Previous Page
A new “nano machine shop” that shapes nanowires and ultrathin films could represent a future manufacturing method for tiny structures with potentially revolutionary properties. The structures might be tuned for applications ranging from high-speed electronics to solar cells and also may have greater strength and unusual traits such as ultrahigh magnetism and “plasmonic resonance,” which could lead to improved optics, computers and electronics. The researchers used their technique to stamp nano- and microgears; form tiny circular shapes out of a material called graphene.
This illustration depicts a new nano machine shop‘s ability to shape tiny wires, an advance that represents a possible future manufacturing method for applications ranging from high-speed electronics to solar cells. © Purdue University / Gary Cheng
Ji Li, Ting-Fung Chung, Yong P. Chen, and Gary J. Cheng: Nanoscale Strainability of Graphene by Laser Shock- Induced Three-Dimensional Shaping, In:Nano Letters, Volume 12, Issue 9, September 12, 2012, Pages 4577- 4583, DOI: 10.1021/nl301817t: http://dx.doi.org/10.1021/nl301817t
The paper, “NASA‘s Relationship with Nanotech- nology: Past, Present and Future Challenges,” investigates how NASA has both guided and defunded cutting-edge nanotechnology development since 1996 at its own research facilities and in its collaborations with university scientists and labora- tories.
“NASA’s Relationship with Nanotechnology: Past, Present and Future Challenges”: http://www.bakerinstitute.org/policyreport54
Researchers at the US Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) believe that they have struck a balance between conversion efficiency and manufacturing costs by developing a nanotechnology-enabled silicon solar cell that boasts 18.2% conversion efficiency and that should be cheaper to produce.
Jihun Oh, Hao-Chih Yuan & Howard M. Branz: An 18.2%-efficient black-silicon solar cell achieved through control of carrier recombination in nanostructures, In: Nature AOP, September 30, 2012, DOI:10.1038/nnano.2012.166:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/nnano.2012.166 http://spectrum.ieee.org/nanoclast/semiconductors/ nanotechnology/nanostructured-silicon-solar-cells-achieve- high-conversion-efficiency-without-antireflective-coatings