Tag Archives: Small Times Magazine

March 25, 2009: From Puerto Rico to Montana, museums, universities and research centers are gearing up for one of the largest outreach efforts ever attempted for educating the public about science and engineering at the nanoscale, a barely conceivable environment where one can manipulate objects as small as a single atom.

To bring nanoscale research directly to the public, the 2009 Nano Days events will run from March 28 through April 5, with activities such as hands-on experiments, nanotechnology product demonstrations, forums, laboratory tours and in at least one museum, juggling.

At the nanoscale, some materials are more reactive and can exhibit extraordinary properties, leading many scientists and engineers to believe advances in nanotechnology may bolster the US economy and help the nation meet such challenges as affordable clean energy and personalized drugs. Already, many products on the market-from stain-repellant clothing to sun screens-incorporate nanotechnology.

Organized by the Nanoscale Informal Science Education Network (NISE Net)–created in 2005 with a grant from the National Science Foundation–Nano Days involves more than 200 different sites, an effort spearheaded by the Museum of Science in Boston, the Science Museum of Minnesota and San Francisco’s Exploratorium.


A nanowire laser device, in development in the laboratory of 2007 National Science Foundation Waterman awardee Peidong Yang at the U. of California/Berkeley. (Source: Nicolle Rager Fuller, National Science Foundation)

March 25, 2009: Just as X-ray technology, MRI and sonography transformed the practice of medicine, a newly created approach for seeing the invisible promises great potential for finding new ways to improve the health of human and microelectronic patients alike. Semiconductor Research Corp. (SRC), a leading university-research consortium for semiconductors and related technologies, has joined with Northwestern University to announce successful demonstration of a unique ultrasound holography approach that enables scientists to view the tiniest of buried structures.

The resulting three-dimensional information will provide benefits ranging from greater yields for semiconductor manufacturers to more effective treatments for medical patients.

Using a novel, non-destructive approach that combines, for the first time ever, scanning-probe microscopy (SPM) with ultrasound and holography, researchers at Northwestern University have demonstrated the ability to view subsurface particles as small as 15-20nm (one billionth of a meter). Such capabilities have not previously been possible without slicing the sample, which changes both the composition and structure and sacrifices characteristics of the studied subject.

What makes the new approach revolutionary is the combined use of the SPM, ultrasound and holography. SPM offers nanoscale resolution. Ultrasound is non-destructive, transparent to all materials and sensitive to embedded structures, including nano-sized defects. Holography also can provide sophisticated three-dimensional representations of the buried information. Together, the three technologies offer unprecedented visibility to the increasingly important tiny parts of nature.

As there’s neither a similar approach nor such a high class of result available anywhere, a high-tech start-up company has been launched to further the commercial applications for these methods. Named NanoSonix Inc., the spin-off will develop a nanoscale-imaging toolset capable of rapid evaluation of defects and flaws below the surfaces as well as valuable recognition of buried patterns and structures.

“Microelectronics, in particular, is a flaw-intolerant technology where even nanoscale defects can compromise the performance and yield of the devices,” said Dan Herr, director of nanomanufacturing sciences for SRC-GRC, an entity of SRC. “The ability to see such defects is critical for yield enhancement as devices become smaller and such metrology techniques and tools become even more crucial. These results are very good news for multiple industries.”


New subsurface, embedded defect analysis will be more accurate than any other imaging process, spurring a spin-off company to commercialize the technology. (Image courtesy of SRC)

Utilizing the new technology, the microelectronics and nano-electro-mechanical systems (NEMS) industries can improve performance of their devices, time to yield and, ultimately, yield rates by deploying this technique in process development and as an in-line quality control tool. Thanks to the non-destructive imaging approach, the pharmaceutical industry should benefit from better understanding of how drugs distribute, accumulate and clear from different parts of the body.

“Biomedicine is moving towards use of nano-bio-structures to interrogate cells and deliver therapeutic cargo. This requires a non-invasive view inside the cells to monitor what’s happening under physiologically viable conditions,” said Dr. Vinayak Dravid, professor of materials science and engineering and the director of the NUANCE Center at Northwestern University. “With the new imaging technology, it’s possible to sharply increase our understanding of the bio-distribution of new drugs and the important interactions of nanoparticles and cells during intended or desirable therapeutic delivery or unintended environmental uptake.”

Next steps in development of the technology include system integration, material handling, faster scanning and high throughput of results. In-line tools and methods for addressing these needs will be created by NanoSonix. For instance, in the next 12 months, the spin-off will develop an add-on module for existing commercial SPM equipment in order to meet associated off-line metrology requirements. Availability of such an add-on module will make this technology accessible to a wider community, not only in semiconductor metrology but also in bio-application for both academia and industry to look deep below surfaces non-destructively with nanoscale resolution.

March 24, 2009: The MEMS research group Yole Développement has labeled 2008 a “year of unusual movement in the industry” and released what it is calling the 18 “winners” and 12 “losers” of the year.

Yole named its list of top 30 MEMS manufacturers with “winners” — or companies that have shown revenue growth — including Kionix, Measurement Specialties, STM, Panasonic, and Murata.

Yole’s list of “losers” — companies that have shown a decrease in sales — includes FormFactor, Silicon Sensing Systems, and Lexmark.

Overall sales of the top 30 MEMS manufacturers decreased by 2% compared to previous year.

Yole’s numbers come after iSuppli released its numbers for the MEMS auto supply chain, which also showed lower sales due to the recession.

March 24, 2009: Nanoscience Instruments Inc., a distributor of nanotechnology instrumentation and supplies, has announced the worldwide distribution of NaugaNeedles’ new line of metallic atomic force microscopy (AFM) probes.

NaugaNeedles’ probes are the first commercial metallic needle AFM tips, according to a company news release. The needle is fabricated of Ag2Ga, and can be produced in varying lengths, diameters, and attachment angles. A combination of high aspect, consistent geometry, and high conductivity enables a wide range of new applications not previously possible.

The tips have many advantages over metal coated tips, particularly wear, the company said. As a metal coated silicon tip wears, it becomes unusable in a short period of time. As a metallic needle wears, both conductivity and imaging quality remain constant over a very long time. Additionally, the needle probes are very high aspect, providing greater sensitivity for EFM measurements.

Needle AFM tips are available in standard lengths of 1μm, 5μm, or 10μm with a diameter of 50nm. Customized needle tips up to 100μm long and 500nm in diameter can be provided. The standard angle of attachment is 12° but can also be customized to virtually any angle.


Metal needle AFM Tips from Nanoscience Instruments and NaugaNeedles. (Image courtesy of Nanoscience Instruments)

March 23, 2009: The current economic crisis is affecting many parts of the global economy – perhaps none more than the automotive sector, where shipments were down by 6% in 2008 and are forecasted to be slashed by 19% in 2009, according to iSuppli’s automotive practice.

Fewer cars means fewer sensors, and especially MEMS sensors, which are enabling in advanced systems, like vehicle stability control found in many mid-range and luxury vehicles and the ubiquitous airbag and its satellites found in more than 90% of all vehicles, according to iSuppli. The effects on the supply chain are already equally as dramatic. Most of these sensor companies have typically recorded revenue decreases ranging from 6%-15% in 2008.

According to iSuppli, the crunch is affecting the supply chain in several ways, highlighted by the closure of Systron Donner Automotive’s MEMS quartz gyroscope division before Christmas in 2008. Schneider Electric, the company’s French owner, laid off the entire engineering team (87 people), leaving a skeleton crew to meet the contractual commitments of the number two gyroscope supplier to vehicle dynamics behind Bosch. This is despite estimated sales of close to $105 million for gyroscopes last year.

A second shock reverberated through the chain as Infineon shed its Norwegian arm, SensoNor, iSuppli said.

Nonetheless, the group said, there are still some automotive application areas that will refuse to be contained, especially those driven by non-market forces like mandates for vehicle stability systems. These systems need on average of just over three MEMS sensors, including a gyro, accelerometer and pressure sensor(s). These systems are mandatory on all passenger vehicles in the United States from 2012 and the European Union from 2014.

Such developments mean that some companies are doing fine. For example, Sensata is a leader in high-pressure sensors used in electronic stability control (ESC) brake modulators, and recorded a slight increase of its automotive MEMS sensor revenue in 2008.

Overall, iSuppli’s latest automotive MEMS tracker forecasts that after the contractions of 2008 and 2009, the market for automotive MEMS will resume its earlier healthy growth from 2010 onwards, reaching double-digit growth again in 2011.

For more information, iSuppli said to refer to its forthcoming Automotive MEMS H1 2009 Market Tracker – Mandates Save Automotive Sensor Market from Tailspin.

March 23, 2009: Researchers are describing a long-awaited advance toward applying the marvels of nanotechnology in the battle against cancer. They have developed the first hollow gold nanospheres — smaller than the finest flecks of dust — that search out and “cook” cancer cells. The cancer-destroying nanospheres show particular promise as a minimally invasive future treatment for malignant melanoma, the most serious form of skin cancer, the researchers say. Melanoma now causes more than 8,000 deaths annually in the United States alone and is on the increase globally.

The topic of a report presented at the American Chemical Society’s 237th National Meeting, the hollow gold nanospheres are equipped with a special “peptide.” That protein fragment draws the nanospheres directly to melanoma cells, while avoiding healthy skin cells. After collecting inside the cancer, the nanospheres heat up when exposed to near-infrared light, which penetrates deeply through the surface of the skin. In recent studies in mice, the hollow gold nanospheres did eight times more damage to skin tumors than the same nanospheres without the targeting peptides, the researchers say.

“This technique is very promising and exciting,” explains study co-author Jin Zhang, a professor of chemistry and biochemistry at the University of California in Santa Cruz. “It’s basically like putting a cancer cell in hot water and boiling it to death. The more heat the metal nanospheres generate, the better.”

This form of cancer therapy is actually a variation of photothermal ablation, also known as photoablation therapy (PAT), a technique in which doctors use light to burn tumors. Since the technique can destroy healthy skin cells, doctors must carefully control the duration and intensity of treatment.

Researchers now know that PATs can be greatly enhanced by applying a light absorbing material, such as metal nanoparticles, to the tumor. Although researchers have developed various types of metal nanoparticles to help improve this technique, many materials show poor penetration into cancer cells and limited heat carrying-capacities. These particles include solid gold nanoparticles and nanorods that lack the desired combination of spherical shape and strong near-infrared light absorption for effective PAT, scientists say.

To develop more effective cancer-burning materials, Zhang and colleagues focused on hollow gold nanospheres, each about 1/50,000th the width of a single human hair. Previous studies by others suggest that gold “nanoshells” have the potential for strong near-infrared light absorption. However, scientists have been largely unable to produce them successfully in the lab, Zhang notes.


Partial view of a gold nanosphere magnified by a factor of one billion, as seen through an electron microscope. The darker ring shows the “wall” of the nanosphere, while the lighter area to the right of the ring shows the interior region of the shell. (Photo courtesy of Adam Schwartzberg and Jin Zhang)

After years of research toward this goal, Zhang announced in 2006 that he had finally developed a nanoshell or hollow nanosphere with the “right stuff” for cancer therapy: Gold spheres with an optimal light absorption capacity in the near-infrared region, small size, and spherical shape, perfect for penetrating cancer cells and burning them up.

“Previously developed nanostructures such as nanorods were like chopsticks on the nanoscale,” Zhang says. “They can go through the cell membrane, but only at certain angles. Our spheres allow a smoother, more efficient flow through the membranes.”

The gold nanoshells, which are nearly perfect spheres, range in size from 30 to 50 nanometers — thousands of times smaller than the width of a human hair. The shells are also much smaller than other nanoparticles previously designed for photoablation therapy, he says. Another advantages is that gold is also safer and has fewer side effects in the body than other metal nanoparticles, Zhang notes.

In collaboration with Chun Li, a professor at the University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, Zhang and his associates equipped the nanospheres with a peptide to a protein receptor that is abundant in melanoma cells, giving the nanospheres the ability to target and destroy skin cancer. In tests using mice, the resulting nanospheres were found to be significantly more effective than solid gold nanoparticles due to much stronger near infrared-light absorption of the hollow nanospheres, the researchers say.

The next step is to try the nanospheres in humans, Zhang says. This requires extensive preclinical toxicity studies. The mice study is the first step, and there is a long way to go before it can be put into clinical practice, Li says.

March 23, 2009: A ghostly property of matter, called quantum tunneling, may aid the quest for accurate, low-cost genomic sequencing, according to a new paper in Nature Nanotechnology Letters by Stuart Lindsay and his collaborators at the Biodesign Institute of Arizona State University. Tunneling permits a particle like an electron to cross a barrier when, according to classical physics, it does not have enough energy to do so.

Unraveling the DNA sequences of the human genome a decade ago was a remarkable achievement. Today, the task of sequencing some three billion chemical base pairs of the genome — enough information to fill a 20-volume encyclopedia — remains a daunting challenge, thus far accomplished largely through brute force means. Such methods are typically slow and extravagantly expensive, (though costs have dropped considerably from the initial sequencing of the human genome, which took 11 years at a cost of $1 billion).

Bringing the power of DNA sequencing to every individual will require new, affordable technologies to help mine the wealth of information DNA can provide concerning morphology, hereditary traits and predisposition to disease.

Various techniques for sequencing DNA have been used to determine the identities of the four nucleotide bases — adenine, thymine, cytosine and guanine — which make up the ladder rungs of the DNA’s double helical structure. Most of these require snipping DNA into hundreds of thousands of short fragments, unzipping the helix and reading a few hundred to a few thousand bases at a time. Finally, all of the information from the DNA pieces is reassembled into a picture of the complete genome, with the help of massive computing power.

ASU Regents’ Professor and Carson Presidential Chair of Physics and Chemistry, Stuart Lindsay, who also directs the Biodesign Institute’s Center for Single Molecule Biophysics, summarizes one of the chief physical obstacles to more efficient identification of DNA base pairs through techniques like optical microscopy: “The difficulty is that any physical readout that you can think of placing on a device is sensitive on a length scale that is longer than the separation between bases.”


A gold probe, outfitted with a dangling nucleotide approaches its complementary base, protruding upward from a monolayer. A set point current is established for the tunnel junction as the bases self-assemble. As the electrode is slowly withdrawn, the drop in tunneling current is recorded. Examining the curve of current vs. distance allows the identification of A-T base pairs, which may be distinguished from more strongly bonded C-G pairs — cemented by 3 rather than 2 hydrogen bonds. (Image courtesy of Biodesign Institute at ASU)

Lindsay’s technique for observing DNA sequences relies on scanning tunneling- (STM) and atomic force- (ATM) microscopes to identify complementary DNA base pairs, evaluating the hydrogen bonds formed between them. Base pairing rules for DNA dictate that the hydrogen bonds work to join up appropriate nucleotide pairs like jigsaw pieces — adenine with thymine and cytosine with guanine.

The scanning tunneling microscope used in this study features a delicate electrode tip held very close to the DNA sample. When this tip is fitted with a particular nucleotide and brought in contact with its complementary mate — embedded in the substrate, the hydrogen bonds stick the bases together and they attach, like tiny magnets (see image above). As Lindsay describes the method, “you have sensing chemicals attached to one electrode and the target you want to sense attached to another one. When the junction spontaneously self-assembles, you get a signal. It’s a new way of doing recognition at the atomic scale.”

Crucial to the new technique is the fact that the strength of the glue fastening complementary bases differs for A-T and C-G pairs. While two hydrogen bonds hold A-T bases together, C-G pairs use three hydrogen bonds. For this reason, it’s physically harder to break C-G bonds. By measuring the current drop in the electrical circuit formed between the microscope probe and the target base as the hydrogen bonds are gently pulled apart, a positive identification of the base being read can be made. The new method, as Lindsay explains, combines chemical recognition — the hydrogen bonded assembly at the tunnel junction — with the flow of electron tunneling current as the tunneling junction is completed.

March 23, 2009: The science and technology minister of Sri Lanka is advising business leaders to tap into the world of nanotechnology as a way of lifting their country out of bad economic times, according to a report in the Sunday Observer, an English-language newspaper in Sri Lanka.

Tissa Vitarana, speaking at a nanotech seminar organized by the National Science Foundation and Small and Medium Enterprise Developers of the Federation of Chambers of Commerce and Industry in Sri Lanka, called for the business and financial communities to come together to develop nanotechnology, the paper reported.

Vitarana praised the Sri Lankan government for donating at 60-acre parcel of land to set up a nanoscience park, and said the Sri Lanka Nanotechnology Institute at Biyagama is a good example of a public-private partnership to advance nanotech development in his country.

Veranga Karunaratne, a professor at the Sri Lanka Institute of Technology, said that nanotech is in its infancy in his country, the paper reported.

March 19, 2009: Nanoreg Inc., a professional services firm specializing in the application of nanotechnology laws and regulations, and the law firm of Keller and Heckman LLP, are sponsoring a series of Webinars between April and November.

The webinars are “designed to address the current industry outlook for nanotechnology under the new administration and the challenges associated with the safe development of nano-enhanced products,” according to a news release.

“This series features respected experts on several important topics in the rapidly changing world of nanotechnology regulatory policy and safety,” the release said.

The Internet events are scheduled in April, June, September, and November, and cover topics including legislation, regulation, the marketplace, food and food packaging, and product liability.

March 19, 2009: Anatoly Chubais, director general of the Russian Nanotechnology Corp. (RUSNANO), is in Israel for a three-day visit to discuss ways the two countries can cooperate in nanotechnology development, according to a report by the Itar-Tass news service.

The Russian delegation is scheduled to meet government officials as well as representatives of Israel’s venture capital funds and nanotechnology companies.

Chubais is also scheduled to meet with Israeli President Shimon Peres, a longtime advocate for nanotechnology development in his country, and with Prime Minister-designate Benjamin Netanyahu, who is forming a new Israeli government.

Representatives of RUSNANO had met with Israeli scientists and businessmen last September. “As of today Israel brings closer to leaders of the nanotechnology market — the United States, Germany and Japan and plays one of the major roles in nanotechnology research,” RUSNANO said in a press statement.