Scientific Opportunities: Nanoscience

Overview  |  Nanoelectronics  |  Nanomagnetics  |  Nanoscale Functional Materials  |  Nanoscale Strongly Correlated Systems  |  Polymer Nanocomposites  |  Biomimetic Devices

Nanoelectronics

Today's microelectronics industry is the result of advances in nanoscale materials research. As electronics get smaller, there are increasingly difficult challenges in silicon technology and an urgent need to develop materials with new scaling properties.

An interconnect in a typical device. To achieve workable devices, a large array of dissimilar materials in very small quantities is used in close proximity.

The NSLS has proven to be an extremely valuable tool for the microelectronics industry. Using x-ray techniques, such as x-ray diffraction, numerous studies crucial to electronics technology have been possible. This includes studies of copper films, silicide formation, diffusion barriers, contacts to carbon nanotubes, and electromigration (see figure). This research addresses fundamental technological questions, such as finding suitable materials for high speed interconnects and materials for contacts.

The high brightness of NSLS-II will enable probing material properties on nanometer length scales at higher speed and with increased sensitivity. This will allow us to reach the level of understanding necessary to design the properties of nanoscale materials, control the microstructure and texture of very thin films, control strain and heat transfer in complex structures, and control stresses to avoid dislocations.

Last Modified: March 4, 2008
Please forward all questions about this site to: Gary Schroeder

One of ten national laboratories overseen and primarily funded by the Office of Science of the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), Brookhaven National Laboratory conducts research in the physical, biomedical, and environmental sciences, as well as in energy technologies and national security. Brookhaven Lab also builds and operates major scientific facilities available to university, industry and government researchers. Brookhaven is operated and managed for DOE’s Office of Science by Brookhaven Science Associates, a limited-liability company founded by Stony Brook University, the largest academic user of Laboratory facilities, and Battelle, a nonprofit, applied science and technology organization.

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