June
2, 2005
Researchers
at the University of Wisconsin-Madison
have taken another big step toward complex, nanoscale
electronic devices that can be directed to assemble
themselves automatically—a development that would
allow manufacturers to mass-produce "nanochips" having
circuit elements only a few molecules across, roughly
10 times smaller than the features in current-generation
chips.
Writing
in the June 3 issue of the journal Science , UW
chemical engineer Paul Nealey and his colleagues
describe how carefully chosen mixtures of polymers
can be made to assemble themselves into nanoscale
patterns that turn corners and exhibit other
complex geometries. Their approach builds upon a similar
technique they demonstrated two years ago, using
a simpler mix of polymers that could self-assemble
only into regular, straight-line patterns of stripes.
The researchers carried out their work at the university's
new Nanoscale Science and Engineering Center on Templated
Synthesis and Assembly at the Nanoscale, which is
funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF).
For more information, see the University of Wisconsin News
Release .
-NSF- |
