Scientific Opportunities: NanoscienceOverview | Nanoelectronics | Nanomagnetics | Nanoscale Functional Materials | Nanoscale Strongly Correlated Systems | Polymer Nanocomposites | Biomimetic Devices Nanoscale Functional MaterialsAdvances 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. 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 |