Gold-tipped nanocrystals developed by Hebrew University researchersJune 17, 2004"Nanodumbells" - gold-tipped nanocrystals which can be used as highly-efficient building blocks for devices in the emerging nanotechnology revolution - have been developed by researchers at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. The technology, developed by a research group headed by Prof. Uri Banin of the Department of Physical Chemistry and the Center for Nanoscience and Nanotechnology of the Hebrew University, is described in an article in the current issue of Science magazine. The nanodumbells - shaped somewhat like mini-weightlifting bars - offer a solution to problems of building new, nanocrystal transistors, the basic component of computer chips. Semiconductor nanocrystals are tiny particles with dimensions of merely a few nanometers. A nanometer (nm) is one-billionth of a meter, or about a hundred-thousandth of the diameter of a human hair. These nanocrystals exhibit unique optical and electrical properties that are controlled by modifying their particle size, composition and shape, creating promising building blocks for future nanotechnology devices, such as mini-computers, nanosensors for chemical and biological molecules, novel solar-cell devices, or for various biomedical applications. The challenge that lies ahead in adapting these nanocrystals to real-world application lies in wiring them to operate in electronic circuits. How, in the manufacturing process, will it be possible to join billions of them together and incorporate them into a single, integrated, electrical circuit? Another problem is that of establishing good electrical contact in order to ensure speedy and faultless channels of communication. The new technology developed by Prof. Banin and his team provides the solution to these two limiting problems. They succeeded in attaching gold tips onto nanorods by a simple chemical reaction. The resultant structure resembles a nanodumbbell, in which the central, nanocrystal, semiconductor part of the rod is linked via a strong chemical bond to the gold tips. These nanodumbbells provide strong chemical bonds between the gold and the semiconductor, leading to good electrical connectivity. This provides the path towards solving the problem of wiring the nanocrystals intro electrical circuitry. The chemical bonding quality of the gold also helps solve the difficulties involved in manufacturing simultaneously up to billions of circuits. By adding to the nanodumbbell solution specific "linker" molecules, the gold tips are attracted to each other, thus creating self-assembling chain structures of nanocrystals, linked end-to-end. This strategy can serve as the basis for future manufacturing that will connect billions of nanorods to nanoelectronic circuitry. It is also possible to create other shapes, such as tetrapods, in which four arms expand from a central unit, making gold-tipped "anchor" points for different forms of self-assembly and wiring. This development will speed up the integration of semiconductor nanorods and tetrapods into real-world nanoelectronic applications. | |||||||||||||||||||||
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Related Nanotechnology News Articles Creating unconventional metals The semiconductor silicon and the ferromagnet iron are the basis for much of mankind's technology, used in everything from computers to electric motors. In this week's issue of the journal Nature (August 21st) an international group of scientists, including academic and industrial researchers from the UK, USA and Lesotho, report that they have combined these elements with a small amount of another common metal, manganese, to create a new material which is neither a magnet nor an ordinary semiconductor. New 'nano-positioners' may have atomic-scale precision Engineers have created a tiny motorized positioning device that has twice the dexterity of similar devices being developed for applications that include biological sensors and more compact, powerful computer hard drives. University of Pennsylvania Scientists Move Optical Computing Closer to Reality Scientists at the University of Pennsylvania have theorized a way to increase the speed of pulses of light that bound across chains of tiny metal particles to well past the speed of light by altering the particle shape. True properties of carbon nanotubes measured For more than 15 years, carbon nanotubes (CNTs) have been the flagship material of nanotechnology. Researchers have conceived applications for nanotubes ranging from microelectronic devices to cancer therapy. Their atomic structure should, in theory, give them mechanical and electrical properties far superior to most common materials. Slipping through cell walls, nanotubes deliver high-potency punch to cancer tumors in mice The problem with using a shotgun to kill a housefly is that even if you get the pest, you'll likely do a lot of damage to your home in the process. Hence the value of the more surgical flyswatter. Nano vaccine for hepatitis B shows promise for third world Chronic hepatitis B infects 400 million people worldwide, many of them children. Even with three effective vaccines available, hepatitis B remains a stubborn, unrelenting health problem, especially in Africa and other developing areas. UNC study: shape, not just size, impacts effectiveness of emerging nanomedicine therapies In the budding field of nanotechnology, scientists already know that size does matter. But now, researchers at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill have shown that shape matters even more - a finding that could lead to new and more effective methods for treating cancer and other diseases, from diabetes and multiple sclerosis to arthritis and obesity. A world-leading UK science project switches on first neutrons The UK's ISIS Second Target Station Project moved a major step closer to completion today when the first neutrons were created in the ISIS Second Target Station. The emerging scientific discipline of aeroecology In the history of science and technology, there is an infrequent combination of empirical discoveries, theories and technology developments converge that make it possible to recognize a new discipline. Scientists determine strength of 'liquid smoke' Researchers have created a 3D image of a material referred to as "liquid smoke." Aerogel, also known as liquid smoke or "San Francisco fog," is an open-cell polymer with pores smaller than 50 nanometers in diameter. More Nanotechnology News Articles |
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