Study explains unexpected conductivity of nanoscale silicon

With her face reflected in a small glass port, physics graduate student Pengpeng Zhang peers into a scanning tunneling microscope that uses electrical current to measure atomic-sized features on the surface of nanoscale silicon membranes. Zhang is a research assistant working in the lab of materials science and engineering professor Max Lagally. She is part of the team that demonstrated how nanoscale silicone surfaces can conduct electricity — a surprising finding that will have implications for nanotechnology development. Photo by: Jeff Miller