Limited scalability and the high sensitivity of qubits as building blocks for the quantum computer are still in the way of the ‘super computer’s’ big breakthrough. Researchers of the University of Twente, together with colleagues from Austria, Switzerland and the Netherlands may have found a promising solution to address these challenges. They have been awarded […]

Topological insulators are innovative materials that conduct electricity on the surface, but act as insulators on the inside. Physicists at the University of Basel and the Istanbul Technical University have begun investigating how they react to friction. Their experiment shows that the heat generated through friction is significantly lower than in conventional materials. This is […]

Researchers from the SNI network describe in ACS Nano that Raman spectroscopy is a sensitive method for the investigation of graphene nanoribbons (GNR). Structural integrity, length and substrate interaction of GNRs can be analyzed using Raman spectroscopy. In contrast to low-temperature scanning tunneling microscopy, it can be easily applied for practical device application and characterization. […]

The electron spin of individual electrons in quantum dots could serve as the smallest information unit of a quantum computer. Scientists from the Universities of Oxford, Basel and Lancaster have developed an algorithm that can be used to measure quantum dots automatically. Writing in the Nature-family journal npj Quantum Information, they describe how they can […]

On 14 November 2019 the National Future Day will take place. The SNI as well as the Nano Imaging Lab and the Department of Physics offer an interesting program. Hundreds of companies and institutions open their doors each year to young people in the 5th to 7th grades, giving them the opportunity to discover the […]

The two high school graduates Alex Korocencev and Felix Sewing, who were supported by the SNI and the Department of Physics, have won the European Contest for Young Scientists with their magnetically levitated (maglev) train. The two young researchers had participated in the “Jugend forscht” contest in 2019 and had been awarded the federal prize […]

Electronics built from molecules could open up new possibilities in the miniaturization of circuits in the future. Empa researchers, together with partners from Switzerland, the Netherlands, Israel, and  the UK, succeeded in solving a crucial detail in the realization of such circuit elements: A molecular bridge for electrons that remains mechanically and electronically stable at […]

Congratulations to Thomas Mortelmans for receiving the Best Poster Award and to Luc Driencourt for the Best Talk Award during this year’s Annual Event. At the SNI Annual Event, doctoral students of the SNI PhD School present their scientific results either with a poster or a talk. They crucially contribute to the interdisciplinary exchange among […]

During the Annual Event 2019, Joakim Rüegger was awarded the Honorary Membership of the Swiss Nanoscience Institute (SNI). In his role as Head of Higher Education in the Departement of Education in the Canton of Basel-Stadt, he was extremely committed to the SNI and thus helped to aunch this successful cooperation between the Canton of […]

The latest issue of our magazine SNI INSight is online. Get informed about the new start-up ELDICO Scientific and about the winners of the prize for the best master’s thesis and “Jugend forscht”. We explain the goals of three Nano Argovia projects, report on recent events and share some research results.