Nanotechnology

Researchers at ETH have created an antenna for light sources on a chip using an unusual placement of a semiconductor material. In the future, efficient nanoscale LEDs and lasers could be produced in this way.

To ensure that wounds remain tightly sealed in the abdomen after surgery, researchers at Empa and ETH Zurich have developed a patch with a sensor function. The polymer patch warns before the occurence of dangerous leaks on sutures in the gastrointestinal tract take hold, while closes the areas on its own. A new material now enables a fast, easy and non-invasive leak diagnosis. The team recently published their findings in the journal Advanced Science.

EPFL scientists have developed a new research instrument for observing biological tissue samples prepared using a method discovered about forty years ago by Nobel Prize winner Jacques Dubochet, emeritus professor at the University of Lausanne. Their instrument – the only one of its kind in the world – opens up promising new avenues of research.

Researchers at PSI have refined a process known as photolithography, which can further advance miniaturisation in information technology.

Empa researchers have developed novel materials made of carbon that exploit quantum effects to exhibit previously unattainable electronic and magnetic properties. The Werner Siemens Foundation is providing the CarboQuant project with a grant of CHF 15 million. Graphene, nanotechnology and quantum science are now widely used at Empa.

Their names are Marianne Liebi Adrian Wanner. Two young researchers who make the nanostructure of macroscopic samples, such as bones or brain tissue, visible in three dimensions using high-resolution images. They achieve this using measurement data obtained with X-rays at the Swiss Light Source at PSI, which is then processed and used for imaging.