11-08 :: August 2011

nanotimes News in Brief

and efficient long-range transfer of emitted photons followed by subsequent refocusing into nanoscale volumes accessible to near- and far-field detection. Optoplasmonic superlenses are versatile building blocks for optoplasmonic nanocircuits and can be used to construct “dark” single-molecule sensors, resonant amplifiers, nanoconcentrators, frequency multiplexers, demultiplexers, energy converters, and dynamical switches. © PNAS

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S.V. Boriskina and B.M. Reinhard: Spectrally and Spatially Configurable Superlenses for Optoplasmonic Nanocircuits, In: PNAS, Vol. 108, No. 8, February 22, 2011, Pages 3147- 3151, DOI:10.1073/pnas.1016181108: http://dx.doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1016181108 Department of Chemistry and the Photonics Center, Boston University, USA: http://www.bu.edu/chemistry/

Complementary-Type Graphene Inverters Operating at Room Temperature

Purdue researchers are making progress in creating digital transistors using a material called graphene, potentially sidestepping an obstacle thought to dra- matically limit the material‘s use in computers and consumer electronics. This composite image shows the circuit schematics of a new type of graphene inverter, a critical building block of digital transistors, left, and scanning electron microscope images of the fabricated device. (Image © Hong-Yan Chen, Purdue University Birck Nanotechnology Center) The Purdue researchers are the first to create graphene inverters that work at room temperature and have a gain larger than one, a basic requirement for digital electronics that enables transistors to amplify signals and control its switching from 0 to 1.

Findings were detailed in a paper, “Complementary-Type Graphene Inverters Operating at Room-Tempe- rature,” presented in June during the 2011 Device Research Conference in Santa Barbara, Calif.

Hong-Yan Chen, Joerg Appenzeller: Complementary-Type Graphene Inverters Operating at Room Temperature: http://www.purdue.edu/newsroom/research/2011/110906AppenzellerGraphene.html