Nanosys Founder and University of California-Berkeley Professor Makes Major Advance in Nanomaterial Development

Cambridge, MA - (January 31, 2002). Nanosys Incorporated reported on the publication of a journal article in the February 2002 issue of NanoLetters by Dr. Peidong Yang, Nanosys co-founder and a Professor of Chemistry at the University of California at Berkeley. The title of the paper is “Block-by-Block Growth of Single-crystalline Si/SiGe Superlattice Nanowires.” Professor Yang is the senior author of the paper along with University of California-Berkeley graduate students, Yiying Wu, and Rong Fan. In the article, the Berkeley scientists describe a new synthetic method for growing heteronuclear semiconductor nanowires, 20 nm to 100 nm in diameter, made of alternating blocks of both Si and SiGe on a single wire. The study demonstrates exquisite control of both composition and structure of a new type of nanomaterial in which alternating segments of two different materials are generated and controlled at the nanometer scale. Heterostructured nanowires represent a remarkable new class of materials that will aid in the construction of nanoscale electronics and optical devices. In addition, these nanostructures represent a new class of thermoelectric materials, with potential applications in high-efficiency nano-based heating and cooling systems.

The concept for Dr. Yang’s new materials resembles the idea of “living polymerization”, an advanced technology used to make highly controlled, high-quality polymer materials. By keeping the nanocrystalline growth “living” and simply changing the composition as a function of the growth time, Dr. Yang has demonstrated unprecedented control over crystal growth on the nanometer scale. This process is so well controlled that any pattern of the two materials could potentially be generated by simply programming the sequence into a computer.

Such heterostructured nanomaterials will open up entirely new vistas of scientific exploration and development, as they allow two very different materials to be brought together at the atomic or molecular scale in a single structure. The ability to engineer two different materials on a single structure represents a radical departure from today’s current state-of-the-art semiconductor manufacturing methods, which typically manufactures such different materials in completely separate manufacturing facilities. Heterostructured nanomaterials allow new material development that is unprecedented for the semiconductor industry -- which has been constrained over the last decades by incremental advances in silicon manufacturing technologies.

“Our material processing work allows us to explore a broad range of physical properties with different heteronuclear material couplings. And the flexibility in our processing methods allows additional properties to be explored through subtle changes in our highly scaleable reaction conditions. The remarkable range of electronic and optical properties to explore seems almost limitless at this stage in our research” said Dr. Yang.

“The ability to control heteronuclear nanowire growth fits perfectly with Nanosys’ leadership position in the growth of virtually all of the important semiconductor materials. Our intellectual property and superior technical team will take advantage of important material advances to create applications in nanoelectronics, opto-electronics, and chemical sensing. Nanosys has firmly established itself as the leader in disruptive semiconductor miniaturization technology“, said Nanosys President and CEO, Larry Bock.

About Professor Peidong Yang

Dr. Yang is a leading expert in the fields of nanomaterials, optoelectronics and nanoelectronics. Dr. Yang is a Professor of Chemistry at the University of California-Berkeley. Dr. Yang has demonstrated recently the first single nanowire coherent ultra-violet light emission sources; this advance will allow the creation of parallel, single nanowire laser devices for biological, optical and telecommunications applications. He has been awarded the Camille and Henry Dreyfus New Faculty Award, the 3M Faculty Award, ExxonMobile Solid State Chemistry Award, Hellman Award, and the Alfred P. Sloan Fellowship and Research Innovation Award. Professor Yang completed his Ph.D. in Chemistry at Harvard University in Professor Charlie Lieber’s laboratory and carried out Post Doctoral work at the University of California- Santa Barbara.

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