We are fabricating nanoscale superconducting structures for guiding the motion of vortices.Vortices are quantized bundles of magnetic flux that thread many different superconductors over aparticular range of applied magnetic field. By etching asymmetric patterns for the channel walls,we are able to produce a vortex ratchet, which results in the directed motion of vortices when driven with an os...

Angle-resolved reflection spectroscopy is used to study surface plasmon polariton modes of metallic gratings consisting of sub-wavelength grooves. The used optical set-up allows recording of zero and m = −1 order reflection spectra in the visible and near infra-red spectral region. The different modes and their mutual coupling was identified in the dispersion diagram by means of modal theory. S...

We explore the electrical rectification of large amplitude fluctuating signals by an asymmetric nanostructure operating in aqueous solution. We show experimentally and theoretically that a load capacitor can be charged to voltages close to 1 V within a few minutes by converting zero time-average potentials of amplitudes in the range 0.5-3 V into average net currents using a single conical nanop...

We demonstrate that nonlinear electrical transport through a two-terminal nanoscale sample is not symmetric in the magnetic field B. More specifically, we have measured the lowest order B-asymmetric terms in single-walled carbon nanotubes. Theoretically, these terms can be used to infer both the strength of electron-electron interactions and the handedness of the nanotube. Consistent with theor...

We introduce Electro Pen Nanolithography (EPN), a nanoscale chemical patterning technique. In a single sweep of an ink-coated, biased conducting Atomic Force Microscope (AFM) probe-tip, an underlying thin organic film is oxidized, and the ink molecules are transferred directly to the oxidized regions. Results using trialkoxysilane inks with functional terminal groups are presented, where the sa...

Fluoroquinolone antibiotics attract increasing attention in the water treatment field because of potential adverse effects on aquatic ecosystems and human health. The graphitic carbon nitride (g-C 3 N 4 ) based photocatalysis has been demonstrated as an economically feasible environmentally benign process to control these persistent contaminants. In this study, a new visible-light-driven reduce...