Nanowires Used To Make Flexible Circuits - New Technology

Nanosys Inc researchers have developed a method for putting large semiconducting nanowire arrays into densely packed thin films. These can be used to produce relatively efficient transistors on a variety of surfaces.

Arranging the nanowires on the film is a room temperature process which means transistors can be put on a wide range of surfaces including glass, plastics, textiles, or paper.

The nanowores are attached by suspending silicon nanowires in a liquid. They are then flowed across a surface, which causes them to align in a single direction and form a thin film. Electrodes are added using photolithography and the result is an array of transistors.

The process means that almost any semiconductor material could be placed on almost any substrate with minimal cost.

Posted 18^th September 2003