Green light for nanomotors
Schmid and colleagues used new microscopy techniques to observe in real time interactions between the tin clusters – each containing hundreds of thousands of atoms – and the copper surface...
Nanoscientists go on a roll
Whereas the carbon atoms in a graphite sheet are arranged in hexagons, the fullerene form of carbon includes both pentagons and hexagons. The first fullerene to be discovered, carbon-60, contains 12 p...
DNA ‘tweezers’ take shape
Bernard Yurke from Lucent Technologies in the US, Andrew Turberfield from Oxford University in the UK and Lucent, and co-workers constructed the tweezers from three separate strands of DNA. DNA molecu...
Nanoplotter draws multiple patterns
The researchers used eight ceramic tips that were connected via a cantilever array to an atomic-force microscope. The tips were coated with a molecular ink such as 1-octadecanethiol that diffused from...
Read article: Carbon nanotubes roll on
Carbon nanotubes roll on
The remarkable properties of carbon nanotubes may allow them to play a crucial role in the relentless drive towards miniaturization at the nanometre scale
Read article: Multiwall carbon nanotubes
Multiwall carbon nanotubes
The unique mechanical and electronic properties of multiwall nanotubes are proving to be a rich source of new physics and could also lead to new applications in materials and devices
Snooker moves to the atomic scale
Scanning tunnelling microscopes (STMs) rely on an ultrafine ‘tip’ to push atoms over a surface. The atoms are pushed either by the tip itself, or by an electric field. The new technique re...
Fractional effects in nanotubes explained
The quantum of conductance, G0, is defined by a simple equation: G0=2e2/h, where e is the charge on the electron and h is the Planck constant. The conductance of an individual nanotube is predicted to...
Conductivity measurements made on a single strand of DNA
The Delft group fabricated the electrodes by making a slit in a silicon nitride film with standard lithography. A series of platinum layers were then sputtered across the slit until the gap was reduce...
Nanotubes get smaller
The 0.5 nm nanotube was made by boring a hole into a graphite rod. The hole was then filled with cobalt metal powder – which acts as a catalyst – and a mixture of nanotubes and other carbo...
