National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) researchers may have succeeded in using carbon nanotubes to create the world’s darkest material – one that will be key to a new generation of high-performance optics, lasers, communications and solar energy.

University of California (Riverside) researchers may have taken the next giant step in using graphene for new heat-resisting materials to keep laptops and other electronic devices from overheating. The key is a new graphene structure that is less expensive and easier to produce, and that can be incorporated with silicon.

Harvard University researchers, working with several leading German universities, have developed a new technique for fabricating nanowire photonic and electronic integrated circuits. Finding may yield low-cost, scalable nanowire use in photonics and ICs.