Exploring New Science Through Nanoscale Integration
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Exploring New Science Through Nanoscale Integration S. Tom Picraux
*J.S.
Kilby, “Miniaturized Electronic Circuits” (U.S. Patent 3,138,743, filed February 6, 1959; issued June 1964); R. Noyce, “Semiconductor Device-and-Lead Structure” (U.S. Patent 2,981,877, filed July 30, 1959; issued April, 1961).
†M.
Schena, D. Shalon, R.W. Davis, P.O. Brown, Science 270, 467–470 (1995). 262
structures is anticipated to lead to new scientific understanding and to enable the design of new functionalities not previously envisioned. The fundamental questions underlying integration go beyond the complex engineering of known solutions; they lead to new discoveries and new science. Nanoscale integration involves assembling diverse nanoscale materials across length scales to design and achieve new properties and functionality.‡ This process of integration extends from the synthesis of individual heterostructured building blocks that combine new combinations of materials, to the assembly of these building blocks into composite structures, and finally to the formation of complex func‡See, for example, F. Qian, Y. Li, S. Gradec, H.-G. Park, Y. Dong, Y. Ding, Z.L. Wang, and C.M. Lieber, Nature Matls. 7, 701 (2008); N. Nuraje, I.A. Banerjee, R.I. MacCuspie, L. Yu, and H. Matsui, J. Amer. Chem. Soc. 126, 8088 (2004).
Nanoscale buildingMetal blocks
Composite assemblies
Functional systems
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Au Si 500 nm
To fully realize the promise of nanotechnology one must incorporate nanoscale building blocks into functional systems that connect to the micro- and macroscale world. This process is called integration. While every materials scientist appreciates the important role integration has played in the advance of technology, the significance of integration as a driver of scientific discovery is often overlooked. I submit that nanoscience has entered a particularly fruitful period in materials research, where nanoscale integration is leading the way to exciting advances in basic scientific understanding. Integration’s role in advancing technology is easy to understand. In electronics the integrated circuit (IC) * combined devices together on a single chip to revolutionize the electronics industry from low power complementary logic which enabled electronic watches in the 1970s to today’s silicon chips with billions of devices driving computational power not previously imagined. In biotechnology, recently developed DNA microarrays† simultaneously measure the expression of 10s of thousands of genes, with applications ranging from forensics to monitoring genetic predisposition to diseases. However, the IC also led to new scientific concepts, from manipulation of single charges on surfaces to charge collection-based imaging devices. And while still at an early stage, microarrays are revolutionizing the biosciences by providing the means to interrogate the complex genetic control of biological functions. Just as the new functionalities enabled by integrated circuits and DNA microarrays have led to new concepts, the integration of nanoscale material
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