"SMART-DUST: Silicon nanoparticles eyed for chemical detection"
Smart dust results from nanostructuring micron-sized porous-silicon particles so that they have a selective response to light when sensing dangerous chemicals or biological agents. Developed here at the University of California, the process creates a special reflective layer � called a rugate filter � on the surface of the particles. The layer only reflects light in a narrow spectral band. The reflection bands vary, creating a medium that has a 20-bit code, enabling millions of tests to be performed simultaneously. Any given chemical will change the reflectivity of some particles in a cloud, creating a unique signature that can be detected from a distance.

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Story in EE Times: http://eet.com/at/news/OEG20020909S0082

"PHOTONIC: Unnatural optics create precise photonic lens"
Optical experiments using arrays of nanowires are demonstrating that the concept of a negative refractive index could be realized in practical systems. The work, done at Purdue University, attempts to reproduce results similar to those shown last year at the University of California at San Diego using microwave radiation. A negative refractive index, which is not found in nature, would allow scientists to construct new types of microscopes with unprecedented resolution and could allow the creation of novel photonic devices.

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Story in EE Times: http://eet.com/at/news/OEG20020826S0041

"MRAMs: Nanoscale metal deposition eyed for magnetic tunnel junctions"
A new technique for fabricating magnetic tunnel junctions would enable magnetoresistive random-access memories (MRAMs) to be economically manufactured, according to researchers here at the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory. Acting on theoretical evidence uncovered by Sandia National Laboratory solid-state theorist Dwight Jennison, PNNL chief scientist Scott Chambers formed atomically flat crystalline films of metal measuring only a few atoms thick on sapphire (aluminum oxide).

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Story in EE Times:

"SUB-NANO: Adaptive electron scope makes angstrom-scale measures"
Using adaptive optics techniques employed by advanced astronomical telescopes, researchers at IBM Corp.'s Thomas J. Watson Research Center have developed an electron microscope that can make sub-angstrom measurements in finer detail using less power than previous systems.

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Story in EE Times: http://www.eet.com/at/news/OEG20020807S0020

"Q-BITS: Quantum computer called possible with today's tech"
Researchers at the University of Wisconsin in Madison claim to have created the world's first successful simulation of a quantum-computer architecture that uses existing silicon fabrication techniques. By harnessing both vertical and horizontal tunneling through dual top and bottom gates, the architecture lays out interacting, 50-nanometer-square, single-electron quantum dots across a chip.

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Story in EE Times: http://www.eet.com/at/news/OEG20020806S0030

EUV: tabletop system generates extreme-UV laser light
Margaret Murnane describes a small, inexpensive tabletop laser system that can produce coherent extreme-ultraviolet laser light has been built by a research team at the University of Colorado. The system uses a hollow optical fiber filled with argon gas as a nonlinear optical waveguide that upconverts visible laser light into the extreme-ultraviolet range � a critical part of the spectrum for advanced lithography systems.

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Story in EE Times: http://www.eet.com/at/news/OEG20020730S0041

"NANOPARTICLES: synthesis of nanoparticles coming into focus"
Scientists are fast gaining control over the building of tiny particles, accomplishing nanoparticle synthesis in both inorganic and organic chemistries. University of Arkansas researchers here have devised a "green" chemical process that offers tight control over the size of nanoparticles and eliminates toxic by-products. And a team at the University of Michigan (Ann Arbor) is developing dendrimer-based fluorescent particles to monitor human cell damage from radiation.

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Story in EE Times: http://www.eet.com/at/news/OEG20020716S0023

NANOTRANSISTOR: Cornell demos single-atom transistor
Using a single cobalt atom as a switch, a research team at Cornell University has demonstrated a working transistor only 1.3 nanometers in length. Silicon transistors today are generally more than 100 nm long.

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Story in EE Times: http://www.eet.com/at/news/OEG20020625S0043