"Scanner r�alis� � partir de rev�tements de nanoparticules semi-conductrices"
Matsushita Electric Industrial Co. vient de d�voiler son scanner optique biom�dical activ� par nanoparticules � la r�union annuelle de la Society for Biomolecular Screening. Le scanner a �t� d�velopp� dans le cadre d'une coentreprise avec Quantum Dot Corp. (Hayward, Californie). Le scanner optique, d�velopp� par l'unit� de production Panasonic de Mitsubishi, utilise des nanoparticules cod�es en tant que g�nes dans cette application biom�dicale initiale. En m�langeant un lot de nanoparticules � une substance inconnue, les g�nes et autres �l�ments int�ressants sont scann�s par fluorescence lorsqu'ils sont expos�s aux ultraviolets.
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Text: http://www.eetimes.com/story/OEG20030929S0084

"CHIPS: At nanoscale, silicon may lose its 'edge' over time"
Diamonds are forever, aren't they? Not according to a new interpretation of the crystalline structure of silicon wafers from researchers at Ohio State University. Until now, scientists believed that crystalline facets met each other at atomically sharp edges. But new research at OSU suggests that the crystalline facets on the surface of silicon, gallium arsenide, glass and even diamond are all continually changing phases in a process of rounding off their edges by the force of thermal equilibrium. To be sure, the process affects macroscopic characteristics only very slowly: It takes centuries for the sharp edges of diamond facets to visibly round, for example. But at the nanoscale the force acts instantly, determining the precise shapes of atomic-scale structures. By harnessing this force at the nanoscale, Ohio State University researchers hope to make it possible to prepattern nanowires and quantum dots onto future silicon wafers.
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Text: http://www.eetimes.com/issue/se/OEG20030929S0086

"QUANTUM: Scanner made from semiconducting nanoparticles coatings"
Matsushita Electric Industrial Co. unveiled its nanoparticle-enabled biomedical optical scanner this week at the Society for Biomolecular Screening annual meeting here. The scanner was developed as part of a joint venture with Quantum Dot Corp. (Hayward, Calif.). The optical scanner, developed by Mitsubishi's Panansonic unit, uses nanoparticles coded as genes in this initial biomedical application. By mixing a batch of nanoparticles with an unknown substance, the genes and other items of interest are scanned by fluorescing when exposed to ultraviolet light.
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Text: http://www.eetimes.com/story/OEG20030926S0010

"ORGANIC: The glitch may be in makeup of organic polymer molecules"
Organic materials consist of long chains of protein molecules repeatedly linked with smaller carbon-based molecules (hence the term "organic"). Unlike semiconducting crystals, which are small interlocking molecules, organic polymer semiconductors are composed of very large, chainlike molecules repeatedly linked with smaller carbon molecules. Like all of the things that foster life, air and water also affect organic semiconductors like OLEDs, but they do so negatively. The corrosive effects of oxygen, moisture and high temperatures lead to "denaturing" in any organic molecule. Denaturing means the long complex folded interlocking strands of the organic molecule unravel, thereby eliminating its former functions. In living things, denaturing means the protein dies; in organic semiconductors, it's just as bad.
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Text: http://www.eetimes.com/story/OEG20030923S0056

"OLED: Organic polymers to precede nano semi"
With the advent of organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs), organic semiconductors have thrown down the gauntlet as alternatives to silicon in some applications. But there remains a large hurdle--inexpensive "weather proofing" to ensure a long life. Meanwhile, high-performance MEMS-enabled polymer memories and bottom-up nanoscale technologies such as carbon nanotubes promise to keep enhancing high-end silicon semiconductors. This summer, Olight joined NuVue as brand names to conjure with. These new polymer-enabled organic LED displays come from DuPont (E.I. du Pont de Nemours and Co.) and Kodak, respectively. Lightbulb-making giant in Germany, Osram GmbH (Munich), also announced its brand name-Pictiva. Engineering evaluation kits are available.
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Text: http://www.eetimes.com/story/OEG20030923S0055

"NEURAL: The blind shall see, the deaf shall hear"
Enabling the blind to see and the deaf to hear was once a biblical tale of divine intervention, but today silicon chips are enabling such miracles. The core problems of such "neural implants"-discovering biocompatible-materials and life-like signal-encoding-have enabled man-made electronics to fool the brains of the afflicted into accepting sensory data from artificial sources. So far, hybrid analog/digital sensor systems seem to work best, with analog chips used for the neural implants inside the body and digital chips used for outboard sensory-preprocessing, but for the future, who knows? When the formerly divine becomes man-made, no mortal can predict what miracles may emerge next, but on the drawing board already are such miracles as curing blindness and deafness, enhancing senses, annotating experience, augmenting memory and enabling artificial telepathy.
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Text: http://www.eetimes.com/story/OEG20030923S0053

"NANOTECH: Iron nanoparticles make single sweep of toxic waste"
A "universal elixir" brewed from nanoscale technologies is being promoted as a fast, cost-effective way to clean up hazardous waste. The curious marriage of high technology and heavy industry, researchers at Lehigh University said, would attack large-scale toxic wastes with injection wells that employ highly reactive nanoparticles of iron. The slurry would simultaneously neutralize and "fix" in place all known contaminants. Such an approach, the researchers said, contrasts with those of organizations like the U.S. Department of Environmental Protection's trillion-dollar Superfund, which clean up sites of contaminated soil and groundwater by treating them with agent-specific neutralizers, one shovel at a time.
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Text: http://www.eetimes.com/story/OEG20030922S0058

"OPTICS: Darpa deal funds optical interconnect research"
IBM Corp. will team with Agilent Technologies Inc. to pursue "terabit per second optical interconnect" technology for multiprocessing servers, under a four-year, $30 million contract with the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (Darpa). The goal is to build chip-sized modules that interconnect high-speed microprocessors at aggregated data rates of up to a Tbit/second.
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Text: http://www.eetimes.com/story/OEG20030922S0060

"MAGNET: World's strongest magnetic field is demonstrated"
Researchers at Florida State University's National High Magnetic Field Laboratory in Tallahassee achieved the holy grail of magnetism recently when their high-temperature superconductor attained the coveted 25-Tesla field strength record.
The bore of a high-temperature superconductor (HTS) insert coil is the spot where researchers place their experiments, and thus the bigger the better. The nominal size is 33 mm, which makes the 25-Tesla HTS insert coil larger than most, but bores as large as 105 mm are under development at the lab for nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) applications.
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Text: http://www.eetimes.com/story/OEG20030916S0044

"Darpa finance la recherche en mati�re d'interconnexion optique"
IBM Corp. et Agilent Technologies s'appr�tent � faire �quipe afin de mettre au point la technologie relative � une interconnexion optique � la vitesse du t�rabit par seconde pour les serveurs multitraitement, dans le cadre d'un programme de quatre ans et d'un montant total de 30 millions de dollars financ� par l'Agence f�d�rale pour les projets de recherche avanc�e de d�fense (DARPA).
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Text: http://www.eetimes.com/story/OEG20030912S0004

"OPTICAL: Darpa to fund optical interconnect research"
IBM Corp. will team with Agilent Technologies to pursue fabled "terabit per second optical interconnect" technology for multiprocessing servers under a four-year, $30 million effort backed by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (Darpa). The effort aims to build chip-sized modules that interconnect high-speed microprocessors at aggregated data rates of up to a terabit per second.
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Text: http://www.eetimes.com/story/OEG20030910S0040

"CHIPS: Modeling tools aid in immersion lithography quest"
A German company is fielding modeling tools that can help chip makers assess the promise of immersion lithography. Putting a layer of water between a wafer and the stepper lens could extend current 193-nanometer lithographic exposure tools down to the 45-nm chip-manufacturing node and below, experts believe.
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Text: http://www.eetimes.com/story/OEG20030908S0054

"NANOTECH: Nanocrystal research unraveling nature's secrets"
In nature, incredibly complex nanostructures pervade every bulk material, from macroscopic sea shells to microscopic diatoms. But reproducing such atomic accuracy in man-made materials has required costly high-temperature, high-vacuum manufacturing-and the synthetic structures are simpletons compared with nature's creations. Now, Sandia National Laboratories researchers say they have begun to unravel nature's secrets on the road to developing a "wetware" manufacturing process that is expected to produce inexpensive, waste-free materials with more finely tuned properties than previously achievable.
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Text: http://www.eetimes.com/story/OEG20030908S0053