Controlling grip force in a prosthetic or robotic hand requires detailed sensory feedback information about microslips between the artificial fingertips and the object. In the biological hand this is accomplished with neural transducers capable of measuring micro-vibrations in the skin due to sliding friction. For prosthetic tactile sensors, emulating these biological transducers is a difficult...

We have realized a hybrid optomechanical system by coupling ultracold atoms to a micromechanical membrane. The atoms are trapped in an optical lattice, which is formed by retroreflection of a laser beam from the membrane surface. In this setup, the lattice laser light mediates an optomechanical coupling between membrane vibrations and atomic center-of-mass motion. We observe both the effect of ...

Atomic vibrations are partially screened by electrons. In a metal this screening can change rapidly for vibrations associated to certain points of the Brillouin zone, entirely determined by the shape of the Fermi surface. The consequent anomalous behaviour of the phonon dispersion is called Kohn anomaly. Graphite is a semimetal. Nanotubes can be metals or semiconductors. We demonstrate that two...

Apertureless magneto-optical near-field microscopy is developed for studying subpicosecond spindynamics at nanometer spatial scale. Polarization modulation and tip vibrations are implemented. Polarization responsivity of the tip-induced scattering is demonstrated using polarization modulation and tip vibrations. A near-field magneto-optical contrast is achieved for a thin ferromagnetic film wit...

It has been revealed that the surface stress effect plays an important role in the mechanical behavior ofstructures (such as bending, buckling and vibration) when their dimensions are on the order ofnanometer. In addition, recent advances in nanotechnology have proposed several applications fornanoscale shells in different fields. Hence, in the present article, within the framework of surfaceel...

We demonstrate that lateral vibrations of a substrate can dramatically increase surface diffusivity and mobility and reduce friction at the nanoscale. Dilatancy is shown to play an essential role in the dynamics of a nanometer-size tip which interacts with a vibrating surface. We find an abrupt dilatancy transition from the state with a small tip-surface separation to the state with a large sep...

Insect prey of the Namib golden mole congregate beneath clumps of grass scattered among the sand dunes of the Namib Desert. In the presence of the light winds that typically blow over the Namib Desert, these grass clumps emit low-amplitude vibrations that are transmitted through the sand. While foraging in the sand-swimming mode (a few centimeters below the surface of the sand), some moles appa...

A new deep acceptor state is identified by density functional theory calculations, and physically activated by an Au ion implantation technique to overcome the high energy barriers. And an acceptor-compensated charge transport mechanism that controls the chemical sensing performance of Au-implanted SnO2 nanowires is established. Subsequently, an equation of electrical resistance is set up as a ...

Localized surface plasmons are confined collective oscillations of electrons in metallic nanoparticles. When driven by light, the optical response is dictated by geometrical parameters and the dielectric environment and plasmons are therefore extremely important for sensing applications. Plasmons in graphene disks have the additional benefit of being highly tunable via electrical stimulation. M...

How are two prominent environmental features, surface texture and object location, transduced and encoded as rats whisk? Recent papers show that textures may excite intrinsic mechanical vibrations of the vibrissae. Although these vibrations are too rapid to be directly followed by cortical neurons, there is evidence that their speed is encoded by contact-dependent sensory signals. In addition t...