Science Current Events | Science News | Brightsurf.com
 
Email a Friend Send to a friend
Printer Friendly Print University of Pennsylvania engineers discover natural 'workbench' for nanoscale construction

University of Pennsylvania engineers discover natural 'workbench' for nanoscale construction

July 18, 2007

PHILADELPHIA -- Engineers at the University of Pennsylvania have taken a step toward simplifying the creation of nanostructures by identifying the first inorganic material to phase separate with near-perfect order at the nanometer scale. The finding provides an atomically tuneable nanocomposite "workbench" that is cheap and easy to produce and provides a super-lattice foundation potentially suitable for building nanostructures.

The findings appear in the August issue of Nature Materials.




Alerted by an unusual diffraction effect of a common ceramic material, researchers used imaging to identify a two-phase structural pattern ideal as the first step towards nanodevice construction. Practical application of nanotechnology will rely upon engineering's ability to manipulate atoms and molecules into long-range order to produce materials with desired functionalities. The Penn findings provide a simpler method for the ordering of composite parts on the nanometer scale, which is integral to the incorporation of nano-objects such as particles and wires that make up nanodevices.

The material used in the Penn study is an ionically- conductive, crystalline ceramic (Nd2/3-xLi3x)TiO3 that engineers observed with transmission electron microscopy. The powdered perovskite exhibited two distinct patterns at the atomic scale with identical periodicity: a nanoscale chessboard pattern and a diamond pattern that indicated periodic separation into two phases within the structure. This spontaneous separation of phases could present a new foundation on which to build nanodevice technology. This material - made using standard and easily reproducible ceramic processing methods - represents the formation of a spontaneous microscopic surface controlled on the nanoscale with atomic precision.

Further study revealed that the separation of the structure into two distinct phases was a result of the oxide separating into lithium rich squares and lithium poor stripes. By varying the amount of lithium and neodymium, two ingredients in the ceramic powder, engineers controlled the length and spacing of the alternating phases, thereby tuning the workbench upon which nanodevices could be built.

On a larger-than-atomic scale, the research extends science's knowledge of the properties of a most common oxide structure type, currently used for superconducting materials, magnetoresistive materials and ferroelectrics.

"This study represents great potential for the use of standard ceramic processing methods for nanotechnology," said Peter K. Davies, chair of the Department of Materials Science and Engineering at Penn. "The phase separation occurs spontaneously, providing two phases whose dimensions both extend into the nanometer scale. This unique feature could lead to its application as a template for the assembly of nanostructures or molecular monolayers."

University of Pennsylvania



Related Nanostructures Current Events and Nanostructures News Articles Nanostructures Current Events and Nanostructures News RSS Nanostructures Current Events and Nanostructures News RSS
Understanding mechanical properties of silicon nanowires paves way for nanodevices
Silicon nanowires are attracting significant attention from the electronics industry due to the drive for ever-smaller electronic devices, from cell phones to computers.

Engineers image nanostructure of a solid acid catalyst and boost its catalytic activity
The catalytic processes that facilitate the production of many chemicals and fuels could become much more environmentally friendly thanks to a breakthrough achieved by researchers from Lehigh and Rice Universities.

LANL Roadrunner simulates nanoscale material failure
Very tiny wires, called nanowires, made from such metals as silver and gold, may play a crucial role as electrical or mechanical switches in the development of future-generation ultrasmall nanodevices.

Transforming Nanowires Into Nano-Tools Using Cation Exchange Reactions
A team of engineers from the University of Pennsylvania has transformed simple nanowires into reconfigurable materials and circuits, demonstrating a novel, self-assembling method for chemically creating nanoscale structures that are not possible to grow or obtain otherwise.

Berkeley Researchers Find New Route to Nano Self-Assembly
If the promise of nanotechnology is to be fulfilled, nanoparticles will have to be able to make something of themselves. An important advance towards this goal has been achieved by researchers with the U.S. Department of Energy's Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) who have found a simple and yet powerfully robust way to induce nanoparticles to assemble themselves into complex arrays.

Caltech scientists solve decade-long mystery of nanopillar formations
Scientists at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) have uncovered the physical mechanism by which arrays of nanoscale (billionths-of-a-meter) pillars can be grown on polymer films with very high precision, in potentially limitless patterns.

Harvard scientists bend nanowires into 2-D and 3-D structures
Taking nanomaterials to a new level of structural complexity, scientists have determined how to introduce kinks into arrow-straight nanowires, transforming them into zigzagging two- and three-dimensional structures with correspondingly advanced functions.

Smallest Nanoantennas for High-speed Data Networks
More than 120 years after the discovery of the electromagnetic character of radio waves by Heinrich Hertz, wireless data transmission dominates information technology.

Penn team uses self-assembly to make molecule-sized particles with patches of charge
Physicists, chemists and engineers at the University of Pennsylvania have demonstrated a novel method for the controlled formation of patchy particles, using charged, self-assembling molecules that may one day serve as drug-delivery vehicles to combat disease and perhaps be used in small batteries that store and release charge.

'NanoPen' may write new chapter in nanotechnology manufacturing
Researchers in California are reporting development of a so-called "NanoPen" that could provide a quick, convenient way of laying down patterns of nanoparticles - from wires to circuits - for making futuristic electronic devices, medical diagnostic tests, and other much-anticipated nanotech applications.
More Nanostructures Current Events and Nanostructures News Articles
Transport in Nanostructures

Transport in Nanostructures
by David K. Ferry (Author), Stephen M. Goodnick (Author), Jonathan Bird (Author)

The advent of semiconductor structures whose characteristic dimensions are smaller than the mean free path of carriers has led to the development of novel devices, and advances in theoretical understanding of mesoscopic systems or nanostructures. This book has been thoroughly revised and provides a much-needed update on the very latest experimental research into mesoscopic devices and develops a detailed theoretical framework for understanding their behavior. Beginning with the key observable phenomena in nanostructures, the authors describe quantum confined systems, transmission in nanostructures, quantum dots, and single electron phenomena. Separate chapters are devoted to interference in diffusive transport, temperature decay of fluctuations, and non-equilibrium transport and...

Nanostructures and Nanomaterials: Synthesis, Properties & Applications

Nanostructures and Nanomaterials: Synthesis, Properties & Applications
by Guozhong Cao (Author)

This important book focuses on the synthesis and fabrication of nanostructures and nanomaterials, but also includes properties and applications of nanostructures and nanomaterials, particularly inorganic nanomaterials. It provides balanced and comprehensive coverage of the fundamentals and processing techniques with regard to synthesis, characterization, properties, and applications of nanostructures and nanomaterials. Both chemical processing and lithographic techniques are presented in a systematic and coherent manner for the synthesis and fabrication of 0-D, 1-D, and 2-D nanostructures, as well as special nanomaterials such as carbon nanotubes and ordered mesoporous oxides. The book will serve as a general introduction to nanomaterials and nanotechnology for teaching and self-study...

Alternative Lithography: Unleashing the Potentials of Nanotechnology (Nanostructure Science and Technology)

Alternative Lithography: Unleashing the Potentials of Nanotechnology (Nanostructure Science and Technology)
by C.M. Sotomayor Torres (Editor)

This book intended for academic and industrial research scientists and engineers, as well as industrial laboratories working on sensors, biotechnology and opto/electronics details in 17 chapters state-of-the-art technologies and the prospects for micro-contact printing and nanoimprint lithography.

Mesoscopic Electronics in Solid State Nanostructures

Mesoscopic Electronics in Solid State Nanostructures
by Thomas Heinzel (Author)

This text treats electronic transport in the regime where conventional textbook models are no longer applicable, including the effect of electronic phase coherence, energy quantization and single-electron charging. This second edition is completely updated and expanded, and now comprises new chapters on spin electronics and quantum information processing, transport in inhomogeneous magnetic fields, organic/molecular electronics, and applications of field effect transistors. The book also provides an overview of semiconductor processing technologies and experimental techniques. With a number of examples and problems with solutions, this is an ideal introduction for students and beginning researchers in the field.

"This book is a useful tool, too, for the experienced researcher to...

Mechanical Properties of Polymers based on Nanostructure and Morphology

Mechanical Properties of Polymers based on Nanostructure and Morphology
by G. H. Michler (Editor), F. J. Baltá-Calleja (Editor)

The improvement of strength and durability in polymers has implications relevant to industrial, medical, and household applications. Enhanced by the improved knowledge of the interactions between complex hierarchical structures and functional requirements, Mechanical Properties of Polymers Based on Nanostructure and Morphology focuses on new polymer materials that possess a combination of improved mechanical and other physical properties.

This book specifies techniques used in structural and morphological characterization, discusses crazing and molecular variables of fracture behavior, and clarifies various modes of deformation mechanisms and orientation processes for semicrystalline polymers, block copolymers, and composites. The volume examines microindentation hardness studies...

Introduction to Nanoscale Science and Technology (Nanostructure Science and Technology)

Introduction to Nanoscale Science and Technology (Nanostructure Science and Technology)
by Massimiliano Di Ventra (Editor), Stephane Evoy (Editor), James R. Heflin (Editor)

Nanoscale science and technology is a young, promising field that encompasses a wide range of disciplines including physics, chemistry, biology, electrical engineering, chemical engineering, and materials science. With rapid advances in areas such as molecular electronics, synthetic biomolecular motors, DNA-based self-assembly, and manipulation of individual atoms, nanotechnology has captured the attention and imagination of researchers and the general public. Introduction to Nanoscale Science and Technology provides a broad and thorough introduction that is aimed specifically at undergraduate seniors and early graduate students in all of the disciplines enumerated above. It will also be of value to academic, industrial, and government researchers interested in a primer in the field. ...

CdTe and Related Compounds; Physics, Defects, Hetero- and Nano-structures, Crystal Growth, Surfaces and Applications (European Materials Research Society Series)

CdTe and Related Compounds; Physics, Defects, Hetero- and Nano-structures, Crystal Growth, Surfaces and Applications (European Materials Research Society Series)
by Robert Triboulet (Editor), Paul Siffert (Editor)

Almost thirty years after the remarkable monograph of K. Zanio and the numerous conferences and articles dedicated since that time to CdTe and CdZnTe, after all the significant progresses in that field and the increasing interest in these materials for several extremely attractive industrial applications, such as nuclear detectors and solar cells, the edition of a new enriched and updated monograph dedicated to these two very topical II-VI semiconductor compounds, covering all their most prominent, modern and fundamental aspects, seemed very relevant and useful.




Detailed coverage of the main topics associated with the very topical II-VI semiconductor compound CdTe and its alloy CZT
Review of the CdTe recent developments...

Self-Assembled Nanostructures (Nanostructure Science and Technology)

Self-Assembled Nanostructures (Nanostructure Science and Technology)
by Jin Zhang (Author), Zhong-lin Wang (Author), Jun Liu (Author), Shaowei Chen (Author), Gang-yu Liu (Author)

Nanostructures refer to materials that have relevant dimensions on the nanometer length scales and reside in the mesoscopic regime between isolated atoms and molecules in bulk matter. These materials have unique physical properties that are distinctly different from bulk materials. "Self-Assembled Nanostructures" provides systematic coverage of basic nanomaterials science, including materials assembly and synthesis, characterization, and application. Suitable for both beginners and experts, it balances the chemistry aspects of nanomaterials with physical principles. It also highlights nanomaterial-based architectures including assembled or self-assembled systems. Filled with in-depth discussion of important applications of nano-architectures as well as potential applications ranging from...

Composites with Micro- and Nano-Structure: Computational Modeling and Experiments (Computational Methods in Applied Sciences)

Composites with Micro- and Nano-Structure: Computational Modeling and Experiments (Computational Methods in Applied Sciences)
by Vladimir Kompis (Editor)

This book contains selected, extended papers presented in the thematic ECCOMAS conference on Composites with Micro- and Nano-Structure (CMNS) â Computational Modelling and Experiments held in Liptovský MikuláÅ¡, Slovakia, in May 28 to 31, 2007, as well as three other papers.

Recent experimental and computational results demonstrate that materials reinforced with stiff particles and fibres can obtain substantial improvements in stiffness, thermal conductivity and electro-magnetic properties. Materials reinforced with fibres can have very different properties in different directions. With these new materials the importance of computational simulations and experimental verifications also increases.

The book contains atomistic and continuum numerical methods and...

Zinc Oxide Bulk, Thin Films and Nanostructures: Processing, Properties, and Applications

Zinc Oxide Bulk, Thin Films and Nanostructures: Processing, Properties, and Applications
by Chennupati Jagadish (Editor), Stephen J. Pearton (Editor)

With an in-depth exploration of the following topics, this book covers the broad uses of zinc oxide within the fields of materials science and engineering:

- Recent advances in bulk , thin film and nanowire growth of ZnO (including MBE, MOCVD and PLD),
- The characterization of the resulting material (including the related ternary systems ZgMgO and ZnCdO),
- Improvements in device processing modules (including ion implantation for doping and isolation ,Ohmic and Schottky contacts , wet and dry etching),
- The role of impurities and defects on materials properties
- Applications of ZnO in UV light emitters/detectors, gas, biological and chemical-sensing, transparent electronics, spintronics and thin film

© 2009 BrightSurf.com