Nanotechnology Now

Our NanoNews Digest Sponsors
Heifer International



Home > Press > Building bridges between nanowires

Abstract:
Place a layer of gold only a few atoms high on a surface bed of germanium, apply heat to it, and wires will form of themselves. Gold-induced wires is what Mocking prefers to call them. Not 'gold wires', as the wires are not made solely out of gold atoms but also contain germanium. They are no more than a few atoms in height and are separated by no more than 1.6 nanometres (a nanometre is one millionth of a millimetre). Nanotechnologists bridge this small 'gap' with a copper-phthalocyanine molecule. A perfect fit. This molecule was found to be able to rotate if the electrons coursing towards it possess sufficient energy, allowing it to function as a switch. What's more: the copper atom of this molecule floats in the vacuum above the gap - fully detached. This might allow researchers to identify new properties the nanowires may possess.

Building bridges between nanowires

Enschede, Netherlands | Posted on September 21st, 2013

Quantum effects

Mocking also managed to craft new 1D structures with two different metals, iridium and cobalt - obtaining entirely different results. For instance, he was able to prove that quantum effects occur to iridium when heated to room temperature, leading to the wires always being 4.8 nanometres, or a multiple thereof, in length. This astonishing result was published in Nature Communications earlier this year. When cobalt, the third of the metals, was heated, no wires were formed.
Instead, little 'islands' and 'nanocrystals' appeared.

Bottom-up nanoelectronics

Mocking used the semiconductor germanium as substrate for each of the three metals, as it is easy to work with at relatively low temperatures and possesses a suitable crystal structure. Scanning Tunneling Microscopy (STM) is ideally suited to investigate these structures. His research is of fundamental importance, as surprising physical effects are noticeable when deconstructing to the lower dimensions, up to 1D. It also allows for the 'bottom-up' crafting of electronic switches: start with the smallest, self-organising structures, add molecules, and proceed from there. The process is still in its infancy, but may become an alternative to the current 'top-down' approach, which entails removing ever more parts from a larger structure. The gold and iridium-inducted wires may form starting blocks for the process. The cobalt islands, though less suitable to this new type of electronics science, do provide fundamental new insights.

Tijs Mocking (1984, Utrecht, NL) defended his dissertation ‘Properties of 1D metal-induced structures on semiconductor surfaces' on 19 September 2013. His research was conducted within the Physics of Interfaces and Nanomaterials group of the MESA+ Institute for Nanotechnology, led by Professor Harold Zandvliet. A digital copy of the dissertation, or a summary thereof, may be requested.

####

For more information, please click here

Contacts:
Wiebe van der Veen
+31612185692

Copyright © AlphaGalileo

If you have a comment, please Contact us.

Issuers of news releases, not 7th Wave, Inc. or Nanotechnology Now, are solely responsible for the accuracy of the content.

Bookmark:
Delicious Digg Newsvine Google Yahoo Reddit Magnoliacom Furl Facebook

Related News Press

News and information

Researchers develop artificial building blocks of life March 8th, 2024

How surface roughness influences the adhesion of soft materials: Research team discovers universal mechanism that leads to adhesion hysteresis in soft materials March 8th, 2024

Two-dimensional bimetallic selenium-containing metal-organic frameworks and their calcinated derivatives as electrocatalysts for overall water splitting March 8th, 2024

Curcumin nanoemulsion is tested for treatment of intestinal inflammation: A formulation developed by Brazilian researchers proved effective in tests involving mice March 8th, 2024

Chip Technology

New chip opens door to AI computing at light speed February 16th, 2024

HKUST researchers develop new integration technique for efficient coupling of III-V and silicon February 16th, 2024

Electrons screen against conductivity-killer in organic semiconductors: The discovery is the first step towards creating effective organic semiconductors, which use significantly less water and energy, and produce far less waste than their inorganic counterparts February 16th, 2024

NRL discovers two-dimensional waveguides February 16th, 2024

Nanoelectronics

Interdisciplinary: Rice team tackles the future of semiconductors Multiferroics could be the key to ultralow-energy computing October 6th, 2023

Key element for a scalable quantum computer: Physicists from Forschungszentrum Jülich and RWTH Aachen University demonstrate electron transport on a quantum chip September 23rd, 2022

Reduced power consumption in semiconductor devices September 23rd, 2022

Atomic level deposition to extend Moore’s law and beyond July 15th, 2022

Discoveries

What heat can tell us about battery chemistry: using the Peltier effect to study lithium-ion cells March 8th, 2024

Researchers’ approach may protect quantum computers from attacks March 8th, 2024

High-tech 'paint' could spare patients repeated surgeries March 8th, 2024

Nanoscale CL thermometry with lanthanide-doped heavy-metal oxide in TEM March 8th, 2024

Announcements

What heat can tell us about battery chemistry: using the Peltier effect to study lithium-ion cells March 8th, 2024

Curcumin nanoemulsion is tested for treatment of intestinal inflammation: A formulation developed by Brazilian researchers proved effective in tests involving mice March 8th, 2024

The Access to Advanced Health Institute receives up to $12.7 million to develop novel nanoalum adjuvant formulation for better protection against tuberculosis and pandemic influenza March 8th, 2024

Nanoscale CL thermometry with lanthanide-doped heavy-metal oxide in TEM March 8th, 2024

Quantum nanoscience

Optically trapped quantum droplets of light can bind together to form macroscopic complexes March 8th, 2024

Bridging light and electrons January 12th, 2024

'Sudden death' of quantum fluctuations defies current theories of superconductivity: Study challenges the conventional wisdom of superconducting quantum transitions January 12th, 2024

Physicists ‘entangle’ individual molecules for the first time, hastening possibilities for quantum information processing: In work that could lead to more robust quantum computing, Princeton researchers have succeeded in forcing molecules into quantum entanglement December 8th, 2023

NanoNews-Digest
The latest news from around the world, FREE




  Premium Products
NanoNews-Custom
Only the news you want to read!
 Learn More
NanoStrategies
Full-service, expert consulting
 Learn More











ASP
Nanotechnology Now Featured Books




NNN

The Hunger Project