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Tuesday, 5th July 2005 (5702 views)

Gold is being used to help advance electronics on a tiny, nano-scale.<br/><br/>Researchers at Northwestern University say they have struck gold with a new technique which harnesses molecular science to develop a form of "on-wire lithography".<br/><br/>Northwestern's Dr Lidong Qin told respected journal Science that using molecular tools the developers were able to forge metal wires complete with molecular sized connections.<br/><br/>Typically a gold wire is used, with an electrochemical process depositing the gold molecules to form the cable, before tiny sections are stripped away the New York Times reports.<br/><br/>The result is a wire matching the molecular components that can be slotted into the remaining spaces.<br/><br/>Dr Qin says that at the moment the five nano-metre spaces are too large for wider applications, but says that with work the wires could offer a useful development within nano-technology.<br/><img alt="track" src="http://feeds.directnews.org.uk/feedtrack/dn.gif?feedid=196&itemid=15001039"/>

 

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