SGER: Engineered Nanowires and Devices

这个探索性项目的主要目标是证明金属-氧化物-金属拼接（mom）纳米线是可以合成的，并且它们可以组装成纳米电子电路，并在金属接触垫电极的衬底上用于纳米传感器的应用。这些新型mom纳米线的结构包括金属纳米线（Pt；直径50- 100nm； 1- 100um长），其中一小段（50- 100nm宽）被传感器氧化物（SnO2）取代。换句话说，mom纳米线具有精确尺寸的SnO2和完整的Pt纳米线互连。这些mom纳米线纳米传感器可能具有前所未有的灵敏度和选择性，因为：(i)高表面积的纳米级SnO2，提供高响应的气体吸附修饰的表面电导率；（ii）与SnO2接触的Pt纳米线作为催化剂。如果我们成功地实现了既定的目标，这项研究将为将mom纳米线组装成高灵敏度、高选择性的气体纳米传感器阵列开辟道路。这些mom纳米线纳米传感器也有潜力集成到纳米线电路中，在“自下而上”的纳米电子学中提供额外的功能。因此，这项研究有可能彻底改变气体传感器领域，具有深远的意义。此外，所提出的方法本质上是通用的，它可以应用于含有其他氧化物段的mom纳米线（例如ZnO， BaTiO3, (Ba,Sr)TiO3, PbTiO3, ZrO2, SiO2, al2o3, MgO，焦绿石等），这些氧化物段可以赋予其他功能。这也将为使用各种自组装方法组装特定位点的mom纳米线来制造纳米器件打开大门。因此，mom纳米线及其组装成的器件有可能彻底改变整个纳米电子学领域。然而，这取决于我们合成和组装这些工程纳米线的能力，这是迄今为止还没有做到的。这使得拟议的项目高风险，但适合小额赠款探索性研究（SGER）计划。该项目将培养1名研究生和1名本科生在纳米电子学这个令人兴奋的领域。

The prime objective of this exploratory project is to demonstrate that metal-oxide-metal spliced (MOMS) nanowires can be synthesize, and that they can be assembled into nanoelectronic circuits on substrates with metal contact-pad electrodes for nanosensor applications. The structure of these novel MOMS nanowire comprises metal nanowire (Pt; 50-100 nm diameter; 1-100 um long) with a small segment (50-100 nm wide) being replaced by a sensor oxide (SnO2 ). In other words, a MOMS nanowire has SnO2 of precise dimensions with integral Pt nanowire interconnects. These MOMS nanowire nanosensors are likely to have unprecedented sensitivity and selectivity due to: (i) the high-surface area Nanoscale SnO2 , providing highly responsive gas-adsorbate-modified surface-electrical conductivities and (ii) the Pt nanowire in contact with the SnO2 serving as a catalyst. If we are successful in achieving the stated objective, this research will open the way to assembling the MOMS nanowires into arrays of highly sensitive, highly selective gas nanosensors. These MOMS nanowire nanosensors also have the potential to be integrated into nanowire-based circuits in "bottom up" nanoelectronics providing added functionalities. Thus, this research has the potential to revolutionize the field of gas sensors, with far-reaching implications. Moreover, the proposed approach is generic in nature, and it could be applied to MOMS nanowires containing other oxide segments (e.g. ZnO, BaTiO3 , (Ba,Sr)TiO3 , PbTiO3 , ZrO2 , SiO2 , Al2 O3 , MgO, pyrochlores, etc.), which can impart other functionalities. This will also opens the door to assembling site-specific MOMS nanowire using various self-assembly methods for making nanodevices. Thus, the MOMS nanowires and their assembly into devices have the potential to revolutionize the entire field of nanoelectronics. However, this hinges on our ability to synthesize and assemble these engineered nanowires, which has hitherto not been done. This makes the proposed project high-risk, but suitable for the small grant exploratory research (SGER) program. This project will result in the education of 1 graduate and 1 undergraduate student in this exciting area of nanoelectronics.