Neural dust
11/01/16 — Scientists have created a dust-sized ultrasound sensor that can be placed in the human body to monitor nerves, muscles, or even organs and potentially lead to new treatments for epilepsy or immune system disorders.
Nanotechnology
Head-Gordon leads Berkeley partnership to improve scientific software
08/04/16 — A nine-university partnership headed by Virginia Tech has launched the Molecular Sciences Software Institute, an NSF-funded program to improve software for the molecular sciences. Bioengineering's Teresa Head-Gordon is the institute's lead scientist at UC Berkeley.
Sprinkling of neural dust opens door to electroceuticals
08/04/16 — Tiny, implantable wireless sensors have been developed by a team led by EECS professors Michel Maharbiz and Jose Carmena. The dust-sized prototypes could stimulate and monitor internal nerves, muscles and organs, as well as introduce the possibility of "electroceuticals" to be used in a wide variety of treatments.
Cool composites
05/01/16 — The metallic alloy CrMnFeCoNi is being researched to study the mechanisms that make it one of the toughest at any temperature. The future applications to understanding how it works? Cryogenics and the potential to design even stronger reinforcing metallic materials.
Super small science
01/26/16 NSF/NBC — You may have nanotechnology in your pocket and not even know it. In a video feature on nanotechnology's everyday impacts, EECS associate professor Ana Claudia Arias talks about her work with flexible sensors.
Coming to a monitor near you: a defect-free, molecule-thick film
11/30/15 — A team of research engineers at UC Berkeley and Berkeley Lab, led by EECS professor Ali Javey, has discovered a simple way to fix defects in atomically thin monolayer semiconductors using an organic superacid, opening the door to transparent LED displays, nanoscale transistors and more.
Exciting breakthrough in 2D lasers
10/20/15 Berkeley Lab — Berkeley Lab researchers, led by mechanical engineering professor Xiang Zhang, have developed an atomically thin excitonic laser, achieving bright light emissions at visible light wavelengths in what could be a major step forward for high-performance optical communication and computing applications.
Peidong Yang receives MacArthur ‘genius award’
09/29/15 — Peidong Yang, a UC Berkeley chemist and materials scientist who is trying to capture carbon dioxide from the air and turn it into a sustainable transportation fuel, has been named a MacArthur Fellow.
Self-sweeping laser could dramatically shrink 3-D mapping systems
09/03/15 — A new approach that uses light to move mirrors could usher in a new generation of laser technology for a wide range of applications, including remote sensing, self-driving car navigation and 3-D biomedical imaging. The engineering team was led by EECS professor Connie Chang-Hasnain.
Nature’s mood rings: How chameleons really change color
08/31/15 KQED — A PBS program on chameleons' color-changing abilities also looks at work led by EECS professor Connie Chang-Hasnain to create a color-changing array out of nano-sized silicon ribbons etched onto a flexible film.
The graphene switch
05/01/15 — New research holds promise for controlling graphene's properties, potentially opening new applications for its use.
New chameleon-like material
03/12/15 — Berkeley engineers led by EECS professor Connie Chang-Hasnain have created an ultra-thin film that can shift colors as easily as a chameleon's skin when pulled or twisted.
Optical antenna enables LEDs to rival lasers
02/04/15 Berkeley Lab — A Berkeley Lab team, led by EECS professor Eli Yablonovitch, has used an external optical antenna to greatly enhance the spontaneous emission of light from a semiconductor nanorod. This advance opens the door to LEDs that can replace lasers for short-range optical communications.
Great optics
11/01/14 — EECS professor Connie Chang-Hasnain, named associate dean for strategic alliances in July, has introduced a robust toolkit of nano-optoelectronic circuit elements.
Lord of the microrings
10/31/14 Berkeley Lab — In a significant breakthrough in laser technology, scientists led by Xiang Zhang of Berkeley Engineering and Berkeley Lab have developed a unique microring laser cavity that can produce single-mode lasing even from a conventional multi-mode laser cavity.
UC Berkeley and Tsinghua University launch research and graduate education partnership
09/06/14 — UC Berkeley and Tsinghua University have signed an agreement to establish a joint institute in the city of Shenzhen in South China to promote research collaboration and graduate student education. First areas of focus for the institute will be nanotechnology and nanomedicine, low-carbon and new energy technologies, and data science and next-generation Internet.
Nanolasers on silicon to provide faster data transmission
07/14/14 LiveScience — New technology in development at Berkeley Engineering promises to ensure that fiber optic networks will be able to keep pace with consumer demand for speed and seamless data flow. The work, led by EECS professor Connie Chang-Hasnain, involves growing lasers (called nanoneedles) on silicon , the base layer of choice for electronic devices.
Research on the literal edge of 2D semiconductors
05/01/14 Berkeley Lab — Researchers at Berkeley Lab and UC Berkeley, led by Professor Xiang Zhang of mechanical engineering, have recorded the first observations of a strong nonlinear optical resonance along the edges of single layers of molybdenum disulfide. The existence of these edge states is key to the use of molybdenum disulfide in nanoelectronics, as well as a catalyst for the hydrogen evolution reaction in fuel cells, desulfurization and other chemical reactions.
Scientists show which surfaces attract clingy Staph bacteria
03/04/14 Berkeley Lab — Berkeley Lab and UC Berkeley researchers are investigating how shapes and surface texture influence the adhesion of infectious Staphylococcus Aureus bacteria. Their work, led by Mohammad Mofrad, a Berkeley Lab faculty scientist and a professor of bioengineering and mechanical engineering at UC Berkeley, could guide the development of bacteria-resistant materials.
Engineers create light-activated ‘curtains’
01/09/14 — A research team led by UC Berkeley's Ali Javey, associate professor of electrical engineering and computer sciences, used carbon nanotubes and plastic polycarbonate to create a new material that moves in response to light. The material can be used to create “smart curtains” that open or close with the flick of a light switch.
