Nanotubes Discovery for Future Electronics (IMAGE)
Caption
Researchers have learned how to more fully control the formation of carbon nanotubes so that they have either metallic or semiconducting properties. The findings could help overcome a major obstacle in efforts to use the tiny structures to create a new class of electronics that would be faster and smaller than conventional silicon-based transistors. The researchers learned that if helium is used instead of argon in the formation of nanotubes, tiny iron catalyst particles have a specific size and shape and also have pronounced facets, shown in this electron microscope image. The facets apparently are related to the creation of the metallic nanotubes.
Credit
Birck Nanotechnology Center, Purdue University
Usage Restrictions
None
License
Licensed content