• HOME
  • NEWS
    • BIOENGINEERING
    • SCIENCE NEWS
  • EXPLORE
    • CAREER
      • Companies
      • Jobs
    • EVENTS
    • iGEM
      • News
      • Team
    • PHOTOS
    • VIDEO
    • WIKI
  • BLOG
  • COMMUNITY
    • FACEBOOK
    • FORUM
    • INSTAGRAM
    • TWITTER
  • CONTACT US
Monday, January 18, 2021
BIOENGINEER.ORG
No Result
View All Result
  • Login
  • HOME
  • NEWS
    • BIOENGINEERING
    • SCIENCE NEWS
  • EXPLORE
    • CAREER
      • Companies
      • Jobs
        • Lecturer
        • PhD Studentship
        • Postdoc
        • Research Assistant
    • EVENTS
    • iGEM
      • News
      • Team
    • PHOTOS
    • VIDEO
    • WIKI
  • BLOG
  • COMMUNITY
    • FACEBOOK
    • FORUM
    • INSTAGRAM
    • TWITTER
  • CONTACT US
  • HOME
  • NEWS
    • BIOENGINEERING
    • SCIENCE NEWS
  • EXPLORE
    • CAREER
      • Companies
      • Jobs
        • Lecturer
        • PhD Studentship
        • Postdoc
        • Research Assistant
    • EVENTS
    • iGEM
      • News
      • Team
    • PHOTOS
    • VIDEO
    • WIKI
  • BLOG
  • COMMUNITY
    • FACEBOOK
    • FORUM
    • INSTAGRAM
    • TWITTER
  • CONTACT US
No Result
View All Result
Bioengineer.org
No Result
View All Result
Home NEWS Science News Chemistry

Columbia engineers first to observe avalanches in nanoparticles

Bioengineer by Bioengineer
January 13, 2021
in Chemistry
0
Share on FacebookShare on TwitterShare on LinkedinShare on RedditShare on Telegram

Researchers develop the first nanomaterial that demonstrates “photon avalanching;” finding could lead to new applications in sensing, imaging, and light detection

IMAGE

Credit: Miko?aj ?ukaszewicz/ Polish Academy of Sciences

New York, NY–January 13, 2021–Researchers at Columbia Engineering report today that they have developed the first nanomaterial that demonstrates “photon avalanching,” a process that is unrivaled in its combination of extreme nonlinear optical behavior and efficiency. The realization of photon avalanching in nanoparticle form opens up a host of sought-after applications, from real-time super-resolution optical microscopy, precise temperature and environmental sensing, and infrared light detection, to optical analog-to-digital conversion and quantum sensing.

“Nobody has seen avalanching behavior like this in nanomaterials before,” said James Schuck, associate professor of mechanical engineering, who led the study published today by Nature. “We studied these new nanoparticles at the single-nanoparticle level, allowing us to prove that avalanching behavior can occur in nanomaterials. This exquisite sensitivity could be incredibly transformative. For instance, imagine if we could sense changes in our chemical surroundings, like variations in or the actual presence of molecular species. We might even be able to detect coronavirus and other diseases.”

Avalanching processes–where a cascade of events is triggered by series of small perturbations–are found in a wide range of phenomena beyond snow slides, including the popping of champagne bubbles, nuclear explosions, lasing, neuronal networking, and even financial crises. Avalanching is an extreme example of a nonlinear process, in which a change in input or excitation leads to a disproportionate–often disproportionately large–change in output signal. Large volumes of material are usually required for the efficient generation of nonlinear optical signals, and this had also been the case for photon avalanching, until now.

In optics, photon avalanching is the process where the absorption within a crystal of a single photon results in the emission of many. Researchers have used photon avalanching in specialized lasers, where the photon absorption sets off a chain reaction of optical events that ultimately lead to efficient lasing.

Of particular note to researchers is that the absorption of just a single photon leads not only to a large number of emitted photons but also to a surprising property: the emitted photons are “upconverted,” each one higher in energy (bluer in color) than the single absorbed photon. Scientists can use wavelengths in the infrared region of the optical spectrum to create large amounts of higher-energy photons that are much better at inducing desired chemical changes–such as killing cancer cells–at targeted locations deep within tissue, wherever the avalanching nanoparticles are positioned.

Photon avalanching (PA) behavior drew significant interest more than 40 years ago when researchers recognized that its extreme nonlinearity could broadly impact numerous technologies, from efficient upconverting lasers to photonics, optical sensors, and night vision devices. PA behavior is similar to that of a transistor in electronics, where a small change in an input voltage results in a large change in output current, providing the amplification necessary for the operation of nearly all electronics devices. PA enables certain materials to function essentially as optical transistors.

PA has almost exclusively been studied in lanthanide (Ln) based materials due to their unique optical properties that allow them to store optical energy for relatively long amounts of time. However, achieving PA in Ln systems has been difficult–it requires cooperative interactions between many Ln ions while also moderating loss pathways, and has thus been limited to bulk materials and aggregates, often at low temperatures.

These limitations have relegated the fundamental study and use of PA to a niche role in photonic science, and have led researchers to focus almost exclusively over the past decade on other upconversion mechanisms in materials development, despite the unrivaled advantages offered by PA.

In this new study, Schuck and his international team of collaborators, including the groups of Bruce Cohen and Emory Chan (The Molecular Foundry, Lawrence Berkeley National Lab), Artur Bednarkiewicz (Polish Academy of Sciences), and Yung Doug Suh (Korea Research Institute of Chemical Technology and Sungkyunkwan University), showed that by implementing some key nanoparticle design innovations such as select lanthanide contents and species, they could successfully synthesize novel 20nm nanocrystals that demonstrate photon avalanching and its extreme nonlinearity.

The team observed that the nonlinear optical response in these avalanching nanoparticles scales as the 26th power of the incident light intensity–a 10% change in incident light causes more than a 1000% change in emitted light. This nonlinearity far exceeds responses reported previously in lanthanide nanocrystals. This extraordinary response means the avalanching nanoparticles (ANPs) show great promise as sensors, since a small change in the local environment can lead to the particles emitting 100-10,000 times more brightly. The researchers also found that this giant nonlinear response in ANPs enables deeply sub-wavelength optical imaging (with the ANPs used as luminescent probes, or contrast agents), using only simple scanning confocal microscopy.

“The ANPs allow us to beat the resolution diffraction limit for optical microscopy by a significant margin, and they do it essentially for free, due to their steeply nonlinear behavior,” Schuck explains.

The study’s lead author Changhwan Lee, who is a PhD student in Schuck’s group, adds, “The extreme nonlinearity in a single ANP transforms a conventional confocal microscope into the newest superresolution imaging system.”

Schuck and his team are now working on how to use this unprecedented nonlinear behavior for sensing changes in the environment, such as fluctuations in temperature, pressure, humidity, with a sensitivity that has not yet been achievable.

“We are very excited about our findings,” says Schuck. “We expect them to lead to all kinds of revolutionary new applications in sensing, imaging, and light detection. They may also prove critical in future optical information processing chips, with ANPs providing the amplifier-like response and small spatial footprint typical of a single transistor in an electronics circuit.”

###

About the Study

The study is titled “Giant nonlinear optical responses from photon avalanching nanoparticles.”

Authors are: Changhwan Lee1 , Emma Xu1 , Yawei Liu2,3, Ayelet Teitelboim2 , Kaiyuan Yao1 , Angel Fernandez-Bravo2 , Agata Kotulska4 , Sang Hwan Nam5 , Yung Doug Suh5,6,, Artur Bednarkiewicz4, Bruce E. Cohen2,7,* , Emory M. Chan2, and P. James Schuck1

1 Department of Mechanical Engineering, Columbia Engineering

2 The Molecular Foundry, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory

3 State Key Laboratory of Rare Earth Resource Utilization, Changchun Institute of Applied Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences

4 Institute of Low Temperature and Structure Research, Polish Academy of Sciences

5 Laboratory for Advanced Molecular Probing, Korea Research Institute of Chemical Technology

6 School of Chemical Engineering, Sungkyunkwan University, South Korea.

7 Division of Molecular Biophysics & Integrated Bioimaging, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory

The study was supported by the Global Research Laboratory Program through the National Research Foundation of Korea funded by the Ministry of Science and ICT (no. 2016911815). Support was also provided by Programmable Quantum Materials, an Energy Frontier Research Center at Columbia University funded by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), Office of Science, Basic Energy Sciences (BES), under award DE-SC0019443. Work at the Molecular Foundry was supported by the Office of Science, Office of Basic Energy Sciences, of the U.S. Department of Energy under Contract No. DE-AC02-05CH11231.

The authors declare no competing interests.

LINKS:

Paper: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-020-03092-9

DOI: 10.1038/s41586-020-03092-9

http://engineering.columbia.edu/

https://www.engineering.columbia.edu/faculty/p-james-schuck

https://www.nature.com/

https://me.columbia.edu/

https://nanooptics.lbl.gov/

http://combinano.lbl.gov/

https://ucnp.eu/participants/researchers/artur%20bednarkiewicz.html

http://chemeng.skku.edu/eng/faculty/detail.php?idx=142

Columbia Engineering

Columbia Engineering, based in New York City, is one of the top engineering schools in the U.S. and one of the oldest in the nation. Also known as The Fu Foundation School of Engineering and Applied Science, the School expands knowledge and advances technology through the pioneering research of its more than 220 faculty, while educating undergraduate and graduate students in a collaborative environment to become leaders informed by a firm foundation in engineering. The School’s faculty are at the center of the University’s cross-disciplinary research, contributing to the Data Science Institute, Earth Institute, Zuckerman Mind Brain Behavior Institute, Precision Medicine Initiative, and the Columbia Nano Initiative. Guided by its strategic vision, “Columbia Engineering for Humanity,” the School aims to translate ideas into innovations that foster a sustainable, healthy, secure, connected, and creative humanity.

Media Contact
Holly Evarts
[email protected]

Related Journal Article

http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41586-020-03092-9

Tags: Chemistry/Physics/Materials SciencesOpticsTechnology/Engineering/Computer Science
Share12Tweet8Share2ShareShareShare2

Related Posts

IMAGE

Better diet and glucose uptake in the brain lead to longer life in fruit flies

January 16, 2021
IMAGE

Howard University professor to receive first Joseph A. Johnson Award

January 15, 2021

Nanodiamonds feel the heat

January 15, 2021

Controlling chemical catalysts with sculpted light

January 15, 2021
Next Post
IMAGE

The compound that makes chili peppers spicy also boosts perovskite solar cell performance

IMAGE

Scientists find antibody that blocks dengue virus

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published.

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

POPULAR NEWS

  • IMAGE

    The map of nuclear deformation takes the form of a mountain landscape

    53 shares
    Share 21 Tweet 13
  • Blood pressure drug may be key to increasing lifespan, new study shows

    44 shares
    Share 18 Tweet 11
  • New drug form may help treat osteoporosis, calcium-related disorders

    39 shares
    Share 16 Tweet 10
  • People living with HIV face premature heart disease and barriers to care

    56 shares
    Share 22 Tweet 14

About

We bring you the latest biotechnology news from best research centers and universities around the world. Check our website.

Follow us

Tags

Chemistry/Physics/Materials SciencesTechnology/Engineering/Computer ScienceCell BiologycancerPublic HealthMaterialsClimate ChangeGeneticsEcology/EnvironmentMedicine/HealthBiologyInfectious/Emerging Diseases

Recent Posts

  • Eliminating microplastics in wastewater directly at the source
  • Where COVID-19 hit hardest, sudden deaths outside the hospital increased
  • Many parents say teens with anxiety, depression may benefit from peer confidants at school
  • Scientists shed light on how and why some people report “hearing the dead”
  • Contact Us

© 2019 Bioengineer.org - Biotechnology news by Science Magazine - Scienmag.

No Result
View All Result
  • Homepages
    • Home Page 1
    • Home Page 2
  • News
  • National
  • Business
  • Health
  • Lifestyle
  • Science

© 2019 Bioengineer.org - Biotechnology news by Science Magazine - Scienmag.

Welcome Back!

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password?

Create New Account!

Fill the forms below to register

All fields are required. Log In

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In