Berkeley Lab researchers have developed simple recipes to whip up ‘cage-like’ container structures for the creation of complex molecular machines that can be programmed to rotate, switch and perform mechanical work.

Berkeley Lab researchers are finding that the best route forward to the hydrogen highway could be via the nano road. Their studies show that highly dense vertical arrays of nanowires made from silicon cores coated with titanium oxide shells are promising for the production of hydrogen through solar water splitting.

Berkeley Lab researchers have shown that electrical resistance through a molecular junction—a nanometer scale circuit element that contacts gold atoms with a single molecule - can be turned ‘on’ and ‘off’ simply by pushing and pulling the junction. This feature has potential for being used as a switch in future nanoscale electronic devices

Two chemically different polymers linked together to form self-assembling block copolymers can have the potential to vastly improve the properties and manufacturing processes of nanostructured materials. Using crystal structures as a template, researchers at Berkeley Lab and the University of Massachusetts Amherst have created perfect arrays of nanoscopic block-copolymer domains, packing 10 trillion bits to the square inch and extending over several square centimeters.

Scientists in the Quantum Materials program have discovered domain walls that conduct electricity, a phenomenon never seen before. Mere billionths of a meter wide, conducting domain walls could be the ultimate nanoscale feature for future electronics. The researchers not only found the novel features but have learned how to write, erase, and manipulate them.

What could prove to be a significant breakthrough in the ultra-miniaturization of lasers has been achieved with the creation of a plasmonic microcavity based on the phenomenon of whispering galleries, where words spoken softly beneath a domed ceiling can be clearly heard on the opposite side of the chamber.

A compound synthesized for the first time by Berkeley Lab scientists could help to push nanotechnology out of the lab and into faster electronic devices, more powerful sensors, and other advanced technologies. The scientists developed a hoop-shaped chain of benzene molecules that had eluded synthesis, despite numerous efforts, since it was theorized more than 70 years ago.

Using magnetic materials in computer technology requires packing ever more data into ever less space, while finding ever faster ways to read and write it. Among the best ways to study magnetism at the scale of the ultra-small and the ultra-fast is the technique known as magnetic soft x-ray microscopy.

Berkeley Lab scientists have developed nanosized crystals that light up on command, a feat that could allow researchers to more easily observe individual proteins as they move inside cells. The tiny beacons could lead to a better understanding of cellular function and many diseases.

Why not let the smallest devices build themselves? Berkeley Lab scientists are developing easier ways to synthesize ever-more sophisticated nanoscale machines. Their work could lead to faster, more powerful computers and improved ways of converting sunlight to electricity.