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Friday, 14th November 2008 (1825 views)

US researchers have discovered that a method of creating nanowires using miniscule particles of gold could be "ideal" for large-scale electronics applications.

A team from Purdue University's Birck Nanotechnology Centre, with the help of private firm IBM, used gold nanoparticles as a catalyst to create tiny solid wires of silicon.

The gold nanoparticles in question measured from ten to 40 nanometres in size - over 100 times smaller than a single red blood cell.

A high-tech transmission electron microscope was used to observe the process and confirmed that it was "highly repeatable", meaning that it could be used in futuristic electronic devices such as computers.

Assistant professor Eric Stach said that the process could be used to "confidently design systems to manufacture these nanowires for electronics".

Meanwhile, a way to manufacture "ultra-long" nanowires, which could be used to improve medical diagnosis and data storage techniques, has been developed by Nanopartz.

 

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