In a just-published paper in the magazine Science, IBM (NYSE: IBM) researchers demonstrated a radio-frequency graphene transistor with the highest cut-off frequency achieved so far for any graphene device - 100 billion cycles/second (100 GigaHertz).


This accomplishment is a key milestone for the Carbon Electronics for RF Applications (CERA) program funded by DARPA, in an effort to develop next-generation communication devices.
The high frequency record was achieved using wafer-scale, epitaxially grown graphene using processing technology compatible to that used in advanced silicon device fabrication.

"A key advantage of graphene lies in the very high speeds in which electrons propagate, which is essential for achieving high-speed, high-performance next generation transistors," said Dr. T.C. Chen, vice president, Science and Technology, IBM Research. "The breakthrough we are announcing demonstrates clearly that graphene can be utilized to produce high performance devices and integrated circuits."

Graphene is a single atom-thick layer of carbon atoms bonded in a hexagonal honeycomb-like arrangement. This two-dimensional form of carbon has unique electrical, optical, mechanical and thermal properties and its technological applications are being explored intensely.
Uniform and high-quality graphene wafers were synthesized by thermal decomposition of a silicon carbide (SiC) substrate. The graphene transistor itself utilized a metal top-gate architecture and a novel gate insulator stack involving a polymer and a high dielectric constant oxide. The gate length was modest, 240 nanometers, leaving plenty of space for further optimization of its performance by scaling down the gate length.
It is noteworthy that the frequency performance of the graphene device already exceeds the cut-off frequency of state-of-the-art silicon transistors of the same gate length (~ 40 GigaHertz). Similar performance was obtained from devices based on graphene obtained from natural graphite, proving that high performance can be obtained from graphene of different origins. Previously, the team had demonstrated graphene transistors with a cut-off frequency of 26 GigaHertz using graphene flakes extracted from natural graphite.

Source: IBM (home;news)

Scientists from the U.S. Department of Energy's Argonne National Laboratory and the University of Chicago Medical Center are shaking up the world of materials science and cancer research on the cover of the February 2010 issue of the journal Nature Materials.

Brain cancer is notoriously difficult to treat with standard cancer-fighting methods, so scientists have been looking outside standard medicine and into nanomaterials as a treatment alternative.

"Our mission is to develop advanced 'smart' materials with unique properties," said Elena Rozhkova, a nanoscientist with Argonne's Center for Nanoscale Materials. "These efforts are directed to the improvement of the national quality of life, including creating novel medical technologies."

A team of scientists, including Rozhkova, Dong-Hyum Kim, Valentyn Novosad, Tijana Rajh and Samuel Bader from Argonne, and Maciej Lesniak and Ilya Ulasov from the University of Chicago Brain Tumor Center, developed a technique that uses gold-plated iron-nickel microdiscs connected to brain-cancer-seeking antibodies to fight cancer. The microdiscs are an example of a nanomagnetic material and can be used to probe cell mechanics and activate mechanosensitive ion channels, as well as to advance cancer therapies.
The discs posses a spin-vortex ground state and sit dormant on the cancer cell until a small alternating magnetic field is applied and the vortices shift, creating an oscillation. The energy from the oscillation is transferred to the cell and triggers apoptosis, or "cell suicide."
Since the antibodies are attracted only to brain cancer cells, the process leaves surrounding healthy cells unharmed. This makes them unlike traditional cancer treatment methods, such as chemotherapy and radiation, which negatively affect both cancer and normal healthy cells.


"We are very excited about this melding of materials and life sciences, but we are still in the very early research stages," materials scientist Valentyn Novosad said. "We are planning to begin testing in animals soon, but we are several years away from human trials. Everything is still experimental."

Along with continued testing and research of the treatment, scientists also have to examine any possible side effects that have been so far unseen in the laboratory.

"The use of nanomaterials for cancer treatment is not a new concept, but the ability to kill the cells without harming surrounding healthy cells has incredible potential," Rozhkova said. "Such a topic can only be approached with the expertise of markedly differing disciplines such as physics, chemistry, biology and nanotechnology and can make a great impact in important areas of science and modern advanced technologies."

Source: Argone National Laboratory; Science Daily

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Information of Argone National Laboratory:
Argonne National Laboratory seeks solutions to pressing national problems in science and technology. The nation's first national laboratory, Argonne conducts leading-edge basic and applied scientific research in virtually every scientific discipline. Argonne researchers work closely with researchers from hundreds of companies, universities, and federal, state and municipal agencies to help them solve their specific problems, advance America 's scientific leadership and prepare the nation for a better future. With employees from more than 60 nations, Argonne is managed by UChicago Argonne, LLC for the U.S. Department of Energy's Office of Science.

A world-renowned medical researcher discusses the key role that nanotechnology has begun to play in the detection and treatment of cancer in an article that will appear in the March 2010 edition of Mechanical Engineering magazine.

Mauro Ferrari, Ph.D., explains how advanced nanotech-based therapeutic agents possess characteristics that can effectively exploit the unique mechanical properties of cancer lesions and treat the various forms of the disease locally.

According to Ferrari, professor and chairman of the Department of Nanomedicine and Biomedical Engineering at The University of Texas Health Science Center, some engineered nano-particles have demonstrated the capability to deliver drugs only to areas affected by disease, in the process protecting healthy cells and reducing debilitating side effects.


An important insight in understanding how to treat cancer, Ferrari says, is that aspects of the disease such as malignancy, metastasis, and angiogenesis (which is the growth of new arteries to feed tumors) are mechanical phenomena pertaining to the motion and transport of blood and cells. Nanotechnology-based therapies currently under experimentation for cancer treatment take advantage of some of these mechanical properties to find new ways to attack tumors.

This constitutes a new field that Ferrari and his medical colleagues refer to as “transport oncophysics.”

Formulations of drugs made from nano-particles have shown the ability to overcome biological barriers -- for example, by leaking through the blood vessels inside a tumor -- to concentrate on localized cancers. Because of this, nanotechnology-based drugs may be used in smaller doses and are less likely to disperse to healthy parts of the body. Ferrari and his team at The University of Texas also have designed nano-particles called Multi-Stage Vectors, which offer great promise in targeting individual cancer cells.

“We are on the brink of a new era in cancer treatment,” asserts Ferrari in the forthcoming article, titled “Infernal Mechanism.”

“The level of specificity that can be achieved through the use of the conceptual model of cancer as a mechanical disease – and through the power of the mechanical engineering design process – will result in greater therapeutic efficacy with reduced side effects,” he concludes.

Mauro Ferrari will speak on Feb. 8 at the First Global Congress on Nano-engineering for Medicine and Biology. The conference, sponsored by ASME, will open on Feb. 7 at the JW Marriott Houston, in Houston, Texas.

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Above information was sourced from ASME.

About ASME
ASME helps the global engineering community develop solutions to real world challenges. Founded in 1880 as the American Society of Mechanical Engineers, ASME is a not-for-profit professional organization that enables collaboration, knowledge sharing and skill development across all engineering disciplines, while promoting the vital role of the engineer in society. ASME codes and standards, publications, conferences, continuing education and professional development programs provide a foundation for advancing technical knowledge and a safer world.

   Power-generating rubber films developed by Princeton University engineers could harness natural body movements such as breathing and walking to power pacemakers, mobile phones and other electronic devices.

Nanotechnology is more than just a field of science, it can be regarded as an extension of to applied science fields. It is multidisciplinary, similar to realization of Quantum physics and Classical Physics, the properties of a nano-sized materials with non-nano-sized materials differs greatly and significantly most of the times.

Take for an example, solid silicon (Si) with greyish, dull, boring look has nothing fascinating to see by its outward appearance. However, if one would filter it out with nano-sized filter scoop, a variety of colours will occur. A change of physical appearance will occur according to the video embedded.

Nano-scale

Nanotechnology, literally, is a technology which deals with existing materials with ultra-small size, nano-size.

What is nano-size? If one recalls the knowledge from secondary school. One would find that nano scale is a scale of size which is millionteth time of a size of a meter. (10^-9 times 1 meter). This significant reduction of the size causes a great deal of change of the properties of the substance, molecules, atoms, etc. Hence, a completely new field is being proposed and this technology is being applied to many things which we deal with in our daily lives.

According to Science Daily, to educate the people about this potential cutting edge technology, the National Science Foundation has invested $20 million to fund for an exhibition at 100 museums around US. From this we know that how Nanotechnology can become an important part in our daily lives in the future.

Currently, the field of Nanotechnology has penetrated the field of Chemistry, Physics, Medicine, Health Products, Water filters, Energy Systems, etc. Therefore this potential field is to be taken into strong consideration and as an undergraduate student, I want to study more on it and update myself and all of you more understanding about Nanotechnology.