Nanosys Licenses Seminal Technology in Semiconductor Nanowire Heterostructures from the Regents of the University of California

Palo Alto, CA - (October 28, 2002). Nanosys Inc. completed an exclusive licensing arrangement, with The Regents of the University of California, for key intellectual property from the Laboratory of Dr. Peidong Yang. Dr. Yang’s patent portfolio covers fundamental compositions of matter and methods for the creation of novel nanowire heterostructures; nanoscopic semiconductor wires, one ten-thousandths the width of a human hair, that have their composition controllably modulated along their length and/or width to create features that are hundreds of times smaller than those on a current generation Pentium microprocessor chip. Heterostructures are junctions between materials of different composition; one grown on top of the other, for instance Galium Arsenide on top of Silicon. Because each nanowire is only a few unit cells wide, heterostructures can be formed between any two different semiconductor materials, with a potentially defect-free junction; something that cannot be done in a traditional macroscopic manufacturing environment. As a result, this technology allows the production of electronic and optical materials that have previously only been envisioned in theory. The following is an image of a nanowire a few nanometers in diameter with its composition being modulated between Silicon and Silicon Germanium.

By allowing such nanoscopic control over the composition of semiconductor nanowires, these materials will accelerate the pace of development of new applications such as: nanobarcoding, tunable wavelength nanowire LEDs and lasers, ultra-fast optical detectors, nanoscale electromechanical devices, and high-efficiency nano-based thermoelectric systems.

The semiconductor industry recently announced a revolutionary advance in materials technology when a method was discovered to grow III-V semiconductor materials such as GaAs epitaxially on top of silicon (using an intermediate molecular layer). Dr. Yang’s technology makes such advances a practical reality for all semiconductor combinations; potentially allowing electrical engineers to design materials and devices that are limited only by their creativity rather than by the basic materials that nature provides.

Co-founder and Director of Business Development at Nanosys, Dr. Stephen Empedocles, commented that, “The ability to bring two different semiconductor materials together at the molecular level allows the development of devices that cannot be formed in today’s traditional semiconductor fabrication plants. These range from simply making better electrical connections between standard silicon circuits and exotic functional material such as indium phosphide; to as complex as creating entire logic elements within the length of a single nanowire. The opportunities for enhancing both traditional electronic materials, as well as dramatically advancing the development of complex nano-electronic devices are truly incredible.” Dr. Empedocles also stated that “This intellectual property fits beautifully with our development efforts, and complements our existing IP obtained through internal inventions and previous license agreements with Harvard University, the Lawrence Berkeley Laboratories, and the Regents of the University of California.”

Dr. Yang, a member of the Scientific Advisory Board of Nanosys, commented that, “The ability to seamlessly integrate two or more semiconductors into a single nanowire device allows us to create electronic materials that have never existed before. Examples of novel applications that will result form these materials are solid-state thermoelectric cooling, power generators, piezoelectric materials and nano-optoelectronics.”

About Professor 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. He 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, ExxonMobil Solid State Chemistry Award, Hellman Award, Beckman Young Investigator 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.

About Nanosys

Nanosys, Inc. is a disruptive platform technology company focused on the development of nanotechnology enabled systems. These systems incorporate novel and patent-protected zero- and one-dimensional nanocrystals such as nanowires and nanoparticles (quantum dots, quantum rods, etc.) as their principal active elements. These systems exploit the fundamentally unique electronic, magnetic, optical, chemical, processing and integration properties associated with materials having nanometer-scale dimensions. Devices and systems constructed from these materials will revolutionize a broad range of industries from life sciences (molecular sensing) to optoelectronics (LEDs, lasers, photovoltaics, integrated photonics, and displays) to nanoelectronics(non-volatile ultra-fast memory, nano logic circuits and quantum computing). These devices will offer radical and
discontinuous performance improvements in speed, sensitivity, power consumption, device density, cost, and integration, as well as enabling new applications never considered using traditional materials. By combining the world’s scientific leaders in nanomaterials, integration and applications with experienced commercial engineers and technologists and a team of seasoned entrepreneurs, Nanosys is turning the promise of nanotechnology into reality.

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