Nanoscale Pasta: Toward Nanoscale Electronics
We are looking at spiraling, bent and helical carbon nanotubes from the point of view of new functionality.
Book By Dr. Apparao M. Rao Professor Department of Physics 202C Kinard Labs Clemson University Clemson, SC 29634Ph: (864) 656 – 6758 Email: arao@clemson.edu. | Such devices could some day outperform conventional silicon technologies on a number of levels, such as power consumption, radiation hardness, and heat dissipation. Bandaru collaborates with Apparao Rao, of Clemson University, on the controlled synthesis of carbon nanotubes with a variety of shapes, including Y-junctions and nanohelices, through chemical vapor deposition processes. Once they are grown, transmission electron microscopy is used to perform structural analyses of the nonlinear nanotubes. The engineers are also investigating nanotube growth mechanisms, defects, nanoscale electrical conduction mechanisms and device modeling.In addition, they are exploring both the layout of electrical and optoelectronic circuits, and the limits of device operation through high frequency measurements. “Because nanotubes are so small, you need to work at the atomic level to understand and manipulate them,” explained Bandaru. The presence or absence of single carbon atoms at strategic locations within nanotubes determines whether they have a linear or spiral shape. |
In August 2005, Bandaru made headlines around the world when his work on Y-shaped nanotubes appeared in the journal Nature Materials. Bandaru and colleagues at UCSD’s Jacobs School and Clemson University demonstrated that Y-shaped nanotubes can behave as electronic switches similar to conventional transistors, which are the workhorses of modern microprocessors, digital memory, and application-specific integrated circuits.
Nanotubes, of course, are not the only tiny spiraling structures. DNA and proteins also have helical structures. “It’s gratifying to encounter connections at the nanoscale between biological structures and helices and coils synthesized via chemical vapor deposition,” said Bandaru. “Our future work might improve our understanding of why helices abound in nature.”
Paper Reference: P.R. Bandaru et al, Journal of Applied Physics, vol. 101, no. 9, p 094307, 2007
Funders for research described in Journal of Applied Physics paper: The National Science Foundation and the Office of Naval Research.
The authors also appreciate the use of the facilities at the National Center for Electron Microscopy NCEM at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, CA.
Contact: Daniel Kane dbkane@ucsd.edu 858-534-3262 University of California - San Diego
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1 comment:
I've read that nanolayers are extremely susceptible to heat and start to degrade or detach from a surface at temperatures higher than 400*C. That limitation has precluded the more widespread use of nanolayers.
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