Researchers have developed new robotic sensor technology that has the capability to diagnose women’s reproductive health problems in real-time. The technology, developed by researchers at Imperial College London and The University of Hong Kong, can be used to measure hormones that affect fertility, sexual development and menstruation more quickly and cheaply than current methods. The…
‘Astrocomb’ Provides Precision for Planet-Hunting Telescope
The hunt for Earth-like planets, and perhaps extraterrestrial life, just got more precise, thanks to record-setting starlight measurements made possible by a National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) “astrocomb.” NIST’s custom-made frequency comb—which precisely measures frequencies, or colors, of light—ensures the precision of starlight analysis by an instrument called a spectrograph at the Hobby-Eberly…
Polariton Filter Transforms Ordinary Laser Light into Quantum Light
Scientists Reach Breakthrough in Graphene-Based Electronics
A team of researchers from Denmark has solved one of the biggest challenges in making effective nanoelectronics based on graphene. The new results have been published in Nature Nanotechnology. For 15 years, scientists have tried to exploit the “miracle material” graphene to produce nanoscale electronics. On paper, graphene should be great for just that: it…
Flexible, Wearable Electronics Result from Solar-Powered Supercapacitors
A breakthrough in energy storage technology could bring a new generation of flexible electronic devices to life, including solar-powered prosthetics for amputees. In a paper published in the journal Advanced Science, a team of engineers from the University of Glasgow discuss how they have used layers of graphene and polyurethane to create a flexible supercapacitor…
Lasers and Silicon Offer a Glimpse into the Future
Ten years into the future. That’s about how far UC Santa Barbara electrical and computer engineering professor John Bowers and his research team are reaching with the recent development of their mode-locked quantum dot lasers on silicon. It’s technology that not only can massively increase the data transmission capacity of data centers, telecommunications companies and…
What You Need to Know About Cleanroom Attire
The cleanroom—an artificial environment specially engineered to minimize the concentration of airborne pollutants—has undergone many improvements and refinements since Willis Whitfield installed the first one at Sandia National Laboratories in 1962. Today, the cleanroom plays a vital role in manufacturing processes in the pharmaceutical and microprocessor industries, as well as other sectors where it is…
Laser-Induced Graphene Gains New Powers
Laser-induced graphene (LIG), a flaky foam of the atom-thick carbon, has many interesting properties on its own but gains new powers as part of a composite. The labs of Rice University chemist James Tour and Christopher Arnusch, a professor at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev in Israel, introduced a batch of LIG composites in the…
Buckyball Transformation Achieved Using Light
C60 is an extremely well-studied carbon molecule, which consists of 60 carbon atoms and is structured like a soccer ball. The macromolecule is also known as buckminsterfullerene (or buckyball), a name given as a tribute to the architect Richard Buckminster Fuller, who designed buildings with similar shapes. Laser physicists have now irradiated buckyballs with infrared…
A Planner’s Guide to Filtered Fume Hoods
As lab planners, HERA spends a lot of time discussing fume hoods, considering type, cost, use, sustainability and installation, to name just a few aspects. The introduction of filtered hoods has made the discussion much more complex. Filtered fume hoods are a relatively new technology, so some users are reluctant to consider using them; however,…
Graphene Utilized for Improved Noise Control
Noise is a dangerous worldwide environmental pollutant: at normal levels found in cities it can induce annoyance, stress and fluctuations in sleep patterns which in turn increase the risk of type-2 diabetes, arterial hypertension, myocardial infarction, and stroke. A new high-tech low-cost soundproofing foam invented at the University of Adelaide could help keep our cities…
Study Finds Wearable Devices Not Effective for Forecasting Stress Fractures
Whether you are a professional athlete or an amateur runner, there may be no more debilitating and frustrating injury than a stress fracture. Stress fractures generally begin with persistent and irritating pain in the foot or lower leg that gets more intense and possibly swollen as the athlete continues to train. These injuries— microcracks in…
The Critical Link between Particle Monitoring Systems and Business Continuity Planning
Data from particle monitoring in cleanrooms in pharma production applications is critical data. It is crucial that particle monitoring systems are properly supported. With advances in software and networking, remote assistance and service level agreements (SLA) vendor support contracts should enable pharma production to take full advantage of fast response times over the Internet by…
Researchers Capture Snapshots of Respiratory Helpers
Cytochrome c oxidase (CcO) is the last enzyme in the respiratory electron transport chain of cells located in the mitochondrial membrane. It receives an electron from each of four cytochrome c molecules, and transfers them to one oxygen molecule (two atoms), converting the molecular oxygen to two molecules of water. Researchers at CASD, including ASU’s…
Space Telescope Completes Critical Milestones
NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope has successfully passed another series of critical testing milestones on its march to the launch pad. In recent acoustic and sine vibration tests, technicians and engineers exposed Webb’s spacecraft element to brutal dynamic mechanical environmental conditions to ensure it will endure the rigors of a rocket launch to space. During…
Smallest-Ever Optical Frequency Comb Developed
Optical frequency combs are laser sources whose spectrum consists of a series of discrete, equally spaced frequency lines that can be used for precise measurements. In the last two decades, they have become a major tool for applications such as precise distance measurement, spectroscopy, and telecommunications. Most of the commercially available optical frequency comb sources…
First Transport Measurements Reveal Germanene’s Curious Properties
Germanene is a 2D material that derives from germanium and is related to graphene. As it is not stable outside the vacuum chambers in which is it produced, no real measurements of its electronic properties have been made. Scientists led by Professor Justin Ye, Associate Professor of Device Physics at the University of Groningen, have…
Spacecraft’s X-Ray Eyes Assembled in Cleanroom
A “mirror module”—formed of 140 industrial silicon mirror plates, stacked together by a sophisticated robotic system—is destined to form part of the optical system of the European Space Agency’s Athena X-ray observatory. Due to launch in 2031, Athena will probe 10 to 100 times deeper into the cosmos than previous X-ray missions, to observe the…
Biological Effects of Graphene Go Under the Microscope
Graphene is considered one of the most interesting and versatile materials of our time. The application possibilities inspire both research and industry. But are products containing graphene also safe for humans and the environment? A comprehensive review, developed as part of the European graphene flagship project with the participation of Empa researchers, investigated this question.…
Physicists Reach Breakthrough in Nanolaser Design
Nanolasers have recently emerged as a new class of light sources that have a size of only a few millionths of a meter and unique properties remarkably different from those of macroscopic lasers. However, it is almost impossible to determine at what current the output radiation of the nanolaser becomes coherent, while for practical applications,…
Laser Physicists Reach Breakthrough in Data Acquisition Time
Laser physicists have succeeded in reducing the acquisition time for data required for reliable characterization of multidimensional electron motions by a factor of 1,000. It may sound paradoxical, but capturing the ultrafast motions of subatomic particles is actually very time-consuming. Experiments designed to track the dynamics of electrons often take weeks. Mapping the frantic gyrations…
Artificial Neural Networks Streamline Materials Testing
Optimizing advanced composites for specific end uses can be costly and time-consuming, requiring manufacturers to test many samples to arrive at the best formulation. Investigators at the NYU Tandon School of Engineering have designed a machine learning system employing artificial neural networks (ANN) capable of extrapolating from data derived from just one sample, thereby quickly…
Nano-Infused Ceramic Self-Reports Health
A ceramic that becomes more electrically conductive under elastic strain and less conductive under plastic strain could lead to a new generation of sensors embedded into structures like buildings, bridges and aircraft able to monitor their own health. The electrical disparity fostered by the two types of strain was not obvious until Rice University’s Rouzbeh…
Data-Transmitting Light Signal Boosted by Nanosized Amplifier
Light is a more energy efficient and faster way of transferring data than electricity. Until now, the rapid attenuation of light signals in microchips has prevented the use of light as a source of an information signal. With international collaboration, researchers at Aalto University have now developed a nanosized amplifier to help light signals propagate…
REMINDER: Submit Your Cleanroom Product to the Readers’ Choice Awards!
Controlled Environments is proud to announce its fifth annual Readers’ Choice Awards for the Best Cleanroom Products of the Year. The awards celebrate excellence in product design and performance for tools, equipment and materials used in all areas of clean and controlled environment performance and operation. Equipment and product suppliers are invited to submit their…