Nano News: 04/02/15

Nanoparticles provide novel way to apply drugs to dental plaque

Therapeutic agents intended to reduce dental plaque and prevent tooth decay are often removed by saliva and the act of swallowing before they can take effect. But a team of researchers has developed a way to keep the drugs from being washed away. Dental plaque is made up of bacteria enmeshed in a sticky matrix of polymers—a polymeric matrix—that is...

Artificial crystal: Magnetism in World Cup fever

It is a situation familiar from one’s own living environment: relations between neighbours can be intense, yet also characterised by sensitivities. Complex quantum systems can be imagined in a similar way – especially when magnetism is involved. A team headed by Christian Groß in the department of Immanuel Bloch, Director at the Max Planck Institute...

Mind the gap: Nanoscale speed bump could regulate plasmons for high-speed data flow

The name sounds like something Marvin the Martian might have built, but the "nanomechanical plasmonic phase modulator" is not a doomsday device. Developed by a team of government and university researchers, including physicists from the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), the innovation harnesses tiny electron waves called plasmons....