Nanowires and Nanocrystals

Nanowires are small conducting or semiconducting NPs with a single crystal structure and a typical diameter of a few tens of nanometres and a large aspect ratio. They are used as interconnectors in nanoelectronic devices. Various metals have been used to fabricate them, including cobalt, gold and copper. Nanocrystals of various metals have been shown to be harder than the same materials in bulk form. Because wear resistance often is dictated by the hardness of a metal, parts made from nanocrystals might last significantly longer than conventional parts. Nanocrystals absorb then re-emit the light in a different color and the size of the nanocrystal (in the Angstrom scale) determines the color. The fallowing video clip is from Google Tech Talks by Yi Cui, an assistant professor in the Materials Science and Engineering Department at Stanford University on “Nanowires and Nanocrystals for Nanotechnology.”