Machines working at the nanoscale dimensions offer an important technological opportunity for healthcare and biomedical screening. State-of-the-art nano-machines are usually operated at small displacements, since engineering tools for their control at large vibration amplitudes have so far been absent. Now reporting at the prestigious scientific journal, Nano Letters, a team led by Bilkent University researchers report, for the first time, the successful operation of nano-machines undergoing large mechanical motion. With their technique, the researchers were able to characterize a nano-particle sample with high resolution. Nanoparticles constitute an important family in the nanotechnology toolbox, because they indicate potential pollutions early on, or can be designed to act as drug carriers for cancer therapy. Moreover, the sizes of nanoparticles are similar to viruses: with this study, a way of detecting and classifying viral outbreaks much earlier than previous methods becomes one step closer to reality. The research was mainly carried out in the Mechanical Engineering Department of Bilkent University, with first author Mert Yuksel and corresponding author Selim Hanay of the same department.
The article can be accessed through here.
