Tag Archives: Small Times Magazine

April 21, 2009: At this week’s Design, Automation & Test in Europe conference, IMEC is presenting a new design strategy for brain implants, which it used to create a prototype multi-electrode stimulation and recording probe for deep-brain stimulation.

With this development, IMEC highlights the opportunities in the healthcare market for design tool developers. Brain implants for electrical stimulation of specific brain areas are used as a last-resort therapy for brain disorders such as Parkinson’s disease, tremor, or obsessive-compulsive disorder. Today’s deep-brain stimulation probes use millimeter-size electrodes. These stimulate, in a highly unfocused way, a large area of the brain and have significant
unwanted side effects.

“To have a more precise stimulation and recording, we need electrodes that are as small as individual brain cells (neurons),” said Wolfgang Eberle, senior scientist and project manager at IMEC’s bioelectronics research group. “Such small electrodes can be made with semiconductor process technology, appropriate design tools, and advanced electronic signal processing. At DATE, we want to bring this message to the design community, showing the huge opportunities that the healthcare sector offers.”

IMEC’s design and modeling strategy allows developing advanced brain implants consisting of multiple electrodes enabling simultaneous stimulation and recording. This strategy was used to create prototype probes with 10μm-size electrodes and various electrode topologies.

The design strategy relies on finite-element modeling of the electrical field distribution around the brain probe. This was done with the multi-physics simulation software COMSOL 3.4 and 3.5. The COMSOL tools also enabled investigating the mechanical properties of the probe during surgical insertion and the effects of temperature. The results indicate that adapting the penetration depth and field asymmetry allow steering the electrical field around the probe. This results in high-precision stimulation. Also key to the design approach is developing a mixed-signal compensation scheme enabling multi-electrode probes capable of stimulation as well as recording. This is needed to realize closed-loop systems.

These new design approaches open up possibilities for more effective stimulation with less side effects, reduced energy consumption due to focusing the stimulation current on the desired brain target, and closed-loop control adapting the stimulation based on the recorded effect.


A prototype multi-electrode stimulation and recording probe for deep-brain stimulation. (Photo courtesy of IMEC)

April 21, 2009: NIL Technology now offers a Quick Polymer Stamp (QPS), facilitating a fast nanoimprint approach. The QPS is a working stamp, easily produced from a silicon or quartz master, to be directly used for UV nanoimprint lithography.

The QPS solution greatly reduces the time of producing working stamps for the NIL process, while preserving both high resolution performance and easy-to-use features of the NanoLithoSolution (NLS) nanoimprint module, the company said in a news release.

The NLS nanoimprint module is a low cost tool used as add-on to existing UV-lithography mask aligners. The module is easily installed, has integrated Auto-Release and comes with all needed features for imprinting. The module has now been successfully installed at several locations in Europe and the US.


Two SEM pictures of a line grating pattern with approximately 400nm pitch: (left) Original laser-written silicon master from which a replicated QPS stamp was made, and (right) the result from the imprint in polymer, using the QPS stamp as master. (Source: NIL Technology)

April 20, 2009: Carl Zeiss said it has overcome the challenges of imaging deep inside living tissues with the launch of the LSM 7 MP, a purpose-built multiphoton laser scanning microscope that, for the first time, incorporates two separate scanners. The twin scanners mean that the compact system’s two excitation lasers can be set to different wavelengths and used either simultaneously or sequentially for specimen imaging and manipulation.

With the scan module of the LSM 7 MP optimised for excitation light up to 1100 nm, efficient fluorescence excitation deep inside tissue samples is possible without the phototoxic damage associated with high intensity light. Highly sensitive non-descanned detectors or a unique non-descanned GaAsP detector with signal outcoupling directly above the objective lens ensure vivid, high resolution fluorescent imaging, even in whole, live animal studies.

Application fields include high resolution 3D imaging in long-term observations of development processes and functional imaging in conjunction with simultaneous photo-manipulation. In combination with the Axio Examiner upright microscope stand and the AxioCam camera, the LSM 7 MP is an optimal system for performing highly specialized multiphoton microscopy applications, the company said.


The LSM 7 MP laser scanning microscope is specially tailored to the needs of multiphoton microscopy, delivering high-resolution microscope images for a wide range of experiments in biomedical and basic research. (Image courtesy of Carl Zeiss)

April 20, 2009: The National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) will use money from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 to fund research on whether engineered nanomaterials pose risks to human health, and on ways nanotechnology can be used to clean up superfund sites.

The NIEHS will also use the funds to provide safety training for workers in industries working with nanotechnology, as well as workers in the fields of weatherization, alternative energy development, and “green” construction.

More than $29 million will be available through NIEHS over the next two years with the goal of helping to support the responsible and safe development of these emerging technologies.

Deadlines for applying for the various types of grants offered through NIEHS begin as early as April 27. The proposed projects should be able to show tangible results within two years.

April 17, 2009: Russia wants to develop a system to “track” all of its nanotech production and has set the goal of winning 3% of the global nanotechnology market by 2015, according to a report in The Moscow Times.

Anatoly Chubais, the head of RUSNANO, a Russian state-owned nanotech business group, said that nobody currently knows how much “nanotechnology production” there is in the country. So, the group is teaming with the State Statistics Service to develop a tracking system, he said.

Chubais made his comments at a meeting of the Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs. The news agency Interfax reported that RUSNANO wants to help Russian companies win 3% of the global nanotechnology market by 2015 as part of the government’s drive to diversify the economy.

April 16, 2009: A123 Systems, whose nanophosphate formula is an important ingredient in its Li-ion batteries, has received more than $100 million in tax credits from the state of Michigan.

The tax credits are part of a push by Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm to make the state a center for automotive battery manufacturing. The Massachusetts-based company will open a new production plant in suburban Detroit.

The announcement came shortly after Chrysler chose A123 as its supplier of lithium-ion batteries for electric vehicles expected to reach the market in 2010.

April 15, 2009: Algae is widely touted as the next best source for fueling the world’s energy needs. But one of the greatest challenges in creating biofuels from algae is that when you extract the oil from the algae, it kills the organisms, dramatically raising production costs. Now researchers at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Ames Laboratory and Iowa State University have developed groundbreaking “nanofarming” technology that safely harvests oil from the algae so the pond-based “crop” can keep on producing.

Commercialization of this new technology is at the center of a cooperative research and development agreement between the Ames Laboratory and Catilin Inc., a nanotechnology company that specializes in biofuel production. The agreement targets development of this novel approach to reduce the cost and energy consumption of the industrial processing of non-food source biofuel feedstock. The three-year project is being funded with $885,000 from DOE’s Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, and $216,000 from Catilin and $16,000 from Iowa State University in matching funds.

The so-called “nanofarming” technology uses nanoparticles to extract oil from the algae. The process doesn’t harm the algae like other methods being developed, which helps reduce both production costs and the production cycle. Once the algal oil is extracted, a separate and proven solid catalyst from Catilin will be used to produce ASTM (American Society for Testing and Materials) and EN certified biodiesel.

The potential of algae for fuel is tremendous as up to 10,000 gallons of oil may be produced on a single acre of land. The DOE estimates that if algae fuel replaced all the petroleum fuel in the United States, it would require only 15,000 square miles, which is a few thousand square miles larger than Maryland. This is less than one-seventh the area devoted to corn production in the United States in 2000.

The driving force behind this combination of nanotechnology and biofuels is Ames Laboratory Chemical and Biological Sciences Program Director Victor Lin. Since 2000, Lin, who is also a chemistry professor at Iowa State University, has been leading research on using nanotechnology to dramatically change the production process of biodiesel. This successful technology led Lin to found Catilin one and a half years ago.

“By combining nanotechnology, chemistry and catalysis, we have been able to find solutions that have not been considered to date,” Lin said. “Ames Laboratory and Iowa State University offer valuable research capabilities and resources that will play a key role in this exciting collaboration with Catilin.”

According to Marek Pruski, Ames Laboratory senior physicist and co-investigator on the project, phase one and two of the project will cover the culturing and selection of microalgae as well as the development of the specific nanoparticle-based extraction and catalyst technologies for the removal of algal oil and the production of biodiesel, respectively. Phase three will focus on scale-up of the catalyst and pilot plant testing on conversion to biodiesel.

“When we ultimately put together this exceptional extraction technology with Catilin’s existing solid biodiesel catalyst, we will dramatically increase the reality of renewable energy,” said Catilin’s CEO, Larry Lenhart. “Given the Obama administration’s objectives, the timing is perfect.”
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April 15, 2009: RUSNANO, a Russian state-owned nanotech business group, wants to pump millions of dollars into Canadian nanotechnology companies, according to a report by Canwest News Service.

Representatives of RUSNANO traveled to Canada last week and, according to one official, liked what they saw so much that they said they would invest a minimum of $10 million in any single firm by the end of the year.

The investments, if they happen, could inject some life into Canada’s nanotech industry, which has suffered from lack of government investment and incentives. Neil Gordon, former head of the now-defunct Canadian NanoBusiness Alliance, has told Small Times that the “Canadian government had ignored the massive economic development opportunity from nanotechnology.”

April 13, 2009: NN-Labs LLC has introduced indium phosphide-based quantum dots as a new environmentally friendly, heavy metal-free, high-performance alternative to cadmium selenide-based (CdSe) quantum dots for research and teaching applications.

CdSe-based quantum dots, the current workhorse of quantum dot luminescent materials, are known to be highly toxic and environmentally hazardous but are still used widely because of the absence, until now, of alternative materials, the company said in a news release.

NN-Labs has developed a line of indium phosphide-based (InP) quantum dots, that offer high performance while eliminating the use of cadmium, a Level A toxic element with zero use tolerance for purpose-built commercial applications. NN-Labs is offering InP/ZnS core-shell quantum dots in kits of five emission colors: green (530nm), yellow (570nm), orange (600nm), red (630nm), and deep red (650nm).

Kits are available with the quantum dots dispersed in organic solvents and in water. These quantum dots are readily observed through absorption and fluorescence spectroscopy and offer similar emission color ranges to that of CdSe. In particular, these kits are designed to meet research needs requiring high performance, heavy metal-free quantum dots and teaching needs (such as experiments demonstrating spectroscopic characteristics of quantum dots.

April 13, 2009: Inlustra Technologies, a California-based startup spun out from gallium nitride (GaN) research laboratories at the University of California at Santa Barbara, has developed a scalable production process for nonpolar and semipolar GaN substrates. The company is expanding its production facilities and has recently started to fill orders from customers.

GaN semiconductor materials are critical for the production of compact and highly efficient green, blue, violet, and ultraviolet light sources. They form the basis for green LEDs for traffic signals, white LEDs as backlights for modern high-definition/high contrast displays, and blue laser diodes for Blu-Ray DVD players. GaN-based white LEDs used for general lighting are seen as a highly efficient, non-toxic replacement for fluorescent and incandescent bulbs, yielding energy savings equivalent to over 5 billion barrels of oil over the next 20 years (according to the US Dept. of Energy).

The crystal structure of GaN causes some of its properties to vary strongly with orientation. The nonpolar and semipolar planes of this structure have excited practitioners in recent years as alternatives to the conventional polar GaN c-plane, which faces some fundamental device efficiency limitations. Nonpolar and semipolar GaN promise markedly increased device performance, manufacturing yields, and device longevity compared to conventional GaN technology. While the benefits of GaN substrates are widely acknowledged, producing the material has proven challenging, especially in the nonpolar and semipolar orientations.

“Our proprietary crystal growth techniques significantly reduce the number of microscopic defects in the substrates, which will enable our customers to realize improved yields in their device production processes,” Paul Fini, CTO at Inlustra, said in a news release. The company is currently offering nonpolar GaN substrate sizes between 5×10mm and 10×20mm but will scale up its process to 2-in. over the next 9-12 months.