Welcome to the nanoworld Research into nanomaterials holds great promise. The astonishing properties of graphene suggest that this crystalline form of carbon may one day revolutionize microelectronics. Semiconducting graphene ribbons galore ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- With record electron mobility, high thermal conductivity, chemical stability, and conductance that can be varied by applying an electric field, graphene is likely to become a key player in electronics, especially high-frequency electronics. That is, as long as this naturally conducting material made up of a single layer of carbon atoms can be turned into a semiconductor. Eight years after the discovery of graphene, a French-US team has not only met the challenge, but done so with unbeatably low production costs. This was achieved by developing a technique for growing graphene sheets on a silicon carbide substrate. By carefully controlling the geometry of the substrate, the researchers managed to grow thin graphene ribbons just a few nanometers wide whose edges, when connected to conductive sheets, behave like semiconductors. The process made it possible to obtain tens of thousands of ribbons, opening the way for industrial-scale production in the near future. Graphene and spintronics go hand-in-hand Spintronics is based on the principle of transporting the electron spin, in other words the elementary nanomagnet associated with it, rather than its charge. Of particular interest due to its low energy consumption, it could turn out to be one of the possible information carriers in tomorrow’s electronics. Now, an international collaboration has shown that graphene could be the ideal, much-awaited platform for practical applications. It provides for highly efficient spin transport (as much as 75% of that theoretically attainable) over distances exceeding 100 micrometers. Nature Physics June 2012 online Highly conductive plastic nanofibers A study carried out by chemists on self-assembling fibers that they had produced in 2010 reveals that not only are these fibers – which are just a few nanometers thick – as light and flexible as plastic, but that they also conduct electricity nearly as well as copper. Pending demonstration that they can also be used industrially in miniaturized electronic devices, these fibers could contribute to meeting the worldwide challenge of miniaturizing electronic components down to the nanometer scale. Nature Chemistry April 2012 online 38 A bio-inspired nanoantenna Antennae are based on a simple principle: they capture radio waves and amplify them. However, doing so with visible light, which has far shorter wavelengths, requires nanometer-sized antennae. Physicists have now succeeded in making such antennae from short DNA strands onto which they grafted a fluorescent molecule that emits light, and gold nanoparticles to amplify the signal. This could pave the way for new light sources for quantum cryptography or for nanometric biosensors. Nature Communications July 2012 online Nature Physics November 2012 online A real atomic force microscope (AFM) image showing a conductive supramolecular fiber that is itself made up of several fibrils. Each grain corresponds to a molecule. The image is 50 nanometers across. A year at CNRS 2012
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