applicable to large-scale production. The first step is to apply a combination of micro- and nanostructures onto a foil by embossing a stamp at higher temperatures. “Covering this structure with another foil leads to the development of a microchannel with a height of only 1.6 μm,” according to Christoph Vannahme, PhD student at the Insti- tute for Microstructure Technology (IMT) and Light Technology Institute (LTI) of KIT. “The width of the mi- crochannel is only 0.5mm. A nanostructure is applied to the channel bottom. By pumping a dyeing liquid through this channel, stimulating the dye to glow, laser light is produced due to the structuring,” Vannah- me explains the method. The grating periods determine the color – or wavelength – of the laser light. The channel’s design allows high pulse energies with more than 1 μJ and a small bandwidth of the laser light. Since the liquid is pumped through the microchannel, the dye molecules are constantly exchanged leading to long operation times. Christoph Vannahme, Mads Brøkner Christiansen, Timo Mappes, Anders Kristensen: Optofluidic dye laser in a foil, In: Optics Express, Vol. 18(2010), Issue 9, Pages 9280-9285, DOI:10.1364/OE.18.009280:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1364/OE.18.009280
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