Multicomposition Nanowire

2002/02/07 Elhuyar Zientzia

• Elektronika
• Nanoteknologia

The multicompositional structure is used for the manufacture of mirrors of microscopic lasers or for the capture and storage of light. It is currently done by dividing sandwiches made with layers of semiconductors. At Harvard University it has been synthesized from steam.

Two years ago they improved the manufacturing technique of semiconductor nanowires. Using a catalyst drop sticking to the end of the wire, the evaporated atoms were trapped and formed the wire. They managed to obtain very thin wires, thinner than the smallest ones on the market, controlling the consistency of the wire with the size of the catalyzing particle.

They have now been used with the same technique to manufacture multicomposition nanowire. By means of a laser they have managed to evaporate the semiconductive particles for their subsequent compaction in the form of wire. To make the change of composition, the growing wire has been placed in vapors with other types of atoms. At the moment, the wire alternating gallium phosphorus and gallium arsenide, 20 nanometers wide, has been synthesized.

More information: In
the journal Nature