STROBE in the News

Results of UCLA-led study contradict a long-held classical theory.

Everyday transitions from one state of matter to another — such as freezing, melting or evaporation — start with a process called “nucleation,” in which tiny clusters of atoms or molecules (called “nuclei”) begin to coalesce. Nucleation plays a critical role in circumstances as diverse as the formation of clouds and the onset of neurodegenerative disease.

A UCLA-led team has gained a never-before-seen view of nucleation — capturing how the atoms rearrange at 4D atomic resolution (that is, in three dimensions of space and across time). The findings, published in the journal Nature, differ from predictions based on the classical theory of nucleation that has long appeared in textbooks.

Bruker today announced that it has acquired Anasys Instruments Corp., a privately held company that develops and manufactures nanoscale infrared spectroscopy and thermal measurement instruments. This acquisition adds to Bruker’s portfolio of Raman and FTIR spectrometers, as well as to its nanoscale surface science instruments, such as atomic force microscopy and white-light interferometric 3D microscopy. Financial details of the transaction were not disclosed. Headquartered in Santa Barbara, California, Anasys Instruments Corp. has pioneered the field of nanoprobe-based thermal and infrared measurements. Its industry-leading nanoIR™ products are used by premier academic and industrial scientists and engineers in soft-matter and hard-matter materials science, and in life science applications. Recently Anasys introduced even higher performance with 10 nanometer resolution nanoIR imaging.

UCLA mathematics professor Stan Osher, Cognitech Inc CEO Leonid Rudin and then PhD student Emad Fatemi, now sadly deceased, created a numerical algorithm that was instrumental in reconstructing the cleaned up image of the black hole captured in April 2017. Their work has been cited as the key regularization function in sparse modeling that has been applied to astronomical imaging (Akiyama et al. 2017) .

More than half of the people in the world host colonies of a bacterium called Helicobacter pylori in their stomachs.

Although it’s harmless to many, H. pylori can cause stomach cancer as well as ulcers and other gastric conditions. Doctors tend to prescribe multiple antibiotics to defeat the microbe, but that strategy can lead to antibiotic-resistant superbugs.

Now, a finding by UCLA scientists may lead to a better approach. The researchers have determined the molecular structure of a protein that enables H. pylori to stay alive in the stomach, and elucidated the mechanism by which that protein works.

Z. Hong Zhou, the study’s corresponding author and a UCLA professor of microbiology, immunology and molecular genetics, said the findings answer questions that have been sought ever since 2005, when two Australian scientists won a Nobel Prize for their discovery of H. pylori and its role in gastritis and peptic ulcer disease.

Today, imec, a world-leading research and innovation hub in nanoelectronics and digital technologies, and KMLabs, pioneers and world leaders in ultrafast laser and EUV technology, announce a joint development to create a real-time functional imaging and interference lithography laboratory. This lab will enable imaging in resist on 300mm wafers down to an unprecedented 8nm pitch. Additionally, it will enable time-resolved nanoscale characterization of complex materials and processes, such as photoresist radiation chemistry, two-dimensional materials, nanostructured systems and devices, emergent quantum materials.

Double Helix Optics was just declared the winner of SPIE’s 2019 Prism Award in the Diagnostics and Therapeutics category. SPIE, the international society for optics and photonics, presents this prestigious award to exceptionally innovative organizations for the best new optics and photonics products brought to the market. Double Helix Optics’ award-winning SPINDLE® module and patented Light Engineering™ point spread function (PSF) technology deliver unparalleled 3D imaging and tracking with precision-depth capability.

Limerick-born Prof Margaret Murnane will be given the award for the science, technology and innovation award, which will be presented to her in the US. Prof Murnane is regarded as being one of the leading optical physicists of her generation. She is Director of the National Science Foundation STROBE Science and Technology Center on functional nano-imaging, a fellow at JILA and Distinguished Professor at the Department of Physics and Electrical and Computer Engineering at the University of Colorado.

New imaging technique may lead to improved functionality of devices such as PCs, smartphones.

The chips that drive everyday electronic gadgets such as personal computers and smartphones are made in semiconductor fabrication plants. These plants employ powerful transmission electron microscopes. While they can see physical structures smaller than a billionth of a meter, these microscopes have no way of seeing the electronic activity that makes the devices function. That may soon change, thanks to a new imaging technique developed by UCLA and University of Southern California researchers. This advance may enable scientists and engineers to watch and understand the electronic activity inside working devices, and ultimately improve their functionality.

The study, which was published online in Physical Review Applied, was led by Chris Regan, UCLA professor of physics and astronomy and a member of the California NanoSystems Institute.

An innovative infrared-light probe with nanoscale spatial resolution has been expanded to cover previously inaccessible far-infrared wavelengths.

The ability to investigate heterogeneous materials at nanometer scales and far-infrared energies will benefit a wide range of fields, from condensed matter physics to biology.