Miniaturization Applications with Nanotechnology
Monday, July 19th, 2010
A nanometer is one-billionth of a meter and objects of nanoscale are invisible to the human eye. Yet these invisible objects could be of immense use in different areas. Some recent developments at the University of Utah point to some of these possibilities.
One researcher is developing a nanotech torch that is invisible but could make it possible to avoid the waste incurred during the production of electronic chips. By depositing and erasing materials at the precise locations where they are needed, not only is waste avoided but the size of the chip also gets much smaller.
With these small chips, it becomes possible to develop much more compact devices such as GPS units and cell phones.
The Utah University team is also developing a nano tuning fork that can help reduce power consumption. These are nanoscale mechanical switches that can, for example, prevent laptop computers from overheating, eliminate wasted energy and keep the battery charged for longer periods.
The research team at the university has received a $3 million, three year federal DARPA grant for nanotechnology research and the faculty in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering working on these projects constitute the Wireless Nanosystems research team.
Read the news at UtahPulse.
Tags: eliminating waste, energy efficiency, nano device, nanotechnology
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Atomic Force Microscopes Enables new Fingerprint Detection Technology
Thursday, February 18th, 2010
Atomic Force Microscopes (AFM) have tips that are of nanometric scale (a nanometer is one-billionth of a meter). By measuring and analyzing the deflection of the lever to which the tip is attached, information about the invisibly small measured object can be computed.
The scientific support unit of Northamptonshire Police, UK, has now found a way to lift fingerprints from bullets and other metal objects using AFMs. Fingerprint recovery from bullets is currently very low and even a small increase in the success rate is considered significant for forensics.
Earlier, fingerprints were being lifted by applying powder to the material, a method that can damage the evidence. Scientists at the police support unit now employs natural heat and humidity to let the fingerprint image be enhanced and uses AFM and other tools to recover the image.
When a finger touches a metal surface, it leaves a residue that interacts with the metal. Using temperature and humidity, the interaction results can be converted into a permanent image. Components of the sweat deposit can even survive washing and wiping.
Read the story at: Fingerprint Detection with Nano Device
Tags: afm, atomic force microscope, fingerprint recovery, forensics, nano device
Posted in forensics, nanotechnology | No Comments »
