VINSE Faculty News
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New research at Vanderbilt could help make quantum dots the future of superefficient lighting
Unless you’re in the .05 percent of the population who enjoyed physics in high school, the term “quantum” probably calls to mind James Bond or Scott Bakula. But researchers at Vanderbilt University are working on a project that could bring the word into the everyday vernacular, and perhaps even have… Read MoreAug. 16, 2012
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Radiation damage bigger problem in microelectronics than previously thought
The amount of damage that radiation causes in electronic materials may be at least 10 times greater than previously thought. That is the surprising result of a new characterization method that uses a combination of lasers and acoustic waves to provide scientists with a capability tantamount to X-ray vision: It… Read MoreJul. 19, 2012
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Probing the roots of depression by tracking serotonin regulation at a new level
In a process akin to belling an infinitesimal cat, scientists have managed to tag a protein that regulates the neurotransmitter serotonin with tiny fluorescent beads, allowing them to track the movements of single molecules for the first time. The capability, which took nearly a decade to achieve, makes it possible… Read MoreJun. 27, 2012
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‘Extractionator’ could bring cheap and effective malaria diagnostics to millions
Last December a trio of Vanderbilt researchers — Rick Haselton, professor of biomedical engineering, David Wright, associate professor of chemistry, and Ray Mernaugh, associate professor of biochemistry — snagged a $1 million grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to develop a “low tech, high… Read MoreMay. 9, 2012
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Quantum dots brighten the future of lighting
With the age of the incandescent light bulb fading rapidly, the holy grail of the lighting industry is to develop a highly efficient form of solid-state lighting that produces high quality white light. One of the few alternative technologies that produce pure white light is white-light quantum dots. These are… Read MoreMay. 8, 2012
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Five Minutes with Anthony B. Hmelo
Tony Hmelo’s research has taken him from NASA to nanoscience and from New York to Nashville. Hmelo is associate director for operations and outreach for the Vanderbilt Institute of Nanoscale Science and Engineering, the interdisciplinary group researching new science and technology based on tiny—nanoscale—materials. (Nanotechnology is widely considered… Read MoreApr. 9, 2012
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Paul Laibinis wins Ellen Gregg Ingalls Award for Excellence in Classroom Teaching
Five faculty members were recognized for their achievements in and out of the classroom by Chancellor Nicholas S. Zeppos at the Spring Faculty Assembly. Professors Paul Laibinis, Emily Nacol, Sohee Park, Suzanna Sherry and Janos Sztipanovits were selected for the awards by… Read MoreMar. 29, 2012
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Barrier to faster graphene devices identified and suppressed
These days, graphene is the rock star of materials science, but it has an Achilles heel: It is exceptionally sensitive to its electrical environment. This single-atom-thick honeycomb of carbon atoms is lighter than aluminum, stronger than steel and conducts heat and electricity better than copper. As a result, scientists around… Read MoreMar. 13, 2012
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Ultrafast sonograms shed new light on rapid phase transitions
Vanadium dioxide crystal lattice (A. Julia Stähler / Fritz Haber Institute) An international team of physicists has developed a method for taking ultrafast “sonograms” that can track the structural changes that take place within solid materials in trillionth-of-a-second intervals as they go through an important physical… Read MoreMar. 7, 2012
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VINSE member wins Sloan research fellowship
Physicist Kirill Bolotin has won a two-year, $50,000 research fellowship from the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation aimed at encouraging promising young scholars. He is one of 126 researchers from 51 different colleges and universities in the United States selected to receive the Foundation’s … Read MoreFeb. 28, 2012