Monday, 29th October 2007 (3192 views)

New research from the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has discovered a technique to grow gold nanowires on sapphire wafers, according to Space Daily.

Gold nanowires - rows of atoms with conductor or semiconductor properties - are used to create electronics at an atomic scale, but until now, methods to create the technology in large quantities have been unreliable, the publication reported.

However, using previous research on gold nano anchors, NIST scientists have used the combination of gold in precise locations on a sapphire wafer in a high-temperature process which cause the gold deposits to form nucleation points for zinc oxide, enabling them to act as semiconductors.

Space Daily has reported that so far, NIST researchers have used the new creation procedure to develop over 600 nanowire-based transistors and intend to work on establishing finer control over the technique, which could allow for mass production of devices based in nanowire technology.

The NIST laboratories carry out research which is aimed at expanding the US technology infrastructure, as well as working toward developing improvements to existing services and products.

 

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