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Scientists Sort Semiconducting Nanotubes by Size

Posted by ryuzaki0 on from the well-ordered dept.

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."

16 of 63 comments (clear)

  1. Monstrosity! by nog_lorp · · Score: 5, Funny

    This is disgusting! Until it can be proven that carbon atoms are not alive according to God, these evil scientists must be stopped from experiment on them!

    (/me mods own post: troll)

    1. Re:Monstrosity! by eln · · Score: 3, Funny

      Please don't hold back this important research! With this technology, we may be able to rid ourselves of our reliance on ants to perform the important work of sorting tiny screws in space.

    2. Re:Monstrosity! by Chris+Burke · · Score: 5, Funny

      This is disgusting! Until it can be proven that carbon atoms are not alive according to God, these evil scientists must be stopped from experiment on them!

      You're right, so I asked God. He said no, carbon nanotubes are not living beings in His eyes. Then he said that skin cells were, and I was going to Hell for so brazenly sloughing them off by the thousands right in front of Him. He sounded really angry, and I got really scared, then He told me he was just kidding, cells were part of my body and their deaths were a natural part of my life. Then He said that viruses were not part of my body, and that most of my white blood cells were going to Hell. He vanished before I could ask him if he was joking or not.

      God has a weird sense of humor.

      --

      The enemies of Democracy are
  2. Let's just hope by celardore · · Score: 3, Funny

    Let's hope nobody sneezes!

    ACHOO!!!! Ahhh crap... Gotta start again.

  3. In the future... by Reality+Master+101 · · Score: 4, Funny

    When electronics in the future is made up of carbon tubes of different sizes, will we have machine in the drug store with all sorts of various sockets that I can plug them into to test them?

    (this joke may reference things that are too old for the average Slashdotter to get. :D)

    --
    Sometimes it's best to just let stupid people be stupid.
  4. Not the main commercial application by asadodetira · · Score: 4, Interesting

    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.

  5. Flea Circus by Joebert · · Score: 3, Funny

    If they start doing the flying trapeze act, I'm walkin away.

    --
    Wanna fight ? Bend over, stick your head up your ass, and fight for air.
  6. Jeeze! by PixelPirate · · Score: 3, Funny

    How disgusting! We must stop this attack on our values! We must stand up against this afront! Sort nanotubes by colour, not size! As we all know, size doesn't matter...

    1. Re:Jeeze! by bcat24 · · Score: 3, Funny

      You nanotube racist! Nanotubes should not be "sorted". The should be treated and respected as equals.

  7. And here's where I keep assorted lengths of wire. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    Fry: Whoa! A real live spaceship!
    Farnsworth: I designed it myself, let me show you some of the different lengths of wire I used.

  8. Finally... by revery · · Score: 5, Funny

    Well, can I be the first to say that it's about time. I've just been emptying my nanotubes into a big jar that I keep by the bed.

    --
    This is a joke. I am joking. You have been joked with.

  9. As a Rice Owl myself... by ConfusedGuy · · Score: 3, Informative

    Rice does some pretty amazing stuff with nanotech-- I got a tour a few months ago of one of their interdisciplinary labs where electrical engineers are working alongside chemists who are collaborating with bioengineers. Really amazing stuff that's way beyond my scope (at least as a sophomore computer engineering major).

    Students at Rice are constantly drilled with the buzzword, though, and are probably more tired of hearing it than the rest of the technology world. It's hard to pick up a copy of the school newspaper without finding "NANOTECH" in big, bold letters somewhere on the first three pages.

    Now if only we could get our football team on par with the rest of the collegiate world...

  10. Re:I am so tired of... by susano_otter · · Score: 4, Insightful
    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?

    As soon as they finish paving the way, of course.

    Nobody drives to bleeding-edge technology on dirt roads anymore. Not since they paved the way to pavement.
    --

    Any sufficiently well-organized community is indistinguishable from Government.

  11. Re:I am so tired of... by chillax137 · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Here's a list of things that need to happen first:

    1. Experiments must be verified
    2. Efficiency of separation is increased
    3. This process must have the ability to scale up reasonably
    4. The cost of nanotubes becomes much less than $200/gram

    And at the end of the day, the production still has to be profitable in the marketplace. Sure these people want to talk about what the fruits of their research will be, they want more funding. I don't see why seem so upset that things like this take time.

    --
    chillax137
  12. Nanotubes substitute Interconnect wires ? by kyc · · Score: 4, Interesting

    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
  13. wrong headline by Goldsmith · · Score: 3, Interesting

    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.