Institute for Nano-Engineered Systems
April 22, 2024
UW leads international group in semiconductor research and workforce development
The 天美影视传媒 is at the forefront of an international effort to innovate the semiconductor industry while building a skilled U.S.-based workforce to design and manufacture chip technology.
July 19, 2023
Researchers put a new twist on graphite
A team led by researchers at the 天美影视传媒 reports that it is possible to imbue graphite 鈥� the bulk, 3D material found in No. 2 pencils 鈥� with physical properties similar to graphite鈥檚 2D counterpart, graphene. Not only was this breakthrough unexpected, the team also believes its approach could be used to test whether similar types of bulk materials can also take on 2D-like properties. If so, 2D sheets won鈥檛 be the only source for scientists to fuel technological revolutions. Bulk, 3D materials could be just as useful.
June 27, 2023
Researchers make a quantum computing leap with a magnetic twist
A team led by scientists and engineers at the 天美影视传媒 has announced a significant advancement in developing fault-tolerant qubits for quantum computing. In a pair of papers published June 14 in Nature and June 22 in Science, they report that, in experiments with flakes of semiconductor materials 鈥� each only a single layer of atoms thick 鈥� they detected signatures of 鈥渇ractional quantum anomalous Hall鈥� (FQAH) states. The team鈥檚 discoveries mark a first and promising step in constructing a type of fault-tolerant qubit because FQAH states can host anyons 鈥� strange 鈥渜uasiparticles鈥� that have only a fraction of an electron鈥檚 charge. Some types of anyons can be used to make what are called 鈥渢opologically protected鈥� qubits, which are stable against any small, local disturbances.
February 8, 2023
Q&A: UW researcher discusses future of quantum research
Scientists at the 天美影视传媒 are pursuing multiple quantum research projects spanning from creating materials with never-before-seen physical properties to studying the 鈥渜uantum bits鈥� 鈥� or qubits (pronounced “kyu-bits”) 鈥� that make quantum computing possible. UW News sat down with Professor Kai-Mei Fu, one of the leaders in quantum research on campus, to talk about the potential of quantum R&D, and why it鈥檚 so important.
April 20, 2022
Lasers trigger magnetism in atomically thin quantum materials
Researchers have discovered that light 鈥� from a laser 鈥� can trigger a form of magnetism in a normally nonmagnetic material. This magnetism centers on the behavior of electrons 鈥渟pins,鈥� which have a potential applications in quantum computing. Scientists discovered that electrons within the material became oriented in the same direction when illuminated by photons from a laser. By controlling and aligning electron spins at this level of detail and accuracy, this platform could have applications in quantum computing, quantum simulation and other fields. The experiment, led by scientists at the 天美影视传媒, the University of Hong Kong and the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, was published April 20 in Nature.
September 9, 2021
NSF to fund revolutionary center for optoelectronic, quantum technologies
The National Science Foundation has announced it will fund a new endeavor to bring atomic-level precision to the devices and technologies that underpin much of modern life, and will transform fields like information technology in the decades to come. The five-year, $25 million Science and Technology Center grant will found the Center for Integration of Modern Optoelectronic Materials on Demand 鈥� or IMOD 鈥� a collaboration of scientists and engineers at 11 universities led by the 天美影视传媒.
November 2, 2020
Break it up: Polymer derived from material in shrimp’s shells could deliver anti-cancer drugs to tumor sites
A 天美影视传媒 team led by Miqin Zhang, a professor of materials science and engineering and of neurological surgery, has developed a nanoparticle-based drug delivery system that can ferry a potent anti-cancer drug through the bloodstream safely. Their nanoparticle is derived from chitin, a natural and organic polymer that, among other things, makes up the outer shells of shrimp.
October 6, 2020
All together now: Experiments with twisted 2D materials catch electrons behaving collectively
In a paper published Sept. 14 in the journal Nature Physics, a team led by the 天美影视传媒 reports that carefully constructed stacks of graphene 鈥� a 2D form of carbon 鈥� can exhibit highly correlated electron properties. The team also found evidence that this type of collective behavior likely relates to the emergence of exotic magnetic states.
August 31, 2020
UW receives NSF funds for investment in an interdisciplinary quantum future
The National Science Foundation has awarded $3 million to establish a NSF Research Traineeship at the 天美影视传媒 for graduate students in quantum information science and technology. The new traineeship 鈥� known as Accelerating Quantum-Enabled Technologies, or AQET 鈥� will make the UW one of just 鈥渁 handful鈥� of universities with a formal, interdisciplinary QIST curriculum.
July 16, 2020
7 天美影视传媒 researchers elected to the Washington State Academy of Sciences in 2020
Seven scientists and engineers at the 天美影视传媒 have been elected to the Washington State Academy of Sciences, according to an announcement July 15 by the academy.
June 23, 2020
Laser allows solid-state refrigeration of a semiconductor material
A team from the 天美影视传媒 used an infrared laser to cool a solid semiconductor by at least 20 degrees C, or 36 F, below room temperature, as they report in a paper published June 23 in Nature Communications.
November 7, 2019
Team uses golden 鈥榣ollipop鈥� to observe elusive interference effect at the nanoscale
A team led by scientists from the 天美影视传媒 and the University of Notre Dame used recent advances in electron microscopy to observe Fano interferences — a form of quantum-mechanical interference by electrons — directly in a pair of metallic nanoparticles.
November 4, 2019
Light-based ‘tractor beam’ assembles materials at the nanoscale
Researchers at the 天美影视传媒 have developed a method that could make reproducible manufacturing at the nanoscale possible. The team adapted a light-based technology employed widely in biology 鈥� known as optical traps or optical tweezers 鈥� to operate in a water-free liquid environment of carbon-rich organic solvents, thereby enabling new potential applications.
October 4, 2019
New metasurface design can control optical fields in three dimensions
A team led by scientists at the 天美影视传媒 has designed and tested a 3D-printed metamaterial that can manipulate light with nanoscale precision. As they report in a paper published Oct. 4 in the journal Science Advances, their designed optical element focuses light to discrete points in a 3D helical pattern.
August 9, 2019
Scientists can now control thermal profiles at the nanoscale
Scientists have designed and tested an experimental system that uses a near-infrared laser to actively heat two gold nanorod antennae 鈥� metal rods designed and built at the nanoscale 鈥� to different temperatures. The nanorods are so close together that they are both electromagnetically and thermally coupled. Yet the team measured temperature differences between the rods as high as 20 degrees Celsius and could change which nanorod was cooler and which was warmer, even though the rods were made of the same material.
July 17, 2019
First-ever visualizations of electrical gating effects on electronic structure could lead to longer-lasting devices
Scientists have visualized the electronic structure in a microelectronic device for the first time, opening up opportunities for finely tuned, high-performance electronic devices. Physicists from the 天美影视传媒 and the University of Warwick developed a technique to measure the energy and momentum of electrons in operating microelectronic devices made of atomically thin 鈥� so-called 2D 鈥� materials.
May 3, 2019
Researchers take a bottom-up approach to synthesizing microscopic diamonds for bioimaging, quantum computing
Researchers at the 天美影视传媒, the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory and the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory discovered that they can use extremely high pressure and temperature to introduce other elements into nanodiamonds, making them potentially useful in cell and tissue imaging, as well as quantum computing.
March 21, 2019
UW, Microsoft, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory establish new Northwest Quantum Nexus for a quantum revolution in science, technology
The 天美影视传媒, the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory and Microsoft Quantum announced this week that they have joined forces in a new coalition, the Northwest Quantum Nexus, to bring about a revolution in quantum research and technology.
December 5, 2017
Making humanity’s challenges smaller and smaller: UW launches Institute for Nano-Engineered Systems
The 天美影视传媒 has launched a new institute aimed at accelerating research at the nanoscale: the Institute for Nano-Engineered Systems, or NanoES. The institute will pursue impactful advancements in a variety of disciplines 鈥� including energy, materials science, computation and medicine. Yet these advancements will be at a technological scale a thousand times smaller than the width of a human hair.
