Electron vortices in graphene detected

“Thanks to our extremely sensitive sensor and high spatial resolution, we didn’t even need to cool down the graphene...”

14-May-2024 - Researchers at ETH Zurich have, for the first time, made visible how electrons form vortices in a material at room temperature. Their experiment used a quantum sensing microscope with an extremely high resolution. When an ordinary electrical conductor – such as a metal wire – is connected to a ...

A new biosensor for the COVID-19 virus

Detection in the environment

23-Apr-2020 - A team of researchers from Empa, ETH Zurich and Zurich University Hospital has succeeded in developing a novel sensor for detecting the new coronavirus. In future it could be used to measure the concentration of the virus in the environment - for example in places where there are many people or ...

Measuring ethanol’s deadly twin

18-Sep-2019 - ETH researchers have developed an inexpensive, handheld measuring device that can distinguish between methanol and potable alcohol. It offers a simple, quick method of detecting adulterated or contaminated alcoholic beverages and is able to diagnose methanol poisoning in exhaled breath. Methanol ...

First all-metamaterial optical gas sensor

03-Sep-2019 - Researchers have developed the first fully-integrated, non-dispersive infrared (NDIR) gas sensor enabled by specially engineered synthetic materials known as metamaterials. The sensor has no moving parts, requires little energy to operate and is among the smallest NDIR sensors ever created. The ...

Listening to the whispers of individual cells

30-Jul-2019 - For the cells in our bodies to function as a unit, they must communicate with one another constantly. They secrete signalling molecules – ions, proteins and nucleic acids – that are picked up by adjacent cells, which in turn pass on the signal to other cells. Our muscles, digestive system and ...

High-precision magnetic field sensing

Highly sensitive sensor may find widespread use in medicine and other areas

05-Dec-2016 - Researchers from the Institute for Biomedical Engineering, which is operated jointly by ETH Zurich and the University of Zurich, have succeeded in measuring tiny changes in strong magnetic fields with unprecedented precision. In their experiments, the scientists magnetised a water droplet inside ...

New composite material as CO2 sensor

09-Jun-2015 - A new material changes its conductivity depending on the concentration of CO2 in the environment. The researchers who developed it have utilized the material to produce a miniature, simply constructed sensor. Material scientists at ETH Zurich and the Max Planck Institute of Colloids and ...

Almost as sensitive as a dog's nose

New sensor for SERS Raman spectroscopy

02-Sep-2013 - Scientists at ETH Zurich and the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) in California have developed an innovative sensor for surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS). Thanks to its unique surface properties at nanoscale, the method can be used to perform analyses that are more reliable, ...