Nanowires are extremely thin structures, typically with diameters on the order of a few nanometers (a nanometer is one billionth of a meter). These wires are composed of metals, semiconductors, or insulating materials, and are known for their unique electrical, thermal, and optical properties, which differ significantly from bulk materials due to their quantum mechanical and surface effects. The high aspect ratio (length to diameter) of nanowires makes them ideal for a variety of applications in nanotechnology, including electronics, photonics, and energy devices such as solar cells and batteries. They are particularly valuable in the fabrication of small-scale devices like transistors, sensors, and diodes. Research in the field of nanowires aims to harness their properties for advancements in computing, telecommunications, and energy efficiency, among other areas. The synthesis of nanowires involves several methods, including vapor-liquid-solid growth, molecular beam epitaxy, and electrochemical deposition, each allowing precise control over the dimensions and composition of the resulting nanowires.
NCCR MARVEL researchers at EPFL have employed computational tools to look for new 1-D materials that could be exfoliated from known three-dimensional crystals, including the…
Soil bacteria use proteins to power nanowires, forming an underground electrical grid that supports life and impacts methane emissions. To “breathe” in an environment without…
Detection efficiency is 1,000 times higher than conventional ion detectors due to high sensitivity. An international research team led by quantum physicist Markus Arndt (University…
A new publication from Opto-Electronic Science overviews multiwavelength high-speed quantum well nanowire array micro-LED for next-generation on-chip optical communication. As the number of cores in…
The Los Alamos National Laboratory introduced a corrosion-resistant fuel cell design featuring a coaxial nanowire electrode. This innovative approach holds promise for heavy-duty trucking, showing…
An ultra-stable protein nanowire made by bacteria provides clues to combating climate change. Rapid global warming poses a severe and immediate threat to life on…
There is a global web of tiny bacteria-generated nanowires in the soil and oceans that “breathe” by exhaling excess electrons, composing an intrinsic electrical grid…
Cooling Speeds Up Electrons in Bacterial Nanowires The ground beneath our feet and under the ocean floor is an electrically-charged grid created by bacteria “exhaling”…
Even today, clean water is a privilege for many people across the world. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), at least 1.8 billion people…
Newly proven physics opens chalcogenide glasses to applications at visible and ultraviolet wavelengths. Electrical engineers at Duke University have discovered that changing the physical shape…
Peculiar Bi provoked nanostructures in compound semiconductor nanowires controlled by atomically precise epitaxial crystal growth. Nanowire is a rod-structure with a diameter typically narrower than…
Deep in the ocean or underground, where there is no oxygen, Geobacter bacteria “breathe” by projecting tiny protein filaments called “nanowires” into the soil, to…
Scientists from Yale University have figured out a way to refine bulk metallic glasses to improve their electrochemical performance. Results of the research, based in…
Scientists from the National Institute of Standards and Technology have set a new record for quantum teleportation, sending quantum information in light particles over 100…
Researchers at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign have grown nanowires of the material indium gallium arsenide (InGaAs) on a sheet of graphene, discovering that…
New research from the Max Planck Institute shows that silicon nanowires become doped with unexpectedly large amounts of aluminum during growth, increasing their conductivity and…
Scientists at the Optoelectronics Research Center have developed strong, lightweight silica nanofibers that are 15 times stronger than steel and can be manufactured in lengths…
Designed by a team of scientists from Harvard, MIT, and Boston Children’s Hospital, electronic sensors made of silicon nanowires could be used to monitor electrical…