Scientific Opportunities: Nanoscience

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

Nanoscale Functional Materials

Advances in organic and inorganic synthetic chemistry are providing an abundance of new nanoscale materials that have promising characteristics for a wide array of applications. Perhaps the best known of these are carbon nanotubes, which have remarkable electrical, optical, and mechanical properties and can be combined with other materials for novel applications.

Left: field effect transistor (FET) structure for measuring field dependent electrical transport properties in a single nanotube. Right: an electron micrograph image showing the electrodes with spacings of 300 nm, 100 nm, and 200 nm, which make contact with  the nanotube. These lines fan out to larger pads (100 um x 100 um) where probe tips connect the device to test equipment. A one-micron bar scale bar is shown at bottom.

However, synthesizing novel nanomaterials is only the first step in making functional devices. New fabrication and characterization techniques are needed in order to understand the effect of a nanomaterial's structure on its properties. For example, carbon nanotubes have the ability to carry current densities that are much larger than the current densities carried in silicon devices. Moreover, the carbon nanotubes can handle such current densities for a long time, which makes them attractive candidates for future electronic devices. A prototype field effect transistor structure with a single carbon nanotube as the channel material (see figure) was fabricated at the Center for Functional Nanomaterials (CFN) at Brookhaven National Laboratory. The crucial element in this structure is the fabrication of ~100 nm separations between the source and drain electrodes so that the nanotube can be contacted.

The high brightness of NSLS-II, combined with enhanced focusing capabilities, will, for the first time, allow x-ray scattering and x-ray spectroscopic experiments to be performed on individual nanotubes or nanowires. These two examples also demonstrate the synergy between NSLS-II and the CFN.

Last Modified: March 4, 2008
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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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