Nanotechnology and Lasers
Nanotechnology applied to lasers opens the door for new devices that
can perform in applications that are impossible with present methods.
Nanotechnology and lasers can, for example be utilized to rapidly
detect viruses and to create molecular-sized milling machines with the
ability to cut virtually any material with laser precision.
In the first instance, nanotechnology and lasers have permitted doctors
to develop a diagnostic test, which can detect viruses such as HIV,
influenza and RSV in a minute or less. Eliminating the usual waiting
time of a day or more for lab results can be extremely important to
some treatments. It can also be vital in detecting naturally occurring
diseases and bio-terrorism organisms quickly, before they become
widespread infections by testing a suspected carrier as he exits an
aircraft, rather than after he has had contact with others.
This new nanotechnology and lasers technique functions by measuring any change in frequency of a near-infrared laser when it scatters from viral RNA or DNA to create a shift as unique as a 'fingerprint.' The big problem with doing this in earlier attempts arose from the fact that the signal emanating back from the virus was too weak to be detected. Now, a method jointly developed by two University of Georgia professors, one a chemist and the other a physicist, uses rows of silver nanorods more than 10,000 times tinier than the width of a human hair on glass slides that hold the viral sample. When the nanorods are positioned at precisely the correct angle (86 degrees), the signal is amplified enough to be readily detected. This nanotechnology and lasers fabrication method is said to be easily implemented, inexpensive and also reproducible as needed. Thus, an important new diagnostic tool is born.
To date, this system has been tested using laboratory-grown viruses isolated from infected cells. The next series of tests will use viruses obtained from blood, feces or nasal swabs so that different shift values can be catalogued. This will permit individual viruses to be readily determined quickly from diagnostic testing results. Earlier methods took days or even weeks for results, which can permit the rapid spread of infections that could be devastating in cases like an Avian Flu pandemic (H5N1).
Nanotechnology and lasers have been applied to a new microscopic milling machine that has applications in scientific research and as a powerful tool for studying living cell structures. It utilizes a femtosecond pulsed laser that provides very-short pulsed laser beams in applications from microelectronics to micro-electromechanical systems (MEMS). At this time, no easy way to machine diverse materials on a nanometer scale exists. Not even electron beam lithography will work below the surface or within a given material. The ultra-short pulsed laser, however, permits abating or cutting features as small as 20 nanometers thanks to the manner in which very-short pulses of laser light interact with matter.
This exciting new approach amply demonstrates how nanotechnology and lasers can work together to permit practical new developments with important industrial, scientific and medical applications
This new nanotechnology and lasers technique functions by measuring any change in frequency of a near-infrared laser when it scatters from viral RNA or DNA to create a shift as unique as a 'fingerprint.' The big problem with doing this in earlier attempts arose from the fact that the signal emanating back from the virus was too weak to be detected. Now, a method jointly developed by two University of Georgia professors, one a chemist and the other a physicist, uses rows of silver nanorods more than 10,000 times tinier than the width of a human hair on glass slides that hold the viral sample. When the nanorods are positioned at precisely the correct angle (86 degrees), the signal is amplified enough to be readily detected. This nanotechnology and lasers fabrication method is said to be easily implemented, inexpensive and also reproducible as needed. Thus, an important new diagnostic tool is born.
To date, this system has been tested using laboratory-grown viruses isolated from infected cells. The next series of tests will use viruses obtained from blood, feces or nasal swabs so that different shift values can be catalogued. This will permit individual viruses to be readily determined quickly from diagnostic testing results. Earlier methods took days or even weeks for results, which can permit the rapid spread of infections that could be devastating in cases like an Avian Flu pandemic (H5N1).
Nanotechnology and lasers have been applied to a new microscopic milling machine that has applications in scientific research and as a powerful tool for studying living cell structures. It utilizes a femtosecond pulsed laser that provides very-short pulsed laser beams in applications from microelectronics to micro-electromechanical systems (MEMS). At this time, no easy way to machine diverse materials on a nanometer scale exists. Not even electron beam lithography will work below the surface or within a given material. The ultra-short pulsed laser, however, permits abating or cutting features as small as 20 nanometers thanks to the manner in which very-short pulses of laser light interact with matter.
This exciting new approach amply demonstrates how nanotechnology and lasers can work together to permit practical new developments with important industrial, scientific and medical applications
