Functional, Atomically-Defined Nanowires and Nanoribbons of Silicon

哥伦比亚大学的Colin Nuckolls， James Leighton和Latha Venkataraman都得到了化学系大分子、超分子和纳米化学项目的资助，研究开发设计、创造和研究硅原子单分子链和带的方法。当然，纯硅广泛应用于电子和信息技术行业，并因其作为半导体的特性而受到高度重视。它的半导体性质是在原子水平上产生的分子和电子性质的结果。随着硅基器件（如计算机芯片和信息存储介质）的尺寸变小，硅的电学性质也发生了变化。研究人员正在使用精确的分子结构技术来制造具有特殊形状和特性的高导电性硅，这是以前从未研究过的。特别是，他们正在研究微小的硅带和硅线，它们为未来电子设备的发展带来了希望。这个合作项目正在将大块硅（信息技术的基石）的特性与硅的分子形式明确地联系起来，因此，对半导体行业产生了广泛的影响。该项目正在通过跨K-8扩展，课程开发和本科生，研究生和博士后科学家的研究培训的协调努力产生进一步广泛的影响。研究人员正在创造和研究原子精度的纳米线和硅纳米带，这些纳米线和硅纳米带已经被功能化，因此可以在单分子电子设备中进行研究。刚性、应变和功能性硅纳米线和纳米带的设计和合成被用于测试应变对单分子电导的影响。在这个项目中开发的纳米探针允许将这些新的纳米材料组装和集成到电子设备中。团队成员之间协同工作的专业知识的结合使高级分子能够在反馈回路中进行设计，合成和研究。这种研究方法促进了对这些独特的硅原子一维链的整体理解，并提高了发现新特性和新器件的可能性。

Colin Nuckolls, James Leighton and Latha Venkataraman, all of Columbia University, are funded by the Macromolecular, Supramolecular and Nanochemistry program in the Division of Chemistry for research to develop methods to design, create, and study single molecule chains and ribbons of silicon atoms. Pure silicon is, of course, widely used in the electronics and information technology industry and is highly valued for its properties as a semiconductor. Its semiconductor nature is the result of molecular and electronic properties that arise at the atomic level. Changes in silicon's electrical properties have been noted as the size of silicon-based devices, such as computer chips and information storage media, become smaller. The investigators are using precise molecular construction techniques to create highly electrically conductive forms of silicon with specific shapes and properties that have never before been studied. In particular, they are looking at tiny ribbons and wires of silicon that hold promise for the development of future electronic devices. This collaborative project is making an explicit connection between the properties of bulk silicon, the bedrock of information technology, and molecular forms of silicon, and is, thus, having a broad impact on the semiconductor industry. This project is having a further broad impact through a coordinated effort that spans K-8 outreach, curriculum development, and research training for undergraduate, graduate, and post-doctoral scientists.The investigators are creating and studying atomically precise nanowires and nanoribbons of silicon that have been functionalized so they can be studied in unimolecular electrical devices. The design and synthesis of rigid, strained, and functional nanowires and nanoribbons of silicon is being used to test the impact of strain on single molecule conductance. Nanoscopic probes developed in this project are allowing the assembly and integration of these new nanomaterials into electrical devices. The combination of expertise among team members working in concert is allowing advanced molecules to be designed, synthesized, and studied in a feedback loop. This approach to research fosters a holistic understanding of these unique one-dimensional chains of silicon atoms and enhances the probability that new properties and devices will be discovered.