Nanowire

hide

A nanowire is a nanostructure, with the diameter of the order of a nanometer (10−9 meters). Alternatively, nanowires can be defined as structures that have a thickness or diameter constrained to tens of nanometers or less and an unconstrained length. At these scales, quantum mechanical effects are important — hence such wires are also known as "quantum wires". Many different types of nanowires exist, including metallic (e.g., Ni, Pt, Au), semiconducting (e.g., Si, InP, GaN, etc.), and insulating (e.g., SiO2,TiO2). Molecular nanowires are composed of repeating molecular units either organic (e.g. DNA) or inorganic (e.g. Mo6S9-xIx).

The nanowires could be used, in the near future, to link tiny components into extremely small circuits. Using nanotechnology, such components could be created out of chemical compounds.

For more information about Nanowire, read the full article at Wikipedia.
This text uses material from Wikipedia and is available under the GNU Free Documentation License.


News tagged with nanowires

results timeline


New silicon-germanium nanowires could lead to smaller, more powerful electronic devices

Nanotechnology / Nanophysics

created Dec 09, 2009 | popularity 5 / 5 (5) | comments 0

(PhysOrg.com) -- Microchip manufacturers have long faced challenges miniaturizing transistors, the key active components in nearly every modern electronic device, which are used to amplify or switch electronic signals.


At Stanford, nanotubes + ink + paper = equal instant battery (w/ Video)

At Stanford, nanotubes + ink + paper = equal instant battery (w/ Video)

Nanotechnology / Nanomaterials

created Dec 07, 2009 | popularity 4.9 / 5 (27) | comments 3

(PhysOrg.com) -- Stanford scientists are harnessing nanotechnology to quickly produce ultra-lightweight, bendable batteries and supercapacitors in the form of everyday paper.


Nanowire Formation

Nanowires key to future transistors, electronics

Nanotechnology / Nanophysics

created Nov 26, 2009 | popularity 4.6 / 5 (12) | comments 2

(PhysOrg.com) -- A new generation of ultrasmall transistors and more powerful computer chips using tiny structures called semiconducting nanowires are closer to reality after a key discovery by researchers ...


'Core-Shell' Silicon Nanowires May Improve Lithium-Ion Batteries

'Core-Shell' Silicon Nanowires May Improve Lithium-Ion Batteries

Nanotechnology / Nanophysics

created Jan 20, 2009 | popularity 4 / 5 (12) | comments 9

(PhysOrg.com) -- Researchers have found a way to incorporate silicon into the structure of rechargeable lithium-ion batteries, which are used to power a wide variety of portable electronic devices, including ...


Scientists bend nanowires into 2-D and 3-D structures

Scientists bend nanowires into 2-D and 3-D structures

Nanotechnology / Nanophysics

created Oct 21, 2009 | popularity 4.3 / 5 (7) | comments 0

(PhysOrg.com) -- Taking nanomaterials to a new level of structural complexity, scientists have determined how to introduce kinks into arrow-straight nanowires, transforming them into zigzagging two- and three-dimensional ...


Evidence of macroscopic quantum tunneling detected in nanowires

Evidence of macroscopic quantum tunneling detected in nanowires

Nanotechnology / Nanophysics

created May 27, 2009 | popularity 4.2 / 5 (13) | comments 6

A team of researchers at the University of Illinois has demonstrated that, counter to classical Newtonian mechanics, an entire collection of superconducting electrons in an ultrathin superconducting wire is ...


Understanding mechanical properties of silicon nanowires paves way for nanodevices

Understanding mechanical properties of silicon nanowires paves way for nanodevices

Nanotechnology / Nanomaterials

created Nov 11, 2009 | popularity 3.3 / 5 (3) | comments 0

Silicon nanowires are attracting significant attention from the electronics industry due to the drive for ever-smaller electronic devices, from cell phones to computers. The operation of these future devices, ...


Better control of carbon nanotube 'growth' promising for future electronics

Better control of carbon nanotube 'growth' promising for future electronics

Nanotechnology / Nanomaterials

created Oct 01, 2009 | popularity 4.9 / 5 (9) | comments 0

(PhysOrg.com) -- Researchers have overcome a major obstacle in efforts to use tiny structures called carbon nanotubes to create a new class of electronics that would be faster and smaller than conventional ...


New nanogenerator may charge iPods and cell phones with a wave of the hand

New nanogenerator may charge iPods and cell phones with a wave of the hand

Nanotechnology / Nanophysics

created Mar 26, 2009 | popularity 4.4 / 5 (17) | comments 3

Imagine if all you had to do to charge your iPod or your BlackBerry was to wave your hand, or stretch your arm, or take a walk? You could say goodbye to batteries and never have to plug those devices into ...


GaAs self-assembled nanowires could make chips smaller and faster

GaAs self-assembled nanowires could make chips smaller and faster

Nanotechnology / Nanophysics

created Apr 20, 2009 | popularity 4.4 / 5 (5) | comments 0

(PhysOrg.com) -- Researchers at the University of Illinois have found a new way to make transistors smaller and faster. The technique uses self-assembled, self-aligned, and defect-free nanowire channels made ...


New radiation therapy promises relief for overheating laptops

Nanotechnology / Nanophysics

created Apr 13, 2009 | popularity 4 / 5 (6) | comments 3

(PhysOrg.com) -- Our modern age has become accustomed to regular improvements in information technology, says Slava Rotkin, but these advances do not come without a cost.


Beating the back-up blues

Physics / General Physics

created Apr 03, 2009 | popularity 4.1 / 5 (12) | comments 10

That sinking feeling when your hard disk starts screeching and you haven't backed up your holiday photos is a step closer to becoming a thing of the past thanks to research into a new kind of computer memory.


New material could efficiently power tiny generators

Nanotechnology / Nanophysics

created Oct 22, 2009 | popularity 4.2 / 5 (5) | comments 0

(PhysOrg.com) -- To power a very small device like a pacemaker or a transistor, you need an even smaller generator. The components that operate the generator are smaller yet, and the efficiency of those foundational components ...


Assembled Nanowires

Easy assembly of electronic biological chips

Nanotechnology / Bio & Medicine

created Jan 15, 2009 | popularity 3 / 5 (2) | comments 0

(PhysOrg.com) -- A handheld, ultra-portable device that can recognize and immediately report on a wide variety of environmental or medical compounds may eventually be possible, using a method that incorporates ...


Researchers grow nanowire crystals for 3-D microchips

Nanotechnology / Nanophysics

created Aug 26, 2009 | popularity 5 / 5 (4) | comments 0

(PhysOrg.com) -- Stanford researchers have developed a method of stacking and purifying crystal layers that may pave the way for three-dimensional microchips.