A new dashboard made of flexible plastic and oxide layer could in the future be integrated into the car front window to give the driver direct information.

An ingenious trick improves the efficiency of direct methanol fuel cells. Will they become an alternative to traditional batteries and power units?

An autofocusing X-ray optic improves materials research and brings a generation of pocket-size systems.

Transparent high-performance electronic devices made with new nano-structured materials that substitute silicon open the door to a new, greener era for technology

A new process called "nano-imprinting" enlarges the luminosity of screens efficiently without using more energy. Engineers of the European research project NaPanil have modified the glass surfaces on the micrometric and nanometric scale in order to control the path of the light
 

We want our electrical devices to have bright screens with low energy needs, so they can be used for a long time before recharge is required. Scientists are increasing the intensity of light by making nanometer scale patterns on surfaces. The nanoimprinting method will change devices’ optical properties, without making them demand more energy. Except for brighter mobile phone and computer screens, we may soon have the possibility to benefit from this nanotech solution while driving

The miniaturization of many objects is one of the great technological advances of recent decades, smaller mobile phones, thinner laptops and vehicles filled with invisible high-performance electronics. But building minute components poses extremely high challenges for quality control of the materials

The flat surface of a silicon wafer is not smooth at all. Scientists of the EU research project Pronano have built a new tool that allows them to visualise the nano-scale of it. And now the smooth surface looks like a mountain range! (Apr '11)

We expect our electronic devices, such as mobile phones and computers, to work properly and become even better with time and seldom think about the amazing innovations making this possible. Scientists are developing a cantilever array that can have an important impact on synthesis and analysis of nanostructures that can improve the quality control of mobile phone camera lenses

Dr. Simon Elliott from the Tyndall National Institute in Ireland is coordinating the EU research project REALISE and working on the next generation of USB flash memories. Rare earth oxides have been introduced to improve their storage capacity

There is a big demand for flash memories that can store even more data. However, it is now necessary to use new materials and technologies to improve flash memories and researchers worldwide are trying different approaches to achieve this aim. The project REALISE has developed a material and a processing technique now ready for industrial application

Moore’s law predicts that the number of transistors on a silicon chip will double approximately every two years. Thanks to nano technology a similar acceleration is observed in data storage capability of memory chips by CORINNA LUECKE

Researchers have managed to make an object invisible in three dimensions. However, despite the popular reference to Harry Potter’s invisible cloak this is not the researchers’ aim. Instead, these results about controlling light on the finest possible scale could speed things up

We are surrounded by nanoelectronics through products such as computers, mobile phones, sensors and electric cars. Nanoelectronics may also grow much stronger in the energy efficiency area in the near future. However, the sustainable growth faces several challenges