New technique to synthesise nanostructured nanowires

Researchers have developed a new method for growing 'hybrid' crystals at the nanoscale, in which quantum dots - essentially nanoscale semiconductors - of different materials can be sequentially incorporated into a host nanowire with perfect junctions between the components. The key to building functional nanoscale devices is to control materials and their interfaces at the atomic level - Stephan Hofmann A new approach to self-assemble and tailor complex structures at the nanoscale, developed by an international collaboration led by the University of Cambridge and IBM, opens opportunities to tailor properties and functionalities of materials for a wide range of semiconductor device applications. The researchers have developed a method for growing combinations of different materials in a needle-shaped crystal called a nanowire. Nanowires are small structures, only a few billionths of a metre in diameter. Semiconductors can be grown into nanowires, and the result is a useful building block for electrical, optical, and energy harvesting devices. The researchers have found out how to grow smaller crystals within the nanowire, forming a structure like a crystal rod with an embedded array of gems. Details of the new method are published .