nanotechnology.com articles ~~ 05-15-2008 thru 06-02-2008 MOST RECENT NEWS
http://www.nanotechnology.com/news/ Browse through the newest stories posted to our site, or search our archive of more than 7,000 news stories. click the "Browse" link to access old articles, then "prev" or "next"
2008-06-02 EU to Pace Nanotechnology 2008-06-02 Nano Sponge For Oil Spills 2008-06-02 Tiny Particles Solve Big Problems 2008-06-02 Research measures movement of nanomaterials in simple model food chain 2008-05-31 Researchers develop nanowire 'paper towel' for oil spills 2008-05-31 Tiny Particles Solve Big Problems 2008-05-31 Researchers make breakthrough in renewable energy materials 2008-05-31 Engineers whip up the first long-lived nanoscale bubbles 2008-05-31 Moving molecules within molecules 2008-05-29 Japanese scientists create microscopic noodle bowl 2008-05-29 Nanoparticles assemble by millions to encase oil drops 2008-05-28 Graphene-Polymer Composite 2008-05-28 Nanotechnology treatment for automotive glass surfaces lasts 80,000 km in Canada 2008-05-28 Carbon nanoribbons could make smaller, speedier computer chips 2008-05-28 Scientists create new nanotube structures 2008-05-28 How buckyballs hurt cells 2008-05-28 Magnetic nanoparticles: Suitable for cancer therapy? 2008-05-28 NC State breakthrough results in super-hard nanocrystalline iron that can take the heat 2008-05-28 Brown Chemists Create Cancer-Detecting Nanoparticles 2008-05-26 Researchers demonstrate 'avalanche effect' in solar cells 2008-05-24 Nanotech makes radioactive sensors obsolete 2008-05-24 Nano-fibres lead to pre-cancer symptoms in mice: study 2008-05-23 Nanotechnology could offer jolt to memory chips 2008-05-23 Failed HIV Drug Gets Second Chance with Addition of Gold Nanoparticles 2008-05-23 New grants to create fabrics that render toxic chemicals harmless 2008-05-23 Swiss Atomic Force Microscope Helps Explore Mars Environment 2008-05-22 Some Nanotubes Could Cause Cancer 2008-05-22 Fluorescent nano-barcodes could revolutionize diagnostics 2008-05-22 Mass-Producing Tunable Magnetic Nanoparticles 2008-05-22 Carbon nanotubes that look like asbestos, behave like asbestos 2008-05-22 Researchers Develop Revolutionary Technology for Nanoscale Assembly at Wafer Level 2008-05-21 Fluorescent nano-barcodes could revolutionize diagnostics 2008-05-19 By adding graphene, researchers create superior polymer 2008-05-18 Nanotechnology revolution 2008-05-18 Degree a first at Nano College 2008-05-17 Nano pine trees 2008-05-16 DNA sequencing and nano-fabrication receive equipment funding support 2008-05-15 Nanotechnology in reverse uses cell to calibrate tools
'Nanomechanical Oscillators' Could Lead to New Class of Computers
PHYSORG.COM By Laura Mgrdichian
A schematic drawing (top) and scanning electron microscope image of the nanomechanical oscillator. Figure courtesy Imran Mahboob.
More than 50 years ago, a graduate student in Japan conceived the “Parametron,” an electrical circuit that could form the basis for digital computers. The concept ultimately fell flat, but recently a pair of scientists gave new life to the idea, and their work could be a first step toward a nanomechanical computer that is based on mechanical rather than electrical operations.
Sponsored Links (Ads by Google) Oscillator Manufacturer - low noise DRO, up to 50GHz for Commercial, Military and Space www.microwave-dynamics.com Flex PCBs - Flex Circuits PCBs in 5 Days or Free + Free Tooling! www.4pcb.com Microwave Signal Sources - VCOs, PLOs & Synthesizers to 50 GHz Military & Commercial applications. www.phasematrix.com
Rather than today's electronic “0” and “1” bits—the most basic pieces of information a computer can store, defined by whether a transistor has a zero or non-zero voltage across it—the Parametron used the response of an electrical oscillator to an applied frequency. The Parametron could only oscillate in two ways, a behavior that was exploited to represent 0's and 1's to enable binary logic.
Computers based on the Parametron were built, but the idea never took off as there were difficulties with power consumption and integration, and the much faster transistor quickly rendered it obsolete.
In the era of nanotechnology, the Parametron has been resurrected using mechanical oscillators. The scientists who have revived its spirit are Imran Mahboob and Hiroshi Yamaguchi of the NTT Corporation in Japan. Their electromechanical oscillator has a bridge-over-gap structure, and it's tiny: The gap is four micrometers deep and the bridge is 260 micrometers long, 84 micrometers wide, and 1.35 micrometers thick.
The bridge and the larger piece of material that contains the gap are made of the widely used semiconductor gallium arsenide (GaAs).
At the each end of the bridge, known as clamping points, there is a sandwich structure: a thin GaAs layer between a gold electrode and a “two-dimensional electronic system,” a general term for a material in which the electrons are confined to a plane.
When an alternating-current voltage that matches the bridge's natural frequency is applied across it, the bridge will oscillate vertically. This physical motion is due to a chain of events that begins with a displacement of atoms in the thin GaAs layer in response to the voltage. This causes the positive and negative charges in the layer to separate, which, in turn, produces a strain across the length of the bridge. The bridge bends slightly, a movement that can be tuned to a resonance frequency—there are more than one—by adjusting the voltage.
These resonance modes can be used to store information as bits. For example, neighboring oscillators with resonances that differ in phase—meaning they do not oscillate in unison—can represent 0 and 1 values.
“This is a highly tunable system, which we expect will make it easily integrable into complex architectures,” says Imran.
A nanomechanical computer based on his and Yamaguchi's concept would likely never be as fast as a transistor-based computer. But it would have some advantages, including being more resilient to electromagnetic shock and more energy efficient. This could make it a good replacement for computers that do not need to be ultra-fast, such as those in appliances, mobile phones, and cars.
Citation: I. Mahboob and H. Yamaguchi Nature Nanotechnology advance online publication, 13 April 2008 (DOI:10.1038/nnano.2008.84)
Copyright 2008 PhysOrg.com. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed in whole or part without the express written permission of PhysOrg.com.
» Next Article in Nanotechnology - Physics: Spiraling nanotrees offer new twist on growth of nanowires
Market Data 
Markets 
AI
