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Scientists Sort Semiconducting Nanotubes by Size
SuperGrads writes "Scientists working at Rice University have developed the world's first method for not only sorting semiconducting carbon nanotubes from their metallic brethren, but also for arranging them by diameter size. This ability is essential for building devices from these tubes and paves the way for high-speed nanoscale electronics."
Nanotubes have many potential applications, but so far the most successful one is as conductive fillers http://www.patagon.8m.com/equations/cnt.html(adddi ng a small amount into a polymer makes is conductive enough to dissipate static charge or block electromagentic interference).
Tons per year are used for this, particularly in the auto industry.
Hey, EVERYTHING I hear about nanotubes is promoted as paving the way for high-speed nanoscale electronics. When are they going to actually get here?
"It's the height of ridiculousness to say for those 9 lines you get hundreds of millions."
In theory, metallic nanotubes can have an electrical current density more than 1,000 times greater than metals such as silver and copper. [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carbon_nanotubes] So imagine that in a single pentium processor chip, there lies miles of carbon nano-tubes with excellent electrical properties that minimize their capacitive effects. This would definitely make a revolution on semiconductor fabrication, because in theory their[the nanotubes'] would be one hundredth of a 90 nm IC device. Translating this into our lives would mean to be able to play Battlefield for a duration of 24 hours in our one time charged lap-top. Or imagine palm computers that could beat the best GMs of chess today. Anything would be more scalable than ever if they could really make something of these nano-tubes rather than playing with them and sorting them. They say ninety nine percent of the research is just trash, but at one point, when the one percent succeeds then comes the breakthrough. We hope to see carbon nanotubes in our computers, maybe our children will do that.
There's plenty of room at the bottom! Richard P. Feynmann
Sorting semiconducting nanotubes by size? That's not a big deal, certainly not worth talking about here. Just grow the diameter and length you want.
Separating semiconducting and metallic nanotubes in bulk? (microfluidics is bulk for nanotubes) That's a huge deal! We can't grow just metallic or just semiconducting nanotubes. Previously, we could look at nanotubes one at a time using various methods to *find* a metallic or semiconducting nanotube, but sorting is another thing. If this really works, it will be great for nanotube electronics.