WOW-POW = World Of Wonderful POWer: Self-aligning carbon nanotubes could be key to next generation of devices

Thursday, February 26, 2009

Self-aligning carbon nanotubes could be key to next generation of devices

Scientists and engineers the world over have thought for years that the next generation of smaller, more-efficient electronic and photonic devices could be based on the use of carbon nanotubes, structures 10,000 times thinner than a human hair but with tremendous potential.Laboratories are able to create millions of the structures using a process called chemical vapor deposition. The problem has always been finding a way to manipulate something that small so they'll line up in a way that might be useful. Now, however, a discovery by a team of researchers at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, led by professor Yongfeng Lu and postdoctoral researcher Yunshen Zhou, may provide a pathway to a solution, and with little or no manipulation necessary.
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