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1 0 A D V A N C E D M A T E R I A L S & P R O C E S S E S | M A Y / J U N E 2 0 1 8 when electricity passes through them. The bridges are spring-shaped copper wires that can stretch and bend, allow- ing the patch to conform to nonplanar surfaces without compromising its electronic functions. The team has filed a patent on this soft ultrasound probe, which can work on odd-shaped sur- faces without requiring water, gel, or oil as a contact medium. ucsd.edu. USING NEUTRONS TO SEE INSIDE OBJECTS An innovative way to focus beams of neutrons may allow scientists to probe the interiors of opaque objects at a size range they were blind to pre- viously, allowing them to explore the innards of objects from meteorites to cutting-edge manufactured materials without damaging them. The method could convert a support tool for neu- tron science—neutron interferometry— into a full-fledged scanning technique that reveals details ranging in size from 1 nm up to 10 µm within larger objects. The new approach provides this tool with its first movable lenses capable of zooming in and out on details in this size range—a range that has been diffi- cult to probe. More precisely, these lenses are silicon wafers that act as diffraction gratings, which take advantage of the neutrons’ wavelike properties. The gratings split and redirect a neutron beam so that the waves bounce off an object’s edges and collide with one another, creating a visible moiré inter- ference pattern representative of the TESTING | CHARACTERIZATION ULTRASOUND PATCH INSPECTS ODD-SHAPED STRUCTURES Researchers at the University of California, San Diego (UCSD) developed a stretchable, flexible patch that could MTS Systems Corp., Eden Prairie, Minn., a global supplier of test systems and sensors, announces that business partner MTS Sistemas do Brasil Ltda. opened a new Innovation Center in São Jose dos Campos, Brazil, to better support the aerospace and defense industries. The center features a demonstration laboratory, customer training center, transducer calibra- tion room, and an MTS-authorized repair center. mts.com. BRIEFS Scientists from ITMO University, Russia, showed that a silicon-gold nanoparticle can act as an effec- tive source of white light when agitated by a pulse laser in an IR band. One such nanobulb was integrated into a standard probe microscope, allowing researchers to overcome the diffraction limit and examine subwavelength-size objects. The new technology makes modern near-field micros- copy cheaper and simpler. www.ifmo.ru . make it easier to perform ultrasound imaging on odd-shaped structures, such as engine parts, turbines, reac- tor pipe elbows, and railroad tracks— objects that are difficult to examine using conventional ultrasound equip- ment. The new device overcomes a lim- itation of today’s ultrasound devices, which are difficult to use on objects that do not have perfectly flat surfaces. Con- ventional ultrasound probes have flat and rigid bases, which cannot maintain good contact when scanning across curved, wavy, angled, and other irreg- ular surfaces. Traditional probes are also bulky, making them impractical for inspecting hard-to-access parts. The new probe is a thin patch of silicone elastomer patterned with an island-bridge structure, which is essen- tially an array of small electronic parts, or islands, that are each connected by spring-like structures, or bridges. The islands contain piezoelectric transduc- ers, which produce ultrasound waves This flexible ultrasound patch couldmake it easier to inspect damage deep inside odd- shaped structures. Courtesy of Hongjie Hu. Nanoparticle size is 150 nm. Courtesy of Makarov, Sinev et al.